History · Ancient & Medieval · Quick reference
Western Civilization(World History 1)
Grades 9–128 pages
Ancient times to 1500: Sumer, Egypt and Israel through Persia, Greece and Rome, the rise of Christianity, Byzantium, Islam and medieval Christendom to the Renaissance: eras, maps, people, battles and great books. Every date is checked in code.
1The ages2Mesopotamia3Egypt4Israel5Assyria & Persia6Greek polis7Persian Wars8Philosophy9Alexander10Republic11Empire12Christianity13Fall of the West14Byzantium15Islam16Medieval Church17Charlemagne18Feudalism19Crusades20High Middle Ages21Late Middle Ages22Renaissance23Who’s who24Battles25Great books
1The Ages at a Glancefrom Sumer to Florence
| Age | Dates | Hallmarks | Age | Dates | Hallmarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ancient Near East | c. 3100–539 B.C. | first cities, writing, law codes, empires | Early Middle Ages | A.D. 476–1000 | monks, missions, Charlemagne |
| Israel | c. 2000–586 B.C. | Abraham to the exile: covenant, Law, kings, prophets | High Middle Ages | 1000–1300 | crusades, cathedrals, universities |
| Classical Greece | c. 800–323 B.C. | the polis, democracy, philosophy | Late Middle Ages | 1300–1453 | plague, war, schism, the fall of Constantinople |
| Hellenistic world | 323–30 B.C. | Greek culture from Egypt to India | Renaissance | c. 1350–1600 | humanism, art, printing |
| Rome | 753 B.C.–A.D. 476 | Republic, then Empire; law, roads, Latin |
Reading dates
- B.C. = before Christ; A.D. = anno Domini, “in the year of the Lord”, written first: A.D. 70.
- There is no year 0: 1 B.C. is followed by A.D. 1. From 490 B.C. to A.D. 10 is 499 years; from 4 B.C. to A.D. 30 is 33.
- B.C. years count down: 490 B.C. came before 480 B.C. The 5th century B.C. is 500–401 B.C.; the 1200s are the 13th century A.D. c. (circa) = about.
Reading history
- Primary source: made at the time (a law, a letter, a coin). Secondary: a later account built from them.
- Test a claim by corroboration: do independent witnesses agree?
- Christians read history as the work of providence: “he removeth kings, and setteth up kings” (Daniel 2:21, KJV).
2Mesopotamiabetween the rivers
| People | When | Remember |
|---|---|---|
| Sumer | c. 3500–2000 B.C. | Ur, Uruk: cities, ziggurats, cuneiform |
| Akkad | c. 2334 B.C. | Sargon builds the first empire |
| Old Babylon | d. 1750 B.C. | Hammurabi’s Code, carved on a stele |
| Assyria | to 612 B.C. | iron army; Nineveh falls |
| New Babylon | 605–539 B.C. | Nebuchadnezzar II: Judah’s exile |
Gifts of Sumer
- Cuneiform (“wedge-shaped”) writing on clay, kept by trained scribes.
- The wheel, the plow, irrigation canals, and counting in 60s (our 60 minutes).
- Ziggurats: stepped temple towers, like Babel “whose top may reach unto heaven” (Genesis 11:4, KJV).
Law and a call
- Hammurabi’s Code set penalties by class: lex talionis, “eye for eye”.
- Abraham came from Ur: “they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan” (Genesis 11:31, KJV).
3Egyptthe gift of the Nile
| Period | Dates | Highlights | Period | Dates | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unification | c. 3100 B.C. | Upper and Lower Egypt united | New Kingdom | c. 1550–1070 B.C. | Ramesses II; Kadesh, 1274 B.C. |
| Old Kingdom | c. 2700–2200 B.C. | Great Pyramid, c. 2560 B.C. | Later periods | 1070–332 B.C. | Persia (525 B.C.), Alexander (332 B.C.) |
| Middle Kingdom | c. 2040–1780 B.C. | canals, trade, literature | Ptolemies | 305–30 B.C. | Greek kings; Cleopatra dies 30 B.C. |
Life and belief
- The Nile’s yearly flood left black silt to farm.
- The pharaoh (“great house”) was held to be divine and to keep ma’at, cosmic order.
