Post Classical Europe People and Terms

Clovis

Clovis

king of the Franks who unified Gaul and established his capital at Paris and founded the Frankish monarchy and converted to Christianity to aid Alliances

Charles Martel

Carolingian monarch of Franks; responsible for defeating Muslims in the battle of Tours in 732; ended Muslim threat to western Europe.

Charlemagne

king of the Franks and responsible for uniting most of Europe under his rule, helping to restore the Western Roman Empire and becoming its first holy Roman emperor

Holy Roman Emperors

political heirs to Charlemagne's empire in northern Italy and Germany; claimed title of emperor but failed to develop centralized monarchy

William the Conqueror

Invaded England from Normandy in 1066; extended tight feudal system to England; established administrative system based on sheriffs; established centralized monarchy.

Urban II

Called First Crusade in 1095; appealed to Christians to mount military assault to free the Holy Land from the Muslims.

St. Clare of Assisi

13th century founder of a woman's monastic order; represented a new spirit of purity and dedication to the Catholic church.

St. Francis of Assisi

Italian saint who founded the Franciscan order of friars; treated all creatures, including animals, as spiritual brothers and sisters; born to wealthy merchant family and willingly gave up a life of comfort

Peter Abelard

university scholar who applied logic to problems of theology

Bernard of Clairvaux

Emphasized role of faith in preference to logic; stressed importance of mystical union with God; successfully challenged Abelard and had him driven from the universities.

Thomas Aquinas

Italian theologian and Doctor of the Church who is remembered for his attempt to reconcile faith and reason in a comprehensive theology

Moldboard

Heavy plow introduced in northern Europe during the Middle Ages; permitted deeper cultivation of heavier soils; a technological innovation of the medieval agricultural system.

3 field system

a system of farming where there were 3 fields, one rests, another is harvested, and the last is planted, a revolving cycle

Manorialism

Economic system during the Middle Ages that revolved around self-sufficient farming estates where lords and peasants shared the land.

Serfs

People who gave their land to a lord and offered their servitude in return for protection from a lord.

Feudalism

A political system in which nobles are granted the use of lands that legally belong to their king, in exchange for their loyalty, military service, and protection of the people who live on the land

Vassals

lesser lords who pledged their service and loyalty to a greater lord

Magna Carta

a charter of liberties that King John was forced to sign; it made the king obey the same laws as the citizens of his kingdom

Parliament

A body of representatives that makes laws for a nation

Key 3 estates (what are they?)

Church, Nobels, Urban leaders

Investiture

controversy Dispute between the popes and the Holy Roman Emperors over who held ultimate authority over bishops in imperial lands.

Scholasticism

A medieval philosophical and theological system that tried to reconcile faith and reason

Gothic

relating to a style of church architecture that developed in medieval Europe, featuring ribbed vaults, stained glass windows, flying buttresses, pointed arches, and tall spires

Guilds

Association of merchants or artisans who cooperated to protect their economic interests

Hanseatic league

an organization of north German and Scandinavian cities for the purpose of establishing a commercial alliance.

Black Death

The common name for a major outbreak of plague that spread across Asia, North Africa, and Europe in the mid-fourteenth century, carrying off vast numbers of persons.