GCSE Empire, Migration and the People (750-1900 AD)

Vocabulary flashcards reviewing key historical terms, battles, legislation, and concepts from Medieval times through the Industrial period (750–1900 AD).

Primogeniture

A rule of inheritance where only the eldest son inherits the wealth of the family, leaving younger sons to find new opportunities.

Pagan

Someone who follows a religion different from the main world religions.

Danegeld

Money paid by the English, such as King Aethelred, to try and stop the Viking threat.

Danelaw

The land in the North-East of England occupied by the Danish following the Battle of Edington.

Angevin Empire

The lands acquired by Henry II between 1153 and 1171, which included England, Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Aquitaine, Brittany, and Ireland.

Treaty of Troyes

The treaty signed after the Battle of Agincourt which made Henry V the heir to the throne of France.

Battle of Edington (878 AD)

The battle where King Alfred defeated the Viking leader Guthrum, forcing Guthrum to convert to Christianity and establishing the Danelaw.

St Brice Day Massacre (1002 AD)

The event in 1002 where the English King murdered all Vikings living in England outside of the Danelaw, triggering fresh Viking attacks.

Battle of Assandun (1016 AD)

The battle in 1016 where Cnut defeated King Edmund, allowing Cnut to become King of all England within a month.

North Sea Empire

The empire ruled by King Cnut until 1035, combining England (gained by conquest) with Denmark and Norway (inherited from his brothers).

Battle of Agincourt (1415 AD)

The highpoint of the Hundred Years War for England where Henry V defeated the French using the longbow.

Colonise

To send settlers to a place and establish control over it.

Plunder

To steal from a place or person, usually using force.

Privateer

A private sea captain given official government permission to raid and capture enemy ships.

Piracy

When sailors steal cargoes from other ships, or capture the ships themselves.

Royal African Company

A company in the 1600s that held a monopoly on the slave trade run from Britain.

Roanoke Colony

The first British colony in the Americas, established by Walter Raleigh in 1584, which failed to survive but encouraged future settlement.

Jamestown Colony

The British colony established in the Americas in 1607.

Boston Tea Party (1773)

A protest against the tea tax of 1773 where £11,000 worth of tea was dumped into Boston harbour, prompting the British to close town halls and ban public meetings.

Treaty of Paris (1783)

The agreement signed on September 3, 1783, that formally concluded the American War of Independence.

East India Company

A British trading company that created early trading posts at Surat (1612), Madras (1638), and Bombay (1668), eventually securing political control in India.

Battle of Plassey

The battle led by Robert Clive that secured control of Bengal, the richest part of India, for the East India Company.

Government of India Act (1773)

Legislation that made the East India Company and the British government joint rulers of India.

Robert Clive

An individual who led the East India Company to victory at the Battle of Plassey and secured Bengal for the company.

Warren Hastings

The first Governor General of India, appointed in 1773 when the British government became joint rulers with the East India Company.

Indian Revolt (1857)

An uprising by sepoy soldiers triggered by religious disregard surrounding Enfield rifles and unequal job dangers, which ended the East India Company's rule and created the Raj.

Universities Act

Legislation passed in India following the 1857 revolt that produced an educated middle class of Indian people who later led the twentieth-century independence movement.