Middle Ages: Period in Europe from about 500 to 1500 CE; also called the medieval era
Medieval: Of the Middle Ages
Franks: Germanic people who built a powerful kingdom in what is now France
Charlemagne: King of the Franks crowned emperor in 800
Clovis: First Frankish king to unite the Franks
Vikings: Seafaring Norsemen who raided and traded from the late 700s
Longship: Narrow, fast Viking vessel
Leif Erikson: Norse explorer who reached North America around 1000
William the Conqueror: Duke of Normandy who won England at the Battle of Hastings in 1066
Battle of Hastings (1066): Norman victory that began Norman rule of England
Domesday Book: Survey of English land ordered by William in 1086
Feudalism: System where lords gave land in exchange for loyalty and service
Lord: Landowner who held power over a territory
Vassal: Person who held land from a lord and promised service
Knight: Mounted soldier who served a lord
Chivalry: Knightly code of bravery, courtesy and honor
Squire: Young man training to become a knight
Page: Boy who started training for knighthood
Manor: Lord's estate with a village and farmland
Serf: Peasant bound to the land and to a lord
Peasant: Farm worker who made up most of the population
Three-field system: Rotating crops across three fields to keep soil healthy
Castle: Fortified home of a lord
Moat: Ditch, often water-filled, around a castle
Drawbridge: Bridge over a moat that could be raised
Keep: Strong central tower of a castle
Portcullis: Heavy gate lowered to block a castle entrance
Siege: Surrounding a castle or town to force surrender
Catapult: Machine that hurled stones at walls
Longbow: Powerful bow used by English archers
Armor: Protective metal covering
Roman Catholic Church: Dominant church in western Europe during the Middle Ages
Pope: Head of the Catholic Church
Monastery: Home of monks who prayed, worked and copied books
Monk: Man who lives a religious life in a monastery
Nun: Woman who lives a religious life in a convent
Illuminated manuscript: Hand-copied book decorated with gold and colors
Cathedral: Large and important church
Gothic architecture: Style with pointed arches, ribbed vaults and flying buttresses
Stained glass: Colored glass windows in churches
Guild: Association of craftsmen or merchants in a town
Apprentice: Young person learning a trade
Charter: Document granting rights to a town
Magna Carta (1215): English charter limiting the king's power; signed by King John
King John: English king forced by barons to sign the Magna Carta
Parliament: English lawmaking body that grew from royal councils
Eleanor of Aquitaine: Powerful queen of France and later England
Crusades: Religious wars from 1095 to 1291, mainly to control Jerusalem
Pope Urban II: Called the First Crusade in 1095
Saladin: Muslim leader who retook Jerusalem in 1187
Richard the Lionheart: English king who led the Third Crusade
Effects of the Crusades: Increased trade and exchange of ideas between Europe and the Middle East
Marco Polo's trip: Italian merchant who traveled to China in the late 1200s
Hanseatic League: Alliance of northern European trading cities
Black Death: Plague that killed perhaps a third of Europeans, 1347-1351
Bubonic plague: Disease spread by fleas on rats, cause of the Black Death
Effects of the Black Death: Labor shortages gave surviving workers more bargaining power
Hundred Years' War: Long conflict between England and France, 1337-1453
Joan of Arc: French teenage heroine who helped lift the siege of Orleans in 1429
Battle of Agincourt (1415): English longbowmen won against a larger French army
Peasants' Revolt (1381): English uprising against taxes
Reconquista: Centuries-long effort by Christian kingdoms to retake Iberia
Byzantine Empire: Eastern Roman Empire, ruled from Constantinople
Justinian: Byzantine emperor who built Hagia Sophia and organized Roman law
Hagia Sophia: Great church in Constantinople completed in 537
Fall of Constantinople (1453): Ottoman Turks captured the city, ending the Byzantine Empire
Gutenberg: Introduced the printing press with movable type in Europe around 1450
Dante: Italian poet who wrote the Divine Comedy
Chaucer: English author of The Canterbury Tales
Thomas Aquinas: Scholar who tried to combine faith and reason
University: Medieval schools in Bologna, Paris and Oxford grew into universities
Tournament: Contest where knights showed skill
Heraldry: System of coats of arms to identify families and knights
Jester: Entertainer at court, often wearing bright clothes
Troubadour: Poet-musician in southern France
Dark Ages: Old name for the early Middle Ages; many historians now avoid it
Holy Roman Empire: Union of German and central European lands under an emperor
Otto I: King crowned emperor in 962, starting the Holy Roman Empire
Wat Tyler: Leader of the Peasants' Revolt

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