- Mummies and the Book of the Dead: hope of life after judgment.
Writing and witness
- Hieroglyphs were read again from the Rosetta Stone (196 B.C.), in hieroglyphs, Demotic and Greek.
- The Merneptah Stele (c. 1208 B.C.) is the oldest outside mention of Israel.
4Israel and the Hebrew Kingdomscovenant, kings and prophets
| Date | Event | Ref. | Date | Event | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c. 2000 B.C. | God calls Abraham from Ur to Canaan | Genesis 12 | 722 B.C. | Assyria takes Samaria | 2 Kings 17 |
| c. 1446 B.C. | The Exodus from Egypt under Moses | Exodus 12 | 701 B.C. | Sennacherib besieges Jerusalem | 2 Kings 19 |
| c. 1050–1010 B.C. | Saul, the first king | 1 Samuel 10 | 586 B.C. | Babylon destroys the Temple | 2 Kings 25 |
| c. 1010–970 B.C. | David makes Jerusalem his capital | 2 Samuel 5 | 538 B.C. | Cyrus lets the exiles return | Ezra 1 |
| c. 966 B.C. | Solomon begins the Temple | 1 Kings 6 | 516 B.C. | The Second Temple is finished | Ezra 6 |
| c. 930 B.C. | Split: Israel north, Judah south | 1 Kings 12 |
The Exodus date follows 1 Kings 6:1: Solomon began the Temple “in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt” (1 Kings 6:1, KJV); 480 years before 966 B.C. is 1446 B.C.
Stones that speak
- Tel Dan Stele (800s B.C.): “House of David”.
- Taylor Prism: Sennacherib shut up Hezekiah in Jerusalem but never claims to take it.
- Cyrus Cylinder (539 B.C.): Cyrus sends peoples home.
What Israel gave
- One God, Creator and Judge; man made in His image.
- The Law and the prophets: justice for the widow and the stranger.
- The promise of a Messiah from David’s line (2 Samuel 7).
5Assyria, Babylon and Persiathe great eastern empires
| Empire | Capital | Kings and dates |
|---|---|---|
| Assyria | Nineveh | Sennacherib (705–681 B.C.); Nineveh falls 612 B.C. |
| New Babylon | Babylon | Nebuchadnezzar II; falls to Cyrus in 539 B.C. |
| Persia | Susa, Persepolis | Cyrus (559–530 B.C.), Darius I (522–486 B.C.), Xerxes I (486–465 B.C.); ends 330 B.C. |
How Persia ruled
- Provinces under satraps; a Royal Road from Susa to Sardis with relay riders.
- Subject peoples kept their customs and gods; the Jews rebuilt the Temple.
- Religion: Zoroastrianism, the worship of Ahura Mazda.
Persia in Scripture
- “Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth” (Ezra 1:2, KJV).
- Esther lived under Ahasuerus, that is, Xerxes I.
6Greece: Heroes and the PolisMinos to Solon
Before the polis
- Minoans on Crete (c. 2000–1450 B.C.): the palace of Knossos.
- Mycenaeans (c. 1600–1100 B.C.): Agamemnon’s world, remembered in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.
- First recorded Olympic Games: 776 B.C. Greek colonies spread from Spain to the Black Sea.
| Sparta | Athens | |
|---|---|---|
| Government | two kings, five ephors, elders; laws of Lycurgus (in legend) | citizen assembly; Solon (594 B.C.), Cleisthenes (508 B.C.) |
| Training | the agoge: army school from age seven | schools, rhetoric, the gymnasium |
| Strength | hoplite phalanx; helots farm the land | the navy and trade; arts and drama |
A polis was a city and its farmland governed by its citizens; only free adult men were citizens.
7The Persian Wars and the Golden AgeMarathon to the Parthenon
| Battle | Date | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Marathon | 490 B.C. | Miltiades’ Athenians rout Darius’ landing force |
| Thermopylae | 480 B.C. | Leonidas and his 300 Spartans die holding the pass against Xerxes |
| Salamis | 480 B.C. | Themistocles’ fleet destroys the Persian navy |
| Plataea | 479 B.C. | the Greek army ends the invasion |
The Golden Age of Athens
- Pericles (d. 429 B.C.) leads Athens; the Delian League (478 B.C.) becomes an Athenian empire.
