Christian Europe Emerges Flashcards
Medieval
Literally Middle Ages, a term that historians of Europe use for the period ca. 500 to ca. 1500, signifying its intermediate point between Greco-roman antiquity and the renaissance.
Charlemagne
King of France(768-814);emperor (r800-814). Through a series of military conquests he established the Carolingian Empire, which encompassed all of Gaul and parts of Germany and Italy. Though illiterate himself, he sponsored a brief intellectual revival.
byzantine empire
historians’ name for the eastern portion of th Roman Empire from the fourth century onward, taken from”Byzantion,” an early name for Constantinople, the byzantine capital city.
Kievan Russia
state established at Kiev in Ukraine ca. 879 by sandinavian adventures asserting authority over a mostly Slavic Farming population.
schism
a formal split within a religious community
manor
in medieval Europe, a large, self-sufficient landholding consisting of the lord’s residence (manor house), outbuildings, peasant village, and surrounding land.
serf
In medieval Europe, an agricultural laborer legally bound to a lord’s property and obligated to perform set services for the lord.
fief
in medieval Europe, land granted in return for a sworn oath to provide specific military service.
vassal
in medieval Europe, a sworn supporter of a king or lord committed to rendering specified military service to that king or lord.
papacy
the central administration of the Roman Catholic Church, of which the pope is the head.
Holy Roman Empire
Loose federation of mostly German states and principalities, headed by an emperor elected by the princes. It lasted from 962 to 1806.
investiture controversy
Dispute between the popes and the Holy Roman Emperors over who held ultimate authority over bishops in imperial lands.
monasticism
Living in a religious community apart from secular society and adhering to a rule stipulating chastity, obedience, and poverty. IT was a prominent element of medieval Christianity and Buddhism. Monasteries were the primary centers of learning and literacy in early medieval Europe.
Horse Collar
Harnessing method that increased the efficiency of horses by shifting the point of traction from the animall’s
crusades
Armed pilgrimages to the Holy Land by Christians determined to recover Jerusalem from Muslim rule. The crusades brought an end to western erurope’s centuries of intellectual and cultural isolation.
