Medieval Trade Routes

Please view each of your classmates' websites. Have this google form open in another tab - you'll need the websites to complete the form.

Antioch

Calicut

Dunhuang

Guangzhou

Kashgar

Kilwa

Xi'an

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous: Versailles Webquest

As this painting shows, Louis XIV liked to live in style. 

We know that absolute monarchs of 17th century Europe were somewhat power-hungry. They dominated politics, economics, religion, and culture in their countries. But did you know that absolute rulers such as Louis XIV of France also built huge palaces designed to intimidate ordinary citizens? Let’s take a look.

The best example of an over-the-top palace built by an absolute ruler is the Palace of Versailles, built by Louis XIV. Versailles is about a day’s trip outside of Paris (by horse and buggy) so when Louis moved his court there, it was the ultimate power play. Now, nobles had to make a long journey to visit the king.



Louis XIII’s “chateau” at Versailles wasn’t quite grand enough for his son. When Louis XIV became king, he decided to do some renovating. Above is the “before” shot of Versailles … 


… And here’s the “after” shot. Maybe Louis XIV watched a little too much “Extreme Home Makeover.”

Versailles is magnificent on the outside and the inside. Using Google Maps, you can take a virtual tour of the outside of Versailles here. Versailles is famous for its acres of gardens and multiple fountains. 210,000 flowers are planted at Versailles every year. 50 fountains use up to 3,600 cubic meters of water an hour!

Of course, Louis XIV wanted a magnificent interior, too. The palace is a huge art museum. Its 700 rooms boast 6,000 paintings, 1,500 drawings, 15,000 engravings, and 2,100 sculptures. You can take an in-depth tour of the interior of Versailles and learn about the artwork here.

Your assignment is to complete the following webquest using the Palace of Versailles official website.

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous: Versailles Webquest

You’ll be writing or typing the answers to all of these questions in complete sentences. 

On the left hand side of your page, under the word “Explore” click on “The Palace.”

1.    Which French king originally built the palace?    
2.    Which French king expanded the palace? What year was it expanded?          

In the upper right corner, click on “Discover the Palace.” Click on the picture in the upper left of the Hall of Mirrors.

3.    Why might someone build something so grand?

Close the picture of the Hall of Mirrors.

4.    According to the website, what was the hall used for?

Under “Explore the Estate: The Palace” click on “The Queen’s Grand Apartment.” To the Left, click on the picture of “The Queen’s Chamber.”

5.    Why do you think there was a railing and chairs surrounding the bed?  Who might be using the chairs?

Under “Explore the Estate: The Palace” click on “The Royal Chapel”

6.    In French monarchy, what was the relationship between God and the monarch?

At the top of the page, click on “History.”  Then, in the upper right, click on “A Day in the Life of Louis XIV.”

7.    What types of people do you think would have wanted to attend the King’s awakening?
8.    Describe the First Levee.
9.    What was the king’s favorite sport?

At the top of the page, under “Versailles Through The Centuries” click on “Royal Tables.”

10.    How long did dinner take? How many “meal services” were prepared for the King?

The Columbian Exchange: Positive or Negative?

When Christopher Columbus arrived in the West Indies late in the 15th century, he brought more than ships. His arrival heralded a historic exchange between the cultures of the Western and Eastern Hemispheres, which until then had had essentially no contact for millions of years. Each hemisphere had developed unique peoples, plants, animals, diseases, and cultures. In introducing each hemisphere to the other, the Columbian Exchange transformed the lives of people at both ends of the journey, then and forever after.

The agricultural exchange between Europe and the Americas introduced both sides to plants and foods they had never seen before. Many of those foods, like tomatoes in Italy, now form cornerstones of cultural cuisine. Other foods or plant products to travel east from the Americas included cacao (chocolate), potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, squash, strawberries, quinine (for treating malaria), and various flowers. Such foods as sugar, tea, and coffee made the trip west toward the Americas. Grains like wheat and rice, various fruits including oranges and grapes, and such vegetables as lettuce and radishes also broadened the American diet. In time, Europeans also brought vegetation to America—flowers and grasses as well as more destructive weeds. In addition to expanding diets, the edible exchange led to trading and economic patterns, including the growth of slavery, which supported sugar and tobacco production.



