The Middle Ages - Key Words Flashcards
Feudalism
The system of land ownership where rulers would divide land among their followers in return for taxes and loyalty.
Vassals
Citizens of the kingdom who were under the protection of the ruler.
Feif
A kingdom or region ruled by a Lord or King.
Oath of fealty
An oath sworn by vassals to the ruler of an area to remain loyal to him (the ruler).
Serfs
They were property of the Lord and had very few rights.
Freeman
Spent 1 year and 1 day free from his ruler to gain freedom to live without being owned. They were still required to pay taxes, rent and tithes.
Peasants
The people who worked on a Lord’s land.
Manors
A village during the medival era.
Church
Religion was an important part of Medieval life - you had to be a Christian in Europe around this time.
Bailiff
The official on the manor who oversaw collecting taxes and maintaining order while the Lord was away.
Forge
The place where a blacksmith worked making weapons.
Field system
A system of farming where peasants were each giver strips of land to farm in large fields.
Crop rotation
A system where the crops grown in a field would change each year.
Fallow
The one field which is left empty in a crop rotation to allow the land to regain its nutrients.
The commons
A large field on the manor where a peasants’ animals grazed.
Tithe
The payment of one tenth on a peasants annual earnings to the Catholic Church.
Ale
An alcoholic beverage made using wheat and bailey. This was drank as a replacement for water as the water was brown in colour and unhealthy to drink.
Pottage
An oat soup.
Motte and bailey
A temporary castle that was built until a stone castle could be built permanantly.
Castle
A stone castle
Keep
Where the Lord or King lived.
Motte
A hill on which the keep was built.
Drawbridge
Separated the motte from the bailey.
Hall
Where the Lord or king dined with his nobles.
Bailey
Where the soldiers lived. Workshops, stables and the kitchen could also be found here.
Lord’s apartments
Where the Lord’s family slept.
Chapel
Where the Lord and his soldiers prayed before and after a battle.
Dungeons
Where the prisoners were kept.
Battlements
Ran along the top of a keep and walls; soldiers would parol along here.
Towers/turrets
Built on the walls at regular intervals, especially at corners, to provide lookouts for attackers.
Gate house
Allowed entry to guests and/or people who served a Lord.
Portcullis
The metal gate found in a gatehouse - this was usually spiked.
Siege
When an attacking army surrounded the castle and waited for surrender
Catapults
These flung large rocks against castles and were commonly used during sieges.
Cannons
Made it possible to break walls with large stones. They were invented in China in the 1400s.
Siege towers
Large wooden structures that made it possible for soldiers to climb high enough to access the battlements.
Lord
A powerful man who commanded soldiers and knights and owned a lot of land.
Lady
The Lady of a castle usually married at a young age and was arranged by 2 families to seal alliances.
Dowry
A sum of money, land or cattle paid to the man for marrying the lady.
Heirs
Children of the Lord and Lady; a Lady’s duty was to bear children for her husband.
Solar
It was a very warm, sunny room where the Lady would usually weave or sew, play music or teach the children.
Tournaments
A chance for knights to show off in front of their Lords.
Minstrels
Musicians
Jesters
Performers
Foot soldiers
Made up the largest part of any medieval army. They fought with swords, daggers or spears and were often peasants.
Archers
Fought with a bow and arrow; they often wore little protective clothing.
Page
At the age of 7, a boy would be sent to live with a Lord to learn how to ride a horse and use a sword. The Lady would teach him manners.
Squire
At the age of 4, the boy would begin to learn to fight on horseback. They would accompany the Lord into battle and help the Lord and his knights prepare for battle.
Knight
At the age of 21, a squire could become a knight. They were warriors of noble birth who fought on horseback and swore an oath of chivalry.
Oath of chivalry
An oath sworn by a knight to be loyal to a Lord and to protect the weak.
Charter
A contract whereby a town is granted freedom to run and manage its own affairs but must pay taxes to the King.
Market square
The centre of a medieval town where trade took place.
High street
The main street that ran from the main gates of a medieval town to the main square.
Toll
A tax for entry into a town.
Curfew
A rule which required people to put out their fires at night.
Craftsman
Provided for the town’s needs: butchers, bakers, blacksmiths, carpenters, etc.
Apprentice
At the age of 12, a boy went to live with a master craftsman to learn the trade. An apprentice was not paid.
Journeyman
At the age of 19, an apprentice would go on to become a journeyman. He would now be paid for his work and could travel for work and experience.
Master craftsman.
In order to become a master craftsman, a journeyman had to create a masterpiece. A master craftsman could open his own shop, train apprentices and sell his work.
Masterpiece
A piece of work presented to a guild to judge if a journeyman was skilled enough to become a master craftsman.
Christendom
The name of “the Kingdom of Christ”, which referred to Europe.
Diocese
Europe was divided into dioceses, which were run by bishops and archbishops.
Parishes
Smaller sections of a diocese which were run by priests.
Cathedrals
Large churches run by bishops.
Gothic
Pointed doorways, arches, and large windows with high ceilings and narrow pillars. The roof is supported by buttresses on the outside.
Romanesque
Round doorways, arches and small windows with large pillars and low ceilings. The weight of the roof was supported by the walls and pillars.
Convents
Where women who wanted to be closer to God went; their life was dedicated to religion and education.
Monasteries
Where men who wanted to be closer to God went; their lives were dedicated to religion and education.
Dormitory
Where monks slept.
Almonry
Gave aid to the poor.
Refectory
Where monks ate.
Cloisters
Covered walkways where monks prayed.
Infirmary
Looked after the sick.
Chapter house
Where monks gathered for reading and meetings.
Rule of St. Benedict
The strict set of rules which monks lived by.
Poverty
He could not own anything.
Chastity
He could not get married.
Obedience
He must do what the abbot tells him to do.
Friars
Monks who travelled around the country tending to the poor and sick.
Humours
What Hippocrates believed the body was made up of: blood, black bile, yellow bile and phlegm. If someone was sick, it was because there was an imbalance of one of the 4 components of the body.
Bleeding
Cutting someone so that they bled
Cupping
Placing heated metal cups on the skin to draw fluid to the surface.
Leeching
Using leeches to draw blood or other fluids from the body.
Amputation
The removal of a limb.
Infant mortality
When a child died during childbirth.
Herbs
Used to treat sick people.
Infections
Many diseases killed a lot of people during the Middle Ages, such as influenza, typhoid, leprosy and smallpox.
The Black Death
A disease that killed nearly a third of Europes population, lasting from 1347 to 1350. It was carried across the Black Sea by the fleas on rats, and caused oozing swelling of the body, darkly discoloured skin and the lungs filling ith phlegm.
Bubonic plague
Extremely contagious disease which often killed the victim. It was very rare that someone survived the bubonic plague.
Normans
Descendants of the Vikings who settled in Normandy (France) and conquered England and Ireland.
The Pale
The area around Dublin that was directly under the control of the English King.
Anglo-Irish
Descendants of the Norman conquerers who adopted many Irish customs and intermarried with some of the leading Gaelic families.
