| A | B |
|---|
| Middle Ages | the time between A.D. 500 and 1500 |
| medieval | from the middle ages |
| feudalism | the medieval power system constructed like a pyramid. |
| vassal | in medieval Europe, a man who promised to be loyal to a landowner, who in return gave him a share of the land, called a fief. |
| manor | a large estate, often including a village and farmlands, ruled by a lord in medieval Europe. |
| self-sufficient | able to supply one's own needs. |
| serfs | a person who lived on and farmed a lord's land in feudal times; he or she did not own the land and depended on the lord for protection. |
| Crusades | several military expeditions between A.D. 1095 and 1272 suported by the Catholic Church to win the Holy Land back from the Seljuk Turks. |
| fief | a share of land given to another man who promised to be loyal to the landowner, obey laws, and fight for him. |
| clergy | persons ordained to perform certain religious duties. |
| excommunicate | to expel or prevent someone from taking part in Church life. |
| guild | an association of all the people in a town or village who practiced a certain trade. |
| apprentice | an unpaid worker who is being trained in a craft. |
| chivalry | the noble qualities that knights were to have: bravery, loyalty, and doing heroic deeds to win the love of a worthy woman. |
| troubadour | a traveling performer who wandered from place to place in France, Italy, and Spain, singing songs and reciting poems about the chivalrous deeds of knights. |
| nation | a community that shares a government and sometimes a common language and culture. |
| Magna Carta | the "Great Charter"; an agreement between King John of England and his nobles and clergy in which the king's power over his nobles was limited. |
| Parliament | a council that advised the Enlish king or queen in government matters. |
| Joan of Arc | a peasant girl who led the French army to victory over the English in the Hundred Year's War. |
| John I | King of England who was forced to sign the Magna Carta in 1215 under threat of civil war. |