Most of the animal transfers in the Columbian Exchange traveled westward toward the Americas. Horses, pigs, sheep, goats, cattle, and rats had dramatic effects on the Native American populations. In particular, horses brought hunting and movement opportunities to Native Americans, while pigs provided a regular source of meat. On the negative side, pigs destroyed a lot of local vegetation and animal life. Rats, of course, were also less useful and largely spread diseases. Europeans also encountered some animals they hadn’t seen before, for example, the buffalo and rattlesnake. Again, beyond the actual exchange of animals, the interaction brought cultural change to the Americas. Hunting on horseback helped to spread Native American populations westward, for example.

Europeans also brought their religion (primarily Catholicism in the Columbian period), their weapons, and their iron tools. Those all changed the lives of Native Americans dramatically: religion affected cultural practices and belief systems, guns subdued populations and later advanced hunting techniques, and tools transformed agricultural practices. Unlike the plant and animal exchanges, the cultural exchange clearly favored Europe and left the Americas tremendously vulnerable to the exploitation that followed.

Columbus and those who followed him brought people to the Americas—Europeans of all kinds and later African slaves to fill the plantation system’s labor needs. With the early arrivals came diseases unheard of in the Western Hemisphere. Smallpox alone killed an estimated 50-90% of existing populations. In the other direction, at least one disease—syphilis—traveled to Europe and did tremendous damage in the years to follow.  However, the French historian Fernand Braudel argues that, despite the Columbian Exchange’s tragic consequences, over the long term the exchange of edible plants increased rather than decreased the human population on Earth by contributing calories to the human diet.


Answer the following questions in complete sentences.

1. Why was the introduction of corn and potatoes to Europe and Asia so significant?

2. How did the introduction of European livestock change the lives of Native Americans?

3. What foods or plants brought to America by the Columbian exchange do you think play the biggest role today in the U.S. diet and economy?

4. Do you agree with Braudel’s theory (the bold statement above)? Why or why not? What other factors can you name that might increase or decrease the amount of food available to people worldwide?

Renaissance Art

Study the paintings below. For each painting, write 1-2 complete sentences summarizing the main idea of the painting’s relationship to Renaissance life and the philosophy of humanism.

1. Raphael: School of Athens


2. Quentin Massys: A Money-Changer and his Wife


3. Leonardo da Vinci: Proportional Study of a Man in the Manner of Vitruvius


4. Albrecht Durer: Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam


5. Pieter Bruegel: Summer (1568)

Renaissance Humanism

To understand Renaissance Humanism, we have to get to the source: the writers and thinkers that embodied these ideas.

First, write a definition of Renaissance Humanism in your own words.

Now, read the following quotes by Renaissance men. For each quote, write 1-2 sentences describing how the author and his thoughts reflect the spirit of humanism. 

1. “What a piece of work is man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving, how express and admirable in action, how like an angel in apprehension [understanding], how like a god! The beauty of the world; the paragon of animals” – Shakespeare, Hamlet

2. “I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.” – Leonardo Da Vinci

3. “With the forethought that we are mortal, and that every adversity can befall us, let us do what the wise have so highly praised: let us work so that past and present will contribute to the times that have not yet come … To you, (man) is given a body more graceful than other animals, to you power of apt and various movements, to you most sharp and delicate senses, to you wit, reason, memory like an immortal god… A man can do all things if he will.” – Leon Battista Alberti

4. “It is the chiefest point of happiness that a man is willing to be what he is.” – Desiderius Erasmus

5. “How beautiful is youth, which is always slipping away! Whoever wants to be happy, let him be so: of tomorrow there’s no knowing.” – Lorenzo De’ Medici

