A1 ~ Clovis, King of Salic Franks, was born in 446 died in Paris in 511, having gained authority in much of Northern Gaul, and extending his power as far as the Loire River.  In 492 he married Clotilda (niece of the king of the Burgundians),  who was a Catholic and made him baptize their son.  While in the battle of Tolbiac, Clovis' troops were being defeated, and he asked God for help, in return for which he promised he would become baptised.  He ended up winning the battle, and as a Christian founded many churches and monasteries throughout France, spreading the belief.  He began the Merovingian dynasty, the first long-term ruling family of what has become France.

B1 ~ Wu Ti was Emperor of China from 140-87 BC.  A member of the Han dynasty, he was greatly interested in consolidating his borders and improving trade.  With his general, Chang Ch'ien, he made alliances with several neighboring peoples.  Ch'ien is also credited with opening the great Silk Road, by which Chinese trade was greatly expanded.  Wu Ti is credited with inventing "leveling", a process by which the government stores supplies during times of plenty, and redistributes them during times of famine, thereby making it possible for more people to survive.

C2 (C8, D8, B20, D20) ~ The continuing movement of various groups of peoples, particularly Germanic tribes, is a theme from the end of Unit 3 that continues into this unit.  Much of this movement effected Britain, where groups like the Celts had established a presence as far back as 700 BC.  Gaels, Picts, and Scots were native tribes that influenced Britain's development.  Julius Caesar had invaded in 55 BC, leading to a long period of dominance by the Romans, but after the collapse of the Empire, the resulting power vacuum opened the way for other groups. 
    The Angles & Saxons were Germanic tribes who greatly influenced the development of Britain.  In fact, today we refer to Anglo-Saxon culture as derived from the combination of cultures they helped create.  Jutes and Frisians also invaded from Germanic origins. 
    The Danes were Norsemen who in the 8th Century moved into England, establishing an area known as the Danelaw, and placing a tax on  Englishmen that became known as the Danegeld.  Though Alfred pushed them back, their influence was never truly ended. 
    Both the Lombards and Franks were Germanic tribes as well, though neither of them "invaded" Britain in the usual sense.  The Franks settled in what is now France, becoming farmers and eventually bringing many tribes together.  One of those groups, the Normans, would back William the Conqueror in his 1066 invasion.  The Lombards settled in northwestern Italy, an area eventually called Lombardy, and became involve with England when some of them became official bankers to the King.

A9 ~ Majordomo ~ A man in charge of a great, royal, or noble household; chief steward.  Majordomo comes from the Latin words major meaning greater, an elder and domus which means of the house; "Master of the House."  This was an important position in the Frankish culture, because their kings often failed, causing majordomos like Pepin the Younger (who began the Carolingian dynasty - France's second great ruling family) and Charles Martel, to become famous or even king.

D15 ~ Venerable Bede was a Doctor of the Church, famous for his many writngs.  In point of scholarship he was undoubtedly the most learned man of his time.  His great work, the Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, gives an account of Chrisianity in England from the earliest times until his own day, and is the foundation of all our knowledge of Brittish history, a masterpiece eulogized by the scholars of every age.

A16 ~ Pepin the Short was born in 714, and died at St. Denis, 24 September, 768.  Pepin and his older brother Carloman were taught by the monks of St. Denis, and the impressions received during their monastic education had a controlling influence upon the relations of both princes to the Church.  This was especially noted when Pepin brought his consolidated empire under his own moral authority, which is partly the reason why a Broadway Musical, Pippin, was written to romanticize his reign.

B16 ~ Abbasid ~ The Abbasids were one big family that descended from al-Abbas, an uncle of Muhammad. Abbasids were leaders of both Muslims and Islamic communities in the middle East.  They drove the Omayyads out, made Baghdad their capital, and declared Abu'l Abbas their first caliph.  Their cultural height was under the caliphs Harun al-Rashid and al-Ma'mun.

