Miniver? What is Miniver?

Today we began reading E.L. Konigsburg's novel A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver. 

We learned that "scarlet" is a shade of red with an orangish tint and that "miniver" is a kind of white fur, made from the ermine, often used to trim the robes of kings and queens during the Middle Ages.

We also discussed the common medieval practice of arranged marriages, and we learned that a "dowry" is property or money brought by a bride to her husband at the time they get married. 

In the initial chapters of Proud Taste, we'll learn that Eleanor brought to King Louis a particularly impressive dowry: the fertile lands of Aquitaine, along with the many vassals who lived there.

Lillian: It seems like women during the Middle Ages were almost used like pawns.

Lillian's comment is very insightful, and I'm curious to see how Eleanor responds to being treated as a pawn!

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Here are the websites for your research about George Mallory:

http://www.affimer.org/hemmleb4.html

http://www.affimer.org/hemmleb6.html

Advice for Pope Urban II

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Ethan: Pope Urban should have made a compromise.

Since Jerusalem is called the holy land for both of the religions, why not share it?

I mean look at it today -- you have three religions in the holy land.  And there were so many less people back then, it would have been easy. 

That's what would I have done.

History Video #16: The Siege of Jerusalem

Thanks to Lisa for this stunning illustration of knights at battle.

The Crusades: Pope Urban's Speech

Today the students read and analyzed Pope Urban II's famous speech at Clermont, during which he asked the Europeans to embark on a journey to Jerusalem to reclaim it from the Turks.

Here are some of the responses to my questions about the speech.

In his speech at Clermont, why did Pope Urban II refer to himself as "we" rather than "I"?

Natalie, Seppi, Isabella C., and Jago: The Pope was talking on behalf of all Christians. He was trying to make the Franks feel like a team.

Lisa, Marin, Lia and Sami: He didn't want the people listening to the speech to set him apart from themselves. He wanted the illusion that he is just one of them and that they are all one.

Gardiner, Cole, Dawson, and Leah: The Pope wanted to connect with everyone. The word "we" is more convincing than "I". Also, he was referring to God and himself.

Why might a historian prefer to read the transcript of Pope Urban's speech, rather than reading another historian's book that summarized the speech?

Stewart, Zach, Sam, and Gresh: A historian would rather read the actual speech because he would rather come to his own conclusions. He might also want to read the actual words to see exactly which words prompted the soldiers to go on such violent Crusades.

Lisa, Marin, Lia and Sami: If another historian puts Pope Urban's speech into his own words, the details could be changed. This way, it's more reliable.

Sophie M., Lucas M., Emma and Julia: Pope Urban's speech is more precise, more authentic and more meaningful than just a summary of the speech. [Wow: that is a triple dose of salsa: precise, authentic and meaningful are fantastic vocabulary words!]

Why did Pope Urban include quotes from the Bible in his speech?

Ariana, Rosalie, Bertie, and Alex: The Pope uses quotes from the Bible to motivate the Christians to fight for God, and also to show that there's textual evidence for his arguments.

Sophie M., Lucas M., Emma and Julia: Using the quotes from the Bible cleans up the images and makes it like these words and ideas were from God, rather than just from him.

The Crusades: The Significance of Jerusalem

Today we began studying the Crusades: a series of military expeditions in which Christians and Muslims fought for control of Jerusalem and other cities in Palestine (which was called the Holy Land by medieval Christians).

We discussed the reasons that Jerusalem is considered a sacred site by the followers of three major religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

We also talked about why European Christians were so motivated to risk their lives and travel thousands of miles to try to reclaim control of Jerusalem from the Turks.

Charles: Why did the Crusaders choose red as the color for the crosses on their uniforms and armor?

The Pope

Pope Francis was born in Argentina in 1936. 

He was elected pope on March 13, 2013.

Today we discussed popes.

We started class by watching part of a Catholic mass led by Pope Francis. The mass was held in the Sistine Chapel, and several students told me that they studied the Sistine Chapel (and Michelangelo's beautiful frescoes) during 5th grade.

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We learned that, prior to his death, Jesus designated his disciple Peter as the leader of the Christian Church. Peter became the bishop of Rome, and subsequent bishops of Rome were called pope (which comes from the Latin word "papa", meaning father).

Popes became very powerful during the Middle Ages. They often competed for power with kings and queens (who wanted it for themselves!).

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Several students asked why the pope wears a skullcap that resembles the yarmulke worn by Jewish men.  Here's an explanation, from a website called "Catholic Notebook":

The skullcap (known as a zuchetto) is a sign that a man is wholly dedicated to the Lord. 

Zucchettos are color-coded to denote rank in the Catholic Church: the Pope wears a white zucchetto, cardinals wear red zucchettos, bishops wear purple zucchettos, and priests wear black zucchettos (although priests nowadays rarely wear them). 

The zucchetto designates that a man is a servant of God and stands in the presence of God.

Here's a drawing of Pope Gregory, one of the most influential popes during the Middle Ages.

Pollution During the Middle Ages (and Today)

Today the students read the stories of Nelly the Sniggler and Drogo the Tanner. First, though, we had to figure out what it means to "sniggle"!

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Some students decided that sniggling could mean snoring and giggling at the same time. Charles humorously demonstrated the fine art of simultaneous snoring and giggling.

Eventually, we discovered that sniggling refers to fishing for eels and frogs. It turns out that eels were a very popular food during the Middle Ages.

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Next, we learned that the process of tanning animal hides was an important technological breakthrough, because leather is more durable than rawhide.  Unfortunately, tanning produces a significant amount of waste, and medieval tanners often threw the waste directly into the streams and rivers.

