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History and Citizenship Education
(Cycle One)

The Christianization of the West

The West refers to both a territory and a civilization. By studying the Middles Ages and its institutions from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the Renaissance, students grasp the influence of Christianity in the development of the Western world. The Church had hegemony over the feudal powers and the values of Western society and contributed to the development of knowledge. Religion is still an important characteristic of identity for many societies today.

The concepts prescribed by the program are not described using specific statements. It is by using all of the knowledge related to a social phenomenon that students develop their understanding of the following concepts: Christianity, Crusade, culture, education, Church, feudalism, the West, power and science.

Student constructs knowledge with teacher guidance.
Student applies knowledge by the end of the school year.
 year
1 2
  1. Influence of religion on society today
    1. Indicates various religious affiliations in Québec (e.g. Christian, Muslim, Jewish)
  
    1. Indicates the principle associated with religion in the charters of rights: freedom of religion
  
    1. Names religious rituals that mark the lives of many people (e.g. holidays, celebrations of faith)
  
  1. Influence of the Church on the development of the West
  • 2.1.   Location in space and time
    1. Locates on a map the main Christian and Muslim territories around the year 1000
  
    1. Locates on a map pilgrimage routes of the Middle Ages (e.g. to Santiago de Compostela, to Jerusalem)
  
    1. Locates on a time line the Middle Ages and facts related to Christianization
 
  • 2.2.   Institutions of the Western Christian Church
    1. Describes events that marked relations between Christians and Romans (e.g. persecution of Christians, conversion of Constantine, recognition of Christianity as the official religion of the state)
  
    1. Indicates elements of continuity between the Western Roman Empire and the beginning of the Middle Ages (e.g. presence of Christianity, use of Latin in the Church, divided territory)
  
    1. Names institutions that promoted the spread of Christianity in the Middle Ages (e.g. papacy, monastic orders)
  
    1. Indicates roles of certain Church members in the Middle Ages (e.g. the pope was the leader of the Catholic Church; bishops acted as heads of dioceses; priests were in charge of parishes)
  
  • 2.3.   Social, political and economic organization
    1. Indicates the relationships of dependence that existed among individuals in feudal society (e.g. a lord would grant a fief to an individual who would become his vassal and pledge allegiance to him)
  
    1. Indicates the role of each social group: peasants and artisans worked; nobles fought; the clergy prayed
  
    1. Indicates the relationships between peasants and their lord (e.g. in exchange for a plot of land, peasants paid taxes and performed tasks for the lord)
 
    1. Names sources of revenue for the Church and clergy (e.g. feudal dues, tithe)
  
    1. Indicates the function of a castle in the Middle Ages (e.g. served as the lord’s residence, protected villagers in an attack)
  
  • 2.4.   Culture
    1. Indicates the function of a monastery in the Middle Ages (e.g. served as library, a place of prayer, a shelter for pilgrims, a residence for regular orders)
  
    1. Indicates the function of a cathedral in the Middle Ages (e.g. served as a place of prayer, a gathering place, a place for ceremonies, a university)
  
    1. Gives examples of architectural innovation associated with the construction of cathedrals (e.g. cross-ribbed vault, arch buttress)
  
    1. Indicates the objective of the Crusades called by the Pope: to free Jerusalem from the Muslims
  
    1. Indicates why people went on pilgrimages (e.g. to venerate relics, to do penance, to obtain a favour)
  
    1. Indicates the effects of the Crusades (e.g. commercial trade, cultural influences)
  
    1. Indicates factors that united different peoples in the West during the Middle Ages (e.g. Christian faith, religious institutions, feudalism)
  
  1. Values and characteristics of identity in Western society today
    1. Indicates characteristics of identity in societies (e.g. language, culture, religion, territory)
  
    1. Indicates elements of religious life in one society (e.g. buildings, place names)
  

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