Middle Ages Vocab
Terms
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- Tithe
- One tenth of annual produce or earnings, formerly taken as a tax for the support of the church and clergy.
- Great Schism
- The period 1378-1417, when the Western Church was divided by the creation of antipopes.
- Chartres Cathedral
- A Cathedral located in Chartres, 50 miles southwest of Paris, and is considered one of the finest examples in all of France of the Gothic style of architecture.
- Middle Ages
- The era of European history that spanned the years from about 500 to 1500.
- Dynasty
- A Line of hereditary rulers of a country
- Mill
- A building equipped with machinery for grinding grain into flour.
- Master
- A man who has people working for him, esp. servants or slaves
- Woodland
- Land covered with trees
- Holy Land
- A region on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, in what is now Israel and Palestine, revered by Christians as the place in which Jesus Christ lived and taught, by Jews as the land given to the people of Israel, and by Muslims.
- Mercantilism
- Belief in the benefits of profitable trading
- Holy Roman Empire
- The empire set up in western Europe following the coronation of Charlemagne as emperor in the year 800.
- Charlemagne
- King of the Franks 768-814 and Holy Roman Emperor 800-814; known as Charles the Great.
- Feudalism
- The dominant social system in medieval Europe, in which the nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles, while the peasants were obliged to live on their lord's land and give him homage, labor, and a share of the produce, notionally in exchange for military protection.
- Colonialism
- The policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another county, occupying it with settlers and exploiting it economically.
- Croft
- An enclosed field used for tillage or pasture, typically attached to a house and worked by the occupier.
- Secular
- Not subject or bound by religious rule
- Manor
- A unit of land, originally a feudal lordship, consisting of a lord's demesne and lands rented to tenants.
- Hundred Years War
- A war between France and England, conventionally dated 1337-1453
- Saladin
- Sultan of Egypt and Syria 1174-1193 who reconquered Jerusalem from the Christians in 1187 but was defeated by Richard the Lionheart at Arsuf in 1191.
- Vassal
- A holder of land by feudal tenure on conditions of homage and allegiance
- Simony
- The buying or selling of ecclesiastical privileges, for example pardons of benefices.
- Apprentice
- A person who is learning a trade from a skilled employer, having agreed to work for a fixed period at low wages.
- Crusade
- A medieval military expedition, one of a series made by Europeans to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries.
- Benedict
- An Italian monk who wrote a book describing the rules for monasteries.
- Bubonic Plague
- The commonest form of plague in humans, characterized by fever, delirium, and the formation of buboes.
- Knight
- A man who served his sovereign or lord as a mounted soldier in armor.
- Lord
- A feudal superior, esp. the proprietor of a manor house
- Sacrament
- A religious ceremony or act of the Christian Church that is regarded as an outward and visible sign of inward and spiritual divine grace, in particular
- Tournament
- A sporting event in which 2 knights jousted on horseback with blunted weapons, each trying to knock the other off, the winner receiving a prize.
- Troubadour
- A poet who writes verse to music.
- Pasture
- Land covered with grass and other low plants suitable for grazing animals, esp. cattle or sheep.
- Serf
- An agricultural laborer bound under the feudal system to work on his lord's estate.
- Scholastica
- Benedict's sister who adapted the monastery rules for women.
- Thomas Aquinas
- An Italian Catholic priest in the Dominican Order, and an immensely influential philosopher and theologian in the scholastic tradition. The foremost classical proponent of natural theology, and the father of the Thomistic school of philosophy and theology.
- Vernacular
- Architecture concerned with domestic and functional rather than monumental buildings.
- Inquisition
- An ecclesiastical tribunal established by Pope Gregory IX for the suppression of heresy. It was active chiefly in northern Italy and southern France, becoming notorious for the use of torture.
- Ecclesiastical
- Of or relating to the Christian Church or its clergy
- Gothic
- Of or in the style of architecture prevalent in western Europe in the 12th-16th centuries, characterized by pointed arches, rib vaults, and flying buttresses, together with large windows and elaborate tracery.
