Columbus Leaves Spain

Interviewer: "Can you please tell me about your discovery of America?"

Christopher Columbus: "Yes. In early 1492, I was inspired by Paolo Toscanelli, the book Image of the Worlds, and Marco Polo's ideas about the far east to go explore the Indies in the West.  I hypothesized that the world was mainly land and the trip to Asia was shorter than most thought.  I asked the Kind of Portugal to sponser my mission, but he declined.  He knew I was excited for the adventure, but was mostly going after fame.  I then asked Spain if they would sponser me and they accepted! It was April and I was thrilled! The first voyage I discovered some islands in Latin America, such as Hispaniola.  Foolishly, I thought I was the Far East, which I was far from.  Later, I made three more expeditions looking for this short path to Asia. I found none, of course, but did come to the Caribbean or the 'West Indies'."

Interviewer:  "So you had no idea you were in America?"

Columbus: "None. It was not until Amerigo Vespucci in 1507 discovered I was actually no where near Asia, but on a completely new land."

Interviewer:  "So how did you discover America?"

Columbus:  "Honestly, I was not the first to fully discover or land on America.  It had been done before, except my voyages inspired other Europeans and many began to settle in the new world."

Interviewer:  "And would you say that is your biggest contribution to history?"

Columbus: "Yes, that area becomes the United States of America which then becomes an example for other countries that want to rebel against their ruler.  Also, it becomes a very advanced country, even superpower later in history."

Interviewer: "Also the United States has a very good government"

Columbus: "Yes. It is unique and very successful."

("Christopher Columbus." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 12 Nov. 2010.
"European exploration." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 14 Nov. 2010. )

Magna Carta

Interviewer: "Please tell us the story of the Magna Carta."

King John: "Alright.  It all started with a war in 1205 with Phillip II. I lost the war and lands in Anjou and Normandy.  People were then unhappy that I lost land in France. I also treated myself, because I am king, to many expensive luxuries and made nobels pay lots of money.  After that, I was in a debate with Pope Innocent III about who the new archbishop of Canterbury should be.  I wanted a certain canidate, one the pope didn't want, so he appointed his without my consent. People were on my said when I said that the church should be seperate from the kingdom, so the pope tried to make me eat my words.  He placed England under interdict, or loss of support from the Catholic Church.  Next, the church decides to excommunicate me.  Lucky for England, I was a great leader and we worked throught the years.  I even stole revenue from the church to pay for important things.  I guess this is the time when people started to not enjoy me "taking away there rights" and someone tried to assassinate me in 1212.  With Phillip II on the run, I decided to cave and work with the Pope.  He lifted the exommunication, interdict, and I accepted England as a fief.  Innocent also made me grant liverties to the church.  After that I did some bad stuff with taxes and so on...anyways, a group of barons rebelled and forced me to sign a document called the Magna Carta in 1215." 

Interviewer:  "What did it say?"

John:  "It said that Barons have certain guarenteed rights and that I must too obey laws.  They also established this idea of 'due process of law' or the listed rules that government must follow for trials of citizens."

Interviewer: "And why was the Magna Carta important?"

John: "The Magna Carta had crucial ideas for government that are used presently in the United States. The idea that no one is above the law, even the president (king). Also that  we have a bicambrial legislature and the powers of each, like handeling money and taxes, are kept the same."

A picture of the document.

("King John." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 12 Nov. 2010.
)

Crusades

Interviewer: "Greetings Crusader, what are the Crusades?"

Crusader: "The Crusades are a series of holy battles between European Christians and Muslims over both of their holy lands, Jerusalem."

Interviewer: "When were they?"

Crusader: "The first crusade was called for in 1096 A.D. and the last ended around 1291."

Interviewer: "Please, tell me more."

