| A | B |
|---|
| Chivalry | The ten commandments of knighthood; a code of honor used by knights |
| Knights | 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 serve in this role |
| 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 |
| Lords | a well-to-do noble who owned an estate |
| Divine Right of Kings | the idea that kings get their power from God and not the people |
| Manor | a large piece of land owned by a lord; also called an estate |
| Monarchy | a system of government led by a king (or queen) in which the leader is born in into power |
| Hierarchy | a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority |
| Crusades | Religious wars between the Christians and Muslims for control of the Holy Land, especially Jerusalem |
| Pope | the head of the Roman Catholic Church |
| Vassals | a noble who was given land by the lord in return for military assistance and other service to the lord |
| Fief | An area of land given to a lord or baron by a king to rule; also called an estate |
| Charlemagne | a leader who united France under his leadership; he was called the Holy Roman Emperor for a time |
| Vikings | fierce invaders from the North who threatened Western Europe and eventually took over the Norman region in modern France |
| Magna Carta | an English document that was signed by King John granting rights to the citizens |
| Bubonic Plague | a disease that was spread through Europe in the 1300s and killed one-third of the population |
| Black Death | another name for the Bubonic Plague |
| Guild | a medieval organization of crafts workers or trades people |
| Nobility | a class of rich people; lords or nobles |
| Peasants | poor people who worked on manors; also called serfs |
| Squire | A knight in training, this person would take care of the knight's armor and weapons. He would also accompany the knight into battle |
| Reconquista | The wars where the Christian nations took back control of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) from the Muslim Moors |
| Page | A young boy that acts as a servant for a knight while training to become a knight someday |
| Feudal System | the social hierarchy of the Middle Ages |
| William the Conqueror | the Norman leader who invaded and conquered England; this brought the feudal system to England |
