SCAN 114/HIST 110: Midterm Study Guide

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards containing precise definitions, historical significance, and contextual background for all key terms listed on the SCAN 114/HIST 110 midterm study guide.

Reconquista

The centuries-long campaign (c. 722–1492) by Christian kingdoms to recapture territory on the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim rule.

Averroes

A 12th-century Andalusian-Arab polymath and Islamic philosopher (Ibn Rushd) renowned for his influential commentaries on Aristotle.

Sefardic Jews

The Jewish ethnic division that established communities and flourished in the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus/Spain and Portugal) during the Middle Ages.

Basilica

A large, rectangular Roman public hall with a central nave and an apse, adapted by Christians in the 4th century as a standard church architectural form.

Milvian Bridge

The site of the 312 battle outside Rome where Constantine the Great defeated Maxentius after reportedly seeing a Christian vision, leading to his conversion.

Council of Nicaea

The first ecumenical Christian council, convened by Emperor Constantine in 325, which repudiated Arianism and formulated the Nicene Creed.

Hagia Sophia

The patriarchal cathedral of Holy Wisdom in Constantinople, rebuilt by Emperor Justinian I between 532 and 537 following the Nika Riots.

St. Helena

Mother of Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (c. 246–330), famous for her pilgrimage to the Holy Land and discovery of the True Cross.

Perpetua

An early Christian noblewoman martyred in Carthage in 203; author of a rare surviving first-person diary describing her imprisonment and visions.

Arianism

A 4th-century theological doctrine initiated by Arius asserting that Jesus Christ was a created being subordinate to God the Father, condemned at Nicaea.

"Life of Constantine"

A 4th-century panegyrical biography and historical work written by Eusebius of Caesarea celebrating the life, conversion, and rule of Constantine the Great.

Caeseropapism

A political and religious system in which the supreme secular monarch (emperor) also holds supreme headship over the church.

Jerome

A 4th- to 5th-century Christian Church Father and scholar (c. 347–420) celebrated for translating the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin (the Vulgate).

Ambrose

A 4th-century Bishop of Milan (c. 340–397) and Church Father who exerted ecclesiastical authority over Roman emperors and influenced Augustine of Hippo.

Augustine of Hippo

An influential North African bishop and Church Father (354–430) whose writings, such as Confessions and The City of God, foundationalized Western theology.

compendia

Concise systematic collections, summaries, or abridgments of classical learning, law, or theology compiled by early medieval scholars.

Ansgar

A 9th-century Frankish Benedictine monk and Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen known as the "Apostle of the North" for his missionary efforts in Scandinavia.

scriptoria

Designated writing rooms in medieval monasteries dedicated to the copying, illustrating, and preservation of manuscripts and texts.

trivium and quadrivium

The seven liberal arts of medieval education: the trivium (grammar, rhetoric, logic) and the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy).

Petrine Doctrine

The theological claim that Jesus Christ designated Saint Peter as supreme head of the Church, conferring authority inherited by successive Bishops of Rome.

Gelasian Doctrine

The "two swords" principle articulated by Pope Gelasius I in 494, separating sacred priestly authority (auctoritas) from royal power (potestas).

comitatus/gefolge

The Germanic warrior band structure binding a military chieftain and his sworn warriors in mutual loyalty, protection, and redistribution of booty.

wergeld

"Man-money"; a legal monetary compensation paid in Germanic customary law by a perpetrator to a victim or their family to settle homicide and avoid feuds.

ordeal

An ancient judicial practice whereby guilt or innocence was determined by subjecting the accused to dangerous physical tests based on divine intervention.

Theodora

The 6th-century Byzantine Empress and co-ruler with Justinian I who demonstrated resolve during the Nika Riots and championed legal protections for women.

Clovis I

King of the Franks (r. 481–511) and founder of the Merovingian Dynasty who unified Frankish tribes and converted to Catholic Christianity around 496.

Jarlabro runestones

11th-century memorial runestones in Uppland, Sweden, erected by the Norse chieftain Jarlabanke celebrating his status, infrastructure, and Christian faith.

Runic Alphabet

The writing system (Futhark) used by early Germanic and Scandinavian peoples to inscribe epigraphic messages on stone, wood, bone, and metal.

Proto-Germanic

The reconstructed prehistoric common ancestral language of all Germanic languages, spoken prior to its divergence into distinct branches.

Ravenna

An Italian city that served as the capital of the Western Roman Empire (402–476), the Ostrogothic Kingdom, and later the seat of the Byzantine Exarchate.

Constantinople

The imperial capital established by Constantine the Great in 330 on the Bosphorus, serving as the political and economic center of the Byzantine Empire.

"Corpus Juris Civilis"

The comprehensive codification of Roman law compiled under Byzantine Emperor Justinian I between 529 and 534, forming the base of Western civil law.

Gothic War

The protracted conflict (535–554) fought by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I to reconquer the Italian Peninsula from the Ostrogothic Kingdom.

Cordoba

The capital of the Umayyad Emirate and Caliphate in Islamic Iberia (Al-Andalus), renowned as a medieval center of science, culture, and architecture.

Desert Fathers

Early Christian hermits and ascetics who lived in the Egyptian desert from the late 3rd century, establishing the foundations of monastic practice.

