World Civ Middle Ages Test

Charles Martel:

Served as mayor of the palace (the person who ruled in the name of the king) for the eastern part of the Frankish kingdom from 715 until 741. The illegitimate son of the former mayor, Martel seized power, eventually reunited, and then ruled the entire kingdom of the Franks. Since 711, Muslims had raided Frankish lands, and in 732 they reached Bordeaux. Called to help at the battle of Tours that year, Charles's cavalry halted this last great Muslim advance into Europe.

Battle of Tours:

Battle in 732 in which the Christian Franks led by Charles Martel defeated the Muslim armies and stopped the Muslim advance into Europe.

Charlemagne:

(or "Charles the Great") King of the Franks, the Lombards, and emperor of the Romans, began as a warrior king seeking to conquer territory and distribute plunder in the Frankish tradition. But he also strove to unite and govern an increasingly diverse collection of conquered peoples as well as cope with threats from new invaders. He conducted a long series of successful military campaigns, made efforts to spread Christianity and implement religious reform, sought to make more effective inherited political institutions and procedures, and supported cultural renewal through a revival of learning.

Treaty of Verdun:

Split the Charlemagne empire into three regions.

What impact did the fall of the Western Roman Empire have on Western Europe?

The lands in Western Europe that had been a part of the Roman Empire got invaded, had wars constantly, trade slowed, and towns emptied. There is also no unified empire, no trade, disease, and education declining.

Feudalism:

A political system based on mutual obligations and responsibilities. Feudalism only forms because there is an absence of a centralized government.

Vassal:

In medieval Europe, a lord who was granted land in exchange for service and loyalty to a greater lord.

Feudal Contract:

Exchange of pledges between lords and vassals.

Fief:

In medieval Europe, an estate granted by a lord to a vassal in exchange for service and loyalty.

Knight:

A European noble who served as a mounted warrior.

Chivalry:

Code of conduct for knights during the Middle Ages.

Manor:

During the Middle Ages in Europe, a lord's estate that included one or more villages and the surrounding lands.

Manor System:

Also called manorial system; economic system during the Middle Ages in Europe that was built around large estates called manors, which included one or more villages and the surrounding lands.

Serf:

In medieval Europe, a peasant bound to the lord's land.

What is feudalism? How did it work? How did it begin and why? What were the feudal obligations between the lord and the vassal?

Feudalism is a political system based on mutual obligations and responsibilities. Feudalism only forms because there is an absence of a centralized government. Vassals had to provide military services and had to be loyal to their lords. They had to pay the ransom if their lord got captured and had to pay their lord on special occasions. Lords had to treat knights fairly and had to protect the knight if attacked. The lord also had to act as a judge in disputes.

Sacrament:

Sacred ritual of the Roman Catholic Church.

Secular:

Having to do with worldly, rather than religious, matters; nonreligious.

Papal Supremacy:

The claim of medieval popes that they had authority over all secular rulers.

Canon Law:

Body of laws of a church.

Excommunication:

Exclusion from the Roman Catholic Church as a penalty for refusing to obey Church law.

Interdict:

In the Roman Catholic Church, excommunication of an entire region, town, or kingdom.

Tithe (pg. 249):

Tax that must be paid each year to the Church.

How did the Church play a unifying role in Europe during the Middle Ages?

It gave Christian Europeans a way to connect with each other. It gave people hope and they took care of the sick and poor. The priests were the only teachers in the village and the church was a social center.

How did the Church gain secular power?

As the spiritual heir and representative of Christ on Earth, according to Church teachings, the medieval pope eventually claimed papal supremacy, or authority over all secular rulers.

Describe the social, political, and economic role that the church played in medieval life.

The high clergy, such as bishops and archbishops were appointed by feudal rulers to administer their own governments.

How did the Church profit from people's fears?

If people did something that the church didn't want them to do or if they went against the church, sometimes they could pay a fine but they could also be excommunicated from the church which meant that when they passed they were automatically going to hell and use that fear to manipulate people.

Charter:

In the Middle Ages, a written document that set out the rights and privileges of a town.

Capital:

Money or wealth used to invest in business or enterprise.

Partnership:

A group of merchants who joined together to finance a large-scale venture that would have been too costly for any individual trader.

Bill of Exchange:

Something that a banker would issue, which the merchant could exchange for cash in a distant city.

Tenant Farmer:

Someone who would pay rent to a lord to farm part of the lord's land.

Guild:

In the Middle Ages, an association of merchants or artisans who cooperated to uphold standards of their trade and to protect their economic interests.

Apprentice:

A young person learning a trade from a master.

Journeyman:

A salaried worker employed by a guild master.

Crusades:

A series of wars from the 1000s through 1200s in which European Christians tried to win control of the Holy Land from Muslims.

Holy Land:

Jerusalem and other places where Christians believe Jesus had lived and preached.

Pope Urban II:

(1042-1099) was the leader of the Roman Catholic church at the time the Seljuk Turks were threatening the Byzantine empire. He convened the Council of Clermont, where he launched the First Crusade to win the Holy Land from the Muslims.

What motivated people to join the Crusades?

Religious reasons played a large role. Yet many knights hoped to win wealth and land. Some crusaders sought to escape troubles at home. Others yearned for adventure.

Why are the crusades often called "successful failures"? (impacts/effects of the crusades)

It was called that because only the first Crusade was successful in achieving its goal. However, there were so many effects on Europe that they were in fact successful.

How did guilds influence local government?

Guild leaders often served as local government officials and this way they could have legislation passed in their favor.

Why did guilds decline after the sixteenth century?

Industrialisation and the existence of new markets greatly weakened the control that craft guilds had. The monopolistic practices of the guild and the hereditary structures of many apprenticeships became outmoded.

Black Death:

An epidemic of the bubonic plague that ravaged Europe in the 1300s.

Epidemic:

Outbreak of a rapidly spreading disease.

Pope Clement V (pg. 284):

The pope that moved the papal court to Avignon outside the border of southern France.

Babylonian Captivity (pg. 284):

The period of time when the papal court was in Avignon and it is referring to the time when the ancient Hebrews were held captive in Babylon.

The Second Great Schism (pg. 284):

The second divide of the church.

John Wycliffe (pg. 284):

An Oxford professor and an English reformer whose ideas would help launch the Protestant Reformation years later.

Jan Hus (pg. 284):

The person who led the call for reforms, supported by his followers, known as Hussites.

Heresy:

Ideas contrary to Church teachings.

Heretic:

A person who holds beliefs or opinions that fundamentally contradict established doctrines, particularly in religion.

How did each of the following: The Babylonian Captivity, the second Great Schism, John Wycliffe and Jan Hus' scholarly challenges to Church authority, and the Black Death lead to a change in attitudes toward religion? How was this different from the early Middle Ages?

Since people started praying to God to come up with a cure for the Black Death and they weren't being answered they stopped believing in God or thought that God was doing this to punish them. Less people started praying than during the early Middle Ages. John Wycliffe insisted that the Bible, not the Church, was the source of all Christian truth. Jan Hus called for reforms. The second Great Schism hurt the Church and weakened its moral authority.

What were the social, political, and economic effects of the Black Death?

Social: People abandon their families and friends. People isolated themselves. People fled cities. Life expectancy decreased. People were less religious. Political: There was a loss of control. The end of Feudalism. Economic: Labor shortage. No one to collect debt. Construction stopped. There was no one to fix machines. Peasants wanted more money to work the land. Financial business was disrupted. Peasants became richer. Lords sold acres of their land to peasants.

What caused the growth of towns and how did this growth contribute to the decline in the number of serfs?

The growth of trade eventually led to the growth of the merchant class.