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The soil is not very good for growing things, there are a lot of mountains that make it hard to walk from one place to another, and there is never enough fresh water.

what Greece does have is a lot of coastline

No part of Greece is more than about forty miles from the sea: a couple of days walking

in Greece, they were sailors

Greeks have always spent a lot of time sailing on the ocean.

leisure time to spend on education and entertainment.

Bankers and accountants needed to understand arithmetic

knowledge of foreign currencies and languages

Reading was essential for anyone who needed to understand a contract.

reading for pleasure, learning to play musical instruments, and studying a variety of topics unrelated to their businesses.

Many Italian coastal cities became centers for trade and commerce, and for the wealth and education that ensued.

the Medici family, made their wealth as business people

The Attack: "The Senate rose in respect for his position when they saw him entering. Those who were to have part in the plot stood near him. Right next to him went Tillius Cimber, whose brother had been exiled by Caesar. Under pretext of a humble request on behalf of this brother, Cimber approached and grasped the mantle of his toga, seeming to want to make a more positive move with his hands upon Caesar. Caesar wanted to get up and use his hands, but was prevented by Cimber and became exceedingly annoyed. That was the moment for the men to set to work. All quickly unsheathed their daggers and rushed at him. First Servilius Casca struck him with the point of the blade on the left shoulder a little above the collar-bone. He had been aiming for that, but in the excitement he missed. Caesar rose to defend himself, and in the uproar Casca shouted out in Greek to his brother. The latter heard him and drove his sword into the ribs. After a moment, Cassius made a slash at his face, and Decimus Brutus pierced him in the side. While Cassius Longinus was trying to give him another blow he missed and struck Marcus Brutus on the hand. Minucius also hit out at Caesar and hit Rubrius in the thigh. They were just like men doing battle against him. Under the mass of wounds, he fell at the foot of Pompey's statue. Everyone wanted to seem to have had some part in the murder, and there was not one of them who failed to strike his body as it lay there, until, wounded thirty-five times, he breathed his last. "

There were at least 17 rules to the knights code of chivalry and vows of knighthood. The most important were to serve God, serve their liege lord (the King), be courteous to all women (though what they meant was all women of the noble class), and to defend the weak. Other rules included to fight for the welfare of all, to live by honor and glory, and to refrain from the wanton giving of offence; basically, don’t act like ye olde arse.

this was meant to defend the elderly, women and children, but of the upper class. Knights were often brutal to peasants and it was considered acceptable because of the low social status of the peasants. 

From this, came rules like if a woman was of equal or higher status, he should stand when she enters a room and sit only after she does, the best foods at a meal should be offered to her, and when walking on the sidewalk, the man should walk closest to the street. This was to protect the woman from getting spattered with mud and the contents of chamber pots (buckets that were used as toilets) that were thrown out windows. It was a way to show that the gentleman honored the woman to have the poop hit him instead.

nights kept their skills sharp by competing in tournaments known as jousts where two heavily armored horseman race at another at high speed

Medieval tournaments brought knights and lords together in friendly competitions to show off their skills at hand to hand combat, horse back riding, and of course, jousting

A head shot for example was the most damaging but also the most difficult target, and therefore was awarded the most points.

Cash prizes, called a purse, would be given to the winners and this was the best way to move up the social ladder if you didn't get a chance to show off your skills on the battle field. 

To become a knight was a long and difficult path.

sent to live in the castle with his Lord where his training would begin around the age of seven

road to knighthood he was known as a page. A page's training involved learning to ride a horse and receiving religious instruction from the priest of the manor. And, when he wasn't riding or praying, a page spent his days running errands and serving the ladies of the manor. He would also be taught to dance, sing, and play a musical instrument which were considered honorable qualities for a knight to have.

a page would be promoted to the role of squire. A squire worked directly with his knight. The squire learned skills from his knight (who was also his Lord) such as sword fighting and hand to hand combat. The squire pretty much acted as personal assistant to his knight, polishing his armor, caring for his horse, and even waiting on him at meal times. During times of battle, it was the job of the squire to help his Lord into the armor and look after him if he was wounded. He also had the awful task of cleaning out the armor which, after a long day on the battle field would be covered in all sorts of bodily fluids.