6. “Man in truth is a marvelous, vain, fickle, and unstable subject.” – Michel de Montaigne

7. “The brave man carves out his fortune, and every man is the son of his own works.” – Miguel de Cervantes

8. “I have come to understand why man is the most fortunate of creatures and consequently worthy of all admiration and what precisely is that rank which is his lot in the universal chain of Being — a rank to be envied not only by brutes but even by the stars and by minds beyond this world. It is a matter past faith and a wondrous one. Why should it not be? For it is on this very account that man is rightly called and judged a great miracle and a wonderful creature indeed.” – Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man

9. “For what folly would it be to pass all one’s life in toil and poverty and care, heaping up riches, just to die at last and have no time to enjoy them?” – Petrarch,  the “father of Humanism”

10. "Take as a model a leader who's been much praised and admired and keep his examples and achievements in mind at all times," Machiavelli, author of The Prince

Renaissance Art Film Festival

Welcome to the Renaissance Art Film Festival! Watch three of the five short films below and answer the questions that follow, using information from the films as well as your knowledge of the Renaissance. Your answers should be 3-4 sentences each. Include information that you've learned about the Renaissance and its guiding idea of humanism in your answer. 

Choice 1: "How to Find the True Face of Leonardo da Vinci" below.

After watching this film, explain why you think we know (or still don't know) what da Vinci looks like. Are the primary sources Woldhek used in the talk reliable? 

Choice 2: "Dissecting Botticelli's Adoration of the Magi" below.
What does this film tell you about the relationship between art and political power in 15th century Florence? 

Choice 3: "The Many Meanings of Michelangelo's David" below. 

Is a work of art limited when it's tied to a location? Are truly great art pieces relevant to all places and times? Explain your answer. 

Choice 4: "Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man of Math" below.
If this image accurately demonstrates many different cultural trends of Leonardo's time period, what image or images do the same for ours? 

Choice 5: "What 'Machiavellian' Really Means" below.

Why do you think Machiavelli's The Prince continues to be so shocking and notorious to this day? Do you see The Prince influencing any modern political movements or trends? 

Machiavelli: Do the Ends Justify the Means?

Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian writer and politician during the Renaissance. Machiavelli worked for the government of Florence, but lost his job when the Medici family was forced out of power. It was then that Machiavelli began to write about politics, specifically realism: how the world worked instead of how it should work.

Machiavelli's most famous work was The Prince, written in 1513. In The Prince, Machiavelli discusses how leaders can get and maintain power. He argues that a leader's authority comes from power, and that rulers who are strong and have lots of power will stay in control, no matter if they are good or evil. It was important, Machiavelli argued, to have a strong ruler, because that's how city-states and countries could protect themselves.

Machiavelli's most famous idea is that "the ends justify the means." What he meant by that is that a ruler who wants to stay in power must be prepared to do anything -- even things that are evil or cruel. According to Machiavelli, the only thing that makes people obey laws is the threat of force. Therefore, in order to stay in charge, a ruler had to keep people afraid. Today, people who will do anything to achieve their goals are described as "Machiavellian."

The Prince has been a popular book throughout history. Rulers and politicians the world over have used Machiavelli's ideas to justify their behavior.

Click here to read 11 lessons from The Prince still relevant today. Which lesson do you think is the most important? If the first link doesn't work, try this one. 

 The Prince is sometimes described as an instruction manual for those who want political power. But is there ever a situation where the goal is so important that it doesn't matter what method is used to achieve it? With a neighbor, three of these goals and explain what means would and would not be justified. Write down your answers; we will be using these in a class discussion.

•     Defend the country against a foreign invasion
•     Protect your home from a burglar
•     Get into the college of your choice
•     Stay (or become) popular in school
•     Make people obey a recycling law

Cultural Blending and the Swahili Coast

From approximately 800-1400 AD, a vast trade network stretched across the Indian Ocean, bringing together Arab, Indian, Persian, African, and Chinese merchants and traders. These different cultures interacted, exchanging goods and ideas over hundreds of years. Nowhere is this blending of cultures more apparent than the island of Zanzibar on the Swahili coast. From about 1300-1500, first the Omani (a Muslim empire), then the Portuguese, came to dominate the Swahili coast and the trade networks.

