Western Civ chapters 8-11

Black Death

The Black Death was a plague that killed about one-third of Europe’s population in the 1300s; it weakened feudalism by creating labor shortages and increasing peasant wages.

English Peasants’ Revolt

A 1381 rebellion in England where peasants protested high taxes and unfair labor laws after the Black Death; it showed resistance to feudal control.

Writings of Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio wrote The Decameron, a collection of stories during the plague that revealed human behavior during crisis and early humanist ideas.

Chaucer and de Pizan

Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales in English vernacular, while Christine de Pizan defended women’s intelligence and challenged gender roles.

Ottoman Empire

A powerful Turkish Muslim empire that expanded into Byzantine lands and became dominant in southeastern Europe and the eastern Mediterranean.

Hundred Years’ War

A long conflict between England and France (1337–1453) over the French throne that strengthened nationalism and weakened feudal nobles.

Joan of Arc

A French peasant girl who claimed divine guidance and helped France win important battles during the Hundred Years’ War.

Council of Constance and Conciliarism

The Council of Constance ended the Great Schism and supported conciliarism, the idea that church councils could have authority over the pope.

Great Schism

A period when multiple popes claimed authority in the Catholic Church, weakening trust in church leadership.

Genghis Khan

The Mongol leader who united tribes and created the largest land empire in history through conquest.

Marco Polo

A Venetian traveler whose writings described Asia and expanded European knowledge of the East.

Pax Mongolica

A period of peace under Mongol rule that increased trade, communication, and cultural exchange across Eurasia.

Art of Giotto

Giotto introduced more realistic human figures and emotion in painting, helping lead toward Renaissance art.

Dante’s Divine Comedy

A major literary work describing Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven; written in Italian vernacular and bridging medieval and Renaissance thought.

Boniface VIII and Philip IV Controversy

A struggle between pope and king over authority that showed monarchs gaining power over the church.

Babylonian Captivity

A period when popes lived in Avignon instead of Rome, making the papacy seem influenced by France.

Sacraments

Sacred rituals such as baptism and communion that were central to medieval Christian religious life.

Louis IX of France and Edward I of England

Kings who strengthened royal government and helped centralize power in France and England.

Sovereignty

The idea that a ruler or state has supreme authority within its territory.

Great Famine

A severe food shortage in Europe (1315–1317) caused by bad weather that weakened the population before the Black Death.

Henry II and the Murder of Thomas Becket

Henry II’s conflict with Archbishop Thomas Becket over church authority ended with Becket’s murder, showing tension between church and monarchy.

Magna Carta

A 1215 document that limited the English king’s power and established that rulers must obey the law.

Philip Augustus

A French king who expanded royal lands and strengthened the French monarchy.

Crusader States

Christian territories established in the Middle East after the First Crusade.

Reconquista

The Christian reconquest of Muslim-controlled lands in Spain.

Scholasticism

A medieval method of learning that used logic and reason to explain religious beliefs.

Thomas Aquinas

A scholastic thinker who used Aristotle’s ideas to explain Christianity.

Viking Rus

Vikings who settled in eastern Europe and helped form early Russian states.

Battle of Hastings

A 1066 battle where William the Conqueror defeated England and began Norman rule.

Veneration of Mary

Special devotion to Mary, mother of Jesus, which became central in medieval Christian worship.

Hildegard of Bingen

A German abbess, writer, and composer who became one of the most important female intellectuals of the Middle Ages.

Agricultural Revolution

New farming methods such as the heavy plow and three-field system that increased food production.

Manors

Self-sufficient agricultural estates that formed the basis of medieval economy.

Serfdom

A system where peasants were legally tied to the land they worked.

Feudalism

A political system based on land ownership, loyalty, and military service.

Homage

A ceremony where a vassal formally pledged loyalty to a lord.

Vassal

A person who received land from a lord in exchange for military or other service.

Alexius Comnenus

A Byzantine emperor who asked Western Europe for military help, helping trigger the First Crusade.

Pope Urban II

The pope who called for the First Crusade in 1095.

Investiture Controversy

A conflict over whether kings or popes had the right to appoint bishops.

First Crusade

A military campaign launched by Christians to capture Jerusalem from Muslim control.

Islamic Learning and Culture

Muslim scholars preserved and advanced mathematics, medicine, philosophy, and science, later influencing Europe.