Class agenda today:
1. "Did you get it?" Mr. M handed out what looked like a quiz about How The Great Age of Exploration Began. It wasn't. Students had five minutes to complete it. Then, Mr. M explained that this was an opportunity for them to see, "Do I get it?" Did they understand the lesson from last Thursday and Friday.
2. Okay, so I made this claim that Trade with the Middle East post and during the Crusades was important. But, is this really true? How do we know that Europeans valued trade with muslims and their goods from the near and far east. Using art from the time period we can "see" that they did! Mr. M showed some works of Art pre-Renaissance and during the Renaissance to show this to be true. Many paintings were "stuff" paintings - Europeans showing off their "stuff". Much of the stuff was due to trade with Muslims. Arnolfini Wedding by Jan Van Eyck was one example.
3. What did Europeans know about the world in the 15th century? Was the world flat? No, Martin Behaim's globe or "Erdapfel" (Earth Apple) came out in 1492, same year as the Columbus voyage. In fact, the two men probably knew or knew of each other having both been in the court of King John of Portugal. Students saw the Behaim globe and we discussed its inaccuracies but it is definitely round. We then made our own Behaim globe using baloons and sharpies. Fun stuff!