C16 ~ Gregorian Chant ~  A plain song, or canto fermo, a kind of unison music.  They follow according to the eight celebrated church modes, as arranged and prescribed by Pope Gregory I in the 6th century.  This is used in church today when we sing certain parts of the Mass, like the Sanctus, Kyrie, or Allelieua.  You will recognize the sound, which is like monotonous droning.

D16 ~ Kiev ~ Located on the Dnieper river in modern day Russia, it became a major center of trade because it was a crossroads for travelers in any direction.  This included invaders like the Varangians, Tatars, and Polish princes who dominated the history of the area.  The most important rulers of Kiev were Riurik of the Varangians who invaded from Scandinavia,  Valdimir of Novgorod who instituted the Russian Orthodox church as the official religion (Christian), and Jaroslav the Wise, who wrote the first Russian law code.  The city is important today because of the many cathedrals and ruins that give us information about religion during the Middle Ages, and its location at a crossroads.

A17 ~ Granada was originally a Moorish fortress and rose to prominence during the Almoravid and Almohad dynasties.  In 1238 it became the seat of the kingdom of Granada, last refuge of the Moors whom the Christian reconquest had driven south.  The kingdom occupied the present provinces of Almeria and Malaga and parts of Jaen and Cadiz.

B 17 ~ Carloman was the son of Charles Martel, and brother of Pepin the Short.  For a time, he ruled together with his brother, but retired to a monastery in his later years.  Carloman helped Pepin defeat the rival dukes for increasing power over the Franks, and helped Boniface reform the Frankish church.

C17 ~ Roland ~Supposedly Charlemagne's nephew and in charge of the Frankish army, he was a Frankish hero who died in an ambush while helping Spain get rid of the pagans who were attacking.  The ambush supposedly occured in the Pyrenees (Spanish mountain range) but the stories leave out his passing through Roncesvalles. After seizing control of the newly conquered land, he and the "twelve peers" stayed to protect it and were ambushed by pagan Basques.  Roland was eventually killed fighting them heroically because he was too proud to call for back up. This story shows the values of the Franks, and how Christianity held intact in Europe.

D17 ~ Harun al-Rashid was the fifth and most famous caliph.  He was a succesful general in invasions of Asia Minor, and his empire included all SW Asia and the northern part of Africa.  Harun had diplomatic relations with China and Charlemagne, and he was a munificent patron of letters and of arts, and under him Baghdad was at its apogee.  One of the great works of literature created during his reign was 1001 Arabian Nights, which is told by Scheherezade who is famous in literature because her tales of Ali Baba and Alladin put off her execution for 1001 days.

D18 ~ Machu Picchu- The city was built by Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui as a fortress. Machu Picchu was built between 1460 and 1470 AD, and is located high in the Andes Mountains in a high saddle between two peaks in modern Peru.  It was a large city that could only be reached by means of rope ladders.  It was mainly built to be hidden away from unwanted visitors, officials looking for army volunteers, or tax collectors. It is important for us to know about this city because it shows us some of the greatness of the ancient architecture that ancient tribes used to use, and because we do not normally think of American Natives as being very advanced before Europeans arrived.  The city was so well hidden that it was not rediscovered until 1911 by Hiram Bingham, who was flying over it in an airplane.

A20 ~ Alfred was known as king Alfred "The Great", king of the Saxons.  Alfred was a scholar and lawmaker who repelled the Danes and helped consolidate England into a unified kingdom.  Ruling from 871-899, King Alfred defended Anglo Saxon England from raiding Vikings, formulated a code of laws, and fostered a rebirth of religious and scholarly activity.

C20 ~ Arabesque- A decorative pattern composed of rhythmic, curvilinear designs. The term is usually associated with intricate or foliated scrollwork seen in Islamic architecture, minature painting and minor arts. These delicate traceries can be extended almost endlessly and when deployed over entire surfaces they form rich textural effects. Architectural arabesques are usually independent of the structure that carries them. It began in the late Roman and Renaissance periods

A21 ~ Cordoba, the ancient capital of the Moorish kingdom of El-Andalus (now Andalusia), is a city in Spain that fostered the first European universities brought by the Arabs.  Cordoba is also the home of the "Mesquita" which is a mosque that was built during the Moorish reign, and when the Christans later invaded Spain, there was a large cathedral built at its heart.  Cordoba brought life to Europe during the dark ages with its many inhabitants, and was also the center of education in Europe, providing the first and only universities at the time.  Cordoba influenced education and brought new ideas to Europe at the time, and in our time now, we still need the influence of new things that we know are good for us.