Rule of Benedict

A 6th-century monastic rule composed by Benedict of Nursia emphasizing moderation, communal obedience, and a balance of prayer and labor (ora et labora).

Gregory I

Pope (r. 590–604) known as Gregory the Great; expanded papal authority, codified liturgical traditions, and sent missionaries to Anglo-Saxon England.

Anchorite vs. Cenobitic Monasticism

Two main forms of Christian monasticism: anchoritic refers to solitary, eremitic living, while cenobitic refers to communal monastic living under a rule.

Lindisfarne

A monastery on Holy Island off Northumbria founded by St. Aidan in 635; its raid by Norse Vikings in 793 marks the conventional start of the Viking Age.

clinker-built

A traditional Scandinavian boatbuilding technique utilizing overlapping hull planks fastened with rivets, producing flexible and seaworthy Viking ships.

Dane-Law

The area of northern and eastern England where Danish customary law and settlement held sway following the 9th-century Viking invasions.

Rollo

A Viking leader who signed the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte in 911 with King Charles the Simple, founding the Duchy of Normandy.

Vinland

The coastal region of North America explored and temporarily settled by Norse expeditions led by Leif Erikson around AD 1000.

Althing

The national legislative assembly and court of the Icelandic Commonwealth, established at Thingvellir in 930.

Kenning

A figurative metaphorical compound expression widely used in Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon poetry in place of a simple noun (e.g., "whale-road" for sea).

Varangian Guard

An elite Byzantine imperial mercenary bodyguard regiment established in the late 10th century, largely drawn from Norsemen and later Anglo-Saxons.

Saga Age

The historical era in Iceland (approx. 930–1030) during which the events narrated in the Icelandic family sagas occurred.

Alcuin

An 8th-century Northumbrian scholar and educator who headed Charlemagne's palace school and guided the Carolingian Renaissance.

Battle of Tours

A significant battle fought in 732 where Frankish forces led by Charles Martel defeated an advancing Umayyad army, halting Muslim expansion in Western Europe.

Convivencia

The historical period of cultural coexistence and mutual exchange among Muslims, Christians, and Jews in medieval Islamic Iberia (Al-Andalus).

El Cid

Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1043–1099), a Castilian military leader and folk hero acclaimed for fighting for both Christian and Muslim rulers during the Reconquista.

Five Pillars of Islam

The central religious obligations in Islam: Shahada (creed), Salat (prayer), Zakat (alms), Sawm (fasting during Ramadan), and Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca).

Varnhem

An archaeological site in Västergötland, Sweden, featuring early Christian burials and a 12th-century Cistercian abbey containing royal Swedish tombs.

Ship formations

Megalithic stone boat settings erected across Bronze Age and Viking Age Scandinavia marking burial grounds and symbolizing voyages into the afterlife.

Thrall

A member of the unfree enslaved class in early Germanic and Scandinavian society, acquired through capture, debt, or inheritance.

Loki

A trickster deity in Norse mythology who causes discord among the gods, engineers the slaying of Baldr, and fights against the gods at Ragnarok.

Byzantine Empire

The medieval continuation of the Eastern Roman Empire centered at Constantinople, persisting until its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453.

Rome

The ancient capital of the Roman Empire and the historic patriarchal see of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as the seat of the papacy.

Alexandria

A Hellenistic and Roman port city in Egypt, prominent as an intellectual center, an early Christian patriarchal see, and a theological hub.

Wessex

An Anglo-Saxon kingdom in southwestern England that unified the English kingdoms against Norse Viking invaders under Alfred the Great and his heirs.

Northumbria

A major medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom in northern England, prominent for monastic scholarship until fragmented by Danish Viking conquests in 867.

Mercia

An Anglo-Saxon kingdom located in the English Midlands that attained dominance in the 8th century under King Offa before yielding prominence to Wessex.

Ireland

An island never incorporated into the Roman Empire, converted to Christianity in the 5th century, renowned for monastic culture and insular art.

Umayyad Caliphate

The second major Islamic caliphate (661–750), governed from Damascus, which conquered North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula (711).

Papal State

Territories in central Italy directly under the secular and ecclesiastical sovereignty of the Pope, originating in the 8th century with Frankish donations.

Lombards

A Germanic people who invaded Italy in 568 and established a kingdom that dominated the peninsula until conquered by Charlemagne in 774.

Franks

A Germanic tribal confederation that founded the Merovingian and Carolingian empires, governing broad areas of post-Roman Western Europe.

Saxony

The northern Germanic homeland of the Old Saxons, subjugated and Christianized by Charlemagne during the prolonged Saxon Wars (772–804).

Vandals

An East Germanic tribe that marched through Gaul and Hispania, conquered North Africa in 429, sacked Rome in 455, and fell to Belisarius in 534.

Visigoths

A western branch of the Goths who sacked Rome in 410, established a kingdom in Gaul and Iberia, and ruled until the Umayyad conquest in 711.

Odoacer

A Germanic military officer who deposed the last Western Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustulus, in 476, ruling as the first King of Italy.

Berbers

Indigenous North African peoples (Amazigh) who adopted Islam and constituted the primary military force that entered and conquered Iberia in 711.