HIS 365: War, Society, and Culture to 1789 Practice Flashcards

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering the transformation of warfare and state-building from the fall of Rome through the Industrial Revolution.

Feudalism

A political and military system born from the collapse of central Roman authority where power became local, and land was exchanged for safety and military service.

The Stirrup

A tactical revolution consisting of metal loops for a rider's feet that allowed a rider to brace themselves, enabling the couched lance charge and heavy cavalry shock tactics.

Infantry Revolution

A period during the $14^{th}$ to $15^{th}$ Century where the use of longbows, crossbows, and polearms allowed common peasants to defeat elite knights from a distance.

Trace Italien (Star Fort)

Low, thick, angular fortifications designed to resist and return cannon fire, which were so expensive that only centralized governments could afford them.

Pike and Shot (Tercio)

A combined arms formation mixing pikemen for defense and musketeers for offense, representing the transition to firearm dominance.

Line Infantry

Soldiers in the $18^{th}$ Century who acted as interchangeable cogs in a machine, fighting in rigid lines with standardized equipment and discipline.

East Roman (Byzantine) Empire

The Greek-speaking eastern half of the Roman Empire that maintained a professional military bureaucracy and advanced fortifications in Constantinople.

State Deformation

The fragmentation of central government power where the state loses its monopoly on organized violence to local strongmen like feudal lords.

Arabic Conquests

Rapid military expansions by Islamic caliphates in the $7^{th}$ Century that conquered the Levant, Egypt, and Persia, shattering Mediterranean trade networks.

Umayyad Caliphate

The first major Islamic hereditary dynasty based in Damascus that expanded from Spain to India but faced friction due to its focus on an Arab military elite.

Abbasid Caliphate

A dynasty based in Baghdad that professionalized war by moving away from tribal armies toward Mamluks (professional slave-soldiers).

Mamluks

Professional slave-soldiers under the Abbasid Caliphate who eventually evolved into a powerful political class of their own.

Viking

Scandinavian seafaring warriors whose high-mobility raids from the late $8^{th}$ to $11^{th}$ centuries forced Europe to build local defenses like burhs and castles.

Charlemagne

The leader of the Franks who united Western Europe into a new Holy Roman Empire by $800$ AD, integrating heavy cavalry with land grants.

Shire and Sheriff

An Anglo-Saxon administrative system where districts (Shires) were overseen by a Shire-Reeve (Sheriff) to efficiently mobilize the peasant militia.

Fyrd

The national militia of free peasants in Anglo-Saxon England who had a legal duty to provide communal defense.

Manorialism

The economic tie in the feudal system between lords and the bound laborers (serfs) who provided the surplus labor required to fund the warrior class.

Vassal

A free nobleman who owes military service to a lord in exchange for a grant of land.

Serf

A bound laborer who owes crops and labor to a lord in exchange for physical protection.

Knight

A titled noble who served as a heavy-armored professional soldier; part of the elite warrior class.

Man-at-arms

A general term for any heavy-armored professional soldier, including but not limited to titled knights.

Mail vs. Plate Armor

Mail consists of interlinked iron rings, while Plate consists of shaped steel sheets; plate evolved in the $14^{th}$ century to counter powerful projectile weapons.

Burh

A fortified town built by Anglo-Saxons to ensure residents were never far from a defensive wall during Viking raids.

Battle of Hastings ($1066$)

The battle where William the Conqueror defeated Harold Godwinson, replacing the English ruling class with a cavalry-focused Norman feudal system.

Bayeux Tapestry

The primary visual record of the Battle of Hastings and the Norman conquest of England.

Military Orders (Templars / Hospitallers)

Groups of fighting monks created during the Crusades that represented the first truly standing, professional armies in the West since Rome.

Reconquista

The $700$-year struggle by Christian kingdoms to retake Spain from Muslim rule.

Motte and Bailey

The earliest, cheapest form of a castle, consisting of a hill (Motte) and a courtyard (Bailey).

Trebuchet

A gravity-powered catapult that forced castle builders to switch from square towers to round, thicker walls.

Horse Archer

Nomadic warriors of the steppe who used composite bows and high-mobility tactics to destroy larger, traditional settled armies.

Pax Mongolica

A period of peace and trade within the Mongol Empire that allowed for the spread of technology, including gunpowder, from China.

Polearms (Halberd/Bill)

Long-reaching weapons referred to as "can-openers" that allowed disciplined infantry to stand their ground against heavy cavalry.

Gunpowder Ingredients

Sulfur, Saltpeter, and Charcoal; the production of which required advanced chemistry and state-managed trade networks.

Firelance / Handgonne

The earliest and crudest firearms, appearing in the record as early as $1326$, used initially for psychological warfare.

Bombard

A massive early cannon, such as the Mons Meg, built using the Hoop and Stave construction method to shatter stone castle walls.

Hundred Years' War ($1337$-$1453$)

A long-term conflict between England and France that fostered the rise of nationalism and the use of professional soldiers over vassals.

Siege of Constantinople ($1453$)

The event where the Ottoman Empire used massive gunpowder artillery to conquer the Byzantine capital, marking the end of the Middle Ages.

Arquebus / Musket

Early firearms; the Arquebus was light and the Musket was a heavier version used during the Thirty Years' War.

Flintlock

An ignition system using a rock to create sparks; it became the standard for mass-armies due to its reliability and low cost.

Battle of Lepanto ($1571$)

A major naval battle between Christian forces and the Ottomans representing the final major conflict of the oar-powered galley era.

Hinged Gun-port

A waterproof door on a ship's side that allowed heavy cannons to be placed on lower decks without the ship tipping over.

Gun-Slave Cycle

An economic-military cycle in West Africa where states traded enslaved people for European guns to protect themselves from being conquered.

British East India Company

A private corporation that used advanced European military drill to conquer the Mughal Empire in India for profit.

Socket Bayonet

A blade that attaches to the muzzle of a rifle, allowing a soldier to function as both a shooter and a pikeman.

$5^{th}$ Century Warrior

A soldier from the late Roman / early Germanic era, characterized by a mix of Roman gear and "barbarian" weapons during the imperial collapse.

$11^{th}$ Century Norman Knight

The classic feudal warrior at the peak of mail armor, identified by a nasal helmet and a long kite shield.

$14^{th}$ Century Transitional Knight

A warrior using the first pieces of plate armor on knees and elbows as a reaction to more powerful projectile weapons.

$18^{th}$ Century Line Infantryman

A soldier of the state machine with no armor, wearing bright colors and a tricorn hat, and armed with a flintlock musket.