B 21 ~ Yen Ching

C21 ~ Flanders~ Charlemagne's grandsons divided his empire by the Treaty of Verdun which made Flanders part of the West Frankish Kingdom. A region of the Low Countries, bordered by the North Sea, the Scheldt (Escaut) River, amd the hills of Artois it is situated at a crossroads of European trade. Agriculture expanded and the lands were divided among the workers. Its flourishing agriculture produced primarily flax, which influenced life by making cloth less expensive, and had a prosperous industrial and commercial economy, and richly developed urban life.

D21 ~ London Bridge - This was the first stone bridge across the Thames River in London, and was completed in 1209.  Its wooden piles were always cracking, and the houses along the length of the bridge were plagued by fires. This may account for the origin of the song "London Bridge is Falling Down".  In 1968, 10,000 tons of its granite facing blocks were sold for $2.5 million to McCulach Corporation, developers of a resort in Arizona, who reconstructed the bridge in the desert.

A22 ~ Hugh Capet was picked to be King of France because he was expected to be weak, so the Lords could do whatever they wanted.  He was the son of Hugh the Great and was very much involved in the Church, like his father.  It is important to know him now because he founded the Capetian Dynasty about 996 AD which reigned continuously until 1316, and included important kings such as Louis IX (St. Louis).

C22~Beowulf- A folk epic written by the anglo saxons, it was told at feasts by traveling scopes for entertainment. Beowulf is the oldest epic written in a modern language, and helps set the pattern for the "Hero Story" as outlined in our "Toolbox".  The main characters are: Beowulf (the hero, a man with super human strength), Grendel (a monster who eats people, and is killed by Beowulf), Grendle's mom (who tries to get revenge for her son but is also killed by Beowulf), a dragon (Beowulf also kills him but is killed by dragon at the same time), and Hrothgar (king of the Danes; his people are being eaten by Grendel so he calls in Beowulf)

D22 ~ The Mayas were dominant during the Classic Period from 300 to 900 A.D.  The Classic Period saw an explosion of cultural creativity all throughout the region populated by the tribes called "Myan." A priestly class lived in the cities, but for the most part the Mayan population lived in small farming villages. The Mayas abandonded their cities around 900 A.D. They believed that the world had been created five times and destroyed four times. Most of the Mayan gods were repitllian and they believed in an elaborate afterlife, but heaven was reserved for those who had been hanged, sacrificed, or died in childbirth.  Hell was ruled over by the Lords of Death.  Ruins of their great temples can be seen at Chichen Itza in Mexico.

A23 ~ Yucatan - The large peninsula in the southeastern corner of Mexico, where Mayan and Aztec ruins are plentiful.

B23 ~ Leif Ericson - An Icelandic explorer during the turn of the 11th Century, he was the son of Eric the Red.   Some archaeoligists believe that he was the first European to set foot on North America.  It is believed that he was on his way back to Greenland when he got lost and came to a place he called Vinland, where he established a colony that did not flourish.

C23--Ethelred the Unready became King of England after the murder of his half-brother, Edward II, at the age of ten. His reign was long and ineffective, the most notable event being when he tried to pay off Danegeld, a Viking invader, to keep him from pillaging his kingdom.  He was forced to abandon his throne in 1013 because of the relentless invasions. We need to know about him today because he shows how important good advice can be. Most of Ethelred's problems were due to the fact that he had bad counsel.

