King John of England was the brother of King Richard the Lionhearted. King Richard was loved by the people of England, but his younger brother John was the opposite. John was the youngest of all his brothers so wasn’t expected by anyone to inherit anything. He did not stop to take over the throne and try to take over his brother’s crown when he was away. When Richard died, John became king.

The Pope and Holy Roman Emperor had lots of arguments. One of those arguments was over who would be the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Pope got so mad that he excommunicated John and threatened to shut down all the churches in England unless John would comply. John complied with the Pope’s demands. He was let back into the Church but didn’t change his ways.

John was a bad military leader and needed to raise lots of money to protect himself. He often raised taxes without consent or permission, which angered the barons. When the barons had enough, they marched to London and took control of the city. King John met the rebels at Runnymede. John put his seal in the Magna Carta which enforced it. The Magna Carta contained the rights to the barons, the law that the king must abide by the law of the nation, no taxation without approval of the council, trial by jury no matter the victim, and the church was not to be interfered with by the king. Neither side took this document seriously and even John’s successor, Henry, failed to follow the charter. 

Almost nothing is known about William Wallace’s early life. He was born in 1270 and became a landowner. When he was a child, Alexander the Third ruled Scotland. When he died, his granddaughter ruled, but when she died there was no heir. Several people and families tried to claim the throne. The government said that Edward I from England become king but the Scots choose John Balliol. John was a weak king, and when Edward said to give him the throne, John caved in. Edward became king of Scottland and England. The Scottish people saw John as the real king and didn’t want an English king.

William Wallace made an army and burned Landmark, an English town. He marched his army to defeat the strongholds on the English border. The English met him near Stirling. William was outnumbered but planned well and gained the upper hand. The battle of Stirling Bridge and Stirling Castle was won by the Scottish. When Wallace came back, he was made guardian and was knighted. Later, Edward himself invaded so Wallaces army tried to follow the English and attack them where they were weak. Edward found out that the Scots weren’t far away and defeated the Scots. Wallace escaped and became and lived as a refugee. Wallace was betrayed by a knight and was taken to and tried at Westminster Hall. He was convicted of treason and was killed. Some parts of his body were put on display all over Scottland as a warning. 

The Holy Roman emperor was a loose position made by the Pope. The first Holy Emperor of Rome was Charlemagne. The position was given to who could give the most service to the Pope. This all changed when Otto the First was made king of Germany. Otto became the Duke of Saxony as well as the king of Germany in 936. He united all of the dukes and made them his vassals. Despite death threats, he remained in power and king of Germany. In 951, Otto rescued the widowed queen of Italy and made himself king. Four years later, he was invaded by the Magyars. Otto fended them off, but his youngest son was killed. The Pope got into some trouble and called on Otto. Otto agreed to help only if the Pope made him Holy Roman Emperor. Otto squelched the rebellion and was made emperor in the year of 962. After Otto, the Holy Roman Empire became a perpetual title for the land of Germany. This lasted until Napoleon.  

The Pax Dei was an attempt to limit the bloodshed of wars. This attempt was made by the Catholic Church. This Pax Dei outlined the guidelines for warfare. This wasn’t really effective, but it made precedents for the noble’s violence.

The Vikings came from the Scandinavian region and spread throughout Europe. They raided coastal regions and villages. The name Viking is from old Norse word, meaning expeditions. The most famous thing that comes to mind is the boats. Their people made longships and knarrs. The longship was the same thing on the front and back. They were wind powered or human powered. The Knarr was their merchant ship. They were also wind powered and human powered. They made their own alphabet. They put this alphabet on runestones. These runestones said who wrote the purpose and so on. The Vikings started the Norse religion. The three more famous Norse gods are Odin, Thor, and Freya. Any and every Viking was forced to own a weapon. This often revealed their status. The most common weapon was the ax. Two misconceptions are that Vikings wore horn on their helmet and that they were barbarians. None of these are true. They are just myths. Viking were red or blond haired and were farmer or raiders. 

