Name : MERRY P.

HINEDO Date: August 17,,2019

Professor: Raul D. Duhaylungsod,Ph.D. MAED TSS

Topic: The beginnings 0f Modernization

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Name : MERRY P. HINEDO Date: August 17,,2019
Professor: Raul D. Duhaylungsod,Ph.D. MAED TSS

Topic: The High Tide of Imperialism

REFLECTION PAPER

Name : MERRY P. HINEDO Date: July 27,2019

Professor: Raul D. Duhaylungsod,Ph.D. MAED TSS

Topic: The world of the lords and vassals

REFLECTION PAPER

When Germanic peoples ended Roman rule in the West, they began to create a new
civilization. Their culture differed greatly from that of the Romans. They had no cities and
no written laws. Instead, they lived in small communities, ruled by elected kings whose
chief role was to lead them in war. Europe became a fragmented, largely isolated region.

Germanic invaders carved Europe into small kingdoms. Charles the great, built an
empire. The empire is a group of states, territories, and peoples ruled by one person. He
revived learning, extended Christian civilizations into Northern Europe. He also set up a
strong, efficient government.

In my opinion, Charlemagne As a man of good Character. Charlemagne is a known for

his success to try to maintain his empire. This new empire will embrace the unity of
Christian faith. Under Charlemagne, new lands are conquered and a renaissance is
embraced. He even tries to revive the Christian faith. Charlemagne is a man that hopes
to be an inspiration to the next generation. Charlemagne ‘s impact on Europe
Charlemagne once said” Right action is better than knowledge , but in order to do what is
right, we must know what is right”

Feudalism came to be came to be initially a system of local defense against the

constant dangers and uncertainties of a rather primitive existence in northern Europe
after the relative order of the Roman Empire disappeared. It was Charles Martel who first
started granting states for military service in the eight century he had a good reason.

Thus, aristocracy of knights gradually came into being. It was a slow evolutionary
process, based on the needs of a time. Elaborate ceremonial procedures were slowly
developed to make this military force a permanent feature of medieval life. And it became
by force of circumstance a method of government as well. By the ninth century it was
demonstrated this was a more superior fighting force than that provided by levied infantry
men. When this organized knights succeeded in repelling the more loosely structured
Vikings and Hungarians in the ninth century, no further proof of their usefulness was
needed.

In my point of view, Feudalism Western Europe suffered hardships through the ninth and
tenth centuries and this was a the ultimate reason they established a new political
organization which was known as feudalism. By Providing honor, protection, and a sense
of control, this new social system revived peace and order in Western Europe after the
fall of the Carolingian Empire. Feudalism was a necessary ingredient to yield stability in
during these times of calamity. The primary motive behind creating this organization was
to render protection to the people since the government was un able to do so. Instead of
defending on the government a powerful lord who could grant protection.

Feudalism developed as a result of the frequent invasions made by the Vikings during
the Middle Ages around the 900s to early 1500s.Feudalism served its purpose by
creating a system where the king would appoint lords that would appoint knights to
appoints serfs that would be expected to work the land and fields in exchange for food,
protection and accommodations. For example, a small state w/ a strong army
successfully defends itself against one neighboring state after another and incorporates
their lands or at same point, an able ruler aggressively seeks more territory. Overtime,
the state expands into an empire. However, successful empire also must develop a
government system that can maintain control of conquered people. The cause of a
conflict maybe as simple as “ I want you what you have “ .For example if the basic need
for food –and the land to grow it on has been a prime cause of war. But most of the time
, the reasons for wars are more complex .They can involve intertwining economic,
political , religious and cultural forces.