Crusader: "Well, in 638 the Arab Muslims took Jerusalem from the Byzantine Empire once the borders were weakened from frequent attack. Now during the Middle Ages, European Christians would make religious voyages to the city of Jerusalem and the Muslims were very tolerant of it. Unfortunetly, the Seljuk Turkish Muslims took over in 1071 and was not so tolerant.  The Turks were powerful and even the Byzantine Empire was worried about them, so they called to the Christians for help.  In 1095 Pope Urban II called for the first crusade and Christian nights would go to win their holy city back from the Muslims.   The crusade was first in 1096 when the Peasants' Crusade (a group of peasants) were disorganized and easily defeated by the Muslims.  The real soldiers came in 1097 at Constantinople and were joined by the Byzantines, winning the Crusade in 1099.  After that, there was constant attack from the Muslims and they won one of the four Crusade States, Edessa in 1144.  Wanting to regain the state, King Louis VII of France and Conrad III the Holy Roman emperor, began the second crusade in 1147.  Unfortunetly, we had an epic fail and lost to the Muslims in 1149.  Responding with the second Crusade, the Christians in England, German,  and France went to fight for Jerusalem once more. Gaining lots of land along th e Mediterranean, Richard did not regain the city."

Interviewer: "That's a lot of fighting, how many Crusades were there?"

Crusader: "About nine, but those are stories for another day."

Interviewer: "What is the effect of the Crusades that was significant?"

Crusader: "Well, when the people went to Jerusalem, they recover important knowledge. There was medical information, languages and many others that opened the knowlege to the West.  The Crusades also end the Dark Ages of Europe."



A picture of the third Crusade.

("The Crusades (Overview)." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 10 Nov. 2010. )

William the Conqueror

Interviewer: "Hello Wiliam, what is your story?"

William the Conqueror: "I was born 1027 A.D. in Falaise, France son of Duke Robert I. At a young age, I inherited my father's land.  Luckily, I had many people that backed me up, like Henry I who protected me when my cousin tried to take my domain from me in 1046.  We defeated my cousin and others at the Battle of Val-es-Duens, but I still had to deal with Count of Anjou in the South.  I then married Matilda, who I love dearly, in 1053.   Not that this was why I married Matilda, but she was very politically linked.  She was the daughter of the Count of Flanders and a decendant of King Alfred the Great.  Meanwhile, I was slowly extending my land claim in Normandy, getting ready to take on England.  My vassal captured Harold II on his way to France in 1064.  Making a few deals with Harold, I conquered much of northern France. After that, I tried to win over the locals of France by strengthening my ties with the Catholic Church- it worked.  Then, in 1066 King Edward died without an heir so the people selected the powerful Harold II.  Fighting for the thrown in the Battle of Hastings, we killed Harold in a day.  10 weeks later I was crowned King of England."

Interviewer: "Is that why you are called the conqueror?"

William: "Yes. Before then, NO ONE defeats England."

Interviewer: "What would you say your impact was on history?"

William: "That would be when I was king.  On the throne, I called for a census of all my people, buildings, proplerty, livestock, etc. that would allow me to tax sufficiently.  People call it the Doomsday Book. I would do work for the people in my land and created a strong executive branch for future government types."

("William the Conqueror." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 8 Nov. 2010. )

The Great Schism

Interviewer: "Hello Pope Leo IX, how are you today?"

Pope: "It is a glorious day for the children of God. What can I do for you?"

Interviewer:  "Can you please tell me about the Great Schism?"

Pope:  "What is know as the Great Schism happened in 1054 during the Byzantine Empire in the Christian Church.   As you know, I was the Pope of Rome and Michael Cerularius was the Patriarch of Constantinople. There were many schisms between our regions of West and East, but this one finally seperated the Eastern Orthodox Church and my Western Catholic Church.  We  had started to isolate from each other on these earlier issues, using different languages, rules for priests, use of icons, but from a mid-eleventh century disagreement, our communication would end.  We wanted byzantine liturature practices and those fools wanted Latin. Anyways, I was the first to take some serious action and in 1053 I sent over some of my representatives to Constantinople.   The Patriarch rudely denied my negotiation plans so I...excommunicated him."