D23~Jaroslav the Wise- Jaroslav the wise was born in 1015 as the prince of Kiev, and died in 1054, followed by the decline of his empire. In 1020 Jaroslav codified Russian Law and built cities, schools, and churches.  Jaroslav divided the empire into separate states and appointed people to govern those states which we can probably trace to the root of the problem with all the former Russian states such as Ukraine and Uzbeckistan and how they wanted to be independent nations.  Jaroslav is imporant to know about today because the way in which he codified Russian law gives us an idea of what our government system is based on and how it has changed since then.

A24 ~ Canute ~ He was the king of all of England, Denmark, the Norwegians and part of the Swedes. He was important because his strong rule brought a period of peace in which Anglo-Scandinavian art and Christianity flourished. This peace allowed Christianity to become a major part of England and Europe where much of the U.S. heritage is from, which is why he is important to today's world.

B24 ~ Duncan was the King of Scotland in 1034. The impact that he had during his time came mostly because he was almost always fighting a battle or war of some kind, and wreaking havoc throughout his land. We now need to know and recognize the true, impetuous and arrogant King of Scotland as just that, instead of the kindly, rather elderly gentleman portrayed in Shakespeare's play Macbeth

C24 ~ Edward the Confessor was the last Anglo-Saxon King of England of Alfred's line.  He was called the "Confessor" because of his religious practices.  As the son of Ethelred the Unready he was chosen to be the king of England in 1042 by the council of Witan.  Edward was not a strong leader and preferred the monastery life.  He impacted those times because he founded Westminister Abbey.  We need to know about him today because he was proclaimed a saint in 1161 by Pope Alexander III, and his feast day is October 13th.

D24~ Westminster Abbey is the famous national church in London.  It impacted their life by cornation of monarchs and it was where imporant weddings took place.  We need to know about this because it is the now one of the most important national churches in London, and contains the tombs of Geoffrey Chaucer, Samuel Johnson, Charles Dickens, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and G. F. Handel, among others.

C25~ El Cid Campeador (coming from the Arabic al-sayyid "Lord", and the Spanish campeador "Champion") was a Christian General whose real name was Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar.   He was exiled by the Christians for being too friendly with the Muslims, so he went and worked for a Muslim dynasty.  El Cid was brought out of exile to save Christianity in Spain, which he did by winning the battle of Valencia. The reason why we should still know about him today is because he saved Christianity in Spain, is the subject of the first great epic poem of Spain, and had an excellent movie made about his story.

A26 ~ The Tower of London is a group of stone buildings in the east end of London.  It was built by William the Conqueor, and has a prison and is a former royal residence. It is no longer used for a prison but many famous people were imprisoned in the tower such as Richard III's two nephews, and Elizabeth I.  Henry VIII's wife Anne Boleyn was also beheaded there.  It has an impact on today because it holds the jewel office of the English rulers.

B26 ~ Acre was the site of a major battle between the Christians and the Turks in 1189 AD.  Led by Guy of Lusignon, the king of Jerusalem, the Christians used crossbows and cavalry (mostly the Knights Templar) to drive through the Saracen lines.  The Christians, unfortunately, decided to then stop and loot the surrounding area, during which time Saladin, the Turkish leader, reformed his lines and brought in fresh reinforcements.  Christian losses were extensive (some estimate 7000 men), but Acre was eventually surrendered in 1191.

C26 ~ Saint Anselm of Canterbury(1033-1109) was an outstanding Christian philosopher and theologian.  He impacted his time by coming up with the ontologial argument, which proves that God exists.  (See below.)  He is important to us today because of his theistic proofs, his conception of the divine nature, and his account of human freedom, sin, and redemption.

D26 ~ Ontological Proof - Ontological Proof is an argument that God exists, and was used by both Decartes and Anselm.  Ontological proof rests on the idea that "perfection" is part of the meaning of "God" and that "exists" is part of the meaning of "perfect."  Therefore, this proves that God exists. We need to know this today because it is an argument that God does exists, and it raised controversy with the nature of Saints as well.

