The High Middle Ages

The Crusades

a series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims started primarily to secure control of holy sites considered sacred by both groups

Pope Urban II

Alexius I asked him for christian knights to help him fight the Turks who had invaded Byzantine lands & conquered the Holy Land.

Motives for fighting in the crusades

Feudalism,Chivalry,Religious Idealism

The Holy Land

Jerusalem

Fourth Crusade

The capture of Constantinople

The Reconquista

a series of campaigns by Christian states to recapture territory from the Muslims 

The Inquisition

a powerful office set up within the Catholic Church to root out and punish heresy

Friars

members of international religious orders dedicated to preaching

Simony

buying or selling of something spiritual or closely connected with the spiritual

Cluniac reforms

a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor

Agricultural Revolution

the advent of new, extensive forms of cereal farming that enabled landowners to amass wealth by exploiting the labor of others and supported the exceptionally rapid growth of towns, markets and populations.

Trade Fair

were large-scale sales events typically held annually in large towns where people could find a greater range of goods

Commercial Revolution

helped to connect Europe with the rest of the world through trade, commerce, and investing

Capital

refers to the assets—physical tools, plants, and equipment—that allow for increased work productivity

Partnership

a collaboration between a group of people

Bill of Exchange

an informal letter by which one merchant ordered his agent-banker in some other city to make payment on his behalf to another merchant in that distant city

Tenant Farmers

people who didn't own the land they worked/owed some kind of payment to their landlords

Middle Class

the class between the serfs and the nobles

Usury

any interest amount charged for a money loan

Apprentice

a young person, most often male, who learned a trade by working for a guild master

Journeymen

a craftsman who could work for one or another master and was paid with wages for his labor

Guild Master

a full guild member who could start his own business

Guild

an associations of craftsmen and merchants formed to promote the economic interests of their members as well as to provide protection and mutual aid

William the Conqueror

duke of Normandy who led the Norman invasion of England and became the first Norman to be King of England

Battle of Hastings

William the Conqueror's victory imposed a Norman ruling class, and led to the introduction of the common law

Exchequer

a department or office of state in medieval England charged with the collection and management of the royal revenue and judicial determination of all revenue causes

Common Law

the system of law that emerged in England beginning in the Middle Ages and is based on case law and precedent rather than codified law.

Jury

neighborhood witnesses who passed judgment on the basis of what they themselves knew

Thomas Becket

archbishop of Canterbury and murdered following his opposition to Henry II's attempts to control the clergy

King John

King of England who raised taxes and punished his enemies without a trial. He is best known for being forced to sign the Magna Carta.

The Magna Carta

the first document to put into writing the principle that the king and his government was not above the law

Parliament

an assembly of prominent men, summoned at the will of the King once or twice a year, to deal with matters of state and law

The Capetians

ruling house of France, during the feudal period of the Middle Ages

Louis IX

reformed the French legal process, creating a royal justice system in which petitioners could appeal judgements directly to the king

Philip IV

to further strengthen the monarchy, he tried to tax and take control of the French clergy, leading to a violent dispute with Pope Boniface VIII

Pope Gregory VII

he was removed by Henry from power

Lay investiture

bestowal of a church office by a member of the secular nobility rather than by church officials