Renaissance means "rebirth." So, why is this time in history named that? Remember that the early part of the Middle Ages was ruled by the feudal system. A great majority of the people during that time were peasants or serfs who could not read or write. They were too busy working! So the emphasis on education that the Greeks and Romans had was mostly lost. But, during the Renaissance, those beliefs were "reborn". Education, including art, architecture, and science became important again.
Read the following article that gives more information about the start of the Renaissance.
Columbus is the explorer who is credited for discovering
America. Of course, there were already people living in America at the
time who we call Native Americans.
There even was a European, Leif Ericsson, who had been to the America's
before. However, it was Columbus' voyage that started the exploration
and colonization of the Americas.
Before the Voyage
Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451. He later lived in Lisbon
where he worked as a trader. He learned how to make maps and navigate a
ship.
A Shortcut to China
Columbus and his brother, Bartholomew, knew that there were great riches
to be had in China and East Asia. However, traveling overland by the Silk Road
was dangerous and a sea route around Africa seemed much too long.
Columbus thought he could sail straight to China by crossing the
Atlantic Ocean.It would turn out that Columbus was wrong. The Earth was much larger
than he thought and there was another land, the Americas, between Europe
and Asia.
Three Ships and a Long Voyage
Columbus spent years trying to convince someone to pay for his voyage.
He first tried to get King John II of Portugal to pay for his journey,
but the King was not interested. Finally, he was able to convince Queen
Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain to pay for the trip. He set sail on August 12, 1492 with three ships named the Nina, the
Pinta, and the Santa Maria. The voyage was long and difficult. At one
point his men threatened to mutiny and wanted to turn back. Columbus
promised them he would turn back in two days if they didn't find land.
In his journal, however, he wrote that he had no intention of turning
back.
Finding Land
On October 12, 1492 land was spotted. It was a small island in the
Bahamas that Columbus would name San Salvador. He met natives there that
he called Indians because he was convinced that he had landed on
islands off the coast of East Asia. He also visited other islands in the
Caribbean such as Cuba and Hispaniola.
The routes taken by Columbus on his four voyages
Click to see larger map
Returning Home
After making his discovery, Columbus was eager to return home to Spain
and claim his riches. Only the Pinta and the Nina were able to return to
Spain, however, as the Santa Maria wrecked off the coast of Hispaniola.
Columbus left 43 men behind on the island to start up an outpost.
Upon returning home, Columbus was treated like a hero. He presented some
of the things he had found including turkeys, pineapples, and some
natives he had captured. The King of Spain was pleased enough to fund
future expeditions.
More Voyages
Columbus would make three more voyages to the Americas. He explored more
of the Caribbean and even saw mainland America. He had some
difficulties in being the local governor and was even arrested for his
behavior and for mistreating some of the colonists. Columbus died on May
20, 1506. He died thinking he had discovered a shortcut to Asia across
the Atlantic Ocean. He never knew what an amazing discovery he had made.
Fun Facts about Christopher Columbus
Columbus was first buried in Spain, however his remains were
later moved to Santo Domingo in the new world and then back, again, to
Spain.
Columbus brought horses to the new world on his second voyage.
In his original calculations, he thought that Asia would be
2,400 miles from Portugal. He was way off. It is actually 10,000 miles
away! Not to mention the huge continent in between.
You can remember the date Columbus discovered America by using this rhyme "In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue".
The sailor who was first to spot land on the voyage would
receive a reward. The winner was Rodrigo de Triana who spotted land from
the crow's nest of the Pinta
The ancient Greek scientist and philosopher, Aristotle, declared that the Earth
was round in 350 B.C., but for centuries many people did not believe
him. The idea that the Earth was flat continued for hundreds of years.
Ferdinand Magellan was the first person to prove that the Earth is
round, not flat. How did he do it? By sailing around the Earth.
Ferdinand Magellan was born to noble parents in Portugal
in 1480. His parents died when he was a child, and he was sent to be a
page to the queen. During this time, he attended school and studied
geography, navigation, astronomy and cartography.
a Monument of Ferdinand Magellan in Punta Arenas, Chile
As a young man, he became a sailor and later convinced the Spanish
king, Charles V, to finance a voyage. Magellan wanted to travel westward
to reach Asia and the Spice Islands.
Fun Facts About Ferdinand Magellan for Kids
During the Middle Ages, spices, such as nutmeg, cloves and pepper
were in high demand. The wealthy wanted them as flavorings for food.
They also used them in perfumes and medicines.
The trade routes to India and the Spice Islands were dangerous.
Pirates lay waiting to attack at sea and people frequently fought over
the land routes.
