Citations

www.wikipedia.org/

http://ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Authentication/LogOn?returnUrl=%2FHome

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/

http://www.ahistoryofgreece.com/goldenage.htm

Great Schism

Hello, I'm Katie and today I will be interviewing Charles Caspian, who lived during the time of the Great Schism.

Katie: How did this all start out?
Charles: Since early Christian times, differences had emerged over Church leadership. Although the Byzantine emperor was not a priest, he controlled Church affairs and appointed the patriarch, which is the highest Church official in Constantinople. Byzantine Christians rejected the pope's claim to authority over all Christians. 
Katie: Can you explain what happened when the Church divided?
Charles: Well during the Middle Ages, the two branches of Christianity drew farther apart. A dispute over a use of icons, or holy images, contributed to the split. Many Byzantine Christians used images of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and the saints in their worship. In the 700s, a Byznantine emperor outlawd the veneration of icons, saying it violated God's commandment against worshiping "graven images."
Katie: Obivously, the ban set off violent battles within the empire. How did the empire reach to this?

Charles: From the west, the pope joined in the dispute by condemning the Byzantine emperor. Although a later empress eventually restored the use of icons, the conflict left a great resentment against the pope in the Byzantine empire.

Katie: What happened in 1054?

Charles: Other controversies provoked a schism, or split between eastern and western Christianity, known as the Great Schism. The Byzantine church became known as the Eastern, or Greek, Orothodox Church. The western branch became known as the Roman Catholic Church. The pope and patriarch excommunicated each other. After this, contacts between the two churches were guarded and distant. They treated each other as rivals rather than as branches of the same faith.

Columbus Leaves Spain

Hello, I'm Katie and today I will be interviewing Christopher Columbus.

Katie: Why did you decided to take a journey and leave Spain?
Christopher: Well, once i heard about Portugal's success, I decided that I wanted to find another sea route to Asia.
Katie: What was your goal for this expedition?
Christopher: I wanted to reach the East Indies by sailing west across the Atlantic.
Katie: Unlike many Europeans, you knew that Earth was in fact a sphere. So how did you figure out how to map out your journey?
Christopher: Well, I would bring the ship to eastern Asia. My plan did make sense, but I underestimated Earth's size.
Katie: Well, what happened from there.

Christopher: Portugal refused to sponsor me, but I persuaded Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain to finance my voyage. So, to increase their authority, the Spanish rulers had taken radical measures, including expelling Jews from Spain. They hoped their actions would strengthen Catholicsim. But, the loss of some of Spain's most affluent and cultured people weakened the nation. The rulers hoped that my voyage would bring wealth and prestige back to Spain.

Katie: What day did you set sail for your voyage?

Christopher: On August 3, 1492, Columbus sailed west with three small ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. And on October 12, we spotted land. But, since I thought we reached the Indies, we returned home to Spain where you got a hero's welcome. And in three later voyages, I remained convinced that I reached the coast of East Asia. Not long after this, Europeans realized that I had found a route to previously unknown continents.

Charlemagne

Hello, I'm Katie and today I will be interviewing Charlemagne.

Katie: What year did you become king?

Charlemagne: I became King of the Franks in 768.

Katie: What happened in between you and Pope Leo III in 799?

Charlemagne: Well, Pope Leo III asked me for help against the rebellious nobles in Rome. So, I sent a delegation to Rome that arrested Leo's opponents. Then, on Christmas Day, the pope showed his gratitude by placing a crown on my head and proclaiming me Emperor of the Romans.

Katie: Why did the ceremony have enormous significance?

Charlemagne: Well, a Christian pope had crowned me, a Germanic king, successor to the Roman emperors. In doing so, Pope Leo III revived the ideal of a united Christian community, which came to be called Christendom.

Katie: What was one of the main things you focused on as king?

Charlemagne: Well, I strove to create a unified Christian Europe. I worked close with the Church and helped spread Christianity to the conquered peoples on the fringes of my empire.

Katie: Did you have any ideas on how to unify your kingdom other than by religion?

