Medieval History: The Migration Period, Byzantium, Feudalism, the Frankish State, and the Arab Caliphate

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the Great Migration of Peoples, Justinian's Byzantine Empire, the Feudal system, the Frankish State under the Merovingians and Carolingians, and the rise and expansion of the Arab Caliphate.

Emperor Theodosius (Car Teodosije)

The Roman emperor who divided the Roman Empire into the Eastern and Western empires in $395$ to facilitate governance.

Great Migration of Peoples (Seoba naroda)

The large-scale movement of Germanic and Slavic peoples across Europe that began in $375$, primarily triggered by the Hunnic invasion (provala Huna).

Barbarians (Barbari)

Originally the term used by ancient Greeks and Romans for any nation outside the Hellenic-Roman cultural realm; in modern terminology, it denotes crude, uncultured, cruel, and uneducated people who destroy cultural values.

Huns (Huni)

A swift and ruthless nomadic group of Mongolian origin (mongolskog porijekla) known as skilled horsemen and archers whose westward advance destabilized European tribes.

Attila the Hun

The powerful and merciless military leader known as the "Scourge of God" ("Bić božiji") who ruled the Hunnic Empire from $434$ to $453$, after whose death in $453$ the Hunnic Empire disintegrated.

Visigoths (Vizigoti)

The first Germanic people to migrate during the Great Migration; after plundering the Apennine peninsula and failing to cross into Sicily and Africa, they settled in the territory of modern-day Spain.

Justinian I (Car Justinijan)

Byzantine emperor ($527$-$565$) driven by the vision of restoring the Roman Empire, who reconquered North Africa from the Vandals, the Apennine peninsula from the Ostrogoths, and southeastern Iberia from the Visigoths.

Belisarius and Narses (Belizar i Narzes)

The two chief military commanders of Emperor Justinian who directed the successful reconquests of Byzantine territories across the Mediterranean.

Hagia Sophia (Aja Sofija)

The grand church (basilica) constructed in Constantinople during the golden age of Justinian, whose Greek name translates to "Holy Wisdom" (Sveta mudrost).

Codification of Roman Law (Kodifikacija rimskog prava)

The comprehensive collection and systematization of Roman legal statutes executed during Justinian's reign to govern legal life and relations between citizens.

Mosaic (Mozaik)

An artwork created from colored stone or glass cubes affixed onto a surface with mortar, putty, or cement.

Icon (Ikona)

A sacred artistic representation depicting Jesus, saints, or biblical scenes from the Old and New Testaments painted on a wooden panel or canvas.

Christianization of the Slavs (Pokrštavanje Slavena)

The cultural and religious transformation by which South and East Slavic peoples (Serbs, Macedonians, Bulgarians, Montenegrins, Russians, and Ukrainians) adopted Christianity, literacy, and feudal institutions through Byzantine contact.

Fall of Constantinople (1453)

The capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Empire in $1453$, dealing the definitive and final blow that brought about the end of the Byzantine Empire.

Middle Ages (Srednji vijek)

The chronological historical period lasting from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in $476$ to the discovery of America in $1492$, historically divided into Early (5th-10th century), High/Developed (11th-13th century), and Late (14th-15th century).

Feud (Fief)

A hereditary or granted land estate (zemljišni posjed) that formed the foundational socioeconomic unit of feudal society.

Senior

A feudal lord (gospodar) who granted land to a vassal and held an obligation to protect him in return for an oath of loyalty.

Vassal (Vazal)

A feudal subordinate or subject (podanik) who swore an oath of eternal fidelity to a senior in exchange for protection and a landed estate, while incurring the duty of military service.

Natural Rent (Naturalna renta)

The portion of agricultural harvest or goods paid directly by serfs (kmetovi) to their feudal landlord as feudal due.

Kuluk (Corvée)

Compulsory, unpaid physical labor performed by serfs on the estate lands of their feudal master.

Baština

A hereditary feudal estate (nasljedni feud) that passed through generations within a noble family.

