Willam Wallace's Fight for Freedom

Lesson 65 Essay

    In 1270, a man named William Wallace was born. He was born in Scotland and was a landowner. Not much is known about this man's early life. During William's childhood, Scotland was ruled by Alexander III, who ruled with stability and kindness. When he died, his granddaughter reigned for awhile, but after her death she left no clear heir. Several great families tried to lay claim to the throne. The Scottish government stepped in and suggested that Edward I of England be king. However, the people of Scotland wanted John Balliol as their king.

    Edward pressured John to abdicate his throne and John did just that. Now Edward was king of Scotland, as well as England. However, most of the Scots still saw John as their true king and did not want to be governed by England.

    William Wallace started gathering an army to fight against the English. Wallace burned the town of Lanmark, killing the English sheriff in the city. He was less than thirty years old when he marched his army to defeat the strongholds on the English barrier.

    Some time after this, an English army met William's army near Stirling and the Fourth River. Even though Wallace was outnumbered, he managed to gain the upper hand due to his cunning strategies. The Battle of Stirling Bridge, and subsequently Stirling Castle, were both won by this little band of Scots.

    William Wallace was knighted and declared the guardian of the kingdom for these incredible victories. Only four months after the battle at Stirling, Edward himself invaded Scotland for a second time. The Scots responded to this invasion by trying to follow the English army and to attack them at their weaker points. This turned sour as the Edward's army pounced on the chance to engage the Scots and turned his army to face them. Edward defeated the Scots and was crowned king in 1304.

    Wallace somehow escaped and lived as a refugee. Sadly, in 1305, Wallace was betrayed by a Scottish knight who was loyal to Edward. William was tried in Westminster Hall and convicted of treason to the crown. He was executed in a terribly painful way and parts of his body were displayed as warnings around Scotland.

    William Wallace didn't free Scotland from English rule during his time on Earth, but he was seen as a martyr and hero to his people to fight for their freedom. He kept their hope and will to fight alive, and the Scots finally earned their freedom within 50 years after William Wallace's death.

The Life of Kublai Khan

 Lesson 60 Essay

  Kublai Khan was considered to be the greatest ruler of the Mongols in China. Born in 1215, he was the grandson of Genghis Khan, and he became the fifth Khan of the Mongols.

    Even though he was an intelligent, and skilled warrior, Kublai did not rise to power until his thirties. Before Kublai became Khan, his brother Möngke Khan rule, and Kublai was put in charge of manning their territory. Kublai helped his brother overthrow the Song dynasty and unify the Chinese under the Mongols. Kublai came to power as the Great Khan several years later.

    As the Khan of the Mongol Empire, Kublai was much wiser and thoughtful in comparison to his predecessor, Genghis Khan. He ruled his subjects fairly, and, rather than utterly destroy civilizations, he treated them with generosity.

    In 1271, Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty. The economy was primarily based on agriculture, but, by building on past successes, they were able to prosper. Many of the buildings and roads were built or repaired.

    During Kublai Khan's reign, the Mongol empire enjoyed a time of great prosperity. Kublai was able to represent the height of the Mongol empire by controlling all of China. Kublai was among the first Far East rulers to have known contact with European traders, by having contact with Marco Polo.

    Kublai Khan lived to the age of 78. He outlived his wife and son. As he got older, he became very overweight and suffered from many diseases. He died in the February of 1294, after depression wore his body down. Kublai was buried in the Mongol burial site.

The Works of Thomas Aquinas

  Lesson 55

   Thomas Aquinas was born the son of a count in Italy in 1225. When Thomas was five years old, he began his education. Thomas was sent off to a university in Naples when he was old enough. While studying, Thomas was influenced by Aristotle's writings and also by a new order of monks called the Dominicans.

    At the age of 19, Thomas joined the Dominican monks, much to the dismay of his parents. In fact, his parents actually kidnapped their son to keep him away from the monks. After two years of captivity, Thomas “escaped” from his parents and rejoined the monks.

    After some time with the monks, Thomas decided to rewrite the Christian theology in a systematic way, using Aristotelian logic and thinking. Aquinas's greatest work was the Summa Theologica. However, Thomas left the manuscript unfinished, believing that he was called to a greater service than what he was currently working on.

