DomBalzano

CITIES were the center of the action Milan and Florence had wealthy merchants and bankers Artists in these cities were inspired by the former splendor of Rome (and Greece) Merchants dominated politics The Medici were a powerful banking family They paid artists, writers, and musicians to create beautiful works of art They were patrons Educated, brilliant A gifted singer, lute player, innovative dancer Wealthy, powerful parents She sponsored painters, sculptors, musicians, writers, architects A fashionista, she even designed her own perfume Patron of da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Bellini, Correggio, and many, many others Nativity, by Antonio da Correggio 1529-1530 101 in. by 74 in. (8 ½ feet by 6+ feet)

He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an Empire He fought the Muslims in Spain (to the west) He conquered Italy (to the south) He fought Huns and Magyars (to the east) Pope Leo III appreciated his efforts to spread Christianity, and crowned him Imperator Augustus (Emperor) on Christmas Day, 800 Renewed emphasis on education and culture literature, mathematics, art, architecture book copying and preserving opened a palace school surrounded himself with English, German, Italian and Spanish scholars He regularly visited every part of his kingdom - hands-on ruling style

t's the Age of Faith The Holy Roman Empire is the strongest kingdom in Europe The Church has considerable spiritual and political power Over 500 massive Gothic cathedrals (Cities of God) are built throughout Europe between 1170 and 1270 In the late eleventh century, Jerusalem was controlled by the Muslims It was Islam's 3rd holiest City (after Mecca & Medina) It's the Holy City to Jews and ... it's a Holy City to Christians Pope Urban II put out the call for Christians to recapture Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim Turks Thus began 200 years of religiously sanctioned military campaigns, from 1095 to 1291 crusade means "taking of the cross" (crux)

Clovis rules the Germanic people of Gaul, known as the Franks (which is where "France" comes from) in 496 he has a battlefield conversion - he and 3000 of his warriors become Christians the Church in Rome likes this by 511 the Franks are united into one kingdom, with Clovis and the Church working as partners Church + Frankish rulers = rise in Christianity In 520, Benedict writes rules for monks: vows of poverty (live simply in monasteries)  chastity (no marital relations) obedience (listen to church superiors) His sister Scholastica writes similar rules for nuns they operate schools, maintain libraries, copy books Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great) goes secular (worldly power) Church revenues are used to help the poor, build roads, and raise armies This is a theocracy Gregory's spiritual kingdom (Christendom) extends from Italy to England, from Spain to Germany Clovis rules the Franks in Gaul until his death in 511 Most of the rest ...

Middle Ages = medieval period AD 476 – AD 1453 (from the end of the Roman Empire to the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks) medieval Europe is fragmented overrun the western half of the Roman Empire causing: disruption of trade downfall of cities population shifts to rural areas Germanic warriors' loyalty is to the lord of the manor he provides them w/ food, weapons, treasure Result:  no orderly government for large areas small communities rule "I would die for my chief, but I see no reason to  pay taxes to a king I don't even know.  So there."