- The Parthenon (447–432 B.C.); the tragedies of Aeschylus and Sophocles.
- Herodotus, “father of history”, and Thucydides, who wrote the war he fought.
The spark
- The Ionian Revolt (499 B.C.): Greek cities in Asia rose against Persia, and Athens sent ships.
The Peloponnesian War, 431–404 B.C.
- Athens (sea) against Sparta (land); plague kills Pericles.
- The Sicilian Expedition (415–413 B.C.) ruins Athens; Sparta wins in 404 B.C.
8Greek Philosophythe love of wisdom
| Thinker | Dates | Known for | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Socrates | d. 399 B.C. | teaches by questions; condemned by Athens and drinks hemlock | Apology (by Plato) |
| Plato | c. 428–348 B.C. | the Forms; founds the Academy (c. 387 B.C.) | Republic |
| Aristotle | 384–322 B.C. | logic, ethics, politics, biology; the Lyceum (335 B.C.); tutors Alexander | Nicomachean Ethics |
Faith and philosophy
- Paul quoted Greek poets at Athens: “For in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28, KJV).
- The Church Fathers used what was true in the philosophers, and Aquinas later built on Aristotle.
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle
Teacher to student, in order: S-P-A, like a spa where wisdom is passed down.
9Alexander and the Hellenistic WorldMacedon conquers the East
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 338 B.C. | Philip II wins at Chaeronea |
| 336 B.C. | Philip murdered; Alexander king at 20 |
| 334–331 B.C. | Granicus, Issus, Gaugamela |
| 331 B.C. | Founds Alexandria in Egypt |
| 326 B.C. | Hydaspes (India); the army turns back |
| 323 B.C. | Dies at Babylon, aged 32 |
After Alexander
- His generals (the Diadochi) split the empire: Ptolemies in Egypt, Seleucids in Asia, Antigonids in Macedon.
- Greek became the common tongue; at Alexandria the Old Testament was put into Greek, the Septuagint.
- Antiochus IV defiled the Temple (167 B.C.); the Maccabees revolted. Rome took Greece in 146 B.C.
Foretold
- “And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king” (Daniel 8:21, KJV).
10The Roman Republic509–27 B.C.
A mixed constitution
- Founded 753 B.C. (by tradition); the kings expelled about 509 B.C.
- Two consuls elected yearly; the Senate of former magistrates; assemblies of citizens.
- Tribunes could veto acts against the plebeians. The Twelve Tables (400s B.C.) put the law in writing.
- Virtues: pietas, gravitas, duty to gods, family and Rome.
| War | What happened |
|---|---|
| First, 264–241 B.C. | Rome builds a navy and wins Sicily |
| Second, 218–201 B.C. | Hannibal crosses the Alps; wins at Cannae (216); Scipio beats him at Zama (202) |
| Third, 149–146 B.C. | Carthage is destroyed |
| Date | The Republic dies |
|---|---|
| 133 B.C. | Tribune Tiberius Gracchus killed |
| 73–71 B.C. | Spartacus’ slave revolt |
| 60 B.C. | Caesar, Pompey, Crassus ally |
| 52 B.C. | Alesia: Caesar wins Gaul |
| 49 B.C. | Caesar crosses the Rubicon: civil war |
| 44 B.C. | Caesar murdered on the Ides of March |
| 31 B.C. | Actium: Octavian wins |
11The Roman EmpireAugustus to Theodosius
| Emperor | Reigned | Remember | Emperor | Reigned | Remember |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augustus | 27 B.C.–A.D. 14 | first emperor; Christ is born in his reign | Hadrian | A.D. 117–138 | Hadrian’s Wall in Britain (begun A.D. 122) |
| Tiberius | A.D. 14–37 | Christ crucified under Pontius Pilate | Marcus Aurelius | A.D. 161–180 | Stoic emperor; the Pax Romana ends |
| Claudius | A.D. 41–54 | conquest of Britain (A.D. 43) | Diocletian | A.D. 284–305 | four co-emperors; the Great Persecution |
| Nero | A.D. 54–68 | Great Fire (A.D. 64); first persecution | Constantine | A.D. 306–337 | first Christian emperor; founds Constantinople |
| Vespasian | A.D. 69–79 | his son Titus takes Jerusalem (A.D. 70); the Colosseum | Theodosius I | A.D. 379–395 | last to rule the whole Empire |
| Trajan | A.D. 98–117 | the Empire at its largest |
Peace and crisis
- The Pax Romana: two centuries of peace, Augustus to Marcus Aurelius.