    Thomas Aquinas became a priest and ordained in 1250. While he was teaching at a school in Paris, Thomas completed his Doctorate in Theology. Most of Thomas's time was spent in prayer, study, and writing during these years.

    Some time later, Thomas Aquinas was summoned by the Pope to attend a council. As Thomas was on his way, a falling branch hit him and he became ill shortly after. He was cared for by his friends, but several days later Thomas died.

Influence of Thomas Aquinas

    Thomas Aquinas's work greatly influenced the church by using Aristotle's logic to study scripture. Aquinas also argued that man can logically prove there is a god, based solely on the evidence in nature. He taught new connection between science and theology. Over time, philosophers began promoting the idea that logic and man's senses could tell him what he needed. This was a distortion of Aquinas's ideas. This focus on man's thinking continued into the time of the Renaissance. 

Knighthood: The Origin of Knights

  Lesson 45 Essay

 The word “knight” was the title given to a person honored by a king or a monarch for a service. Originally, however, a knight was a mounted soldier and was considered a lesser noble. Knights eventually became just honored people, and they were recognized for noble deeds outside the military. In the Middle Ages, knights were part of two systems:

–The Feudal System hierarchy

–The service of the king's army

  The whole idea of “warriors on horseback”, came from the Franks after the fall of Rome and was expanded by Charlemagne. Any person who could ride and owned armor was considered a knight in these early times. Eventually, knighthood became a more refined position in the Feudal system. Knights were of the lower class nobles, and though they rode horses into battle, they were still distinct from the cavalry.

  An important part of knighthood was chivalry. The knights took this very seriously, even getting to the point where they organized a code for it. Chivalry was an ethical standard that all knights had to adhere to. When they weren't needed for battle, knights would live in castles or large fortified houses. Knighthood and chivalry was influenced by Christianity. Knights tried to pursue the values of “faith, hope, charity, justice, strength, modesty, and loyalty”. Chivalric ideals were popular in medieval writing and were often combined with romance in the Renaissance. The stories of a knight saving a damsel in distress is still very popular in modern culture.

  However, knighthood and chivalry was forgotten during the Renaissance. Knighthood is still granted in some societies today. Knighthood now is granted for doing great deeds.

King Alfred the Great

  Lesson 40 Essay

       Alfred the Great was one of the most notable kings of England's history. He ruled England from the 871-899. He was the the only English monarch to be called “the Great”.

        Alfred, at the age of four, was anointed to be king by the Pope in Rome. This was a strange act, seeing as Alfred had three older brother who were eligible for the crown. But, over time, each of his brothers were crowned as king and died shortly after. After this, Alfred became king.

        The reign of Alfred took off on a shaky start as the Danes were invading Wessex at the time. Even though the Danes were very strong, King Alfred eventually beat them. The Danish king, Gurthrum, was converted to Christianity at the peace treaty that Alfred proposed. This conversion to strengthened the ties between the two territories. In 866, Alfred the Great marched into London and reclaimed it from the Danish control. This reclaiming of London further unified Southern England.

        When Alfred wasn't fighting, he was busy reorganizing the military and setting up a fleet of longships, similar to the ships the Vikings used. Alfred also spent a lot of his life working on better education for his people. His greatest achievement as king was reviving education as a crucial part of English culture. He sought to have every young man in the country educated, regardless of their station.

        Throughout his life, Alfred dealt with much sickness, and he died in the year 899. His son, Edward, succeeded him on the throne.

 

Canute the Great

  Lesson 35 Essay

       Canute the Great lived during the Viking times. Unlike previous Vikings before him, Canute wasn't Anglo-Saxon. He was born to a Scandinavian prince and was the grandson of the first Scandinavian king to accept Christianity.

       Canute's older brother, Harald, was the crown prince and became king of Denmark in 1014. Knowing that he wouldn't become king for a while, Canute set out for England to make a name for himself. He sailed in ships full of soldiers. Canute fought numerous battles against England's king, Edmund Ironside, with Vikings from all over Scandinavia. Canute eventually forced Edmund to work out a peace treaty with him after he besieged London. This treaty stated that Canute would become king after Edmund died, which conveniently happened just three weeks after.

