| A | B |
|---|
| wergild (WUHR gihld) | the amount paid by a wrongdoer to the family of the person he/she injured or killed |
| ordeal | a trial used to determine guilt such as holding a hot iron. If the person remained unharmed they were innocent |
| feudalism | a political system where a lord offered protection in return for service |
| vassal | a man who served a lord in a military capacity |
| knight | heavily armed cavalry |
| fief (FEEF) | a grant of land made to a vassal |
| feudal contract | a set of unwritten rules that determined the relationship between a lord (noble) and his vassal |
| tournament | contests where knights could show their fighting skills |
| chivalry | a code of ethics for kinghts. It said they should defend the church and defenseless people, treat captives as honored guests and fight for glory not material goods |
| common law | law that was the same in the whole kingdom; created by Henry II of England |
| Magna Carta | signed by King John of England, a feudal document that limited the Kings power, Means Great Charter in Latin, has 63 articles, couldn't raise taxes w/o permission |
| estate | classes (1 clergy, 2 nobles, 3 townpeople and peasants) |
| manor | an agricultural estate run by a lord and worked by peasants |
| serf | peasants legally bound to the land was 60% of the people in W. Europe |
| money economy | an ecconomic system based on money, rather than barter |
| commercial capitalism | an economic system in which people invested in trade and goods in order to make profits |
| guild | business associations of craftspeople |
| masterpiece | a finished piece in a craft -- apprentice age 10, jouneyman ages 15-17, then master |
| theology | study of religion and God (most highly regarded area of study at medieval universities took 10 yrs or more) |
| scholasticism | a system of thought that tried to reconcile faith and reason, tried to harmonize Christian teachings w/ Greek philosophies |
| vernacular | language of every day speech |
| Black Death | the most devastating natural disaster in European History called Bubonic Plague, spread along trade routes by rats infected by fleas |
| anti-Semitism | hostility toward Jews -- they were accused of causing the plague by poisoning town wells |
| taille | an annual direct tax in France |
| new monarchies | reestablishment of centralized power of kings and queens |