Interviewer: "You excommunicated him?"

Pope:  "Well yes! Left the papers on the altar of Hagia Sophia July 16, 1054, even got the emperor's blessing.  The Patriarch then excommunicated me on the 20th and we were completely divided.  Other later emperors tried to reunite us, but with no luck."

Interviewer: "What is the impact or importance of this Schism?"

Pope: "Why, it divided the Christian church between into Orthodox and Catholic.  It also made Constantinople weak without our military support and they were sacked in 1453."

Interviewer: "Thank you for the interview."

Pope: "My pleasure, peace be with you."

("Schism of 1054." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 6 Nov. 2010. )

Charlemagne

Interviewer: "Greetings Charlemagne, do you mind if I ask you a few questions today?"

Charlemagne: "No, go ahead."

Interviewer: "Well, could you please tell me your life story?"

Charlemagne: "Sure. I was born April 2, 741 son of Pippin the Short and grandson of Charles "The Hammer" Martel.  When my father died in 768,  the realm of the Franks was split between me and my brother, Carloman. My territory was harder to maintain than my brother's and as an early king I had to put down many revolts.  Carloman died in 771 and I got the whole kingdom to myself, I a real Carolingian king.  In 772 we attacked the Saxons and tried to inforce Frankish political authority over them as well as convert the pagans to Christianity.  At my empire's largest, it spanned from the North Sea to the Mediterranean. On Christmas day 800 A.D., I was crowned king of the Franks by the pope and started the holy Roman Empire.  During my entire reign of 46 years, I had over 50 military conquest and never failed."

 Interviewer: "What about the Danes and your invasion of Spain?"

Charlemagne: "Still, that was pretty good. "

Interviewer: "True. What was The Bloody Verdict of Verdun?"

Charlemagne: "It was 782, I had defeated the Saxons and seen them worshiping false gods.  Now you know my policy: Convert to Christianity or I will...kill you.  So, keeping my word I condemned 4,500 of them to death.  I am a strict Christian, as you may know.  As king, I myself have to take care of all aspects of my kingdom: political, social, artistic, and intelictual.  I had royal schools made because before then only education was given to munks. As I was trying to bring Europe out of darkness as the new Emperor of the West, I was hit with a new challange: vikings.  I died on January 28, 814 know as the greatest king in the Dark ages."

Interviewer: "Is it true that you know how to read and write?''

Charlemagne: "Not fully, but I did put in a lot of time towards learning how."

Interviewer: "Impressive.  Well, thank you for this interview."

Charlemagne: "You're welcome"

Charlemagne ruled from 768 to 814.

("Charlemagne." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 5 Nov. 2010. )

Battle of Tours

Interviewer: "Greetings Charles and may I say, congratulations"

Charles "The Hammer" Martel: "Thank you. The Battle of Tours was an important victory for many of us."

Interviewer: "Yes, it is. Please, tell me about the battle."

Charles:  "The Battle of Tours was a main battle in October 732.  It was my army of barbarian Franks versus the invading Muslims from Spain.  The muslims had been raiding other places in Europe since the 720s and it was time they were stopped.  They had conquered Spain in the early eight century and raided southern Gaul and Aquitaine.  later, the Muslims attacked Autun, towns on the Rhone River, and a now important man's city. Odo was the duke of Aquitaine and after another defeat in 732, he called in for my  assistance.  The islamic group destroyed a monastery in Plitiers and when they were targetting St. Martin of Tours, me and Odo stepped in. When our large army was seen, the Muslims stopped in their tracks; shocked.  We had a standstill for six days, but eventually began fighting."

Interviewer: "And it wasn't a long battle, was it?"

Charles: "We had some small fights, but it only took us about a week to finish off ol' Abd ar-Rahman."

Interviewer: "What is the main importance of this battle?"

