Europe Blog Information and Citations

-  "The Great Schism (Overview)." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2010.


- "The Crusades (Overview)." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2010.

-  "Magna Carta." U*X*L Encyclopedia of U.S. History. Sonia Benson, Daniel E. Brannen, Jr., and Rebecca Valentine. Ed. Lawrence W. Baker and Sarah Hermsen. Vol. 5. Detroit: UXL, 2009. 941-943. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 10 Nov. 2010.

-  "Charlemagne." Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2nd ed. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 445-447. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 12 Nov. 2010

-       "Columbus, Christopher." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ed. William A. Darity, Jr. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 19-22. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.

Julius Ceaser/Fall to Roman Republic

Interview with Julius Ceaser:

Q:Tell me about your life, what important things have you done?A: Well in 49 B.C I crossed the Rubicon River in northern Italy, because no one had done it before. This led to civil wars throughout Rome,but at the Battle of Pharsalus my army and I defeated Pompey.  And shortly after this I joined forces with Cleopatra VII, the ruler of Egypt, and we defeated the republican forces in Rome. After this I became the dictator of Rome.

Q: Why was Julius Caesar Important?

A: Julius Caesar was important because he established the beginning of the fall of the roman empire.

Rome Sacked/Falls to Barbarians

Q:How did the Visigoths attack Rome?
A: There leader was Alaric the first, They surrounded the city for two years, the people inside were starving and were dying of deceases. Rome finally decided to let them in, they terrorized Rome for three days, looking for food, taking money, and killing people. The Visigoths did not find much to take so they left Rome to burn.
Q: Why is this Important?
A:This is important because the sacking of Rome shows that even the strongest, biggest Empires can be defeated.

Axis Age/Golden Age in Greece

Q: So Pericles, what did you give to the Golden age?
 A: I brought science, and i supported art and literature because i thought it was a very important part of civilization.
Q:  And Socrates, What did you give to the golden age?
A: Well I was a philosopher, and I wandered around questioning people about there beliefs. but some people didn't like that so they put me on trial and killed me.

Q: Why was the Golden Age important?
A: Because it brought so many things to back to europe that it had lost in the dark ages

Great Schism (1378-1415)

Interview with Pope Urban VI:

Q: Why were you elected Pope?
A: At the death of Gregory XI in Rome, the cardinals elected an Italian pope. They choose me.

Q: What happened upon your election?
A: A began a series of reforms, which upset the College of Cardinals.
Q: What did they do about that issue?
A: Well they were very angry and elected their own pope and removed to France.

Q: What do you think the Great Schism was?
A: Well it happened from 1378 to 1417, and was the period of time when there were two papacies in the Roman Catholic Church, one in Rome and one in Avignon.
Q: What was the Great Schism a result of?
A: It was the result of existing problems, including the Avignon Papacy and the rivalry among Church officials and many powerful new kings.

Columbus Leaves Spain (1502 A.D.)

Q:Was it hard to let the King of Portugal let you go on the voyage?
A: Yes, i was very hard to get the king to let me leave. I came to him with the idea in 1484, but they said no. So I went to the Queen of Spain,Queen Isabella, and proposed my idea to her, but she rejected them because she thought that the idea was too expensive, but seven years later I finally got her to let me go, I got three ships; the Nina and Pinta, and the Santa Maria.
Q: Why did you leave Spain?
A: I left Spain in search for land in 1942, i crossed the Atlantic for 29 Days. And on  October 7, 1492, we spotted land. I named it San Salvador, we also explored several other islands in the Caribbean. We captured Indians and took exotic things to bring back to Europe, when we got back the Queen was pleased to see what we had found and we were treated like hero's.  
Q: Why Was this important?
A: Because if Columbus didn't leave Spain we might not have found the Caribbean and the Americas.

 

Was it hard to let the King of Portugal let you go on the voyage?
A: Yes, i was very hard to get the king to let me leave. I came to him with the idea in 1484, but they said no. So I went to the Queen of Spain,Queen Isabella, and proposed my idea to her, but she rejected them because she thought that the idea was too expensive, but seven years later I finally got her to let me go, I got three ships; the Nina and Pinta, and the Santa Maria.
Why did you leave Spain?
A: I left Spain in search for land in 1942, i crossed the Atlantic for 29 Days. And on  October 7, 1492, we spotted land. I named it San Salvador, we also explored several other islands in the Caribbean. We captured Indians and took exotic things to bring back to Europe, when we got back the Queen was pleased to see what we had found and we were treated like hero's.  
Q: Why Was this important?
A: Because if Columbus didn't leave Spain we might not have found the Caribbean and the Americas.

Charlemagne (768–814 A.D.)

Q: Charlemagne, what happened to your brother, how did you become ruler of your entire kingdom?

A: Well, when my father, King Pepin, died my brother and I became king’s of the franks, the land was split in half for us, but I got the bigger half of the kingdom, so my brother and I got into fights and one day he woke up dead, and I became ruler of the entire kingdom.

