The Artios Home Companion Series
Unit 3: Medieval/Renaissance
Teacher Overview
R e a d i n g a n d A s s i g nm e nt s
Based on your student’s age and ability, the reading in this
unit may be read aloud to the student and journaling and
notebook pages may be completed orally. Likewise, other
assignments can be done with an appropriate combination
of independent and guided study.
Justinian the Great, The Virgin
Mary, and Constantine.
Mosaic in Hagia Sophia
Justinian the Great was an
interesting fellow. He was
an emperor who wanted to
reunite the old Roman
Empire; however, he never
realized that dream. Among
his accomplishments were
the institution of several
educational and legal
reforms. He is also known
for creating The Justinian
Code, which took all the
roman laws and simplified
and clarified them. This
unit will look at the life,
reforms, accomplishments,
and failures of this Eastern
Emperor.
In this unit, students will:
 Complete one lesson in which they will learn about
Justinian the Great.
 Read selected chapters from Son of Charlemagne.
 Learn about commas and compound sentences
and complete corresponding grammar exercises.
L e a di ng I de a s
 An individual’s character will be reflected in his
leadership. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.
 There is power in the spoken word to do evil or to do
good. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth
speaketh.
 The rise and fall of nations and leaders is determined
by God.
K e y Pe o pl e
 Justinus
 Justinian the Great
 Belisarius
Middle Ages: Elementary
Unit 3: Medieval/Renaissance - Page 1
Literature, Composition, and Grammar
Son of Charlemagne
Literature for Units 1 - 6
by Barbara Willard from The Medieval Literary Period
U ni t 3 - A s s i g nm e nt s
Literature and Composition
 Read chapters 6-8 in Son of Charlemagne.
 Write chapter summaries for chapters 6-8 in your journal. (To refresh your memory on
how to do chapter summaries, refer to the instructions in Unit 1.)
Grammar
 Read the notes on Commas: Compound Sentence, beginning on page 3.
 Complete the corresponding grammar exercises on the Artios Home Companion website.
 Continue adding buzzwords to your grammar rule cheat sheet. (To refresh your
memory on what should be added to this sheet, refer to the instructions in Unit 1.)
C o nt e x t R e s o ur c e s
The more you learn about Charles the Great, the more fun you will have with this book. You
will find a collection of websites for exploration within the resources section of the Artios
Home Companion website.
Middle Ages: Elementary
Unit 3: Medieval/Renaissance - Page 2
Grammar Notes for Unit 3
U sed
by
pe r mi ssi o n:
w ww . an al y ti c al gr a m m ar. co m
COMMA RULE #3:
Buzzword: Compound Sentence
Sometimes we will say or write two sentences together like this:
EXAMPLE: I cleaned up my room. My sister washed the dishes.
That’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with that. But sometimes it just seems like those sentences
need to be connected more. They relate to each other. That’s when you can do this:
EXAMPLE: I cleaned up my room, and my sister washed the dishes.
Do you see how the meaning is a little different that way? By combining the sentences, you
can show a relationship between the two.
COMPOUND SENTENCE: Use a comma before the conjunction when it joins independent
clauses (or sentences). Be careful that you really have two complete sentences, though. Look
at this example:
EXAMPLE: I cleaned up my room and washed the dishes.
There should be no comma in this sentence because what comes after the conjunction is not a
complete sentence.
EXCEPTION TO THE COMPOUND SENTENCE RULE:
IF you are using the conjunction “and,”
AND
IF either of the sentences contains four words or less
DO NOT USE A COMMA.
EXAMPLE: I cleaned up my room and my sister vacuumed.
(no commas because the second sentence is only three words long.)
But remember that this exception only applies when the conjunction is AND. If you
used the same sentence above and substituted the conjunction but, or any other
conjunction such as or, nor, or yet, you’d need a comma.
Middle Ages: Elementary
Unit 3: Medieval/Renaissance - Page 3
Lesson One
History Overview and Assignments
The Rise and Reign of Justinian the Great
roman laws and simplified and clarified
them. In today’s reading, you will look at
the life, reforms, accomplishments, and
failures of Justinian the Great.
R e a d i n g a n d A s s i g nm e nt s
 Read the article: Justinian the Great
pages 5-6.
 After reading the article, summarize the
story you read by either:
▪ Retelling it out loud to your teacher
or parent.
OR
▪ Completing an appropriate
notebook page.
Either way, be sure to include the
answers to the discussion questions and
an overview of key people, dates, and
events in your summary.
