G.eopraphy

The contintent of Europe is actually part of Eurasia, large ladmass that includes both Europe and Asia.  Most of this Eurasia is made of peninsula.  The Ural Mountains would be considered the boundry between the two countries.  The topography of Europe  varies from place to place.  For example, there are mountain ranges in southern Europe that reach high, especially the Alps which are higher than 15000 feet these are mostly covered with snowfields and glaciers, this place also gets alot of sun and warmness so trees are common there becase they don't need alot of water; and there is the Northern Europe Plain which is practically most of Europe, many types of trees, plants, forests, major rivers are located here, but in this place it is much colder; above the Northern Europe Plain you will encounter many rugged hills and low mountains, this resort is much much much more freezing than the othr two places so few plants survive in the cold climate.  The climates shaped how the people of that region grew up and lived.  In southern Europe the climat was very nice so the people grew very nice plants, the mountains was a nice retreat for goats and sheep, these people lived close to the sea so they became traders and seafarmers.  But in Northern Europe it was much different.  People had to access the sea through northern rivers, live on rivers, and they were frequently invaded.

Ancinet Europe

R.eligion

Monks and missionaries helped spread Christianity to knigdoms that were conquered after the fall of the Roman Empire.  The head of missionaries was the Pope.  He sent other missionaries to go tell the tale of Christianity.  Britian was one of the first places the pope sent missionaries to go and preach.  As a result Britian became Christian, as well as France and Germany.  Saint Patrick took the leadership of telling peole about Christianity into his own hands.  Patrick single handedly converted the whole Irish into his desired religion.  In monastaries, monks lived apart from the community doing different things like praying, work, and meditaton.  In the early 500's a set of rules created by an Italian monk named Benedict was inforced upon these monastaries.  This was called the Benedictine Rule but those who followed this were called Benedictine monks.  Not all monks had to follow this code though.  The following is what monks had to do:

• run schools and copy books for those who couldn't read or write
• collect and save ancient writings from Greece and Rome
• serve as scrides and advisors to local rulers
• aid to the people in the communities
• spread Christianity to new areas

monks praying

      Clergy, church officials, influenced everyone in the church, which is nearly everyone in the Middle Ages.  Even though life revolved around the church, some people wanted to go see more.  The places where Jesus lived, where holy men and women died, and where miracles happened were popular places to go see.  The church also gained political power such as landwhen one died.  The church was one of teh largest land owners in Europe.  Because of having so much land, people got unhappy with them.  A group of French monks went away from the church and made a monastery called The Cluny Monastery.  Here monks set there own set of rules and daily schedule.  These people, called the Cluniac monks, are made up the religious order.  This lead to monks making harder, stricter rules for monks to follow.  The monks had to copy documents, like the Holy Bible, and collect and store ancient texts.  Dominic de Guzman and Francis of Assisi were friars, people who belonged to religious orders but lived and worked among the public, who made two new religious orders.  Friars owned nothing, just like monks, but they lived in the general public and taught Christianity to people, just like monks. 

a group of friars who are in the public

P.olitics

In the 480's the Franks conquered Gaul, today, the region of France.  Clovis, the ruler of the period, created one of the strongest kingdoms in Europe.  But they were not satisfied with not only that, they had to be the best.  King Charlemagne appeared in the late 700's.  He lead his troops into victory in war, his people into becomiing a huge empire, and his scholars into teaching at his capital, Aachen.  Muslim invaders invaded from the south, Magyars incaded from the east, and Vikings invaded from the north.  The worst out of those three would definitley be the Vikings.  They raided Britain, Ireland, and other parts of western Europe.  These people invaded coastal areas because they couldn't get into the midland area with their ships.  Vikings made Europeans fear for their life. 

Vikings going into battle

     The power of the Pope and the power of the King grew as they, together, controlled most of Europe.  The Pope was the head of the Christian Church in Western Europe.  He had great power because nearly everyone belonged to that church.  He would decide what to teach and preach.  He had the power to excommunicate, cast from church, anyone that was working against the church.  If one got excomunnicated, then one would not go to heaven.  The Popes also had political power too.  They lived in royalty just like the king.

     The King was to rule a country of Europe.  If you ruled the countries of England, France, or The Holy Roman Empire then you would be the most powerful kings.  Most of the kings inherited teh thrones by their father.  Some of the time nobles woiuld rebell but kings would restore order very quickly.  The Pope and King sometimes don't see eye to eye.  For example, Pope Gregory VII dissaproved of a bishop that Emperor Henry IV picked.  Angry, Gregory excommunicated Henry.  Desperate, Henry went to Ital;y to ask for forgiveness.  Gregory refused.  Then Henry stood outsid in the fridged snow barefoot!  Gregory accepted andallowed him to return to his job.  The Pope had proven himself to be more powerful than the Emperor in that circamstance. 

Emperor Henry IV begging to Pope GregoryVII

     The Magna Carta, rights a king couldn't ignore, was signed in 1215 after a group of nobles decided to force it upon the king.  The Magna Carta means Great Charter.  This document required the king to honor specific rights.  Habeas corpus, you have the body, is one of these rights.  This means that you can't be throne in jail with out a reason.  But the basic rule is that everyone had to follow the law, even the king.  Limiting the king's power was one of the things that was wanted to be done after this.  The Parliament was elected to do such a thing.

     Hundred Years' War was started because a French king died with out any sons.  Two men wanted the throne, so they dooked it out.  The French king one over the English king.  England was not happy, so they began the war.  After 100 years of fighting, a girl that is the age of teen came into the war and drove the French troops into English grounds.  French won and the Hundred Years' War ended.  The king's power fell in teh England country, but rose in the France country.