Charlemagne was born in what is today Belgium. He was named Charles. He is the grandson of Charles Martel. Charlemagne became a co-ruler in 768 AD at just 26 years old. When his father died, he decided to split the kingdom with his brother. His brother died in 771 and made Charlemagne the sole ruler. His main job was to quell a revolt in Aquitaine which he was successful at. He married a Lombard princess which strengthened foreign relations. One year later, he remarried and those hurt relations. Charles fought the Lombards which is where his ex-wife was from. Two years later, Pavia, the Lombard capital, was sieged. He was made king in Pavia and became king of France and Italy. Charles like his grandfather and father was an amazing general. He was at constant war during his whole reign. Charles besieged Saragosa and the Muslims rearguard attacked Charles including his nephew, Roland. After this, he came back and conquered the Muslims. This rearguard attack made one of his men commit treason. Charles expanded the French holding and fought with the Saxtons for 30 years. When they revolted, he took 4500 prisoners. This is known today as the Massacre of Verdun. The Pope was threatened and called on Charles to protect him. Charles defended the Pope, and in turn the Pope made Charles emperor. Charles became the renewer of Rome and was known for his priority on education. In 813, he made Louis the Pious, King of Aquitaine and co-ruler. At 72 years old, he died in the 47^th year of his reign. 

Muhammad saw visons and spent his life preaching and spreading the word and after his death. Islam became the second largest religion. Three years after a peace treaty between Persia and Byzantium, Muhammad was born. He was born near Ka’ba which was thought to have been made by Abraham. His father died shortly after he was born. At six, his mother died, too. He was raised by his uncle. He became a merchant and married a rich widow. In 610, he had his first revelation which told him that he was a prophet of a new religion and needed to spread the word. This makes up the first passages of Qu ‘ran. He wrote the rest of the Qu ‘ran when he had more visions. He preached in the streets and tried to get followers to his religion. His family shunned him and tried to kill him because of his message. He moved to Medina and started witnessing there. They welcomed him and became the first Islamic community. They made Muhammad the leader of the city soon after. Later, a war broke out between Mecca and Medina. Muhammad and Medina won. They banned idol worship and made Islam as the religion. In 632, he walked to Mecca from Medina to see the Ka’ba. At the end, he gave his last sermon and became ill. He died not long after. After Muhammad died, Islam became the world’s second largest religion. 

The most important book in Islam is the Qu ‘ran. The Hadith is another important book as it is the deeds of Muhammad. Every Muslim must follow the five pillars. The five pillars are Shahadah, Salat, Zakat, fast of Ramadan, and Hajj. The Shahadah is an oath that all Muslims must profess. The Salat are the prayers a Muslim must say five times a day. The Zakat requires almsgiving. These alms are given according to an ability and to help the poor. The Fast of Ramadan is a fast month one month every year where they don’t eat all day. The Hajj is the Islamic pilgrimage made by Muhammad. The person must walk seven times around Ka`ba and take seven trips between Mt. Arweh and Mt. Safa and take two days praying in the desert. The five pillars are essential in Every Muslims life. 

After Muhammads death, the Islamic religion was carried to elected leaders who were called Caliphates. The first Caliphates were considered the Rashidun dynasty a.k.a. the “rightly guided Caliphs”. The first Caliph was Muhammad’s father-in-law. Most of the first caliphs were family of friends of Muhammad. The next caliph was Umar who was the most powerful caliph in all Islamic history. He died due to assassination in 644 AD. The man after him was Uthman. He dealt with the revolts and expanded the empire. The last of the Rashidun’s is Ali. He was the first male to become Islamic. He was widely considered to be the best instead of his predecessors. With the Muslims split to different parties, Ali was succeeded by the corrupt Umayyad Dynasty. The parties became sects. The three sects are Sunni, Shia, and Sufi. The Sunnis believe that Abu was the right choice for first caliph. The Sunnis make up 75% of the Muslim population. The Shias believe that Ali was the first caliph they don’t consider the other three caliphs. The Shias make up 10-20% of the Muslim population. The last sect are the Sufis. They are the mystics of Islam who self-examinate themselves to be a better Muslim. The Caliphates were not always the best that they could be.