Modern World History

Unit: The Early Middle Ages

Peltier rm. 229

Vocabulary
1. Apprentice- trainee to a guild master.
2. Battle of Tours- Christian warriors triumphed. The victory was a sign
that God was on their side.
3. Benedictine Rule- rules drawn up in 530 by Benedict, a monk,
regulating monastic life. The rule emphasizes obedience, poverty and
chastity and divides the day into periods of worship, work, and study.
4. Capital- money or wealth used to invest in business or enterprise.
5. Canon Law- Church laws based on religious teachings.
6. Charles Martel- he rallied Frankish warriors when a Muslim army
crossed into France.
7. Charlemagne- a king of the Franks.
8. Chivalry- code of conduct for knights during the Middle Ages.
9. Charter- a written document that set out rights and privileges of a
town.
10.
Clovis- won many battles. He was a warrior king of the Franks,
and engaged in ferocious battles.
11.
Defending a Castle- large complexes to hold people. They had
strong, thick stone walls, and a drawbridge over a moat.
12.
Eleanor of Aquitaine- 1122-1204, married heir to French
throne. Held significant amount of political power for this time.
13.
Excommunication- could not receive the sacraments or a
Christian burial, which condemned them to hell for eternity.
14.
Feudal contract- exchange of pledges between lords and
vassals.
15.
Feudalism- loosely organized system of government in which
local lords governed their own lands but owed military service and
other support to a greater lord.
16.
Fief- ranged from a few acres to hundreds of square miles. It
included peasants to work the land, as well as any towns or buildings
on it.
17.
Francis of Assisi-the first order of friars was founded by a
wealthy Italian known by Christians as St. Francis. He gave up his
comfortable life and preached the Gospels.
18.
Franks- a Germanic tribe that conquered present day France
and neighboring lands in the 400s.
19.
Friar- a medieval European monk who traveled from place to
place preaching to the poor.

20.
Guild- an association of merchants or artisans who cooperated
to uphold standards of their trade and to protect their economic
interests.
21.
Interdict- excommunication of an entire region.
22.
Journeyman- salaried workers.
23.
Knight- mounted warrior.
24.
Life on the Manor- the lord and his family had a life in the
manor. Nobles had a variety of foods and were waited on by servants.
25.
Manor- lords estate.
26.
Magyars- about 900, a new wave of nomadic people. They
settled in present day Hungary.
27.
Medieval- referring to the ages in Europe or the period of
history between ancient and modern times.
28.
Middle Class- a group of people, including merchants, traders,
and artisans whose rank was between nobles and peasants.
29.
Papal Supremacy- authority over all secular rulers, including
kings and emperors.
30.
Partnership- a group of merchants who joined together to
finance a large-scale project that would be costly to any individual
trader.
31.
Sacrament- the sacred rites of the church.
32.
Secular- worldly, of the state or government.
33.
Serf- a peasant bound to the lords land.
34.
Tenant farmer- someone who would pay rent to a lord to farm
part of the lords land.
35.
Tournament- a mock battle in which knights would compete
against one another to display their fighting skills.
36.
Town Charter- a paper that states people in the town can
choose their own leader.
37.
Trade Fair- took place each year near rivers and other trade
routes. Animals and farm goods were traded. Luxury items such as
swords, sugar, and silk were also traded.
38.
Troubadour- a wandering poet or singer of Medieval Europe.
39.
Vassal- lesser lords who pledged service and loyalty to the
greater lord.
40. Vikings- Scandinavian peoples whose sailors raided Europe from the
700s through the 1100s.