Ann's Assignment for Febuary Third

Assignment for Thursday, February 3


Across, chapter 11, Lesson 1 pages 280-288.
"Life of St. Francis of Assisi" pages 1-6 (stop at end of 1st paragraph on 6).

Now we are moving away from the non-religious (secular) life of the middle ages,
         with castles protecting lords, knights, ladies, and peasants on one side         
         and medieval towns on the other, with merchants, traders, craftspeople, and peasants coming to market.

We are turning to a somewhat separate but very important part of medieval life, the life of the Christian church. We will look at it from two very different sides
         1) the church as a center of wealth and power, symbolized by the great cathedrals and their treasures
         (as well as by the great monasteries with their libraries of carefully copied books and manuscripts, treasuries of          knowledge)
         2) the church as a center of belief in a higher and better world
         beyond life, where after death god would reward those who were faithful and good

In the life of St. Francis, we will see the contrast and sometimes the conflict between these two sides.

NOTE THAT WEEK AFTER NEXT WE WON’T MEET ON THURSDAY, BUT ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7. THE ASSIGNMENT WILL BE SHORTER FOR THAT SHORT WEEK (THURSDAY TO MONDAY) AND THERE WILL BE MORE READING AND A BRIEF WRITING ASSIGNMENT FOR THE WEEK AFTER (FEB. 7 TO FEB. 17—10 DAYS). Try not to get TOO confused!