HASS Exam S1 2026

A Comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering the Middle Ages, the Roman Empire, Feudalism, Crusades, Vikings, Japan, Aztecs, and the Black Death.

The Middle Ages

A term historians use to describe the period in Europe between the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the beginning of the modern age of science, exploration, and widespread knowledge.

Huns

Nomadic people from Central Asia who attacked India, China, and threatened Europe during the Middle Ages.

Roman Empire

The ancient empire centred on the city of Rome, led by an emperor and controlling much of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

Internal Problems

Problems happening inside an empire, such as the decline of agriculture, trade, and the exhaustion of farms.

External Problems

Problems happening outside an empire, such as being surrounded by enemies and pressured by invading tribes.

Roman Agriculture Decline

A problem caused by Romans knowing little about soil conservation, leading to exhausted farms and decreased production.

Roman Currency Value loss

A decline caused by a shortage of gold and silver, resulting in the use of less valuable metals to make coins.

Roman Succession Problem

The lack of a real system for choosing a new emperor, leading to army officers challenging emperors and causing civil wars.

Diocletian

A high-ranking army officer who became emperor ($284-305\,CE$) and divided the Roman Empire into western and eastern halves.

Portrait of Four Tetrarchs

An artwork from c. $300\,CE$ currently at St. Mark’s Basilica showing four rulers hugging to demonstrate friendship.

Augustus

The title given to each ruler of the two halves (Western and Eastern) of the Roman Empire under Diocletian’s division.

Caesar

A deputy appointed to assist each Augustus and serve as the clear successor for government leadership.

Illyria

The home province of Emperor Diocletian where he retired to a palace that eventually became the town of Split in Croatia.

Diocletian's Wage Reform

A change where the emperor fixed maximum prices for goods and fixed wages for each occupation.

Diocletian’s Province Reform

A strategy to limit governor power by making provinces smaller and putting both a military commander and a civilian governor in charge of each.

Barbarian

A word used by ancient Greeks and Romans to describe anyone who did not share their lifestyle, civilization, or proper language.

Romulus Augustulus

Known as 'Little Augustus', he was the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire.

Odoacer

A German chief who removed Romulus Augustulus from power in $476\,CE$ and became the King of Italy.

$$476\,CE$$

The year the Western Roman Empire officially fell with the removal of its last emperor.

Angles, Saxons, and Jutes

Germanic tribes that invaded and settled in Britain after the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

The Franks

A Germanic tribe that settled in the area that eventually became modern France.

Byzantine Empire

The name historians use for the Eastern Roman Empire, which continued for centuries after the Western Roman Empire split.

Byzantium

The ancient name of the capital city of the Eastern Roman Empire before it was renamed Constantinople.

Constantinople

The capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, renamed by Emperor Constantine, which fell to the Turks in $1453$.

$$1453$$

The year Constantinople was captured by the Turks, marking the end of the Byzantine Empire.

Feudalism

A social system in medieval Europe based on rights and obligations around land ownership, including legal and military customs.

Lord

A wealthy monarch or noble who gave a fief to a person in exchange for service and loyalty.

Vassal

A person who offered their loyalty and service to a lord in return for protection and a grant of land.

Fief

A parcel or plot of land granted to a vassal by a lord under the feudal system.

Peasants or Serfs

The lowest members of the feudal structure who worked on the lord's manor and were often tied to the land.

Domesday Book

A precious $832\text{-page}$ book created in $1086$ under William the Conqueror to record landowners, property, and population.

$$1086$$

The year the Domesday Book was created as a census and tax assessment tool for William the Conqueror.

Doom

The word from which 'Domesday' is derived, meaning 'law' in medieval England.

Census

A 'head count' or audit of the number of people living in a particular place, often collecting age and occupation information.

Knights

Professional warriors in medieval Europe who fought for nobles and the King in return for land.

Dark Ages

A term often used to refer to the period between $476$ and $800\,CE$ characterized by constant warfare and the breakdown of society.

Motte

A raised area on which a wooden fortress was built as part of an early medieval castle.

Bailey

An open area below or in front of the motte, encircled by a ditch and a fence-like barrier.

Palisade

A fence-like barrier made of timber that encircled the motte and bailey.

Stone Castle

A type of castle first built in the late $10th\,C$ where stone replaced wood for walls and fortresses.

Keep

The central tower of a stone castle, also known as a donjon, often featuring four storeys.

Concentric Castle

A stone or brick castle introduced in the $1200s$ with two outer walls and a reinforced gatehouse but no keep.

Siege

A military tactic where attackers surround a castle, using weapons to break defences or starving defenders into surrender.

Siege Towers

Mobile towers that allowed archers to get high and knights to climb onto a castle's walls.

Trebuchet

A large catapult designed for hurling large rocks, pots of fire, or other objects at castle walls.

Mangonel

A type of large catapult used during sieges to attack castle fortifications.

Persecution

The unfair and harmful treatment of a person or group because of their identity, beliefs, or background.

Edict of Milan

A declaration issued by Emperor Constantine in $313\,CE$ which declared toleration of Christianity in the Roman Empire.

Constantine

The Roman Emperor ($306-337\,CE$) who stopped the persecution of Christians and moved the capital to Byzantium.

$$312\,CE$$

The year of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, where Constantine defeated his rival Maxentius after a vision.