Pilgrimage - the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales was written c. 1390. It tells stories about a group pilgrims who had undertaken a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Each pilgrim had their own 'Canterbury Tale'. The route of the pilgrimage was along Watling Street and the Old Kent Road in London which led to the ancient "Pilgrim's way" from Rochester to Canterbury.

Since most people could not read, heraldry was invented.

design and short saying

They put their coat of arms, showing their heraldry, on banners, shields, tapestries and anything else they could think of.

coat of arms has a specific meaning

brave as a lion

split Rome into two empires. One was the Western Roman Empire and was ruled out of the city of Rome. The other was the Eastern Roman Empire and was ruled out of Constantinople (today's Istanbul in Turkey). The Eastern Roman Empire would become known as Byzantium or the Byzantine Empire.

The fall of Rome generally refers to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It fell in 476 AD

Colosseum and the Roman Forum.

Circus Maximus, a huge stadium built for chariot races, could seat around 150,000 people.

fall of Western Rome is considered the start of the "Dark Ages" in Europe.

The highest position in the Roman Republic was the consul. There were two consuls at the same time to make sure that one didn't become too powerful.

was Latin, but they often spoke Greek as well.

Spears were very popular medieval weapons as they were cheap and easy to make and very effective,

Bill and Staff weapons on the battlefield and these consisted of bladed weapons such as polearms, pole hammers and mainly long staff weapons were very popular.

Great swords, and lets not forget one of the battlefields most treasured weapons in medieval times because of their effectiveness, Longbows (Popular in England) and Cross Bows (Popular in Europe).

very little known about the detailed life of peasants in Europe because the lords and the clergy did not keep records of the peasants

only

early records were concerning

duties

peasants owed their masters

slaves and serfs.

manors were divided into two:

Those who were full time servants would work every day of the week and would get a break to attend Mass on Sundays. Peasants were forbidden from leaving the lord’s manor without seeking permission. The condition of serfdom was hereditary and one would be tied to his master unless he saved enough to purchase some land or if he married a free person.  At the end of the twelfth century, the ties that bound peasants to their masters began to loosen.

Peasant life in the Middle Ages was confined to the manors,

The lords had great influence over the lives of the peasants;

Majority of the peasants worked three days a week in their lord’s land but they would work longer during the harvest and plantation periods

was where the peasants worked, tilled the land, planted and harvested on

he Church offered help to the neediest peasants in the form of food and necessities.

behalf of the lord

he peasants would receive a larger piece of land as long as they adhered to the condition that they work on the lord’s land before working on their own.

The plows and horses were so few and the peasants themselves spent the entire day working in the “demense”.

peasant also tended to the horses and cattle in meadows

Most peasants did not do much other than working, going to church and the occasional celebration.

hardly travelled outside their villages but they did have a sense of community amongst themselves

Peasant life was generally marked by having few possessions in the home

houses were basic shacks with benches, stools, wooden cups, bowls and spoons. Most households had a chest of drawers where the family would keep their valuable items. Peasants hardly slept on beds; they slept on straw mattresses on the floor. Given that they had few possessions even in terms of personal attires, they typically slept with their work apparels and covered themselves with animal skin.

Women

a small garden behind their house.

one part of the land, the “demense”

Church was also a source of education mainly for the peasant’s children who attended the local school that was part of the church. The peasants looked to the priests for baptism, marriage, and performance of last rites for the dying.  Christianity guided the moral decisions that peasant men and women made in their day-to-day life.

Education was meager and only available to a select group of boys.

young girls helped with chores in the house and they were married off as soon as they attained maturity; this was usually at the young age of thirteen or sixteen years.

Societal and economic development saw the rapid rise of cities and towns. As the ties between serfs and their masters became lose, the peasants were able to rent land and some even migrated to the towns. Catastrophes such as the Black Death, a plague that killed thousands of peasants made it difficult for lords to find peasants to work in their farms.