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Medieval Europe

Castles, knights, the Church, feudalism, the Crusades, the Black Death and more.

79 cardsGrades 3–5, Grades 6–8, Grades 9–12#middle ages#feudalism#knights#crusades

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79 cards
  • Middle AgesTerm
    Period in Europe from about 500 to 1500 CE; also called the medieval era
  • MedievalTerm
    Of the Middle Ages
  • FranksTerm
    Germanic people who built a powerful kingdom in what is now France
  • CharlemagneTerm
    King of the Franks crowned emperor in 800
  • ClovisTerm
    First Frankish king to unite the Franks
  • VikingsTerm
    Seafaring Norsemen who raided and traded from the late 700s
  • LongshipTerm
    Narrow, fast Viking vessel
  • Leif EriksonTerm
    Norse explorer who reached North America around 1000
  • William the ConquerorTerm
    Duke of Normandy who won England at the Battle of Hastings in 1066
  • Battle of Hastings (1066)Term
    Norman victory that began Norman rule of England
  • Domesday BookTerm
    Survey of English land ordered by William in 1086
  • FeudalismTerm
    System where lords gave land in exchange for loyalty and service
  • LordTerm
    Landowner who held power over a territory
  • VassalTerm
    Person who held land from a lord and promised service
  • KnightTerm
    Mounted soldier who served a lord
  • ChivalryTerm
    Knightly code of bravery, courtesy and honor
  • SquireTerm
    Young man training to become a knight
  • PageTerm
    Boy who started training for knighthood
  • ManorTerm
    Lord's estate with a village and farmland
  • SerfTerm
    Peasant bound to the land and to a lord
  • PeasantTerm
    Farm worker who made up most of the population
  • Three-field systemTerm
    Rotating crops across three fields to keep soil healthy
  • CastleTerm
    Fortified home of a lord
  • MoatTerm
    Ditch, often water-filled, around a castle
  • DrawbridgeTerm
    Bridge over a moat that could be raised
  • KeepTerm
    Strong central tower of a castle
  • PortcullisTerm
    Heavy gate lowered to block a castle entrance
  • SiegeTerm
    Surrounding a castle or town to force surrender
  • CatapultTerm
    Machine that hurled stones at walls
  • LongbowTerm
    Powerful bow used by English archers
  • ArmorTerm
    Protective metal covering
  • Roman Catholic ChurchTerm
    Dominant church in western Europe during the Middle Ages
  • PopeTerm
    Head of the Catholic Church
  • MonasteryTerm
    Home of monks who prayed, worked and copied books
  • MonkTerm
    Man who lives a religious life in a monastery
  • NunTerm
    Woman who lives a religious life in a convent
  • Illuminated manuscriptTerm
    Hand-copied book decorated with gold and colors
  • CathedralTerm
    Large and important church
  • Gothic architectureTerm
    Style with pointed arches, ribbed vaults and flying buttresses
  • Stained glassTerm
    Colored glass windows in churches
  • GuildTerm
    Association of craftsmen or merchants in a town
  • ApprenticeTerm
    Young person learning a trade
  • CharterTerm
    Document granting rights to a town
  • Magna Carta (1215)Term
    English charter limiting the king's power; signed by King John
  • King JohnTerm
    English king forced by barons to sign the Magna Carta
  • ParliamentTerm
    English lawmaking body that grew from royal councils
  • Eleanor of AquitaineTerm
    Powerful queen of France and later England
  • CrusadesTerm
    Religious wars from 1095 to 1291, mainly to control Jerusalem
  • Pope Urban IITerm
    Called the First Crusade in 1095
  • SaladinTerm
    Muslim leader who retook Jerusalem in 1187
  • Richard the LionheartTerm
    English king who led the Third Crusade
  • Effects of the CrusadesTerm
    Increased trade and exchange of ideas between Europe and the Middle East
  • Marco Polo's tripTerm
    Italian merchant who traveled to China in the late 1200s
  • Hanseatic LeagueTerm
    Alliance of northern European trading cities
  • Black DeathTerm
    Plague that killed perhaps a third of Europeans, 1347-1351
  • Bubonic plagueTerm
    Disease spread by fleas on rats, cause of the Black Death
  • Effects of the Black DeathTerm
    Labor shortages gave surviving workers more bargaining power
  • Hundred Years' WarTerm
    Long conflict between England and France, 1337-1453
  • Joan of ArcTerm
    French teenage heroine who helped lift the siege of Orleans in 1429
  • Battle of Agincourt (1415)Term
    English longbowmen won against a larger French army
  • Peasants' Revolt (1381)Term
    English uprising against taxes
  • ReconquistaTerm
    Centuries-long effort by Christian kingdoms to retake Iberia
  • Byzantine EmpireTerm
    Eastern Roman Empire, ruled from Constantinople
  • JustinianTerm
    Byzantine emperor who built Hagia Sophia and organized Roman law
  • Hagia SophiaTerm
    Great church in Constantinople completed in 537
  • Fall of Constantinople (1453)Term
    Ottoman Turks captured the city, ending the Byzantine Empire
  • GutenbergTerm
    Introduced the printing press with movable type in Europe around 1450
  • DanteTerm
    Italian poet who wrote the Divine Comedy
  • ChaucerTerm
    English author of The Canterbury Tales
  • Thomas AquinasTerm
    Scholar who tried to combine faith and reason
  • UniversityTerm
    Medieval schools in Bologna, Paris and Oxford grew into universities
  • TournamentTerm
    Contest where knights showed skill
  • HeraldryTerm
    System of coats of arms to identify families and knights
  • JesterTerm
    Entertainer at court, often wearing bright clothes
  • TroubadourTerm
    Poet-musician in southern France
  • Dark AgesTerm
    Old name for the early Middle Ages; many historians now avoid it
  • Holy Roman EmpireTerm
    Union of German and central European lands under an emperor
  • Otto ITerm
    King crowned emperor in 962, starting the Holy Roman Empire
  • Wat TylerTerm
    Leader of the Peasants' Revolt

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