A28 ~ Fredrick Barbarossa was a German King (1152-1190) and a Holy Roman Emperor (1155- 1190).  He proclaimed a general peace to end the anarchy.  He was recognizable for his curly red beard (hence his name) and died during the Crusade of Kings when he fell off his horse and drowned in a river.  We need to know him because of the foundations of new towns, the increase of trade and colonization and Christianization of Slavic lands that occurred during his reign.

B28 ~ Eleanor of Aquitaine went on the second crusade early in her life, and returned to be a wealthy person because she was heiress to the duchy of Aquitaine. She was married to King Louis VII of France, but that marriage was annulled after 15 years because she had no male children.  She then married Henry Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, who became King Henry II of England, and lived an eventful life.  They had five sons and three daughters and two of their children, Richard (the Lion-hearted) and John (Lackland), became kings of England.  She also wrote an interesting book about the splendors of courtly love.

C28~ Campanile of Pisa ~ The laying of the first stone of this tower took place on August 9,1173.  Thus began construction of one of the most unusual monuments of all times, whose history continues to the present.  Part of a celebrative complex of monuments that enrich the Piazza Dei Miracolo, tradition attributes the work to Bonanno Piano, in conjuction with William of Innsbruck.  Count Ugolino della Gherardesca was locked up with his whole family in the tower for betraying his city to the Genoan navy, and the people of Pisa threw the key in the Arno river, causing the count and his family to die of starvation.  The tower was finally finished in 1319, and a bell tower was added to the top in 1350.  Sometime afterward, it began to lean which is why it is so famous today.

A29 ~ Chartres is a city in north central France.  The highest point of the city is crowned by the wold famous Cathedral of Notre Dame.  It is noted for the beauty of its south spire, its statuary, stained glass windows, and renaissance choir screen, and is considered the archetypal example of gothic architecture.

A30 ~ Francis of Assisi is the patron saint of animals and ecology, whose feast day is on Oct. 4.  The founder of the Franciscan order, he once enjoyed a rich life thanks to his father's fortune.  Francis' father did not want him to be baptized but to become a business man.  One day, Francis gave up everything he owned, dressed in rags, and went about teaching others to love each other rather than material things.  Although he was very religious Francis never became a priest, but did become a deacon. He lived and preached the word of God, helping many non-believers believe. When Francis got older, he became ill and eventually blind.  He never recovered from his illnesses, and died at age 45.

B30 ~ Leprosy - A chronic, midly contagious granulomatous disease of tropical and subtropical regions caused by the bacillus mycobacterium lepral, characterized by ulcers of the skin, bone, and viscera and leading to loss of sensation, paralysis, gangrene, and deformation. The name is from the Greek lepra, by which the Greek physicians designated the disease from its scaliness. The disease was regarded as an awful punishment from the Lord. A man with leprosy was required to have his outer garment rent as a sign of deep grief, to go bareheaded, and to cover his beard with his mantle.  He had further to warn passers-by to keep away from him, by calling out "Unclean! Unclean!" nor could he speak to any one, or return a salutation.  Eventually, lepers mostly chose to live in "colonies" apart from regular society.

A31 ~ Alexander Nevski was a Grand Prince of Novgorod.  He fought and protected the Russian people from German and Swedish invasion.  Alexander turned over his brother to the occupying Mongols for plotting a revolt and stopped his people from revolting against the Mongols, because he believed that it would cause great harm to them.  Later, the Mongols didn't draft any Russians at Alexander's request.  He was later canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church to become St. Alexander Nevski.

C31 ~ Michael Palaeologus was a very intellectual man who became Emperor Michael VIII of the Byzantine Empire.  He reigned from 1261-1282, after restoring the Byzantine Empire to its former structure.  He fought with the West, in many petty battles over who controlled what areas of land.  He tried to reunite the Eastern & Western churches, which made virtually everyone unhappy.  Byzantines who stayed Orthodox were punished, and the Roman church wanted little to do with him.  Finally, Pope Martin IV excommunicated Michael, keeping the churches split until modern times.  Michael is most remembered for the educational structures he put in place during his reign.