Feudal Immunity (Imunitet)

The unrestricted and independent administrative and judicial jurisdiction exercised by a feudal lord over his estate.

Feudal Anarchy (Feudalna anarhija / Bezvlašće)

The fragmented state of feudal lawlessness governed by the convention: "My vassal's vassal is not my vassal!" ("Vazal mog vazala nije moj vazal!").

Pronia (Pronija)

A conditional, non-hereditary lifetime land estate granted to a warrior in exchange for state or military service.

Primogeniture (Primogenitura)

The feudal succession principle under which an entire estate or title is inherited exclusively by the eldest son (najstariji sin).

Seniorate (Seniorat)

The inheritance system under which an estate or rulership passes to the oldest living male family member (najstariji muški član porodice).

Clovis (Klodvig)

The Merovingian monarch who united the Frankish tribes and converted to Christianity in $496$, inaugurating a lasting alliance between the Frankish kingdom and the Pope in Rome.

Majordomo (Majordom)

The mayor of the palace and chief household manager in the Frankish kingdom who gradually took over actual executive authority from the ruling kings.

Charles Martel (Karlo Martel)

The Frankish majordomo who decisively defeated the Arab military force at the Battle of Poitiers in $732$, permanently checking the expansion of Islam into Western Europe.

Charlemagne (Karlo Veliki)

Frankish king who defeated the Saxons, Lombards, Bavarians, and Avars, and was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day, December 25, $800$.

Marches (Marke)

Fortified defensive borderlands established along the outermost frontiers of Charlemagne's empire to guard against hostile external incursions.

Carolingian Renaissance (Karolinška renesansa)

The intellectual and cultural revival under Charlemagne centered around his court in Aachen, characterized by classical manuscript copying, monastic schools, and the development of the clear Carolingian minuscule script.

Treaty of Verdun (843)

The accord that partitioned the Frankish Empire among Charlemagne's three grandsons into West Francia (cradle of France), East Francia (cradle of Germany), and Middle Francia (Lotharingia and Italy).

Bedouins (Beduini)

The nomadic Arab tribes that inhabited the interior deserts of the Arabian Peninsula prior to their unification under Islam.

Hijra (Hidžra)

The emigration of the Prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in $622$, marking the epochal start date of the Islamic calendar.

Islamic Calendar (Hidžretska godina)

A lunar calendar consisting of $12$ lunar months (six measuring $30$ days and six measuring $29$ days), which runs approximately $11$ days shorter each year than the solar Gregorian calendar.

Caliph (Kalif)

The title assumed by the religious, political, and supreme secular leaders who succeeded the Prophet Muhammad as heads of the Caliphate.

Quran (Kur'an)

The sacred scripture of Islam revealed to Prophet Muhammad via the angel Jibril, compiled in the mid-7th century and containing $6,219$ verses (ajeta) arranged into $114$ surahs.

Zakat (Zekat)

Mandatory religious almsgiving and charity prescribed as one of the fundamental pillars and duties of Islam.

Sunnis and Shias (Suniti i šiiti)

The two principal branches of the Islamic faith that diverged during the first century of the Islamic era over differing interpretations of religious law, faith, and political succession.

Tariq ibn Ziyad (Tarik ibn Zijad)

The Muslim commander who led the Arab-Berber army across the Strait of Gibraltar in $711$, crushing the Visigothic army and initiating the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula.

Abbasid Golden Age

The cultural and scientific zenith of the Islamic Caliphate centered in Baghdad, prominently represented by Caliph Harun al-Rashid, marked by monumental breakthroughs in algebra, medicine, astronomy, and preservation of classical texts.

Caliphate of Córdoba (Kordopski halifat)

The independent Islamic state founded in the Iberian Peninsula after $755$ by the Umayyad prince Abdur-Rahman, which saw major urban, cultural, and agricultural flourishing through crops like cotton, rice, and sugarcane.

Granada (1492)

The final Muslim stronghold and emirate in the Iberian Peninsula, conquered by the united Spanish monarchy in $1492$, bringing an end to Arab rule in Spain.