Late Middles Ages and the Renaissance- Unit 1/ Pt.1 Flashcards
Dating
-B.C (before Christ) and A.D (“Anno Domini”)
-B.C.E (before common era) and C.E (common era)
-when referencing to the century you count to the next milestone
(1500s = 16th Century)
Periodization
Broader Periodization
-A period of years that “fit” together
- Themes and Trends
Narrower Periodization
- Early, High & Late Middle Ages
Sources
Primary- A first-hand or contemporary account of an event or topic
Secondary- a second-hand account that was created later by someone that did not experience firsthand or participate in the events in which the author is writing about
Presentism
The overt/excessive influence of contemporary views on history, rather than trying to get as close as possible to an understanding of the past as it was
Revisionism
Each age tends to reinterpret the past and give a slightly different explanation of the past
Feudalism
the dominant social system in medieval Europe, in which the nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles, while the peasants (villeins or serfs) were obliged to live on their lord’s land and give him homage, labor, and a share of the produce, notionally in exchange for military protection
The reasons as to why Feudalism was created
-Administrative necessity
-Military organization/protection during “dark ages”
-holdover from Roman “Villa” agricultural system
Monarch
A sovereign head of state, especially a king, queen, or emperor
-Divine right to rule
Usually the eldest son of the last monarch (primogeniture)
Upper Nobility
-Impressive sounding titles: Duke, Margrave, Earl
-rule/manage a large “chunk” of land for a king
-expected to answer a monarch militarily & in person and with the support of his own vassals (or often monetary support)
-promogeniture
Lower nobility
-Less impressive titles: esquire, yeoman, gentleman
-Expected to answer their overlord’s call to arms
-Ruled/managed the smallest “chunks” of this system for their lords (upper nobility)
Primogeniture
the right of succession belonging to the firstborn child, especially the feudal rule by which the whole real estate of an intestate passed to the eldest son.
Chivalric Code/The role of women in Late Middle Ages society
-Prevailing patriarchal views (religious, cultural) = largely sexist society
-Expanded (beyond domestic) role of women? Education & Writing
Middle Class
-Merchants
-Skilled Tradespeople
-Increasingly organized themselves into “guilds”.
•Hierarchical, promoted high standards, exclusive $
Peasants
“Freeman”- Peasant Farmers & Urban dwellers
-technically not bound (legally tied) to land
“Villeins”- Peasant farmers with more of a sense of land title, more of a chance to accumulate wealth
-Still subservient to their lord
Manorial System
-a system of agricultural estates during the Middle Ages that were owned by a lord and run by serfs or peasants
-excess tax to support nobility and the church
-heart/engine of the medieval economy
