Untitled Flashcards Set

Feudalism: A hierarchical system where land is exchanged for service and loyalty.
Lord: A landowner who grants land to vassals in exchange for military or other services.
Vassal: A person who receives land (a fief) from a lord in exchange for loyalty and service.
Fealty: A vassal’s pledge of loyalty to their lord.
Liege: A vassal’s primary lord, to whom they owe the most loyalty.
Fief: A piece of land granted to a vassal.
Manor: The lord’s estate, which typically included agricultural land, a village, and a peasant workforce.
Chivalry: A code of conduct for knights, emphasizing bravery, honor, and respect for women and the weak.
Courtly Love: A highly ritualized form of love, often expressed through poetry and chivalric behavior.
Book of Hours: A prayer book that provided liturgical guidance for the faithful, common during the Middle Ages.
Primogeniture: The practice of passing inheritance to the eldest son.
Serf (Villein): A peasant bound to the land and under the control of a lord, but not a slave.
Peasant: A lower-class farmer who worked the land and often lived in poverty.
3 Field System: A system of crop rotation that allowed for one-third of the land to lie fallow at any time, increasing agricultural productivity.
Town Charters: Documents granting certain rights and privileges to towns, often allowing them to self-govern.
Burghers: The merchant or middle class, who lived in towns and often gained wealth through trade.
Guilds: Organizations of skilled workers or merchants who controlled trade and commerce in medieval towns.
Usury: The practice of charging interest on loans, often considered immoral by the Church.
Universities: Educational institutions that emerged in medieval Europe, offering higher learning in subjects like theology, law, and medicine.

Desert Asceticism/Desert Mothers: Early Christian practice of living in isolation to seek spiritual purity, practiced by figures like St. Anthony and female ascetics in the desert.
Veneration of Saints, Relics, Intercession, Pilgrimage: Christians revered saints, and their relics were seen as objects of spiritual power. Pilgrimages to holy sites were a way to seek divine favor or penance.
Monasticism: A lifestyle dedicated to religious devotion, often involving vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Monks and nuns played key roles in preserving knowledge and providing charity.
Hildegard of Bingen: A prominent abbess, mystic, and scholar, Hildegard contributed to the Church through her writings, music, and visions.

Canon Law: Church law, governing religious practice and some aspects of secular life.

Pope Gregory VII: A pope who sought to reform the Church and asserted papal authority over secular rulers.

Gratian, The Decretum: A key legal text that codified canon law.

Statutory Law/Customary Law: Statutory law was formal legislation; customary law arose from the traditions of a community.

1066: William the Duke of Normandy and the Norman Invasion: William’s conquest of England established Norman rule and brought changes to law, landholding, and the English language.

Trial by Decree, Combat, Compurgation, Ordeal, Oath: Different medieval trial methods to determine guilt or innocence. Each had its pros and cons in terms of fairness and reliability.t

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