Middle+Ages

1000-1500
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__5 Most Important People__

 * 1) **Joan Of Arc**- Female soldier who led french armies to capture Orleans and was the figurehead of the war and was said to have been the liberator of France.
 * 2) **King Richard**- Called "The Lionhearted" fought in the Crusades and was a strong warrior however many were upset by his choice to pour so many resources into the Crusades.
 * 3) **Charles Martel**- This king lead the Frankish army in the Battle of Tours and was also said to have started Feudalism in Europe.
 * 4) **Pepin the Short**- Was the first Carolingian king of the Franks and was elected by the nobles, he was the son of Charles Martel and the father of Charlemagne.
 * 5) **Charlemagne**- Called "Charles the Great" he was crowned king of the Franks by Pope Leo III when his father died in 768.

__5 Important Terms__
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 * 1) **Feudalism**- To motivate Knights and Nobles to work to expand and protect the king's territory he would promise them land this system used in this time period was known as Feudalism.
 * 2) **Counts**- Kings representatives who ruled an appointed region and took care of collecting taxes and such for the king, they were also in charge of defending the reigion so they hired knights.
 * 3) **Tithe**- 10% of income paid to the church the church also convinced people if they donated to the church their deceased loved ones would suffer in Purgatory for a shorter time.
 * 4) **Excommunicated**- When the Catholic church had increased its power to a certain point it held sway over the king's decisions by threatening sever the ruler from the church and community.
 * 5) **Ordeal-** Trial by ordeal was based on the belief that God would protect an innocent person from the physical test such as holding a hot poker to an accused person's tongue.

The Middle Ages
====During the middle ages feudalism was very common in a society. A king would appoint nobles to plots of land and they would take care of watching over the village and land. This was the medieval time period and consisted of Knights in armor, crusades, religious wars and striving for freedom. The next few paragraphs will be an overveiw of the events of the era and how they affect modern day civilizations.====

====To start off, this was a time when religions clashed, in this case the religions were Islam and Christianity. Both sides were fighting for control of Israel the holy land in both religions. The Muslims wanted it because of The Dome of the Rock where it is believed that Muhammad ascended to heaven. The Christians wanted Israel because it was the birthplace of Jesus Christ and because it was the promised land for the Hebrews when Moses led them from Egypt. This led to the crusades which led to the killing of thousands.====

====In addition, there were some tributes in literature that are famous today. Such as The Divine Comedy by Dante which was a story of what happened to the soul after death. Another famous work in literature from the era, is Beowulf. It is the story of and Anglo-saxon warrior that defeated a terrible monster called Grendel. This was also the time when the Bubonic Plague was ravaging Europe. "The Black Death" as it was called killed millions of people and at the end of the epidemic 1/3 of Europe's population had died. In conclusion, this was a very eventful age, filled with some horrific events that left Europe in near ruins.====



To Learn More:
[|Middle Ages] [|The Middle Ages] [|Medieval Era] [|Middle Ages for Kids] [|Bubonic Plague]