Friday, September 14, 2018

What happened when Pope Leo met Attila the Hun

As you know from this week's class, Attila the Hun was set to attack the city of Rome in 452 C.E.  To prevent an attack, Pope Leo took a group of his men out to meet with Attila.  Afterwards, Attila took his army an left instead of attacking.

Why?

Paul the Deacon claimed that Saint Peter and Saint Paul appeared at Pope Leo's side holding swords above his head. This is basically what Raphael's painting shows.   Prosper of Aquitane says Leo trusted in God and that he impressed Attila but he makes no mention of Peter or Paul.

What really happened?

Select one of these explanations.  Pick the one you think is the most plausible.


What really happened when Leo met Atilla

Leo convinced Attila to become a Christian.
Leo threatened him with his superior army.
Leo spoke with enough confidence that he convince Attila to embrace peace.
Leo set a trap for Attila so Attila had to agree with him or face death.
Attila was not that loyal to his own troops, so he easily agreed with Leo.
Leo paid Attila not to invade.
Leo set up illusions/tricks to make it look like Peter and Paul really appeared.
Leo was clearly armed so well that Attila decided it was too risky to attack.
Since Attila's army was exhausted from their recent defeat in Gaul, he decided it was better not to risk losing a second battle.
Attila changed his mind to please God.
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After you have voted, leave a comment to explain why you made your choice to possibly earn brownies for your class. Number and quality of comments will determine which class gets brownies.

For more about Attila the Hun see this National Geographic Article

You might also check this short article on History.com

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Monday, September 10, 2018

Long Vowel Words

Here are some long vowel words.  Just in case you need some for your spelling homework.

Long a

propane; prepay; matron; say; retrain

Long e

reason; secrete; baby; wheel; tee; become

Long i

blight; rind;  bike; bicycle; typhoon

Long o

roam; burrow; golden; propose; provocation

Long u

misconstrue; yew; flute; pusillanimous


Can you think of some good examples?  Leave them in a comment.


Thursday, September 6, 2018

Do Now! What Time Is It?

What Time is It?

What is the difference between B.C., B.C.E., A.D. and  C.E.?

Write down each of the following abbreviations and the words they stand for in your spiral.

B.C. - Before Christ
A.D. - Anno Domini
B.C.E. - Before common era.
C.E. - Common era.

Of these four terms, the first one to come into use was A.D. or Anno Domini which means "Year of our Lord."  This was invented in 525 by a monk named Dionysius Exiguus.   Dionysius claimed he had determined the year of Jesus Christ's birth.  Since he was a Christian monk, he wanted a new calendar that measured each year based on Christ's birth. A.D. 525 was five hundred and twenty five years after the birth of Christ.

It would be several hundred years later when the term B.C. for "before Christ" came into use.

While Christianity is still the largest religion in the world, according to the Pew Research Center,  only 31.2% of the world is Christian.  Since there are many more non-Christians in the world, two new terms which do not refer to Christ have come into use: B.C.E. for "before common era" and C.E. for "common era."  The term C.E. or "common era" was first used in 1708, so it has been around for a long time.  These terms are now used in most history text books throughout the world.

While the terms have changed the years have not.  B.C.E. still counts down to 1 just like B.C. did while  C.E. counts up from 1 like A.D. did.  There is no year 0.

Now answer these questions in your spiral.  Include the question in your answer, or write the question.

  1.  What does A.D. stand for?
  2.  Who invented the term A.D.?
  3. About what percentage of the world is not Christion?  Yes, you will have to do some math to answer this one.
  4.   Is there a year 0?
  5.   Do you think it was a good idea to switch from B.C. and A.D. to B.C.E. and C.E.?  Explain.