- The Crisis of the Third Century (235–284): civil wars, invasions, plague, debased coins.
What Rome built
- Law: citizens’ rights, natural law (Cicero), later Justinian’s Code.
- Roads, aqueducts, concrete, the arch and dome; Latin, mother of the Romance languages.
Ready for the Gospel
- One empire, one peace, Roman roads and a common Greek let the apostles travel: “when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son” (Galatians 4:4, KJV).
12The Rise of Christianitythe fulness of the time
| Date | Event | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| c. 6–4 B.C. | Jesus born in Bethlehem, before Herod’s death (4 B.C.) | A.D. 303 | Diocletian’s Great Persecution |
| c. A.D. 30 | Crucified under Pilate; risen the third day | A.D. 312–313 | Constantine wins at the Milvian Bridge; Edict of Milan grants toleration |
| c. A.D. 49 | Council of Jerusalem: Gentiles welcome | A.D. 325 | Council of Nicaea: the Son is “of one substance” with the Father |
| A.D. 64 | Nero blames Christians for the fire; Peter and Paul martyred | A.D. 380 | Theodosius makes Nicene Christianity the state religion |
| A.D. 250 | Decius demands sacrifice from all |
Witnesses outside the Bible
- Tacitus (Annals 15.44): “Christus” was executed under Pilate.
- Josephus names “James, the brother of Jesus”.
- Pliny the Younger (c. A.D. 112): Christians sang hymns to Christ “as to a god”.
Why it spread
- The witness of the resurrection: “he was buried, and that he rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:4, KJV).
- Care for the sick, the poor and exposed infants; courage under persecution.
- Fathers: Athanasius, Jerome (the Latin Vulgate), Augustine (Confessions, City of God).
Councils and creeds
- Nicaea (325) against Arius: the Son is truly God; the creed was completed at Constantinople (381).
- Chalcedon (451): Christ is one person, truly God and truly man.
- The faith was defined, not invented: the councils guarded what the apostles taught.
13The Fall of the WestA.D. 376–476
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| A.D. 376 | Goths, fleeing the Huns, cross the Danube |
| A.D. 378 | Adrianople: Goths kill Emperor Valens |
| A.D. 395 | Empire divided for good between Theodosius’ sons |
| A.D. 410 | Alaric the Visigoth sacks Rome |
| A.D. 439 | Vandals take Carthage |
| A.D. 451 | Attila checked at the Catalaunian Plains |
| A.D. 455 | Vandals sack Rome |
| A.D. 476 | Odoacer deposes Romulus Augustulus, the last emperor in the West |
Why Rome fell
- From within: civil wars, heavy taxes, debased money, shrinking cities, armies loyal to their generals.
- From without: Goths, Vandals and Huns pressing on a long frontier.
- The East, richer and better defended, lived on for a thousand years as Byzantium (§14).
Augustine’s answer
- Pagans blamed the Christians for the sack of 410. In The City of God Augustine replied that every earthly city passes, but the city of God endures.
14ByzantiumRome in the East, 330–1453
| Date | Event | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| A.D. 330 | Constantine dedicates Constantinople, the “New Rome” | 1054 | Great Schism: Rome and Constantinople part |
| A.D. 527–565 | Justinian: the Corpus Juris Civilis (529–534); Hagia Sophia (537); Italy and Africa retaken | 1071 | Seljuk Turks win at Manzikert and take Asia Minor |
| A.D. 726–843 | Iconoclasm: the war over images, settled for icons | 1204 | The Fourth Crusade sacks the city |
| A.D. 863 | Cyril and Methodius take the Gospel to the Slavs | 1453 | Mehmed II takes Constantinople; the last emperor dies on the walls |
What Byzantium kept
- Its people called themselves Romans; Greek replaced Latin.
- It saved Greek learning and Roman law, and shielded Europe from the East.