Magellan set sail on the 20th of September in 1519, with five boats headed to Brazil. He sailed down the east coast of South America to Patagonia. There, one of the ships was destroyed by mutinous crew members.
The remaining four ships sailed on. Over a year into their journey,
they traveled through a channel that connects the Pacific Ocean to the
Atlantic Ocean. This channel lies in Chile
and is known as the Strait of Magellan. It took over a month to travel
through the Strait of Magellan. One of the captains deserted, taking his
ship back to Spain.
All about Ferdinand Magellan Fun Science Facts for Kids – an Image of the Strait of Magellan
Magellan thought it would be an easy trip to the Spice Islands. He
was wrong about the distance. It took the men almost six months to sail
to the Spice Islands.
Just a few weeks after reaching Indonesia,
Magellan was killed by a poisoned arrow in a battle with local tribes.
His crew sailed back to Spain without him, reaching land in 1522.
3. Amerigo Vespucci
It was not until
1507 that people began to realize that what Columbus had discovered was
not a new route to India, but instead was a completely new world. The
first person to suggest that this was the case was an Italian explorer
by the name of Amerigo Vespucci.
Because he was the
first to realize that a new world had been discovered, map makers began
calling this new land the ‘Americas’ in honor of him.
Click link below to learn more about this explorer... for whom the Americas were named! https://youtu.be/ZSuznTcWcP4
To Quiz yourself on your knowledge of Christopher Columbus... play this walk the plank game!
The Black Death is the name for a terrible disease that spread
throughout Europe from 1347 to 1350. There was no cure for the disease
and it was highly contagious.
How did it start?
The plague likely started in Asia and traveled westward along the Silk Road.
The disease was carried by fleas that lived on rats. Historians think
that black rats living on European merchant ships caught the disease,
eventually bringing it to Europe.
How bad was it?
It's hard to imagine how scary life was in the Middle Ages during the
Black Death. By the time the disease ran its course, it had killed at
least one third of the people in Europe and probably more. In Paris,
France it's estimated that around 800 people died a day. There were so
many dead that they couldn't bury them. They had to carry them to
massive pits.
Unfortunately, the people in the Middle Ages didn't know that the
disease was carried by rats. This made larger cities and towns, which
were very dirty during the Middle Ages, especially dangerous as there
were lots of rats there. Sometimes entire towns or villages were wiped
out by the plague.
What did the people do?
As you might expect, there was panic. Many people were sure it was the
end of the world. People locked their doors and tried to hide in their
houses. However, this did little good in cities where rats, and
therefore fleas, were everywhere. They also burned down houses and even
entire villages to try and stop the disease.
The Bubonic Plague
Today we call this disease the Bubonic plague. Very few people get the
disease today and most of those that do recover fine. When people got
the disease in the Middle Ages, they almost always died. People would
get really sick including black and blue blotches all over their body.
Black Death Symptoms The symptoms of the Black Death were terrible and swift:
Painful swellings (buboes) of the lymph nodes
These swellings, or buboes, would appear in the armpits, legs, neck, or groin
A bubo was at first a red color. The bubo then turned a dark purple color, or black
Other symptoms of the Black Death included:
a very high fever
delirium
the victim begins to vomit
muscular pains
bleeding in the lungs
mental disorientation
The plague also produced in the victim an intense desire to sleep, which, if yielded to, quickly proved fatal
A victim would die quickly - victims only lived between 2 -4 days after contracting the deadly disease
Facts about the Black Death
Many people thought that the Black Death was punishment from God.
It is estimated that somewhere between 75 million and 200 million people died of the plague.
Scientists have learned that it was a bacteria called Yersinia pestis that caused the disease.
The plague was not called the Black Death until many years
later. Some think it was called this because of how the skin turned dark
at the late stages of the disease, but it was more likely called
"Black" to reflect the dark and horrible time in history.
Some people thought that pockets of bad air released by
earthquakes caused the plague. Others went so far as to blame Jewish
people for bringing the plague to kill Christians.
The epidemic returned to Europe several times, but wasn't as bad as the Black Death period
A Fun Medieval Game.......not so related to the Bubonic Plague
While King Richard was away fighting in the Crusades his younger brother (King John) became the ruler of England. This brother was cruel and disliked by the English people. As a result, an outlaw named Robin Hood decided to take things into his own hands. Watch the video to learn more.
Also because of his harsh rule, the barons of England came together to force King John to sign an important document known as the Magna Carta. Watch the video to see how this document impacted even our own country's laws and government.
Sunday, October 4, 2015
The Crusades 1095-1289
Watch the video below to learn about the Children's Crusades
Click on the links below to learn more about The Crusades.
