| A | B |
|---|
| serf | in medieval Europe, peasant bound to the lord's land |
| Time of Troubles | the disorderly years from 1604 to 1613 |
| usury | practice of lending money at interest |
| tithe | payment to a church equal to one-tenth of a person's income |
| vernacular | everyday language of ordinary people |
| crusade | holy war |
| common law | system of law that is the same for all people, based on court decisons that have become accepted legal principles |
| monarchy | government in which a king or queen exercises central power |
| excommunication | exclusion from the Roman Catholic Church as a penalty for refusing to obey Church laws |
| autocrat | ruler who has complete authority |
| Isabella | ruler who used the Inquisition to help unify Spain |
| Askia Muhammed | set up a Muslim dynasty for the Songhai |
| shogun | in Japanese feudal society, supreme military commander who had more power than the emperor |
| hijra | Muhammed's flight from Mecca to Medina in 622 |
| desertification | process by which fertile or semidesert land becomes desert |
| minaret | slender tower of a mosque, from which Muslims are called to prayer |
| Sikhism | religion that combined Muslim and Hindu beliefs created by Nanak |
| mosque | Muslim house of worship |
| savanna | grassy plain with irregular patterns of rainfall |
| lineage | group claiming a common ancestor |
| schism | permanent division in a church |
| Charlemagne | spent his reign fighting battles, spreading Christianity, and promoting unity |
| Zheng He | Chinese admiral who explored Southeast Asia and East Africa |
| Li Bo | Tang poet whose works celebrated harmony with nature |
| Genghis Khan | Mongol chieftan who became the world's most successful conqueror |
| William the Conqueror | Norman king responsible for the Doomsday Book |