Chi and Rho

The first two Greek letters of the word 'Christ' which Constantine allegedly ordered his soldiers to paint on their shields.

Council of Nicaea

A gathering of church leaders organized by Constantine in $325\,CE$ to unite Christianity and define basic beliefs.

Nicene Creed

The basic statement of what all Christians believe, developed at the Council of Nicaea.

Pagans

Followers of the old gods like Jupiter, Apollo, and Venus who eventually faced persecution as Christianity became powerful.

Pope

The highest-ranking member of the Catholic Church clergy.

Cardinals

High-ranking members of the Catholic Church clergy who serve directly under the Pope.

Bishops

Clergy members of the Catholic Church responsible for overseeing a diocese or group of parishes.

Monks and Nuns

Religious individuals who lived in monasteries or convents, often ranking at the bottom of the visible clergy hierarchy.

Arabia (late 500s CE)

A region not part of the Byzantine or Persian Empires, populated by farming tribes and desert-traveling caravans.

Ka’aba

The most sacred site in Islam, located in Mecca, which originally housed $300$ sacred stones.

Hajar al-Aswad

The 'Black Stone' in the Ka'aba, considered the most sacred stone in pre-Islamic and Islamic Arabia.

Hajj

The religious duty of every Muslim to visit the Ka'aba in Mecca at least once in their lifetime.

Mohammed

The Prophet of Islam, born in $570\,CE$ in the city of Mecca to the Quraish tribe.

Quraish

The tribe into which the Prophet Mohammed was born in Mecca.

Khadija

A wealthy widow whom Mohammed married when he was $25\text{ years}$ old.

Monotheism

The belief in only one god, a concept Mohammed shared with the Jewish and Christian people he met.

Mount Hira

The location near Mecca where Mohammed meditated in a cave and received his first vision from the Archangel Gabriel.

Quran

The holy book of Islam, containing the gathered teachings received by Mohammed from the Archangel Gabriel.

Hegira

The journey of Mohammed and his followers from Mecca to Medina in $622\,CE$, marking year $1$ of the Muslim dating system.

Islam

A religion meaning 'submission to the will of God', established by the Prophet Mohammed.

Muslim

A member of the Islamic faith, meaning 'those who submit to the will of God'.

$$630\,CE$$

The year Mohammed felt strong enough to attack and capture Mecca without bloodshed.

$$632\,CE$$

The year the Prophet Mohammed died.

Sassanian Empire

The Persian Empire destroyed by the expansion of Islam within a century of Mohammed’s death.

Zoroastrians

The population of Persia (Iran), Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan who largely converted to Islam after the fall of the Sassanian Empire.

Vikings

Scandinavian seafaring people from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden who expanded across Europe between $790$ and $1100\,CE$.

Lindisfarne

An island in England containing a monastery that was raided by Vikings in $793\,CE$, marking the first major Viking raid.

$$793\,CE$$

The year the Vikings raided St Cuthbert's monastery on Lindisfarne.

Varangians

Swedish Vikings who traveled eastward through Russia to reach Byzantium.

Jarls

Powerful noblemen in Viking society who were heads of influential families and upon whom the King depended for support.

Karls

The largest social class in Viking society, consisting of 'free' people such as farmers, merchants, and craftsmen.

Thralls

The poorest social class in Viking society, consisting of slaves, prisoners of war, and criminals who performed hard labor.

Konungr

The title for 'king' given to the chief of an independent Viking tribal community.

Fjord

A long, deep, narrow body of water with steep rock walls that reaches far inland, important for Viking settlements.

Clinker-built

A method of ship building using overlapping planks held together with iron rivets, making the hull thin, strong, and flexible.

Keelson

A massive block of timber in a longship that spread the weight of the mast and the strain of the sail.

Valhalla

The place where Viking warriors believed they would go if they died fighting bravely in battle.

Crusades

A series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims fought between the $11th$ and $13th$ centuries for control of the Holy Land.

Pope Urban II

The Pope who called for the First Crusade in $1095$ at the Council of Clermont.

Crux

The Latin word for 'cross', from which the word 'crusade' is derived.

Saladin

The Muslim leader who united forces to recapture Jerusalem from the Crusaders in $1187$.

Jihad

An Islamic term meaning 'struggle', often used in the context of religious duty and defense of land.

Outremer

The French term meaning 'the land beyond the sea', used to describe the Crusader kingdoms in the Holy Land.

First Crusade

The religious war launched in $1095$ that reached Constantinople in $1097$ and captured Jerusalem in $1099$.

Alexios I

The Byzantine Emperor who asked Pope Urban II for help against the Seljuk Turks.

$$1099\,CE$$

The year Jerusalem fell to the Crusaders after a siege, followed by a massacre of the city's inhabitants.

Huey Tlatoani

The 'Great Speaker' or Emperor who ruled the entire Aztec Empire.

Chinampas

Man-made 'floating islands' or gardens created by layering mud and vegetation, used for efficient farming in Tenochtitlan.

Tenochtitlan

The capital city of the Aztec Empire, built on a lake and connected by causeways.

Triple Alliance

The union between the cities of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan forged in $1428\,CE$ to cement Aztec power.