Inquisition
Institution of the Roman Catholic Church that sought to eliminate heresy by seeking out and punishing heretics; especially active in Spain in the late 1400's and 1500's.
Serfs
Peasants who were legally bound to their lords land.
Magna Carta
A charter agreed to by King John of England that granted bobles certain rights and restricted the king's powers.
Knights
In medieval Europe, nobles who were members of a lord's heavily armored cavalry.
Abbot
The elected head of a monastery
Parliament
The governing body of England.
Sagas
Long stores, written in the early 1200's, about great Icelandic (Viking) herous and events.
Manorial System
An economic stystem in the Middle Ages wthat was built around large estates called manors.
Crusades
A series of wards carried out by European Christians to gain control of the Holy Land from their Muslim rulers.
Illumination
The process of decorating a written manuscript with pictures or designs.
Troubadours
Traveling singers who entertained people during the Middle Ages
Hundred Years' War
(1337-1453) War fought between France and England for control of the French throne
Black Death
A terrible outbreakof bubonic plague that swept through Europe, beginning in 1347.
Benedictine Rule
A collection of rules or guidelines for monks and monasteries; named for Benedict of Nursia; widely used in Europe during the Middle Ages
Papal States
Territories in central Italy controlled by the pope from 756 to 1870
Medieval
The time period in western European history known as the Middle Ages
Fief
A grant of land from a lord to a vassal
Journeyman
A skilled worker who was paid wages by the master of a guild
Flying Buttress
An arched stone support on the outside of buildings which allows builders to contruct highers walls.
heresy
An opinion that goes against the teachings of a church
Apprentice
A person who learns a skill under a master of the trade
Guilds
Associations f people who worked at the same craft or trade during the Middle Ages
Gothic
A style of church architecture developed during the 1100's characterized by tall spires and flying buttresses
War of the roses
(1455-1485) Civil war for the English crown between the York (White Rose) and Lancaster (red rose) families.
Vassal
In medieval Europe, a person granted land from a lord in return for services.
Feudal System
A political and social system based based on the granting of land in exchange for loyalty, military assistance, and other services
holy Land
Region that included Jerusalem and the area around it, considered holy by Jews, Christians, and Muslims
Scholasticism
In the Middle Ages, the theological and philosophical school of thought that attempted to reconcile faith and reason
Thomas Aquinas
Italian philosopher and theologian, he qrgued that rational thought could be used to support the Roman Catholic belief
Saladin
Muslim sultan and hero; he campaigned to drive the Christians from the Holy Land. He stopped an army of crusaders under Richard the Lion-Hearted of England.
Chivalry
A code of honor that knightswere supposed to live by
Battle of Tours
Location in France where Charles Martel and his army defeated a group of Muslims in 732
Clovis
King of the Franks from 481-511; he established the kingdom of the Franks in the late 400's; according to legend, his victories convinced him to convert to Christianity.
Patrick
Famous missionary who spread Christianity to Ireland in the AD 400's
Simony
The buying and selling of church offices
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Queen of France and England; she was one of the most powerful women in Europe during the middle ages
Charlemagne
King of the Franks from 768 to 814; he united much of France, Germany, and northern Italy in one Frankish empire; crowned Emperor of the Roman people in 800.
Moors
Name Christians gave to Muslims who lived on the Iberian Peninsula in the 700's
excommunicated
Cast out of the Roman Catholic Church - losing your salvation
William the conqueror
King of England from 1060-1087; a powerful French noble who conquered England and brought feudalism to England
Urban II
Roman Catholic pope from 1088-1099; he called on Christians to launch the First Crusade
Vikings
People from northern Europe who lived in the region of Scandanavia - present-day Norway, Sweden, and Denmark
Joan of Arc
French solider & national heroine; she rallied French troops during the Hundred Years' War and was burned at the stake for heresy
Richard the Lion-Hearted
King of England from 1189-1199; he fought in the Holy Land against Saladin during the Third Crusade
Vernacular
The language people spoke everyday, not Latin used by the Church.