Q: What made your empire so special?
I wanted to re-create the roman empire, so I expanded from the Elbe River in the northeast to south of the Pyrenees in the southwest and from the North Sea to southern Italy. I enjoyed art and poetry, and i helped bring back some of that back to the ‘Holy roman empire’.
Q: Why were you important?
A: I was important because he expanded the holy roman empire.

 

Crusades (1096-1272)

Interview with a Christian in Western Europe:

Q: How did the crusades start?

A: When we went to recapture the Holy Land of Jerusalem from the Muslims, who had took it over  in the seventh century AD.

Q: What were the Crusades?

A: They were many armed conflicts in the Near East.


Q: How many were there?
A: There were nine.


Q: What happened in the first Crusade?
A: There were two main phases in it. The first phase, was probably not what the pope wanted. Unlike noblemen, peasants could leave for a long time without making arrangements for their personal affairs during their absence. Untrained in warfare, disorganized, and with meager financial resources, thousands of peasants attacked the Byzantine Empire. A Muslim ambush distroyed nearly the entire army.


Q: What happened in the second Crusade?
A: The Crusader States required constant European resources and reinforcements because of continuous Muslim attacks. The goal of the Muslims was not so much to regain the city of Jerusalem but it was to get rid of the Christians in the territory. The Muslims conquered the county of Edessa in 1144.

Q: What happened in the Third Crusade?

A: Encouraged by that success of the Second Crusade, Muslims destroyed the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187 and gained control of most of its territory. The Christians responded with the Third Crusade, led by King Richard of Lionheart of England, King Philip of France, and Emperor Fredrick of Germany. Richard and Philip were bitter rivals because of a dispute over English land claims in France. In 1191, Philip returned to France  to regain control of the disputed French lands.

 

Magna Carta (Created-1215)

Q:So King John, Who made you sign the magna carta, and why?

A: Well,  An English army made me sign it, so that I would have to obey the law that they made.

Q: What Was the point of the magna carta?
A: the point of this was to clarify the King’s power over the church, clergymen, and the people of certain towns and that the states got control over the barons. But a couple weeks after he signed it he rejected it and didn't want to follow it, and this started a civil war called the First Barons’ War, during this war King John was killed.

Q: Why is the magna carta important?
A: The Magna Carta is important because it showed that the people wanted to have some responsibility.

Battle of Tours (October 10, 732)

Q: So Charles Martel, who was this battle against?
A: well,  it was ageist me and my army, and invading Muslims from Spain.
Q: Did you know the Muslims were coming, what happened during the battle?
A: I knew that the Muslims ere coming so we waited for them, when the Muslims came both armies stood there for four days, then they fought the Muslim general was killed and we won, It was a major win for us because I prevented the Muslims from coming in and spreading there religion, this helped keep Christianity the main religion of Europe, and because of this major win I was renamed Charles the Hammer.
Q: Why was this important?
A:Without Charles Christianity might not have survived as a religion in Europe and might not have spread to the United States.

Constantine the Great (306-312 A.D.)

Interview with Constantine the Great:

Q: What was your new capital?
A: Constantinople

Q: What did you allow that was different in your capital?
A: The freedom of worship, no one had done that before.

Q: Was Constantinople successful?
A: Yes, very much so, it became very rich and very powerful.

Q: What religion are you?
A: I am now a Christian.

Q: Did you have many military victories?
A: I won many victories, I won over the Franks and Alamanni in 306-308, the Franks in 313-314, the Visigoths in 332 and also the Sarmatians in 334.

Q: What did you do in 336?
A: I reoccupied most of the long-lost province of Dacia.

Q: You had so many life making victories during your time, what was going on when you were at the time of your death?
A: I was planning a great expedition to end raids on the eastern provinces from the Persian Empire.

William the Conqueror (1035-1087 A.D.)

Interview with William the Conqueror:

Q: Were you the first Norman King of England?
A: Yes, i was.

Q: What year did you invade England?
A: 1066

Q: What did our army consist of?
A: I led an army consisting of Normans, Bretons, Flemings, and Frenchman.

Q: Did you win this battle?
A: Yes i did, i led victory over the English forces of King Harold Godwinson.

Q: What was the battle called?
A: The Battle of Hastings, also this battle led to English revolts which became known as the Norman Conquest.

Q: What age did you take throne of Duke of Normandy at?
A: At the age of seven in 1035.

Q: What did you do to the English Shires?
A: I increased the function of the traditional English Shires, which later decreased the power of the Earls by restricting them to one shire a piece.

Q: Was your invasion the last time that England was successfully conquered by a foreign power?
A: Till this day it is.

Alexander The Great (336–323 BCE)

Interview with Alexander The Great

Q: What was your ultimate goal in your time of life?
A: To defeat the Persians.

Q: Why was this your goal?
A: I wanted to carry on my father's goal, which he never got to do.

Q: What happened when you went to Egypt?
A:  I was made a farrow in Egypt.

Q: Where were your major conquests?
A: My major ones were in Asia.

Q: What did you do in Asia?
A: I introduced Macedonian rule to many parts of Asia.

Q: What happened in the eastern borders of your empire?
A: They began to collapse during my time.