Charles: "The importance, my friend, is that I may have just saved Christianity in Europe.  Another way to look at it is that I stopped Muslims from spreading possibly farther into the country."

Interviewer: "Well, thank god you did and thank you for the interview."

Charles: "You're welcome"

The Battle of Tours showed Charles' military akilled and helped strengthen his hold on the kingdom.

("Battle of Tours." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 3 Nov. 2010.")

Rome Sacked/ Falls to Barbarians

Interviewer: "Hello sir, can you  tell me what happened here?"

Citizen of Rome: "Rome was...sacked!"

Interviewer: "Please, tell me the story from the beginning."

Citizen: "Alright, I will tell you the story of the Visigoths. It all really started with the Battle of Adrianople 378 A.D.  Rome had an embarrassing lose to the Goths. After that, our emperor Theodosius I put many of them in the Roman Army.  When he died, that's when the barbarians broke Rome's treaty and selected a new leader: Alaric.  Alaric started after Greece, then Italy in 401. He lost, however, and again in 403 so he left Italy.  In 408, Rome was having some power troubles, so Alaric decided to go after Italy.  Lucky for him, the Western Roman emperor, Honorius, had the great Roman general killed resently before.  Honorius also had many other barbarians killed and the remaining actually joined Alaric's troops.  By 409, the Visigoths had surrounded Rome, but Alaric took a tribute and left.  After spending a hard winter away, Alaric demanded more from the Romans.  When Honorius refused, the Visigoths in 410 once again had Rome as a target.  An alli of Alaric opened the gates of Rome on August 24th and the barbarian army raided the empire for three days.  They didn't find any food because us Romans have been starving ourselves, and they left most of our architecture in tact. And now here I stand today, the once great empire of Rome, destroyed."

Interviewer: "Can you please tell me what you think the impact of this event will be?"

Citizen: "Terrible things!  This was the greatest empire ever; our people have no protection!"

Interviewer: "Wow, this might be a great impact on the world just because you all think that you are so vulnerable."

Citizen: "Maybe some of it is in our heads, but this establishment has been in power for almost 800 years!"

Interviewer: "Yes, and who knows what life will be like without any emperor of our society"

Citizen: "Madness"

Interviewer: "Well, thank you for the interview."

Picture of Alaric, the Visigoth's king.  The Fall of Rome unofficially starts what is known as the "Dark Ages' of Europe and the Roman Empire was completely gone by 476.

("sack of Rome." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 2 Nov. 2010.")

Constantine the Great

Interviewer: "Greetings Constantine, it is a real honor to meet you. Just as Alexander had done, can you please tell me your stroy?"
Constantine the Great: "Indeed.  I was born in Naissus son of Helen, or saint Helen as you may know her.  At the time, the emperor was Diocletian and coemperor was Maximian.  My father, Constantius I later became coemperor when Diocletian and Maximian abdicated in 305 A.D.  My father then died in 306 and with the military's favor, I competed for leadership.  In 312 I defeated Maxentius in the Battle of Milvian Bridge and gained control of the Western Romen Empire. When I defeated Licinius in 324, I was left to rule all of the great Roman Empire. "

Interviewer: "Whoa"

Constantine: "Yeah. I made the capital Constantinople in Byzantium, but a more memorable thing had happened to me durring the Battle of Milvian Bridge.  The day before I had had a dream where I had seen our victory and a Christian Cross.  The reason I had won that battle was because of God. Ending the persecution of Christians, I converted. I alowed freedom of religioin, but many other Romans converted too."

Interviewer: "Now, would you say your greatest achievement would be your spread of Christianity?"

Constantine:  "Yes, I also built many monuments like churches, cities, and the Arch Constantine. 
Constantinople was a wonderful city, if I do say so myself, and with a new capital it helped to unify Rome
after the fall of the Latin West"

Interviewer:  "Well thank you for the interview"

Constantine:  "You're welcome"

Interviewer: "What a saint"

("Constantine the Great." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Nov. 2010.")