Justinian the Great
Justinian the Great was an interesting
fellow. He was an emperor that dreamed
of reuniting the old Roman Empire;
however, he never had the chance. He
instituted several educational and legal
reforms and created a code of law called
The Justinian Code, which took all the
K e y Pe o pl e a n d E v e nt s
 Justinus
 Justinian the Great
 Belisarius
D i s c us s i o n Que s t i o ns
1. How did Justinian the Great rise to power?
2. What did Justinian the Great accomplish during his reign?
Middle Ages: Elementary
Unit 3: Medieval/Renaissance - Page 4
Adapted from the book:
Famous Men of the Middle Ages
John Haaren
Justinian the Great
I
Clovis was an emperor of the Roman
Empire. When he was in power the Goths
lived in what is now Bulgaria. A poor
shepherd boy lived there. He was sixteen
years old. He was very bright. He was
clever. One morning he left his home. He set
out for the city of Constantinople. The city
was many miles away. He had to walk the
whole way. He was excited to see what the
future held.
This boy had an uncle. His name was
Justin. Many years earlier Justin also went
to Constantinople. He joined the Roman
army. He was a very good soldier. He soon
became an important soldier. He was the
leader of the army that took care of the
emperor.
The boy heard his uncle’s story. He
decided to go to Constantinople too. It took
him many weeks to get to the city. He
walked through dark forests. He climbed
tall hills and crossed rivers. He finally made
it to the city.
He easily found his uncle Justin because
everyone in the city knew who Justin was.
His uncle was kind to him. He welcomed
the boy into his family. Justin helped him
get the best education.
The boy was a very good student. He
grew up tall. He had black curly hair and
was handsome. The people in the emperor’s
court liked and respected him.
II
One day things changed. The emperor
died. The people chose Justin to be the new
emperor. His new title was Justinus I. Now
the poor shepherd boy was the nephew of
the emperor!
THE COURT OF JUSTINIAN THE GREAT
The boy took a new name too. He was
called Justinian. His uncle had been
emperor for a few years. He was getting old.
He asked Justinian to help him rule the
empire. They were now joint emperors.
In the year 527 A.D., Justin died and
Justinian became emperor and ruled for
almost forty years. He did many important
things. He was called Justinian the Great.
There were many wars while he ruled.
But he was not a soldier. He did not fight in
the wars. He had two generals to lead his
armies. One was named Belisarius. The
other was Narses. These men were excellent
generals.
Belisarius was an amazing soldier. He
won many battles for Justinian. He
recaptured many Roman lands.
The Vandals lived in the north part of
Africa. They made a kingdom there.
Carthage was its capital. The king was
named Gelimer. He lived in Carthage.
Justinian decided to start a war with
Gelimer. He wanted to get the land back.
Belisarius was sent to Africa. He had a large
army. He had thirty-five thousand men. He
Middle Ages: Elementary
Unit 3: Medieval/Renaissance - Page 5
had five thousand horses. He had six
hundred ships. It took three months to get
to Carthage. Today it would take only a few
days.
Belisarius arrived. He and his men were
treated well by the people because they were
tired of being ruled by the Vandals. They
wanted to be under Roman rule instead.
Soon Belisarius met a Vandal army. It
was led by Gelimer’s brother. The armies
fought. The Vandals lost. The brother was
killed. Gelimer was beaten. He ran away.
The Romans took Carthage.
THE BATTLE AT CARTHAGE
Soon Gelimer formed another army. He
fought the Romans again. Belisarius
defeated him again. This was the end of his
rule. Gelimer gave in to Belisarius. He was
taken to Constantinople. Justinian gave him
some land. Gelimer lived there in peace for
the rest of his life.
Justinian had conquered the Vandals.
Now he wanted to conquer Italy. The
Ostrogoths ruled Italy. Belisarius and
Narses took an army to Italy. They marched
into Rome and took the city. In a few
months the Goth king, Vitiges,came. He had
an army and wanted to fight with the two
Roman generals.
Vitiges, the Goth king attacked Rome.
He thought they would surrender.
Belisarius got his men ready and they
fought back. They defeated Vitiges. He fled
to Ravenna. Belisarius followed him and
attacked the city. The Goths surrendered.
The Goth king was taken to Constantinople.
He was a prisoner.
BELISARIUS BESIEGES RAVENNA
Belisarius and Narses went to Northern
Italy. They fought a long war. They defeated
all of the tribes there. Justinian’s power was
made known in the whole country. Rome
was again ruled by a Roman emperor.
Justinian’s generals won wars. Justinian
made things better at home. He built great
buildings. One was the cathedral of St.
Sophia. It was the grandest church in the
world. It still exists. Now it is used as a
Mohammedan mosque.
He also improved the laws. This was his
most important act. He was famous for his
lawmaking. The Roman laws were
confusing. He made many great new laws
and he reformed old laws. Justinian hired a
lawyer named Tribonian who helped to
make many important laws simpler. The
laws were called the Code of Justinian. It
still exists. Most of today’s countries in
Europe use it to make their laws.
Justinian also started many trades in
Constantinople. He first brought silkworms
to Europe.
Justinian was strong. He was active. He
stayed that way until the end of his life. He
was a hard worker. He often studied or
worked all day and night. He died in 565.
He was eighty-three years old.
Middle Ages: Elementary
Unit 3: Medieval/Renaissance - Page 6