        To further strengthen his claim to the throne, Canute married Emma of Normandy. Wary of being overthrown, he killed any Saxon who had any claim to the throne. He named his son Harthacnut, as the the designated heir. When Harald died, Canute moved back to Denmark to assume kingship there. Canute was now king of England and Denmark. He attended the coronation of Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor in Rome.

        Kings who appeared to be on good terms with God often had happy, prosperous reigns during this time. Canute strove to reconcile himself with the church and his people after his harsh invasion.

        When he got back from Rome, Canute decided to conquer Norway and crown himself king of Norway. However, he was overthrown after imposing taxes there. Canute died in England in 1035, and was buried in Winchester. His son continued to rule the kingdom until his own death in 1042. The combined kingdoms, England, Denmark, and Norway, over which Canute ruled, returned to their former rulers.

The Life of Charles Martel

  Lesson 30 Essay

       Charles Martel was born the son of Pepin of Heristal, the Mayor of the Palace of France. This position of “mayor” serves as the active ruler, while the “king” is more of a figurehead. Pepin was a very cruel mayor and he abused his power. When he died in 714, Pepin's wife tried to take the position of mayor for herself, even going so far as to hide away Pepin's illegitimate heir son, Charles.

        Charles escaped from his mother and began organizing support from the nobles of the kingdom. Charles was called to be the army's leader when a rogue band of Franks attacked the kingdom. 

      However, even though Charles led a magnificent battle, his army was outnumbered and Charles wisely withdrew the army. This loss turned out to be the only defeat of his military career. Charles retaliated on his enemies later on at the Battle of Amblive.

        He won the Battle of Amblive by using three tactics that would become his trademarks:

 -Appearing where his enemies least expected

 -Attacking where his enemies least expected

  -Attacking how his enemies least expected

        After winning this battle, Charles took over government of France. He never claimed the title of king, but instead served in the position of mayor of the palace for the rest of his life. Charles showed mercy to the people who imprisoned him. From the years 718 to 728, Charles had many victories, gained the loyalty of surrounding nations, and conquered part of Southern Germany. In 731 he began preparing to battle the Muslims who

invaded Iberia and conquered the Visigoths there.

        The Battle of Tours: The Muslims had already taken Iberia, and so they invaded France. In 732, Charles staged a surprise attack on the Muslims. The Battle of Tours lasted seven days of skirmishing, before the Muslims were eventually beaten back by the well trained and equipped Frankish army. It was this hammering of the Muslims and repelling them, that gave Charles the name “Martel”, or Charles the Hammer. This battle is credited as saving Christendom from Arab/Muslim conquest. Although the Muslims had been previously conquering unchecked, this defeat kept them from expanding.

        Charles Martel died in 741, leaving behind a legacy that grew in his son, Pepin the Short and his grandson, Charlemagne.

The Life and Works of Muhammad

  Lesson 25 Essay

       Islam is one of the biggest religions in the world and it's only second to Christianity. I'm going to tell you how Islam came to be one of the most popular religions to practice.

         It all started with a man named Muhammad. Muhammad was born in 570, in a city called Mecca, just three years after the treaty between Byzantium and Persia was signed. Mecca was located near the ancient shrine called Ka'ba. This shrine was said to have been built by Abraham, whom the Muslims claim as the “father of Islam”. Anyway, Muhammad's father died shortly after his birth and his mother died by the time he was six. Muhammad's uncle took him in and raised him. At the age of 24 Muhammad married a wealthy widow and became a successful merchant.

       In the year 610, at the age of 40, Muhammad had his first revelation. These messages told him he was the prophet of a new religion and that he needed to prophecy to the world. These first proclamations make up the first few passages of Islam's holy book, the Qu'ran. Muhammad started preaching to the people of Mecca and tried to convert them to his new religion. But his family shunned him and some people tried to assassinate him because of his strange, new message.

       In 622, Muhammad moved Mecca to a city called Medina for safety and began witnessing there. This new city welcomed Muhammad and his religion and soon became the first Islamic community. He became the leader of Medina shortly after. Not long after Muhammad came to Medina, wars broke out between the two cities. Muhammad eventually captured Mecca, banned the idolatry, and set up Islam as the new religion there.

