Medieval Europe Vocabulary

Flashcards on Medieval Europe

476 CE

The year the Roman Empire in Western Europe collapsed, marking the beginning of the medieval period.

Charlemagne

King of the Franks crowned Holy Roman Emperor in the year 800.

814 CE

The year Charlemagne died.

Seljuk Turks

Militant Islamic group that took control of Jerusalem.

1042

The year Edward the Confessor became King of England.

1066

Edward the Confessor dies, Harold Godwinson declares himself king, and William of Normandy invades England.

The Crusades

Wars fought between Christians and Muslims over the next 175 years starting in 1096.

Henry II becomes King of England.

1154

Magna Carta

The first-ever document outlining the rights of the English people.

The Hundred Years War between England and France begins.

1337

Black Death

A deadly virus that broke out in Sicily and quickly spread across Europe, killing between 50 and 90 per cent of those who catch it.

Johannes Gutenberg invents the printing press in Germany.

c. 1450

Dark Ages

The term often used to describe the period of constant warfare after the collapse of the Roman Empire, between 476 and 800 CE.

Lords

Wealthy nobles under the system of feudalism.

Vassals

People who offered their loyalty and service to a lord in return for his protection and the granting of land.

Feudalism

A social system based on rights and obligations around land ownership.

Census

A 'head count' or audit of the number of people living in a particular place at a particular time.

Knights

Warriors in medieval Europe.

Hierarchy

A social structure that organises people with the most important group on top and others ranked beneath.

Fief

Land given to a noble by the king in the feudal system

Peasants and Serfs

The labourers and farmers producing all the food, supplies and services who made up over 90% of feudal society.

Demesnes

Manor lands that did not belong to the ruler or the Church

Tithe

A tax paid to support the Church, often a tenth of a person's income or goods produced.

Bailiff

A peasant farmer who owned a small tract of land and collected and organised taxes.

Steward

The manor manager who also looked after business matters.

Minstrels

Medieval singers and musicians who typically wandered around the countryside performing at events.

Jesters

Medieval comedians who joked and 'played the fool' at banquets and fairs.

Moat

Wide band of water surrounding a built structure

Tournament

A public event held in medieval Europe, similar to a fair or carnival

Danelaw

An area in north-west England that the then King of Wessex, Alfred, gave to the Vikings in exchange for their stopping raids of the region.

Anglo-Saxon

A Germanic people who settled in Britain in the 400s CE.

Charlemagne

The king of the Franks known as Charles the Great.

Carolingian Renaissance

The period brought about by Charlemagne's leadership that encouraged many new developments in literature, architecture and the arts.

Clergy

The priests or ministers of a religion, especially the Christian Church

Mass

An act of worship in the Catholic Church.

Excommunicated

Being cut off from the church community.

Pilgrimages

Journeys to places of religious importance designed to prove Christians' loyal devotion to God.

The Crusades

A series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims between 1096 and 1270 CE to gain control over key religious sites in and around the city of Jerusalem.

Silk Road

A network of trade routes stretching west from China to the Mediterranean Sea.

Chronicle

A detailed narrative or record of events.

Siege

Military strategy to weaken an area by cutting it off from the outside world.

Battlements

Tops of the walls with regular spaces through which the people inside could shoot

Charter

Formal document in which a person in authority that certain rights or responsibilities are granted to others

Magna Carta

Meaning Great Charter, document signed in 1215 outlining rights of the people.

Chain Mail

Small hoops of iron linked together used to protect the body in battle.

Plundered

Stole from, often using vilent force.

Casualties

People who are killed or injured in war or an accident.

Chivalry

Polite and kind behaviour with a sense of honour.

Heresy

The act of doing something in contradiction to the teachings of the Church

Treason

The act of betraying one's own country or ruler