Middle+Ages

 The Middle Ages (Website created by Aryeh, 6/5/12)was a period of time that lasted from the Fall of the Roman Empire (430 AD-1400's AD) till the beginning of the Renaissance. This time period is often referred to as the Dark Ages or Medieval Times. 

=Overview= After the fall of the Roman Empire, there was no central government in Europe. People banded together, living under a lord that provided them protection. What formed as a result was called a manor. In the manor, there was a manor house where the lord lived. There were houses for the peasants by the farms, their work. In exchange for protection, peasants would pay taxes and tributes to their lord. There were 3 types of lords. The wealthiest was the royalty, the king and queen. The royalty was followed by nobility. Nobles were wealthy, but not as wealthy as royalty. The lowest lord was a knight. Knights protected the peasants. Knights received land, called a fief, from a higher level of nobility. In exchange for this land, the knight would become a vassal to the noble, his lord. This meant the knight would respect, pay, and fight for the noble. The nobles were also vassals to royalty, who gave them land. Nobles would pay, respect, and fight for royalty. (More in feudalism)

Christianity was the religion practiced in the middle ages, with the Catholic church being the only sect. People in the middle ages were highly religious, and life often centered around religion. There was even the 10% rule, 10% of food and land of the peasants went to the church. Throughout the middle ages, the pope, the head of the Catholic church ordered the people to go on a crusade. The crusades were attempts of Christians to take back the holy land, that were controlled by Muslims at the time.(Crusades) Towards the end of the middle ages, there was also the inquisition, a trial for heretics or people who went against the church. Like any organization with this much power, the Catholic church eventually became corrupt. (Inquisition and Reformation)

Links:

 * Causes of the Middle Ages
 * The Vikings were a group of people known for raiding and pillaging villages.
 * The Spread of Christianity
 * Life in the Middle Ages – A detailed page explaining the development of Feudalism, the Social Hierarchy of the Middle Ages, and the economic system of the Middle Ages (Manorialism)
 * Clothing of the middle ages
 * The diary of a Knight – One student's blog posts on a knights view of the events of the middle ages.
 * The late middle ages – The events that lead to the fall of the middle ages and start of the renaissance.
 * The Crusades – Christian attempts to take the holy lands from Muslim control. There were many crusades but only the first one was successful
 * The Magna Carta – A document signed by the king of england declaring that all people must abide by the laws, even the king. Many documents thereafter were based off the Magna Carta.
 * The 100 Year War – A war between France and England that began from a dispute over who would be the king of France.
 * Black Death – A disease that spread throught europe between 1347 and 1351 which killed almost one third of the population.
 * The Spanish Inquisition – The trail and murder of heretics, people that went against the teachings of the Catholic church.

Student Created projects:
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Introduction PowerPoint: Key terms of the Middle Ages. Added June 7, 2010 by Eric and Nick. media type="custom" key="8852458" Prezi added on 3/23/20ll--Rachelle