Eastern Europe, Jewish History, and the Origins of Russia

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering the aftermath of the Eastern Roman Empire, historical causes of antisemitism in Europe, and the Norse origins of Kyivan Rus'.

Fall of Constantinople

The 1453 CE event where the Ottoman Empire used gunpowder cannons to breach the city walls, ending the last remnant of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Cyrillic script

A new alphabet created by Eastern Roman figures that aided in spreading Orthodox Christianity across Eastern Europe.

Antisemitism

Discrimination, hostility, or prejudice directed against Jewish people.

Second Temple

The central holy place of Judaism in Jerusalem that was destroyed by Roman troops in response to Jewish rebellions.

Diaspora

The scattering of Jewish populations who fled the Middle East to Europe, North Africa, and other regions after the Roman destruction of the Second Temple.

Collective guilt accusation

A widespread medieval anti-Jewish claim asserting that all Jewish people shared responsibility for the execution of Jesus.

Scapegoating

The practice of blaming an identifiable group for broad societal problems; medieval European Jews were vulnerable targets because they were visible yet lacked the numbers to mount armed resistance.

Torah literacy

The communal religious practice requiring Jewish males to learn to read Hebrew scripture and recite large portions from memory, producing high literacy relative to medieval European peers.

Usury

The practice of charging interest on loans, which Catholic doctrine strictly prohibited during the Middle Ages.

Medieval banking loophole

The economic circumstance wherein Jewish individuals, exempt from Catholic bans against usury, operated money lending and banking institutions, often inciting resentment from non-Jewish borrowers.

Poland (Jewish population)

The Eastern European country that hosted by far the largest Jewish population in Europe from the medieval period through World War II.

Rus'

Norse Vikings who ventured east down navigable rivers such as the Volga and Danube toward the Black Sea, establishing trade networks and founding early Russian civilization.

Rurik

A Danish Viking prince and trader who established an early trading post at Kyiv.

Kyivan Rus'

The early East Slavic state centered in Kyiv (modern-day Ukraine) from which Russian and Ukrainian civilizational history originated.

Vladimir (ruler of Kyivan Rus')

The Kyivan ruler who rejected Islam because of its prohibition against alcohol and chose to convert his realm to Orthodox Christianity.

Medieval collective conversion

The medieval concept of religious identity as a communal obligation, meaning that all subjects were expected to adopt the faith chosen by their ruler.