| A | B |
|---|
| armor | a covering of iron worn by knights for protection |
| bishop | a church official who oversaw the work of priests |
| cardinal | a high official of the Catholic Church who was appointed by the pope |
| castle | where the lord and his knights lived |
| Catholic Church | people of the Middle Ages believed it represented God's rules and teachings |
| chivalry | qualities of a good knight, including bravery, politeness, respect for women |
| clergyman | an offical of the Church, such as a priest, bishop, or cardinal |
| Crusades | expeditions sent by the pope to capture the Holy Land from the Muslim Turks |
| Dark Ages | a period of several hundred years during the early Middle Ages when fear and confusion spread among the people of Western Europe |
| estate | a large piece of land owned by a lord |
| excommunication | the act of removing someone from membership in the church because of wrongful acts |
| feudalism or feudal system | arrangement between lord, vassal, and serf for ownership of land, military service and prtection during the Middle Ages |
| fief | land given by a lord to a vassal in return for military and other services |
| heresy | a serious crime during the Middle Ages in which a person held beliefs contrary to the Church |
| friar | holy man who traveled from place to place helping the poor and teaching about God |
| Inquisition | a court set up by the roman Catholic Cchurch to investigate heresy and punish heretics |
| jesters | clowns who appeared before a lord and tried to make him laugh with antics, tricks, and jokes |
| joust | a contest between knights on horseback; armed with lances, the knights charged at each other in an attempt to knock their opponent off his horse |
| king | a person who rules a country; during the early Middle Ages, kings became powerful rulers or new nation-states |
| knight | a man of honor who held a high military rank; only men who were trained in warfare and who showed good personal qualities were chosen by lords to be this |
| lord | a well-to-do noble who owned an estate; a lord usually lived in a castle, gave land to vassals in return for military service, and used serfs to farm his land |
| manor | a large piece of land owned by a lord during the Middle Ages; also called an estate |
| Medieval Period | it began with fall of the Roman Empire in the West in 476 and ended with the beginning of the Modern Period in the 1400's; the main characteristics of the Medival Period were the growth of feudalism and the strong influence of the Roman Catholic Church |
| ministrels | singers and musicians who entertained the lords during the Middle Ages |
| moat | a deep, wide, water-filled ditch taht surrounded a castle and helped protect it from attack |
| monastery | a building where monks lived |
| monk | a man who gave up all of his property and dedicated his life to serving God; while in the monasteries he prayed, worked hard, copied manuscripts of the Greeks and Romans |
| nobility | a class of rich people; made up of nobles or lords |
| peasants | poor people who worked on manors; also called serfs |
| pope | the head of the Catholic Church |
| priest | a clergyman of the Christian chruch; in medieval times almost every manor had one of these |
| tournaments | a contest or joust between two knight or two groups of knights |
| troubadours | wandering mintrels who wrote poems that usually expressed love for a beautifuly lady of noble birth |
| vassal | a noble who was given land by the lord in return for military assistance and other service to the lord |
| serfs | poor people who worked for lords during the Middle Ages; they worked long hours, were poorly fed and clothed, and were not allowed to leave the manor |