Name : MERRY P. HINEDO Date: July 27,2019

Professor: Raul D. Duhaylungsod,Ph.D. MAED TSS

Topic: The world of peasants and towns people

REFLECTION PAPER

The Peasants life journey, through the Middle Ages was tough. The life of a peasant was
hard and not easy or respected. A peasant’s work was never appreciated by the high
social classes. Peasant life should be acknowledged for the work and impact it had on
British History. The peasants of the middle ages were farmers, servants, and carpenters.
They would work all jobs to provide for their family. According to Dianne Zarlengo “Their
class formed the economic back bone for the society” . Peasants were not able to choose
the life they wanted to live. “Even though the burdened peasant class largely accepted
their harsh life as a way to cleanse their souls and help pave the way to eternal salvation,
peasants revolted occasionally”. Most people were born into the peasant life and from
there their lives became very harsh.
The social order peasants were in showed they were considered worthless. They were
below every social class of this time. “The peasant class was the lowest rung on the
medieval social ladder” . Since their social order was at the bottom, upper classes did not
respect them too much. “Even though the peasants provided the labor that enabled the
society to survive, they were often scorned by the wealthier classes” . Even though the
peasants were in a lower class they were still able to supply the needs for their family.
The daily life of a peasant was extremely difficult. Many worked as farmers on the fields
owned by wealthier land owners. They would overwork themselves with no pay.
According to Earle Jr. Rice “Peasants worked the lord’s land for two or three days a week
and their own land for the remainder of the week”.Peasant’s life dealt with working and
paying for ever...
During the private wars, before there were many towns, merchants traveled from place to
place to trade; however, lords charged merchants tolls for protection whenever they
traveled into their neighborhoods, which made going from place to place very expensive
and trade very difficult for merchants. “In the towns the houses were packed together
because every town had to be a fortress, with stout, high walls and a moat or river to
protect it from hostile nobles, pirates, and robber bands.” This resulted in very tall
buildings crammed together and very narrow streets. The streets were unpaved, and
people threw all of their garbage into the street, so disease spread very quickly. As a
result, a lack of sanitation was another adversity faced by townspeople in the Middle
Ages. While townspeople in the Middle Ages faced adversities like tolls, a lack of
sanitation, and the risk of losing everything in a fire, during the 1200s some towns started
to pave the streets with cobblestones and took steps toward increasing sanitation. Trade
for merchants was improved with the introduction of guilds to protect them from unfair
business practices. The era of the Middle Ages spanned over 1000 years, so as time
progressed things got better for people and they faced fewer adversities. A Peasant’s Life
The peasant has always been looked upon as an object of pity, an underclass citizen who
worked to provide for the higher classes. A passage from Pierce the Ploughman’s Creed
gives the perfect description of a day in the life of a peasant: As I went by the way, weeping
for sorrow, I saw a poor man hanging on to the plough. His coat was of a coarse stuff
which was called cary; his hood was full of holes and his hair stuck out of it. As he trod the
soil his toes stuck out of his worn shoes with their thick soles; his hocks on all sides and he
was all bedaubed with muck as he followed the plough.

Name : MERRY P. HINEDO Date: July 27,2019

Professor: Raul D. Duhaylungsod,Ph.D. MAED TSS

Topic: The Intellectual and Artistic World of High Middle Ages

REFLECTION PAPER

Two thousand years ago, the Roman Empire ruled Europe. They made many
technological advancements and kept Europe stable. But Rome weakened over time.
Due to internal weakening and external invaders (Barbarians, Persians, etc.) Western
Rome finally collapsed in the 5th/6th century.

After the collapse, Europe was very unstable. If you lived in this time, would you rather
learn to read and write and paint pretty pictures, or produce food and protect your family?
Because of the many disruptions from invasions and war, most people chose the second
option. This is why we have little art, architecture, etc. from this time period.

So to many people, the years 500-800 are called "dark" because of the lack of culture,
meanwhile historians call it "dark" because it is not well-known due to the lack of
historical records from that time. So it is a cultural and historical thing understand the
term "Dark Ages" in context of freedom of thought and scientific development, to some
extend art as well. The Christianity was blooming in Europe, but that meant that
everything that is not in the service of Christianity will be oppressed. Nobody can claim
that war engineering and Christian art were not developed in the Middle Ages, when
evidence of the opposite can be found all around Europe. But still, that hardly classifies
the period of 10 centuries of very strict censorship (which culminated with the inquisition)
as "not dark" and prosperous. Obviously that period can be called "dark" only if you think
about Europe. The "dark ages" in Americas came later, when Europeans found out about
them. Also, I suppose that in parts of Asia and Africa, the Middle ages were as good as
any other period, and not dark at all. So if one thinks globally, the term "Dark Ages" is a
bit off, don't you think? I am not sure what is my question here, and in general I agree
that the "Dark Ages" were not so dark after all, but the argument that the very reason for
that was Christianity really bothers me. I would be happy to hear other's opinion on the
topic. It may help to see the term "Medieval" as culturally specific. Certainly there were
lots of things happening in the rest of the world at the time of the European Middle Ages,
but the term, "medieval" is fairly Eurocentric in its cultural scope; think of it as the cultural
time in the "middle" of Roman Antiquity and our cultural time which is demarcated as
roughly starting when Europe departed form the culture of the Middle Ages during the
Renaissance. In, say, China, or the Caliphate, the term "medieval" would not as be as
relevant because the cultural demarcations giving rise to it being the "middle" between
two ages really wouldn't apply