| A | B |
|---|
| Charlemagne | Charles the Great; crowned emperor by the Pope in 800 AD |
| primogeniture | practice of a man giving all of his estate to his eldest son |
| Charles Martel | defeated the Moors at the Battle of Tours in 732 AD to help keep Europe Christian |
| canon law | church law in the Catholic church |
| Middle Ages | the period in Europe from about 500 AD to 1500 AD |
| lay investiture | the idea that the Holy Roman emperor and his nobles could choose the officials of the church (such as bishops) |
| feudalism | economic practice whereby one pledged loyalty to a higher noble in return for land and protection |
| vassal | someone who owed loyalty and allegiance to a noble |
| interdict | when the Pope excommunicated an entire region or nation |
| serfs | peasants during the Middle Ages who were tied to the land |
| tithe | a tax paid to the church |
| sacraments | the Catholic church taught that without receiving these one could not obtain salvation |
| fief | an estate granted to a noble by his lord |
| chivalry | the code of behavior that knights were to follow |
| Estates General | a legislative body created in France that helped to increase the power of the king over the nobles |
| Parliament | legislative body created in England that gave the people a say in the goverment; it decreased the power of the king |
| Pope Urban II | He called for the first Crusade in 1095 AD |
| Hundred Years' War | series of wars between England and France in the 12th and 13th centuries |
| Joan of Arc | she rallied the French to victory in the Hundred Years' War |
| Longbow | The English used this weapon to defeat the French at the battles of Crecy and Agincourt |
| cannon | the French used this to eventually beat the English and win the Hundred Years' War |
| House of Commons | the lower house of Parliament made up of middle class men who were free landholders (yeomen) |
| House of Lords | the upper house of Parliament made up of nobles and high clergy |
| Black Death | bubonic plague that killed one-third of Europe from 1347 to 1351 |
| Battle of Hastings | where William the Conqueror defeated Harold to win the throne of England in 1066 AD |
| Domesday Book | a census taken by William the Conqueror to keep track of population, land, and animals for tax purposes |
| Gothic architecture | pointed arches, large stained glass windows, flying buttresses |
| Romanesque architecture | thick walls, round arches, small windows |
| The Divine Comedy | book written by Dante Alighieri about heaven, hell, and purgatory |
| Canterbury Tales | written by Geoffrey Chaucer about a pilgrimage by various people to a saint's shrine |
| troubadours | men who traveled around in the Middle Ages and sang songs about love, romance, and history |
| Thomas Acquinas | philosopher in the Middle Ages who believed one should develop a hypothesis and then test it |
| excommunicate | to be kicked out of the Catholic church |
| guild | a group of craftsmen who made the same thing |
| apprentice | the first step in learning to become a craftsman |
| vernacular | writing literature in one's own language |
| Magna Carta | King John was forced to sign this in 1215 to give more rights to nobles; it became the basis for our Constitution |
| Concordant of Worms | in 1122 this said that the Pope could name church officials, but the Holy Roman Emperor could veto the Pope's choice |
| Otto I | he was named the first Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope |
| Clovis | he converted the Franks to Christianity |
| more trade between Europe and the Middle East | this happened as a result of the Crusades |
| Crusades | Holy Wars to free the Holy Land from the Turks |