Above, a map illustrating the Indian Ocean Trade routes.

As you can see from the map above, monsoons played a large role in Indian Ocean trade. Traders used seafaring ships called dhows which could hold hundreds of tons of cargo – and these dhows had large triangular sails that allowed sailors to capture the monsoon winds and quickly cross the ocean.

Above, a small fishing dhow off the coast of Zanzibar.

The direction of monsoon winds changed with the season; winds blew from the Arabian Peninsula to India; from India to Southeast Asia; and from Southeast Asia to China, but only during certain times of the year. While merchants were waiting for the seasons and the winds to change, they stayed in city-states, often along the East African coast. This coast soon became known as the Swahili coast, and the mix of Africans, Arabs, Indians, and Asians that lived there were known as the Swahili – the “coast-dwellers.”

These city states became diaspora communities and the language that the merchants spoke, a mix of African Bantu language and Arabic, became known as Kiswahili. The Swahili people adopted local customs and traditions, and made these diaspora communities their homes away from home. Many of them even married women who lived along the coast and started families!

Above, a map of the Swahili coast, with the island of Zanzibar.

Now, let’s examine the food, clothing, and language of the Swahili coast for examples of this cultural blending. Click on the links below for more information about each topic. Be sure to answer all questions in complete sentences.

Food

Clothing

Kiswahili

The Chinese Imperial Examination

As we recently learned, the Han Dynasty began using an imperial examination to test Chinese subjects who wanted to become bureaucrats (government workers). The Tang and Song dynasties of China, which followed the Han, perfected the exam system. Like the Han examinations, the Tang and Song tests were based on the teachings of Confucius, and were technically open to every male Chinese subject. But what was it really like to take one of these exams? Let’s find out!

Your assignment: Using the links below, research the Chinese imperial examination during the Tang and Song dynasties. Imagining you are a young Chinese man who has just taken the imperial exam, write a 2 paragraph journal entry answering the following questions: Of what social class are you a member? What did you have to do and what was it like to prepare for the examinations? What was a typical exam day like? What was the test like? Be sure to include specific details in your journal entry! 

 

Please handwrite this assignment - we will be using it for a class discussion. 

 
Links:
The Confucian Classics: The Imperial Exam

The Poems of Po Chu-i (read the poems; do not answer the questions)

2000 Years of Examinations in China

A Mandala of Hindu Beliefs

Mandala means "circle" in Sanskrit. Mandalas are circular diagrams that originated in Hinduism to symbolize the cyclical nature of the universe. Hindus and Buddhists often use mandalas to focus themselves during meditation and increase spiritual awareness.

Mandalas can range from very simple to very complex. They can be made up of images or repeating patterns. Mandalas can be monotone or many colors.

Mandalas are often made to be temporary. Some of the most common mandalas are made of sand. Sand mandalas take hours, sometimes days to complete, and often take the work of many people.

The work of creating a mandala can be considered a form of meditation. When the mandala is finished, it is swept away, often ceremoniously. This sweeping away of the mandala represents the cyclical nature of life. Watch these Buddhist monks create a sand mandala using time-lapse video. 


In this post are some examples of mandalas. Today, we will begin creating our own mandalas, representing the ideas of Hinduism.

"The Other Wes Moore" Discussion Preparation

Please complete the following to prepare for our discussion on "The Other Wes Moore"

Part I: 
In the TED talk below, Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie talks about the limitations and dangers of a "single story" view of cultures and people. “The single story creates stereotypes,” Adichie says, “and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” 

Watch "The Danger of a Single Story" and answer the questions that follow:

1. When she was a child, what did Adichie think that a story needed to have?
2. What single story did Adichie's college roommate believe about her? 
3. What does Adichie say has historically been the "single story" about Africa? Where did this "single story" come from? 
4. Why does Adichie say that she did not have a "single story" of the United States?
5. Does “The Other Wes Moore” illustrate the danger of a single story? Why or why not? 

