Summary
After William the Conqueror was crowned king of England in 1066, the cultures of the Normans and Anglo-Saxons mixed. The power of the English king increased during the rule of Henry II. King John's abuse of power led English nobles to draft the Magna Carta and set up a Parliament, which shared the king's powers. The French created their own parliament called the Estates-General.
After the Mongols destroyed the Kievan Rus, the Slavs rebuilt the city of Moscow and founded a new Russian state headed by a czar. The city became the headquarters of the Eastern Orthodox Church and grew wealthy from trade.
In 1071 Muslim Turks defeated the Byzantines. Europe responded to the Byzantine emperor's cries for help with a series of Crusades. European crusaders captured Jerusalem, but despite early victories, and more than 200 years of fighting, the last Christian city fell to the Muslims in 1291. The Crusades positively impacted Europe by breaking down feudalism and increasing trade.
Spotlight Video Transcripts
Male
Narrator: In 1187, a Muslim army
batted at the gates of Jerusalem Holy
City Jerusalem Holy
City Jerusalem
Translation:
The first crusader invasion of Jerusalem
Male
Narrator: Now Saladin had gathered
his own terrifying army. He believed that soon Jerusalem Jerusalem Jerusalem was a disaster for Richard and the
Christians in Europe . The Pope immediately
issued a decree. Jerusalem Jerusalem England sighted the Holy Land for the first
time, and he descended on Acre . He seemed
unstoppable. Christianity’s new holy warrior had brought his own brand of hell
to the Orient. It was at Acre that Richard King of England
Male
Speaker: Victory at the siege of Acre was a great breakthrough for Richard. It meant that
the Christians had been blessed by God. How else could they explain their
victory? It also, in strategic terms, he knew would be a big step forward; it would
help to break the power of Saladin; would help open the way to the Holy City of
Jerusalem.
*****