Snigglers (like Nelly) did not like tanners. Snigglers thought the tanners were polluting the streams and hurting the eels and frogs. 

The stories about pollution during the Middle Ages led to a fascinating discussion about the ways that important technologies (on which we all depend) continue to cause pollution.  

The students discussed various types of pollution, and I asked them to choose one source of pollution or environmental damage that they think will be especially difficult to decrease.  I also challenged them to come up with a suggestion for how the government could contribute to "solving" this source of pollution. Here are some of their responses: 

Henry, Jay, Kimball and Nikki: The biggest current problem is that humans are cutting down too many trees. Our suggestion is that the government pass a law that would require timber companies to plant at least one new tree for each tree that is cut down.

Jago, Natalie, Caroline and Gresh: The biggest current problem is that automobiles are releasing too much pollution into the atmosphere.  Our suggestion is that the government pass a law that would require American car-makers to build more electric cars and fewer gasoline cars.

Did They Have Snow Days During the Middle Ages?

Medieval Knight, by Sophie H.

We have been discussing the way that many people during the Middle Ages (with the exception of monks and nuns) were illiterate. 

For last Friday's quiz, the students were asked to write a sentence illustrating the meaning of the word "illiterate". Stewart had an original, clever approach to this question. He told me that an illiterate medieval peasant wouldn't be able to write at all; therefore, Stewart left the answer-space completely blank!

I hope that everyone enjoyed the snow today! 

PS: The new drawings at the top of the page are by Kimball, Alex and Katherine.

Medieval Illumination, by Sam

Reading Closely

This week we have been reading the wonderful tales from Good Masters; Sweet Ladies.

Yesterday, we read the stories of Isobel the Lord's Daughter and Barbary the Mudslinger.

Isobel's and Barbary's differing accounts of the "muck toss" reminded us of the importance of considering things from more than one perspective.

Isobel: I cannot take the stain from my gown or the thought from my mind: They hate me.

Why?  What have I done?  With my own soft hands I have given out bread on Lammas Day, from my own purse I give to the poor.

Barbary: Bull's-eye. But I didn't enjoy it - not for more'n a moment. Not after I saw her face. She hadn't done anything to me ... 

I prayed that God would forgive me - that the muck would come out of her dress, and that my stepmother wouldn't die.

By connecting these two stories to the earlier story of Hugo, Hannah provided a fantastic insight into why we should feel sympathy for Isobel.

Hannah pointed out that Isobel's father -- the lord of the manor -- is revealed by Hugo to be a harsh, mean person, who threatened to beat his nephew if he did not kill the boar.

Hannah said that Isobel had a more difficult life than you'd expect, since she had to deal with such a cruel father.

This was a terrific job of close-reading by Hannah.

History Video #15: Middle Ages Quiz Review

A big thanks to Sophie M., Jackson, Peter, Marin and Ellie for the beautiful artwork displayed above. 

I love the variety of colors (contrasted with the stark black-and-white simplicity of Peter's knight at center)!

And, before the history video, here's one more fantastic picture - this one by Peyton.

The Middle Ages: Boar Hunting and Blacksmithing

I ran to the woods, where I saw his tracks -

this big - and the mud he scratched

bottom side the trees.

Followed his friants straight to his bed

and found it warm.

There was a boar in the forest.

(from the story Hugo in Good Masters, Sweet Ladies, by Laura Amy Schlitz)

Today we talked about ways that life was similar and different for adolescents during the Middle Ages. Jack and Ethan did a fantastic job portraying Hugo as he tracked the boar.

Medieval Lords and Ladies

Today we discussed the feudal system.

I thought that Queens Lillian, Natalie and Jacqueline, along with King Berteus, were quite gracious to their subjects.

They distributed fiefs to a number of different vassals, and Queen Natalie even took the dramatic step of returning surplus crops to some of the serfs!

However, some of the serfs were less than pleased with the lords and ladies of the manor. These serfs objected that they were not treated fairly in light of their backbreaking work in the fields!

How many M&M's do you think a loyal peasant deserves?!

History Video #14 - Feudalism

Beautiful Maps of the Byzantine Empire

Today the students worked on making maps of the Byzantine Empire.  Here are some lovely examples by Jay, Amanda, Jeremy and Tomas.

The Bosporus Strait and the Crossroads of the World

This photo shows a bridge that spans the Bosporus Strait.  The bridge starts in Europe -- and ends in Asia!

Today we continued to discuss Istanbul/Constantinople.

We focused on the strategic location of the city. Istanbul sits on the famous Bosporus Strait, with the Black Sea to the north and the Mediterranean Sea to the south.

The students looked at a map of the Mediterranean Region to choose other equally important locations.  Some of their candidates:

1. The Strait of Gibraltar (the doorway to the Mediterranean)

2. The Island of Sicily

3. Just about anywhere in Greece

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 Here are a couple more photographs of Istanbul.  Notice how the city combines the old and the new.

Constantinople

Today I introduced our next unit: the Middle Ages.

The time period known as the Middle Ages lasted approximately 1,000 years, from circa 400 AD (when the Roman Empire collapsed) until circa 1400 AD (at which time they ended, with the beginning of the Renaissance).

We also discussed the barbarian invasions of the Roman Empire.

Here's a map showing the particular "points-of-attack" of various barbarian tribes, including the Goths, Vandals, and Huns:

Musical Mondays: I talked about the importance of Constantinople during the Middle Ages, and we listened to "Istanbul (not Constantinople)" by They Might be Giants.

For those of you who enjoyed the catchy melody and beat, here's another rendition of the song: