Medieval ID's

Arianism

An early Christian belief that Jesus was created by God and was not equal to God the Father; condemned as heresy at the Council of Nicaea.

Council of Nicaea (325)

A church council called by Emperor Constantine that rejected Arianism and established a statement of Christian belief known as the Nicene Creed.

Augustine

A Christian saint, bishop of Hippo (354–430) whose writings, especially The City of God, strongly influenced medieval Christianity.

Visigoths

A Germanic people who sacked Rome in 410 and established a kingdom in Hispania (modern Spain and Portugal).

Byzantium

The eastern half of the Roman Empire that survived after the western half fell in 476; its people preserved Roman traditions and Greek culture.

Justinian

Byzantine emperor (527–565) who attempted to reconquer former Roman territories, built Hagia Sophia, and organized Roman law into the Corpus Juris Civilis.

Constantinople

The capital of the Byzantine Empire, founded by Constantine in 330 on the site of Byzantium; a major center of trade, Christianity, and imperial power.

Clovis (Merovingians)

Clovis I was a Frankish king who united much of the Franks in the late fifth century and converted to Catholic Christianity, strengthening ties with the Roman Church.

Heptarchy

The traditional term for the seven major Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in early medieval England: Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex, and Wessex.

Queen Balthild

A seventh-century Frankish queen and former enslaved person who became queen of Clovis II; she supported monasteries and worked to limit the enslavement of Christians.

Brunhilde

A powerful Visigothic princess who became queen of Austrasia in the Frankish kingdoms and played a major role in Merovingian politics.

Fredegunda

A queen of Neustria in the Frankish kingdoms known for her political influence and rivalry with Brunhilde.

Muhammad

The founder of Islam, who Muslims believe received revelations from God beginning around 610; he united much of Arabia under Islam before his death in 632.

Umayyads

The first major hereditary Islamic caliphate (661–750), which expanded Muslim rule across North Africa, into Spain, and eastward into Asia.

Abbasids

The Islamic dynasty that overthrew the Umayyads in 750 and established a caliphate known for scholarship, trade, and cultural achievements, with Baghdad as its capital.

Al-Andalus

The name for Muslim-ruled parts of the Iberian Peninsula, beginning with the conquest in 711; it became an important center of learning, trade, and cultural exchange.

Fatimid Caliphate

A Shi'a Ismaili Muslim caliphate founded in North Africa in 909 that later ruled Egypt and established Cairo as its capital.

Aachen

The city in modern Germany that became Charlemagne's principal royal residence and a major center of Carolingian government and learning.

Caroline miniscule

A clear, standardized handwriting style developed under the Carolingians that made manuscripts easier to read and helped preserve classical and Christian texts.

Missi

Short for missi dominici, royal officials sent out by Charlemagne to inspect local officials, enforce royal orders, and report on conditions throughout the empire.

Polyptychs

Medieval estate surveys that recorded land, resources, and the obligations or dues owed by peasants to a lord or monastery.

Admonitio Generalis (789)

A major decree issued by Charlemagne that promoted Christian education, improved clergy standards, and encouraged religious and administrative reform across his empire. ALSO expands his power by saying the laws are what god wants, not just what Charlemagne wants.

Louis the Pious

Charlemagne's son and successor as emperor (814–840), whose reign was marked by efforts to maintain the empire in a frantic manner. Lost many battles

Treaty of Verdun (843)

An agreement that divided Charlemagne's empire among his grandsons: Charles the Bald received West Francia, Louis the German received East Francia, and Lothair received Middle Francia and the imperial title.

Charles the Simple

A West Frankish king (893–922) who negotiated with the Viking leader Rollo, granting him territory that became the basis of Normandy through the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte in 911.

Ottonians

A dynasty of German kings and emperors beginning with Henry I and Otto I that strengthened royal authority and revived the western imperial title in the tenth century.

Capetians

A French royal dynasty founded when Hugh Capet became king in 987; its rulers gradually strengthened the monarchy and helped form the kingdom of France.

Île-de-France

The region around Paris that served as the Capetian dynasty's original power base and the center from which the French monarchy expanded.

Pippinids/Pippin II

A Frankish aristocratic family that rose to power through control of the office of mayor of the palace. Pippin II of Herstal strengthened family control over the Frankish kingdoms in the late seventh and early eighth centuries.

Charles Martel

A Frankish ruler and military leader who strengthened the power of the Carolingian/pippinid family. Named his son pippin (III, charlemagne’s father) to remind people that he was a pippinid.

Charlemagne

King of the Franks and first holy roman emperor from 800 until 814 who expanded his empire across much of western and central Europe and promoted Christianization, education, and administrative reform.

Pope Leo III

The pope who crowned Charlemagne emperor in Rome on Christmas Day, 800, symbolizing a renewed western imperial tradition and a close relationship between the papacy and Frankish rulers.

Lindisfarne

An island off northeastern England where a monastery founded in the seventh century became a major center of early English Christianity; it was raided by Vikings in 793.

Harald Bluetooth

A tenth-century Danish king who united much of Denmark, brought Christianity to the kingdom, and is remembered through runestones and the Bluetooth technology name.

Rune stones

Stones carved with runic writing, often commemorating the dead, recording achievements, or marking family connections; common in Viking-age Scandinavia.

Birka

An important Viking-age trading settlement on an island in Sweden. In 2017 we found a female viking warriors grave here.

Varangian Guard

An elite unit of the Byzantine emperor's personal guards, initially composed largely of Scandinavian/norse and other northern European warriors.

Ibn Fadlan

A tenth-century Arab Muslim diplomat and writer who traveled to the Volga region and described the Rus (vikings), including their customs and a ship burial. (Wrote about vikings from islamic perspective)

Snorri Sturluson

An Icelandic, poet, and author of the Prose Edda in the thirteenth century, important source for Norse/viking history. Prose Edda is Christianized retellings of viking oral history.

Alfred

Alfred the Great, king of Wessex (871–899), who resisted Viking invasions***, promoted education, and converted Guthrum (vikings) to chirstianity after winning battle of eddington.

Battle of Edington (878)

A victory by Alfred the Great over the Viking leader Guthrum that helped secure Wessex and led to Guthrum's baptism and an agreement dividing areas of Anglo-Saxon and Viking control.

Æthelstan

King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924/925 to 939, widely regarded as the first king of England. he is considered first king because he won the Battle of Brunanbruh against the other english kingdoms.

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (ASC)

A collection of Old English historical recounts begun during Alfred the Great's reign that recorded events in English history and continued to be updated for centuries.

Æthelflæd

Lady of the Mercians (and took control after her husband AEthelred dies) and daughter of Alfred the Great who helped defend and expand Anglo-Saxon territory against Viking forces in the early tenth century.

The Battle of Brunanburh (937)

A major victory by King Æthelstan over coalition of Scots, Vikings, and other rulers. He won and expanded his power and was considered the first king of a unified england.

Canute

Son of Forkbeard, a viking king who ruled England after taking from Aethelfred’s son in 1016 and later ruled Denmark and Norway, creating a North Sea empire in the early eleventh century.

Commune

A self-governing urban community, especially in medieval Italy, whose citizens secured political and legal privileges from a lord, bishop, or emperor.

Contado

The rural territory surrounding a medieval Italian city, often controlled or influenced by the city and important for its food supply,