Who Lost on Jeopardy, Baby?Europe Before 1500

Fertile Crescent Cultures (4000 BC to 550 BC)

• Sumerians• Akkadians• Babylonians• Hittites • Assyrians • Chaldeans• Phoenicians• Hebrews • Persians

• Excelled at Navigation • Built trading networks• Developed an alphabet

Judaism and the Jewish Diaspora

• The Hebrews were a tribe in the Fertile Crescent

• They were monotheistic and surrounded by people who were polytheistic

• They got kicked out, were allowed to return, got kicked out again (Diaspora)

• Abraham • Moses• Saul • David • Solomon

Athenian Democracy

• Greek City States (around 500 BC)

• Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Homer, Thucydides

• Athens developed a direct democracy—a form of government where an assembly of ordinary citizens makes decisions

• The Persian Wars

The Hellenistic World

The Roman Republic • Romans overthrow the kind

in 509 BC• The form a republic—a form

of government in which people choose representatives to govern them

• A code of law defined the rights of citizens

• Representative Democracy • Veto, Forum, Senate,

consuls, “innocent until proven guilty”

• What is our Greco-Roman heritage?

The Spread of Christianity

• What religion was Jesus?

• Where was he from? • Who ruled this land at

the time? • Why was he put to

death? • What happened to the

early Christians? • Who was Paul?

• Who was Constantine? • Who was Theodosius?

The Fall of the Roman Empire• Through conquest and trade, Greek

culture spread to the Italian peninsula • The Romans overthrew the king and

established a Republic with a strong military

• Julius Caesar was declared “Dictator for Life”

• Augustus Caesar was declared “First Citizen” and the Roman Republic officially ends

• The Roman Empire expands to include most of Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa; it reaches its height in 117 AD

• The Pax Romana (Roman Peace) lasts from 27 BC to 180 AD

• Weak leaders, civil war and economic troubles led to the weakening of the Roman Empire

• Diocletian splits the empire into two in 284 AD

• Constantine built a capital (Constantinople) in Byzantium, which became the powerful Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire)

• Attila the Hun invaded Northern Europe, forcing the Germanic tribes into Italy in the mid 400’s.

• In 476, Odoacer overthrew the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire; this also marks the start of the Middle Ages

The Schism of 1054• The Eastern Church became the

Orthodox Church • The Western Church remained the

Roman Catholic Church• Most of Europe was fragmented

into small states under a feudal system

• Feudalism is a system in which a ruler grants pats of his land to lords– The lords owe the king military

service and financial assistance– The lords then lease out the land to

lesser lords who lease out the land to even lesser lords who lease out the land….

The Crusades • In 1095, Pope Urban II declared a

holy war to take back the Holy Land • Their were 9 crusades over a 200

year period and none were successful

• Economic Changes: The Crusaders wanted goods they encountered, and trade increased

• Political Changes: Many knights and nobles were killed, and the kings seized their lands and became more powerful

• Social Changes: All non-Christians were seen as the enemy; Jews and Muslims were persecuted

DEEP QUESTION: WHY DID THE EUROPEANS WANT A SEA ROUTE TO EUROPE? (RHYMES WITH MACBEATH!)

The Renaissance • Rebirth of learning• Interest in classical texts (which

were often non-Christian)• Science and invention flourished • Movable Type/Printing Press

(invented by Gutenberg) was a major paradigm shift!

• Small, powerful nation-states began to emerge in Europe

• Machiavelli, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Galileo, Shakespeare, etc.

• Plus, there is now coffee and tea!

The Reformation • In 1517, a German monk named

Martin Luther demanded that the Catholic Church make serious reforms

• He declared that Jesus, not the pope, was the head of the church

• His followers were called Protestants

• This group split into many churches

• Wars between Catholics and Protestants occurred throughout Europe