- Siege Tower
- A specialized siege engine, constructed to protect assailants and ladders while approaching the defensive walls of a fortification.
- Commercial Revolution
- A period of European economic expansion, colonialism, and mercantilism which lasted from approximately the 16th century until the early 18th century.
- Avignon
- A city on the Rhone River in southeastern France. From 1309-1377 it was the residence of the popes during their exile from Rome and was papal property until the French Revolution
- Urban II
- Pope from 1088-1099 most known for starting the First Crusade and setting up the modern day Roman Curia, in the manner of a royal court, to help run the Church
- Spire
- A tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, typically a church tower.
- Battering Ram
- A heavy beam, originally with an end in the form of a carved ram's head, used in breaching fortifications.
- Mangonel
- A military device for throwing stones and other missiles
- Canon Law
- Internal ecclesiastical law governing the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of churches.
- Trebuchet
- A machine used in medieval siege warfare for hurling large stones or other missiles
- Joan of Arc
- A 15th century Catholic saint, and national heroine of France
- Richard the Lion-Hearted
- King of England from 1189-1199 who led the 3rd crusade, defeating Saladin at Arsuf, but failed to capture Jerusalem.
- Carolingian
- Relating to the Frankish dynasty, founded by Charlemagne's father, that ruled in western Europe from 750 to 987.
- Fief
- An estate of land, esp. one held on condition of feudal service.
- Lord's Demesne
- Land attached to a manor and retained for the owner's own use
- John Wycliffe
- An English theologian, translator, and reformist. He was an early dissident in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century. Considered to be the founder of the Lollard movement.
- Scholastic
- Of, relating to, or characteristic of medieval scholasticism
- Bourgeoisie
- The middle class
- Mantlet
- A bulletproof screen for a soldier
- Journeyman
- A trained worker who is employed by someone else
- Lay Investiture
- The appointment of bishops, abbots, and other church officials by feudal lords and vassals.
- Manor House
- A large country house with lands; the principal house of a landed estate
- Monastery
- A community of persons, esp. monks or nuns, living under religious vows.
- Longbow
- A large bow drawn by hand and shooting a long feathered arrow. The chief weapon of English armies from the 14th century until the introduction of firearms.
- Interdict
- A sentence barring a person, or esp. a place, from ecclesiastical functions and privileges.
- Lollard Movement
- The political and religious movement of the Lollards from the mid-14th century to the English Reformation.
- Pointed Arch
- An arch with a pointed crown, characteristic of Gothic architecture.
- Burgher
- A citizen of a town or city, typically a member of the wealthy bourgeoisie.
- Three Field System
- The practice of growing a series of dissimilar types of crops in the same area in sequential seasons for various benefits such as to avoid the build up of pathogens and pests that often occurs when one species in continuously cropped.
- Clergy
- The body of all people ordained for religious duties, esp. in the Christian Church
- Franks
- The Germanic peoples that conquered Gaul in the 6th century and controlled much of western Europe for several centuries afterward.
- Chivalry
- The medieval knightly system with its religious, moral, and social code
- Jan Hus
- A Czech religious thinker, philosopher, reformer, and master at Charles University in Prague. Greatly influenced by the teachings of John Wycliffe.
- Antipope
- A person established as pope in opposition to one held by others to be canonically chosen.
- Natural Theology
- Theology or knowledge of God based on observed facts and experience apart from divine revelation
- Decentralization
- The process of dispersing decision-making governance closer to the people or citizen.
- Reconquista
- A period of 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula succeeded in retaking the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslim invaders.
- Illuminated Manuscript
- A manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders, and miniature illustrations.
- Flying Buttresses
- A buttress slanting from a separate pier, typically forming an arch with the wall it supports.
- Romanesque
- Of or relating to a style of architecture that prevailed in Europe 900-1200, although sometimes dated back to the end of the Roman Empire (5th century)
- Guild
- A medieval association of craftsmen or merchants, often having considerable power.