| A | B |
|---|
| medieval | period between 500 and 1500 AD |
| Middle Ages | another name for the medieval civilization |
| Byzantine Empire | another name for the Eastern Roman Empire |
| Greek fire | secret weapon of the Byzantines that burned on water |
| Justinian Code | collection of Roman law assembled by Justinian |
| Justinian | greatest Byzantine emperor |
| Charlemagne | "Charles the Great"; most important medieval king |
| Holy Roman Empire | another name for Charlemagne's empire |
| Song of Roland | epic that tells of Charlemagne's greatness |
| Viking | "sea rover"; sailed from Scandinavia |
| longship | Viking weapon |
| Leif Ericson | possibly the first European to discover North America |
| explorer | someone who searches for new things and places |
| knight | a mounted warrior of the Middle Ages |
| fief | piece of land given to a knight from a lord for military service |
| vassal | someone under the protection of a more powerful person |
| manor | large estate or farm on a fief |
| feudalism | system of loyalties and protections |
| serf | peasant who owed labor to the lord |
| page | boy of noble birth training to become a knight at age 7 |
| squire | boy of age 14 training to become a knight |
| chivalry | code of conduct for knights |
| joust | contest between two knights trying to unhorse one another |
| guild | organization of people with similar interests in a trade |
| apprentice | person learning a trade from a skilled worker |
| master | person who heads a guild and trains apprentices |
| journeyman | an apprentice who has completed a period of training |
| monasteries | community of monks |
| convents | community of nuns |
| abbot | head of a monastery |
| crusade | holy war; taken from the word "cross" |
| Pope Urban II | led the Crusade with the cry "God Wills It!" |
| siege | military blockade |
| two positive results of the Crusade | decline of feudal system and increase in trade |
| troubadours | wandering poets |
| cathedrals | large churches; symbol of the Middle Ages |
| Battle of Hastings | William's Norman armies defeat the English armies |
| William the Conqueror | also known as King William I |
| monarchy | government headed by one ruler, usually a king or queen |
| common law | in England, king's decisions in court become law |
| King John | weak English king forced to sign the Magna Carta |
| Magna Carta | Latin for "Great Charter"; king of England was bound by law |
| Parliament | a common council; divided into two houses |
| House of Lords | house of Parliament made up of nobles and church leaders |
| House of Commons | house of Parliament made up of knights and townspeople |
| Phillip II | French king under whom France emerged as a nation |
| Louis IX | most-loved French king of the Middle Ages |
| Hundred Years' War | battle between France and England |
| Black Death | bubonic plague; killed up to 1/2 of the European population |
| Joan of Arc | peasant girl who inspired the French to win the Hundred Years' War |