Part II: 

Answer the questions below in detail to prepare for our class discussion. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper, or, if you type them, bring a printed copy to class. Be sure to use specific examples and page numbers from the book in your answers. Each answer should be approximately 5-8 sentences long. 

1. Wes states that people often live up to the expectations projected on them. Is that true? If someone you care for expects you to succeed – or fail – will you? Where does personal accountability come into play?

2. The other Wes Moore makes the point that “if the situation and the context where you make the decisions don’t change, then second chances don’t mean too much, huh?” What second chances did each of the Wes Moore’s get? How do these second chances differ?

3. Wes Moore the author says that “even the worst decisions we make don’t necessarily remove us from the circle of humanity.” What does he mean when he says this? Do you agree – why or why not?

Life in the Roman Empire

Today, we will be investigating life in the Roman Empire. You've already been divided into six groups that represent the six social classes of the Roman Empire.

• The Emperor
• Patricians
• Senators
• Equestrians
• Plebians
• Slaves and Freemen

Your first task is to use The Roman Empire: Social Order website to learn more about your social class and the role it played in the empire. 

Then, each of your groups will be investigating what the following parts of life in the Roman Empire were like for a member of your social class:

• Games, chariot races, and gladiators
• Family life
• Housing and food
• Education, funerals, and theater

Use the Life in Roman Times website to help with this research. 

You will be sharing the information you learned about your social classes's lifestyle, traditions, and customs with the rest of the class so we can get a more full picture of what life in the Roman Empire was like for everyone. To this end, it's important that everyone work together and write down their research. You will be individually assessed on your knowledge of the Roman Empire. 

The Roman Republic -- Government and Values

Click here to read about the government of the Roman Republic. Think about the roles that the Senate, the Twelve Tables, and citizens played in the Republic.

The image below will also help clarify the organization and values of the Roman Republic.

From examining these documents, answer the following questions:
1. How was Roman society structured? Was everyone equal? How can you tell?

2. What can you tell about the values and characteristics of the Roman Republic?

3. In the Roman Republic, what traits were deemed important? Are there any that you think are missing? Brainstorm a list of each. 

Ancient World Explorers Sources List

Below are some suggestions to get you started on your research for your Ancient World Explorer project. Please use these resources as a starting place -- do not simply Google what you are looking for!

Don't forget, your textbook is the first stop when beginning research on this project. And don't rely solely on the internet -- plenty of books, magazines, and television shows will help you with your research as well.

Remember: Wikipedia is not a reputable source for research, but it might help you find some good sites! Also, if you see a source that might help your classmates, share it with Mrs. LaRocca and she will post it here.

General sources:

ABC-Clio (must be on the BCH network or use the library password to access this)

Ancient Architecture 

Ancient History

BBC History

BBC Dimensions

British Museum: Ancient Civilizations (you must have flash to view this site)

History.com: Ancient History

History of Architecture

HistoryPin

Mr. Kash's Ancient History Sites

National Geographic Magazine 

Spartacus Educational

World History in Context (must be on the BCH network or use the library password to access this)

Greece: 

AncientGreece.co

Ancient-Greece.org

Boundless: Greek Architecture

"Engineering an Empire: Greece" (on youtube)

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Rome: 

Ancient Roman Art and Architecture 

Boundless: Roman Architecture

"Engineering an Empire: Rome" (on youtube)

History.com - Roman Architecture and Engineering

Tribunes and Triumphs

India: 

Boundless: Gupta Dynasty Architecture

Mauryan Art and Architecture

Gupta Art and Architecture

The Gupta Period

China: 

Ancient Chinese Architecture

Boundless: Han Architecture

Chinese Architecture - Characteristics

"Engineering an Empire: China" (on youtube)

Han Architectural Models