D31 ~ Marco Polo - Marco Polo was a European explorer who travelled to parts of China during the late 12th and early 13th century.  He was somewhat unusual, because he tried to earn the trust of the Chinese by living and working just like they did.  When Marco went to China, he brought back new spices that Italians has never seen before, as well as noodles (spaghetti) and fireworks, which we still use today.

A32 ~ Thomas Aquinas was an Italian philosopher and theologian who enhanced literature and extended views on theology of his time.  We need to know him now because he became one of the principal saints of the Roman Catholic Church, and is patron of schools and education.  He also founded the system, declared by the pope, of the official Catholic philosophy.

B32 ~ Dante Alighieri was a poet from Italy.  He wrote the famous work "The Divine Comedy", which is comprised of three parts, "Paradiso", "Purgatorio", and "Inferno".  This work tells the story of his trip through Heaven and Hell, and is the first great work that established the Italian language.  Today, Dante is ranked beside Aeschylus, Homer, and Sophocles, among the greatest poets ever.

C32 ~ Babylonian Captivity - Pope Clement V decided to reside in Avignon instead of Rome because he heard there was some unrest in that city.  The papacy stayed there for 73 years, when finally Pope Gregory XI went back to Rome.  It is called the Babylonian Captivity because the popes were under control of the French kings, much like the Israelites were under control of Babylon at one time.

Comp. 4 ~ The Monothelites were a group of philosophers whose basic idea caused them to be branded heretics.  In the 7th Century, the Bible was discussed with very close attention to detail, and many issues became the cause of great controversy.  The Catholic Church teaches that Jesus was of 2 natures (that of human form and that of his connection to the Father and the Holy Spirit) and that he must therefore be subject to 2 wills.  Therefore, in his action, he always had to choose between the fallible human act or the divine one.  The Monothelites chose to believe that Jesus was of 2 natures, but of only one will, causing his every action to be guided only by his divinity.  After a long period of contention and struggle, the Monothelites were branded heretics and cast out of the Church.

Comp. 5 ~ Louis was a very devout individual, who saw many of his father's books as being of pagan origin.  Not desiring to have his faith in God tested, Louis ordered the books destroyed, thus eliminating a great collection of literature, many pieces of which are likely irreplaceable.

Comp. 10 ~ Pierre Abelard, who lived from 1079-1142, was a scholar and teacher of great reputation, though his admitted vanity sometimes caused him difficulty.  He was often in conflict with other Scholastics, especially the students of Anselm and the monks of St. Denis.  These conflicts haunted him all his life, and resulted in a rather tragic existence.  Of his books, Sic et Non looked most closely at scriptural passages, as well as writings of the Popes.  For each point, he presented both sides of the argument (Yes and No, or in Latin Sic et Non) without making any clear statement about which side was correct or orthodox, given the position of the Church.  His failure to strongly back the Church's official positions on these questions caused his work to be viewed as problematic, since the faithful and heretical alike could gain support from the arguments.

App. 2 ~ The so-called "Arabic numerals" used by western mathematicians today actually originated in India.  They were picked up by the Arabic peoples, who were fascinated with mathematics, because they were very useful in describing fractions, allowed decimals, and solved the place-holding function necessary for large computations.  By 662 AD they were noted in Arabic texts found along the Euphrates river, and progressed westward as Islam expanded through northern Africa.  The use of these numbers made its way to Europe after Muslims spread into Spain.  In 969 AD, al-Sizji wrote about the use of these numerals, demonstrating their written form, which looks very much like today's numbers.  Later, al-Banna al Marrakushi showed further development of the system.  In 1202, the famous Fibonacci wrote of being taught them by his father.

App. 4 ~ According to St. Augustine, certain people are granted "heroic virtue" which makes them exceptional "friends and servants of God".  Canonization was considered a way to thank God for granting such virtue to common people.  God was seen as a "loving distributor of supernatural gifts" and granting sainthood to those who possessed them was a good way to honor those gifts.  The timing may have been significant, as the Church was coming under increasing attacks from numerous directions, and sainthood was a good way to remind people that a good life had its rewards.