| A | B |
|---|
| monarchy | A government in which power is in the hands of a single person. |
| feudalism | A political system in which nobles are granted use of lands that legally belong to their king, in exchange for their loyalty, military service, and protection of the people who live on the land. |
| fief | An estate granted to a vassal by a lord under the feudal system in medieval Europe. |
| nobles | Wealthy landowners who pledged their loyalty to the king. |
| lord | In feudal Europe, a person who controlled land and could therefore grant estates to vassals. |
| knights | In medieval Europe, an armored warrior who sometimes fought on horseback. |
| peasants | Vast majority of people during Europe's medieval period; often engaged in farming. |
| serfs | A medieval peasant legally bound to live on a lord's estate; tied to the land. |
| vassals | In Europe, a person who received a grant of land from a lord in exchange for a pledge of loyalty and services. |
| chivalry | A code of behavior for knights in medieval Europe, stressing ideals such as courage, loyalty, and devotion. |
| troubadour | A medieval poet and musician who traveled from place to place, entertaining people with songs of courtly love. |
| institutions | Organized bodies or groups which help political, economic, and social power; government of ancient Rome or the catholic Church during the middle ages. |
| Roman Catholic Church | Dominant religious institution during Europe's medieval period. |
| clergy | Members of religious institutions, such as priests and monks. |
| monks | Members of religious monastic communities. |
| monasteries | Religious communities of men (called monks) who have given up their possessions to devote themselves to a life of prayer and worship. |
| literacy | the ability to read, write and speak fluently in a language. |
| classical texts | Books based on the Greek and Roman classics. |
| scribe | A professional record keeper who could read and write. |
| water-powered mill | Technological innovation during the medieval period in Europe; used to grind grain. |
| three field system | A system of farming developed in medieval Europe, in which farmland was divided into three fields of equal size and each of these was successively planted with a winter crop, spring crop, and left unplanted (fallow). |
| fallow | Unplanted; as in the three field system. |
| manorialism | The economic system of the middle ages; based on self-sufficiency. |
| self-sufficient | Being able to provide for your own needs without help from others; "a self-sufficing economic unit" |
| 1st crusade | 1096-99; motivated by occupation of Anatolia and jerusalem by the Seljuk Turks. |
| 2nd crusade | 1147-49; failed to capture Damascus and Edessa. |
| 3rd crusade | 1189-92; led by Philip II Augustus of France and Richard I (the Lion-heart) of England. |
| 4th crusade | 1202-04; was diverted by its Venetian financial backers to sack and divide Constantinople. |
| crusader states | States establish within the eastern Mediterranean by Christian crusaders during the crusades. |
| bubonic plague | A deadly disease that spread across Asia and Europe in the mid-14th century, killing millions of people; also know as the Black Death. |
| towns & cities | Emerged during the late Middle Ages in Europe. |
| cathedrals | Large churches build during the middle ages; often Gothic in style. |
| Romanesque | Relating to a style of church architecture that developed during the late roman Empire and early Middle Ages., featuring ribbed vaults, stained glass windows, flying buttresses, pointed arches, and tall spires. |
| Gothic | Relating to a style of church architecture that developed in medieval Europe, featuring ribbed vaults, stained glass windows, flying buttresses, pointed arches, and tall spires. |
| flying buttresses | Support structure located on the exterior of gothic style cathedrals. |
| Charlemagne | 768-843; reunited western Europe for the first time since the Roman Empire. |
| Pope Leo III | 800; Pope who crowned Charlemagne the Emperor of the Romans |
| Pope Urban II | 1095; calls for the first crusade to recapture Jerusalem. |
| Richard I (Lion Heart) | King of England; participates and is captured during the 3rd crusade. |
| social structure | A hierarchy of social status; lower classes at the bottom, upper classes at the top. |
| social mobility | the ability to change ones' social class within a social hierarchy. |
| technological innovation | new invention and technology |
| cultural diffusion | The spread of culture from one place to another. |