- The Orthodox Church; Cyrillic letters and the faith for Russia, baptized with Vladimir (988).
- Its walls and Greek fire held off Arab sieges for centuries.
- Its scholars kept Plato, Aristotle and the Greek Fathers, and later brought them to Italy (§22).
15The Rise of IslamArabia, conquest and caliphate
| Date (A.D.) | Event | Date (A.D.) | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| c. 570 | Muhammad born at Mecca | 636–651 | Yarmuk won; Jerusalem (638), Egypt, Persia taken |
| c. 610 | Says the angel Gabriel brings him revelations (later the Qur’an) | 661–750 | Umayyad caliphs at Damascus; Spain conquered from 711 |
| 622 | The Hijra to Medina: year 1 of the Muslim calendar | 732 | Charles Martel stops a Muslim army near Tours |
| 630–632 | Mecca submits; Arabia united by his death (632) | 750–1258 | Abbasid caliphs; Baghdad (762), sacked 1258 |
Beliefs
- Islam means “submission”; the Five Pillars: creed, prayer, alms, the Ramadan fast, the pilgrimage to Mecca.
- It honors Jesus as a prophet but denies the Trinity, His divinity and His crucifixion.
- Sunni and Shia split over who should succeed Muhammad.
Under the caliphs
- Christians and Jews became dhimmis: protected but subordinate, paying the jizya tax.
- Baghdad’s House of Wisdom put Greek works into Arabic, often through Christian translators such as Hunayn ibn Ishaq.
- Numerals from India reached Europe through Arabic books.
16The Medieval Churchmonks, missions and popes
The monks
- Benedict of Nursia (d. c. 547) founds Monte Cassino (c. 529). His Rule: ora et labora, pray and work.
- Monks copied books in the scriptorium, farmed, taught and cared for travelers.
- Reform: Cluny (910); then the friars: Franciscans (1209) and Dominicans (1216) preach among the people.
| Missionary | When | To whom |
|---|---|---|
| Patrick | 400s | Ireland |
| Columba | 563 | Iona and the Picts |
| Augustine of Canterbury | 597 | the English of Kent |
| Boniface | c. 723 | the Germans: fells the oak of Thor |
| Cyril and Methodius | 863 | the Slavs |
Popes and people
- Gregory the Great (590–604): pastor, missionary, “servant of the servants of God”.
- Bede (673–735), monk of Jarrow, “father of English history”; the Synod of Whitby (664).
- Village life ran by the parish: baptism, Mass, feasts and fasts, tithes.
17Charlemagne and the NorthmenFranks, Vikings and Alfred
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 751 | Pepin the Short made king |
| 768 | Charlemagne king |
| 800 | Leo III crowns him emperor |
| 814 | Dies at Aachen |
| 843 | Treaty of Verdun splits the empire |
| 962 | Otto I: the Holy Roman Empire |
Earlier: Clovis (d. 511), Catholic king of the Franks.
The Carolingian Renaissance
- Alcuin of York ran the palace school; monks copied Latin classics in clear Carolingian minuscule, our lower-case letters.
- The seven arts: the trivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric) and the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy).
- He was also a hard conqueror: he forced baptism on the Saxons and killed some 4,500 at Verden (782).
The Northmen
- Vikings raid Lindisfarne in 793; they reach Russia, Iceland and North America.
- Alfred the Great (d. 899) beats the Danes at Edington (878) and builds fortified burhs.
- Rollo is granted Normandy (911).
18Feudalism and Christendomlords, vassals and the manor
| Term | Meaning | Term | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fief | land granted in return for service | Knight | mounted warrior bound by chivalry |
| Vassal | a free man sworn to serve a lord | Manor | estate: hall, village, fields, mill, church |
| Homage | the ceremony and oath (fealty) | Serf | peasant bound to the land; not a slave |
Three orders: those who pray, those who fight, those who work.
Church and crown
- 1054: the East–West Schism (the filioque and papal authority).
- Investiture Controversy: Gregory VII against Henry IV, who stood as a penitent at Canossa (1077); settled at Worms (1122).
- The “two swords”: spiritual and temporal power, each from God.
1066 and the Normans
- William of Normandy beats Harold at Hastings (1066).
