Thirty-Sixth Week Seventh Grade History Class

          This is the very last essay of this history course. Over the past school year, I have been going over 1,280 years of the history of Europe. This started with the fall of Rome, in 476 AD all the way to my last lesson on the Battle of Jumonville Glen, In 1754 AD. This being said, this essay will be about Europe and how it changed over this period of time.

          This year’s history class was focused mostly on the most well known and famous countries. Some of these countries were Italy, France, Scotland, Great Britain (which was England and Scotland during this time), Spain, the Holy Roman Empire (which is nowadays Germany or Austria), and the Netherlands. We also talked a little bit about Portugal.

          Italy developed out of the Roman Empire, and its capitol, even today, is Rome! Italy was started by a barbarian tribe called the Ostrogoths. Italy actually became important because it was the home of the Catholic church. Many important Popes and families during the Renaissance came from Italy. In fact, Italy also started the Renaissance and the idea of the Renaissance.

          I also learned about France, which is another of the oldest countries in Europe. France came from the Frank tribe, but it officially became a country under King Charles Martel. He, his son, Pepin the Short, and his grandson Charlemagne, who was also the first Holy Roman Emperor, ruled over France for a long time, creating a strong line of monarchs. France was mostly Roman Catholic during the time period of this history class. However, Protestants in France would silence the Catholics and take over from time to time. When France came over to the Americas, they occupied and established Canada. Unfortunately, there was some misunderstanding, and the English, led by George Washington, believed that Canada was their territory. This miscommunication led to the Battle of Jumonville Glen, which later resulted in the Seven Years’ War, or the French and Indian War.

          Great Britain, or originally known as England is the country I will talk about next. England is one of the strongest and most influential countries in the world, behind the United States of America. This is mostly due to the colonization period, spreading into the Americas, Africa, Oceania, Australia, et cetera. England was Protestant most of the time, but a few of the English kings knew that if they wanted to be in control of the people, they had to be in control of the religion. Even if they were able to do this with England, they caused rebellions and riots in Scotland. Eventually, after having several kings who ruled over England and Scotland, the countries were eventually combined to make Great Britain. Many of the important movements of this time were established in Great Britain.

          Next in this essay, I will talk about Spain. Spain was probably the most Catholic of the European countries, even though the religion originated in Italy. Even though they were being overthrown by the Muslims, they were able to fight back, pushing the Islamic religion out of their country. Thanks to the Catholic Monarchs (King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella), Spain had strong ties to several other countries for a long time. The same rulers also are famous for sponsoring Christopher Colomus’s famous journey to the New World, which sparked a new era, the colonization period. The Spanish dominated the colonization of South America and Mexico. However, they did not take over very peacefully. Instead, they completely wiped out and demolished all of the civilizations and the once strong kingdoms in their way.

          The Holy Roman Empire, which was founded by Pope Leo III, who crowned the first ruler of the HRE, Charlemagne. There was one Holy Roman Emperor who was chosen for the role by the Pope, and he would rule over the HRE as well as his own country. Eventually, the Holy Roman Empire fell in 1806. Today, the location of the Holy Roman Empire is now Germany and Austria.

           The Netherlands was another country that I learned about. For a long time, the Dutch people were under the control of Spain, but with the help of some of the Protestants in England, they were able to gain their freedom and to become the Netherlands. Despite being a small country, they colonized many newly discovered places greatly and rapidly.

          A few of the important events that happened during this time were the development and growth of the Catholic Church, which began to spread quickly after the fall of the Roman Empire, the spread of Islam, the Crusades, which was a time when Christians formed an army and attempted to overthrow and get rid of the Muslims, who were spreading into Europe. Unfortunately for them, the Muslim army was too strong and they were viciously defeated. Then there was the time of the Renaissance. This was a time when the people started to back away from the church after it got too strict. During this time, the idea of humanism became very popular. Many famous artists, poets, Popes, and families lived during the Renaissance period.

          Following the Renaissance came the Reformation; a time where people began to come back to God, but to believe what they wanted to believe. People were angry with the Catholic Church and rebelled, beginning wars and riots that lasted until the 1700s! These wars were between the Protestants and the Catholics. Sometimes the Protestants were right and had a good point for why they were fighting, and other times the Catholics had the better reason. This time completely ripped Europe and the few friendly bonds between the countries into shreds, but this was one of the most important periods in European history.

          Then there was the Act of Supremacy, which was made by King Henry VIII. This was also known as the Divine Right of Kings. The Divine Right of Kings was a king’s belief that meant that since God had granted them his power, then that king should only obey God. As you can see, this was very unfair because it meant that the king could do whatever he wanted and did not have to listen to anyone else. This made the king the most powerful person in his kingdom, rather than him serving his people, which was what he was supposed to do.

          Finally, there was the exploration period, beginning with Christopher Columbus’ famous journey to the New World. This led to the colonization era, which included the beginning of the thirteen colonies and later to the United States of America, which I hope I will learn about the history leading up to that point in the eighth grade history class. It also led to the colonization and development of North and South America, Oceania, Australia, Africa, and many other countries and continents.

         I have loved this history course and I am very grateful that I got to take it. I think it is smart to only learn about one section of the world for a long period of time instead of jumping all around the world. I am very excited to take the eighth grade history course and to learn more about the colonization and establishment of the Americas!