         Later, in 632, Muhammad led the first Islamic pilgrimage as he walked from Medina to Mecca to visit the Ka'ba shrine. This shrine is the holiest place in Islam and is today located inside of a mosque in Mecca for protection. At the end of the pilgrimage, Muhammad gave his famous farewell sermon. Muhammad fell ill and died several months after.

        By the time of Muhammad's death, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam and he had united Arabia into a single Muslim religious nation.

        To conclude this essay, Muhammad had no idea how famous he would become and how quickly Islam would catch on. Islam is one of the fastest growing religions to this day.

 

Justinian the Great

  Lesson 20 Essay

        Ok first off, I'm gonna say that Justinian is an epic name. Now that that is out, I'm going to tell you about Justinian's life and how he rose to power.

       Justinian began his life as a shepard boy in the Eastern Roman Empire in 482 AD. He lived a mostly calm life but at the age of sixteen he walked all the way to Constantinople (the capital of the empire), where he met his uncle, Justin, who the commander of the emperor's guard. Justinian's uncle received him well (unlike other uncles I've read about), and gave him a good education. Justinian was a relatively good looking young man and he quickly became well known throughout the empire.

        The emperor at this time was Emperor Anastasius. When Anastasius died, Justinian's uncle Justin became the new emperor with much help from his nephew. As Emperor Justin grew older, Justinian started co-ruling the empire with him. Eventually, Justin appointed Justinian as Co-Emperor just a few months before Justin died. Justinian became the sole emperor in 527 and he ruled for the next 40 years. He became known as Justinian the Great through his impressive accomplishments .

        Justinian was an exceptional ruler and often appointed efficient officials to government positions; some of these were unpopular because they were too efficient. The people of Constantinople revolted in 532 and much of the city burned and 30,000 citizens died. These revolts are known as the Nika Revolts.

        Justinian had two generals named Belisarius and Narses. Belisarius oversaw the expanding the empire to include North Africa. Justinian made improvements to Constantinople and the general culture while the military was reclaiming parts of Italy from the Ostrogoths in 552. This was the beginning of what is known as the Byzantium Empire and it lasted for 1,000 years.

        One of the things Justinian is known for is the Hagia Sophia, a magnificent cathedral, in 537. It remains mostly intact to this day. He worked on at least 34 other churches.

        The first certified Roman Law was organized by Justinian and it became known as the Code of Justinian. This code laid out the basis of imperial law in Byzantium until 1453 AD. During his reign, Justinian encouraged new industries and education; he began silk production and factories were started.

        Justinian remained a strong and active emperor until his death in 565AD, at the age of 83. His legacy in the empire lasted 1,000 years. However, after his death, the empire did not last that long and began weakening shortly after his death.

        To conclude this essay, Justinian the Great was the best emperor in the Eastern Roman Empire, and is largely responsible for bringing Byzantium to it's peak.

My Family

  Lesson 15 Essay

        My name is SadieAnn Romeo and I'm 15. I have the most wonderful family I could ever ask for. With 9 siblings and a mom and dad, I'm never without anything to do!

        Mom and Dad are the best parents ever and have helped me so much over my life. Mom is so supportive and she's always there when I need to talk to her, especially when times get really tough. Having Mom just upstairs is a joy. Her being our homeschool teacher is a huge blessing. Dad is a self-employed woodworker, which means that he's always close by in his workshop at our house. Every morning dad wakes us up at 7:30 and then does our daily Bible study. Every day I can hear him praising God for everything we have.

        My 5 sisters are amazing. My older sister Natalie, who is 17, is so fun to talk to even though she can be a little irritating. We like most of the same stuff so we're rarely without anything talk about.

        My younger sisters Olivia, Hannah, Ariel, and Lucy are great siblings. Olivia (12) is my go to person when I need to talk. Hannah (10), Ariel (6), and Lucy (3), get really close when they play dress up and that makes me smile.

        Benjamin (16), Jacob (13), and Calvin (8), are my brothers. Ben and Jake are always making sure the daily chores get done. Everyday Ben has a new tidbit of something to say and Jacob is so interesting to play with.

        All in all, our family is always there for each other. Getting through this year has been hard after my brother Max (19), died last year in a car crash. Max's girlfriend, Chelsey, has become part of our family and she's a great friend. My church family has been super supportive in all that's happened and I know I can trust my friends to help me in my life.