- Castles, cathedrals and the Domesday Book (1086); Norman French enriches English.
19The Crusadesarmed pilgrimages, 1095–1291
Why they came
- Muslim armies had taken the Christian Near East, North Africa and Spain (§15).
- After Manzikert (1071) the Byzantine emperor Alexius I asked the West for help.
- At Clermont (1095) Pope Urban II called knights to aid the East and free Jerusalem, under a vow of pilgrimage.
| Dates | Crusade |
|---|---|
| 1096–1099 | First: Jerusalem taken (1099); Outremer founded |
| 1147–1149 | Second: after Edessa fell (1144); fails |
| 1189–1192 | Third: after Hattin (1187); Richard I wins pilgrims’ access |
| 1202–1204 | Fourth: sacks Christian Constantinople |
| 1291 | Acre, the last crusader city, falls |
Judging fairly
- Judge them by Scripture and by their own age, not by modern politics. Many went at great cost from real faith.
- Real crimes: Rhineland Jews massacred in 1096 (some bishops sheltered them); the slaughter at Jerusalem in 1099; the sack of 1204.
Orders and Spain
- Templars (c. 1119) and Hospitallers: monks who were also knights.
- In Spain the Reconquista won at Las Navas de Tolosa (1212) and ended at Granada (1492).
20The High Middle Agescathedrals, universities and law
| Topic | Remember |
|---|---|
| Cathedrals | Gothic: pointed arches, rib vaults, flying buttresses, glass; St-Denis (1140–1144), Notre-Dame (begun 1163). |
| Universities | Bologna (1088, law), Paris (theology), Oxford, Cambridge (1209): guilds of masters and students. |
| Scholars | Anselm (d. 1109): faith seeking understanding. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274): the Summa Theologica and the Five Ways. |
| Law and liberty | Magna Carta (1215): the king under the law. Becket murdered (1170); the Model Parliament (1295). |
| The wider world | The Mongols under Genghis Khan (d. 1227) build the largest land empire; they sack Baghdad in 1258. |
Scholasticism
- The method of the schools: a question, objections, authorities, a reasoned answer, replies.
- It joined faith and reason; it did not set them at war.
Dante
- Dante Alighieri (1265–1321): the Divine Comedy, a journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, written in Italian.
21The Black Death and the Late Middle Agesplague, war and schism
| Date | Event | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1347–1351 | The Black Death: perhaps a third to a half of Europe dies | 1309–1377 | Popes at Avignon; Great Schism (1378–1417) |
| 1337–1453 | Hundred Years’ War: Crécy (1346), Agincourt (1415) | 1384 · 1415 | Wycliffe dies (English Bible); Hus burned at Constance |
| 1381 | The English Peasants’ Revolt | 29 May 1453 | Constantinople falls to the Ottoman Turks |
| 1429–1431 | Joan of Arc relieves Orléans; burned in 1431 |
The plague
- Bubonic plague, a bacterium carried by fleas on rats, came from Asia on trade routes.
- Labor grew scarce and wages rose; serfdom weakened.
- Some fled; many priests and monks stayed to nurse the sick and died with them.
Voices
- Chaucer (d. 1400): The Canterbury Tales, pilgrims riding to Becket’s shrine.
- Wycliffe, “morning star of the Reformation”, taught that Scripture is the supreme authority.
22The Renaissancerebirth of classical learning
| Who | What | Who | What |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petrarch (1304–1374) | “father of humanism”: hunts old Latin manuscripts | Gutenberg | movable type; the Bible printed at Mainz (c. 1455) |
| Cosimo de’ Medici (ruled 1434–1464) | banker-patron of Florence | Leonardo (1452–1519) | painter, engineer: The Last Supper |
| Brunelleschi | the dome of Florence Cathedral (finished 1436); linear perspective | Michelangelo (1475–1564) | David, the Sistine Chapel ceiling |
Humanism
- The study of grammar, rhetoric, history, poetry and moral philosophy from the classics.
- Ad fontes, “to the sources”: read the originals, Greek and Hebrew included. Greek scholars fleeing the Turks brought manuscripts west.
The door to a new age
- 1492: Granada falls and Columbus sails.
- Erasmus’ Greek New Testament (1516) feeds the Reformation, where the Early Modern course begins.
