1b. Setting the Stage

Question 1

Cuius regio, eius religio

Answer 1

Who’s rule, his religion. The religion of the prince. In post-reformation Europe the various political leaders would force the countries they were leading to follow whatever form of Christianity the leader believed in. This was a rejection of Rome. But, don’t forget that there were also monetary reasons for not being Catholic.

Question 2

Cyril and Methodius

Answer 2

Missionaries who brought Christianity to the Slavic peoples. They were Orthodox. The Orthodox rejected the Reformation.

Question 3

Don Juan de Onate

Answer 3

Established the first church in San Juan de Caballeros in New Mexico in 1598. By 1623 they had formed a Diocese. 80,000 Indian Christians and 43 churches.

Question 4

Le Code Noir

Answer 4

The Black Code. The French government told their people in Louisiana and the Caribean that they had 8 days to convert their black slaves, otherwise their property would be confiscated. This is evidence that the Catholic church was focused on evangelism.

Question 5

Kublai Khan

Answer 5

Persian leader who was sympathetic to Christianity. When he died Christians were no longer protected in China. It wasn’t until the arrival of Vasco de Gama in the 16th century that Christianity returned.

Question 6

Briefly describe the “Pre-Modern” world.

Answer 6

The Enlightenment had not happened yet, so there was no scientific methods, and philosophy had not been rediscovered. This all changed when the Portuguese figured out a way to sail around the tip of south African, and then across the Pacific. They began to interact with different peoples, especially Muslims who had preserved philosophy of Plato and the Greeks. The world expanded, and people began to ask questions.

There were no televisions, maps weren’t complete, there was no electricity. The world was a huge unknown, and people didn’t have the tools to explain it.

Question 7

In what year did the church split? Why?

Answer 7

1054, AKA the Great Schism. It happened because Rome did not want to grant the title of “Ecumenical Patriarch” to the Eastern leader in Constantinople. He refused and excommunicated the delegation, and they excommunicated him in return.

Question 8

Draw a brief timeline of the churches that were present at the end of the 16th century.

Answer 8

NT church, then the East and West Church, and then the churches of the Reformation.

Question 9

What happened first, Columbus, or the Portuguese sailing around south Africa?

Answer 9

Columbus. The Portuguese followed.

Question 10

What were the Spanish interested in? What were the Portuguese interested in? What impact did this have on the world?

Answer 10

Treasure for the Spaniards, and Trade for the Portuguese. The Portuguese were looking to become the economic giants of the European world.

Question 11

On a map, draw the places and routes that the Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, French and English focused on.

Answer 11

Use a blank map, or my white board to explain this.

Question 12

What areas of the United States and the Americas did the Spaniards focus on?

Answer 12

Florida, Caribbean, Mexico, south and central America, and then southwest of U.S.

Question 13

How many missions are there in California, and when were they established?

Answer 13

21 missions total. San Diego in 1769, and Sonoma 1823.

Question 14

When did the Puritans come to the United States?

Answer 14

In the early 1600s. They were running away from religious persecution in Europe. This affected the way they saw the interaction between the church and state.

Question 15

What was the last place to be Europeanized?

Answer 15

The Pacific Northwest, by the Russians. They established Fort Ross, as far south as San Francisco. They sold it and left the west coast.

Question 16

How did Christianity first arrive in China?

Answer 16

Overland, through trade routes. Lots of early Nestorianist influence that came through Iran.

Question 17

Who was Nestorius?

Answer 17

He was the Archbishop of Constantinople who rejected the Theotokos. Many accused him of not believing that Jesus was God as a result. Some of the churches in the East still acknowledged his authority and never agreed with the accusations.

Question 18

What happened at the Council of Chalcedon in 451?

Answer 18

The church declared the two natures of Christ; fully God, and fully human.

Question 19

Where was Nestorianism common?

Answer 19

in some of the churches of the east

Question 20

What is Theotokos?

Answer 20

Mother of God. Nestorius didn’t like the concept because he thought that Christians were coming too close to venerating Mary.

Question 21

What were the two major cities in African, and who were they influenced by?

Answer 21

Carthage and Alexandria. Carthage was influenced by the West, so it was Roman Catholic. Alexandria was Greek, so it was influenced by Eastern Orthodoxy.

Question 22

The Portuguese explored the west part of Africa, but who explored the East side?

Answer 22

The Chinese. In the early 1400s they had an armada of 2000 ships. Their largest ship was 400 feet long and 160 feet wide. But leadership changed in China to an emperor who was focusing more on agriculture, so they left the Indian Ocean. Once this happened, the Europeans moved in.

Question 23

Which countries were Lutheran?

Answer 23

Germany, Scandinavia, and then Iceland and Greenland.

Question 24

Which countries were Reformed?

Answer 24

Switzerland

Question 25

Which countries were Catholic

Answer 25

Spain, France, Portugal

Question 26

Which country was Anglican?

Answer 26

England

Question 27

Who were the leaders of Spain during the times of Columbus?

Answer 27

Ferdinand II and Isabella. Isabella was a huge supporter of the Inquisition. Once they had rid Jews and Muslims from the Iberian peninsula they moved to the conversion of the Americas.

Question 28

Essay Question: For many people in the Americas, the year 1492 holds considerable significance. For some it emerges as a moment of great “discovery,” the year in which Christopher Columbus “discovered” America - or at least, certain Caribbean islands. It is viewed as a positive outcome of exploration. For others it is the year in which the exploitation and oppression of indigenous peoples began. Native Americans were enslaved, murdered, exposed to various plagues, and robbed. Based upon your reading, in what ways can/should these claims be reconciled?

Answer 28

Its a mixed bag, obviously.

Bad:
Encomiendas
Missions movement had a lot of negative consequences.
Slaves were brought from Africa. Indians were too susceptible to disease.
Whole histories were destroyed: like what happened with the Aztec codices. We will never recover that.
Disease.

Good:

Education.
Advances in medicine.

Question 29

Essay Question: Think carefully about the 17th Century. Traditionally when American History is taught, it begins with the coming of the English Puritan pilgrims to New England seeking religious freedom. Yet the Roman Catholic Spanish were present in the Americas long before the Pilgrims came. What reasons can you name for the significance given to the Puritans and the lack of significance given to the Catholics?

Answer 29

1. Where the Spanish landed vs where the Puritans landed.
2. Center of government was on the East. We have a closer ties, because of our Protestant roots, to England. That’s why we also focus on New England.
3. It also depends on who is asking the question. Is the significance being asked by white evangelicals, or Latinos? Also, its easier to connect to people seeking religious freedom (victims) vs conquistadores (oppressors).

As the newly emerging American people began to spread across the North American continent, they extended their own colonial interests. The American continent would be made into something resembling the Anglo-Saxon nation that had most strongly affected its origins as a nation. Its democratic form of government, aided by the findings of the Enlightenment period, its law based upon English precedent, the regularization of its language – an Americanized version of English – and the standardization of its religious life dominated by Protestantism through two Great Awakenings, left indelible marks upon the nation.