The Teotihuacan and the Olmec Peoples

Lesson 10 Essay

         Mesoamerica, or Central America, extended to the south and to the east of central Mexico. Mexico had many civilizations including the Teotihuacan and the Olmec people. Although these civilizations were in Mexico, they didn't develop the same, but they had a few similarities. Let me explain.

        The Teotihuacan, established around 100 BC, were located in the valley of Mexico. They built very grid-like cities with streets going north-south and east-west directions. They continued to build their cities until around 250 AD. The city was, at it's peak, much larger than the city of Rome. They built adobe huts for the poor and the richer people got single story houses.

        The Teotihuacan were very famous for the stepped pyramids with temples at the top that they built. The largest of these temples is the Pyramid of the Sun.

                                                                Pyramid of the Sun

        They also had multiple trades: They were very agricultural. They were merchants in the salt trade. They were also very good potters; they had a thin orange pottery style that spread through Mesoamerica. They made weapons and tools from obsidian. Onyx and jade were used for decoration, along with carved shells and ear spools.

        Sadly though, the Teotihuacan civilization was destroyed by fire in 750 AD. They left no written records except calenders.

        The Olmec people were the first major civilization in Mexico. They lived in a tropical, jungle region of South-central Mexico. They had three major religious centers: San Lorenzo, La Venta, and Tres Zapotes. The Olmec also built stepped pyramids with temples on top like the Teotihuacan. Their gods were animal heads carved out of of stone. These heads can be found on the walls of the temples.

        The Olmec are most known for their huge, artful head statues carved from volcanic rock. Their writing was much like the Egyptian writing. They used hieroglyphs, but, instead of one hieroglyph per one word or phrase, the Olmec used one hieroglyph per syllable.

                                                              Olmec  statue

        The majority of the Olmec people lived in villages. These villages were located on higher ground and consisted of several scattered houses. A modest temple may have been associated with the larger villages. The individual dwellings would consist of a house, an associated lean-to, and one or more storage pits. They traded for obsidian, basalt, and jade.

Week One Essay: The Ancient Egypt Civilization

 Lesson 5 Essay

      Rule of Egypt: Ancient Africa had several civilizations, some of them strong and some of them weak, but the strongest and most well known of them was Ancient Egypt. The pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx of Giza are Egypt's most notable structures. For most of its existence pharaohs ruled over Egypt. The country was formed as an agricultural society based around the Nile River. The Nile is really unique because it is the longest river in the world and it runs from south to north.

     The history of Egypt is divided into a series of stable kingdoms, separated by periods of instability known as Intermediate Periods, because their power fluctuated from strong, to weak, to strong again. The Middle Kingdom, one of these periods, marked the point where Egypt was reunited and became strong again. The Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians at this time.

     Nearing the end of the Middle Kingdom the Hyksos, another civilization, invaded Egypt. However, the Hyksos were easily defeated and the New Kingdom began. This was Egypt's Golden Age, the pinnacle of Egypt's power. With their new-found glory, the Egyptians expanded their territory. But as soon as the strong line of pharaohs died off, Egypt slowly fell into an enormous decline in power that it never recovered from. Assyria, another civilization, eventually took over Egypt and then later the Persians ruled.

     A man known as Alexander the Great, king of Macedon in northern Greece, came to Egypt and conquered one of its cities. He named the city Alexandria, after himself. One of Alexander's generals, Ptolemy Soter, established himself as the new pharaoh of Egypt. This Greek Ptolemaic Dynasty ruled Egypt for nearly 300 years until 30 BC, when, under the pharaoh Cleopatra VII, it fell to the Roman Empire and became a Roman province.

                                                             The Pyramid and Sphinx of Giza

    Egyptian Culture: There was a huge contrast in the rich and poor citizens of Egypt. The poor had to work for their food and housing. Food was probably very scarce for most people in the lower parts of Egypt. While the poor were busy with their own lives, they also had to serve the upper class which included the nobles and the pharaohs, which were worshiped as gods . Egypt invented "papyrus" as an early form of paper for writing scrolls. They also invented "hieroglyphics", a complete form of writing.

                                                                  Egyptian hieroglyphs