23Who’s Whotwenty names to know
| Name | Dates | Known for | Name | Dates | Known for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hammurabi | d. 1750 B.C. | Babylonian king and lawgiver | Justinian | d. A.D. 565 | law code; Hagia Sophia |
| David | r. c. 1010–970 B.C. | shepherd, psalmist, king of Israel | Muhammad | c. 570–632 | founder of Islam |
| Cyrus the Great | r. 559–530 B.C. | founds Persia; frees the exiles | Charlemagne | d. 814 | king of the Franks; emperor in 800 |
| Pericles | c. 495–429 B.C. | leader of Athens’ Golden Age | Alfred | 849–899 | saves Wessex from the Danes |
| Alexander | 356–323 B.C. | conquers Persia to India | William I | d. 1087 | Norman conqueror of England |
| Hannibal | 247–c. 183 B.C. | Carthage’s general; Cannae | Saladin | c. 1138–1193 | sultan; retakes Jerusalem |
| Julius Caesar | 100–44 B.C. | conquers Gaul; dictator; murdered | Thomas Aquinas | 1225–1274 | theologian; Summa Theologica |
| Augustus | 63 B.C.–A.D. 14 | first emperor; the Pax Romana | Joan of Arc | c. 1412–1431 | French heroine; Orléans |
| Constantine | d. A.D. 337 | first Christian emperor | Gutenberg | d. 1468 | printing with movable type |
| Augustine | A.D. 354–430 | bishop of Hippo; City of God | Leonardo | 1452–1519 | Renaissance painter and engineer |
d. = died; r. = reigned; c. = about.
24Battles That Turned Historyfourteen fields to know
| Battle | Date | Winner | Why it mattered | Battle | Date | Winner | Why it mattered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kadesh | 1274 B.C. | neither side | stalemate; a peace treaty later | Adrianople | A.D. 378 | Goths | the frontier breaks |
| Marathon | 490 B.C. | Athens | Persia’s first invasion fails | Tours | A.D. 732 | Charles Martel | Muslim advance halted |
| Salamis | 480 B.C. | Greek fleet | saves Greece from Xerxes | Hastings | 1066 | William I | Norman England |
| Gaugamela | 331 B.C. | Alexander | the end of the Persian Empire | Manzikert | 1071 | Seljuk Turks | Asia Minor lost |
| Zama | 202 B.C. | Scipio (Rome) | Rome over Carthage | Hattin | 1187 | Saladin | the crusaders lose Jerusalem |
| Actium | 31 B.C. | Octavian | one master of the Roman world | Agincourt | 1415 | Henry V | English longbows triumph |
| Milvian Bridge | A.D. 312 | Constantine | a Christian emperor | Constantinople | 1453 | Mehmed II | Byzantium ends |
25Great Books of the Eraread the sources
| Author | Dates | Work | CL | Author | Dates | Work | CL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homer | c. 750–700 B.C. | Iliad, Odyssey | ✓ | Boethius | c. 480–524 | Consolation of Philosophy | ✓ |
| Herodotus | c. 484–425 B.C. | Histories | Bede | 673–735 | Ecclesiastical History | ||
| Sophocles | c. 496–406 B.C. | Theban Plays | ✓ | Anonymous | Old English | Beowulf | ✓ |
| Plato | c. 428–348 B.C. | Apology, Republic | ✓ | Anonymous | c. 1100 | Song of Roland | ✓ |
| Aristotle | 384–322 B.C. | Nicomachean Ethics | ✓ | Thomas Aquinas | 1225–1274 | Summa Theologica | |
| Virgil | 70–19 B.C. | Aeneid | ✓ | Dante | 1265–1321 | Divine Comedy | ✓ |
| Plutarch | c. A.D. 46–120 | Lives | ✓ | Chaucer | c. 1343–1400 | Canterbury Tales | ✓ |
| Marcus Aurelius | A.D. 121–180 | Meditations | ✓ | Anonymous | late 1300s | Sir Gawain and the Green Knight | ✓ |
| Augustine | A.D. 354–430 | Confessions; City of God | ✓ |
CL ✓ = a close reading in the School Launch Classics Library (Shelf, Grades 9–12). Dates: the author’s life, or when written.