Charlemagne: Yes, I did. I also had the idea of education to unify the kingdom. Even though I could only read and not write, I still saw the need for the officials to keep accurate records and write clear reports. So, I set out to revive Latin learning throughout my empire and encouraged the creation of local schools. I also wanted to revive the glory of Rome at my court at Aachen. I brought many of the best scholars of Europe to the Palace School there.

Crusades

Hello, I'm Katie and today I will be interviewing Pope Urban II about the Crusades.

Katie: Can you explain what the Crusades were?

Pope Urban II: The Crusades were a series of military campaigns during the time of medievel England against the Muslims of the Middle East. The specific crusades to restore Christian control of the Holy Land were fought over a period of nearly 200 years, between 1095 and 1291.The Crusades were fought mainly by Roman Catholic forces against Muslims who had occupied the near east since the time of the Rashidun Caliphate, Waldensians, Old Prussians, and and political enemies of the various popes.

Katie: What was the main goal of the Crusades?

Pope Urban II: The Crusades originally had the goal of recapturing Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim rule and their campaigns were launched in response to a call from the Christian Byzantine Empire for help against the expansion of the Muslim Turks.

Katie: What is something that we might not know about the Crusades?

Pope Urban II: Well, the Crusades had far-reaching political, economic, and social impacts, some of which have lasted into contemporary times. Because of other conflicts between Christian kingdoms and political powers, some of the crusade expeditions were diverted from their original aim, such as the Fourth Crusade, which resulted in the sack of Christian Constantinople.

Magna Carta

Hello, I'm Katie and today I will be interviewing King John about the Magna Carta.

Katie: King John, can you explain what the magna carta is?

King John: The Magna Carta is and English legal document written in 1215 which had a huge influence on the developing legal system of England. The proper name for the Magna Carta is the Magna Carta Libertatum, the Great Charter of Freedoms. The document is usually abbreviated as the Magna Carta, or Great Charter. It could be considered a bill of rights for medievel England, although it was not heavily enforced for several centuries. But more importantly, it set a precedent which changed the face of England forever, by establishing that the I was not above the law.

Katie: Why did you sign the Magna Carta?

King John: I signed the Magna Carta after an immense amount of pressure from the Church and my barons. I often lived above the law, violating both feudal and common law. I was also heavily criticized for my foreign policy actions within England.

Katie: What happened after this?

King John: Well, the Barons, with the support of the Church, pressured me to spell out a list of their rights and guarantee that those rights would be enforced. Then they provided a draft, and after some negotiation, I put my seal to the Magna Carta in Runnymede in June of 1215.

Katie: What happened after the signing of the Magna Carta?

King John: Later I abadoned the Magna Carta, triggering a war which lasted until my death in 1216. My son, Henry III, took the throne, and reissued the Magna Carta in 1225.

Battle of Tours

Hello, I'm Katie and today I willing be interviewing Charles "The Hammer" Martel about the Battle of Tours.

Katie: So when was this battle?

Charles: This battle was fought by the Frankish against invading Muslims from Spain on October 25, 732.

Katie: What was the reason for this battle?
Charles: Well, a Muslim army, in a crusading search for land at the end of  Christianity, after the conquest Syria, Egypt, and North Africa, had began to invade Western Europe under the leadership of Abd-er Rahman, governer of Spain. Abd-er led an infantry of 60,000 to 400,000 soldiers across the Western Pyrenees and toward the Loire River, but we met the right outside the city of Tours.
Katie: What happened from there?
Charles: Well, I gathered my forces directly in the path of oncoming Muslim army and prepared to defend ourselves using a phalanx style of combat. The invading Muslims then rushed toward us, relying on the slashing tactics and overwhelming number of horsemen that had brought them victories in the past. However, my army and I, composed of foot soldiers armed only with swords, shields, axes, javelins, and daggers, were well trained.
Katie: What was the strength of the Muslim army?

Charles: The strength of the Muslim army was their cavalry. They were armed with large swords and lances, which along with their baggage mules, limited their mobility.

Katie: How did this battle end?

Charles: The battle ended when we captured and killed Abd-er Rahman. Then the Muslims withdrew peacefully.

Katie: What happened to the Muslims after the battle?

Charles: For the Muslims, the death of their leader caused a sharp setback and they had no choice but to retreat back across the Pyrenees, never to return again.