Vocab words Flashcards
The Franks
A member of a Germanic people that conquered Gaul in the 6th century and controlled much of western Europe for several centuries afterward.
Pope
The bishop of Rome as head of the Roman Catholic Church.
Missionary
A person sent on a religious mission, especially one sent to promote Christianity in a foreign country.
Nun
A member of a religious community of women, especially a cloistered one, living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
Monastery
A building or buildings occupied by a community of monks living under religious vows.
Convent
A Christian community under monastic vows, especially one of nuns.
Clovis
A Paleo-Indian culture of Central and North America, dated to about 11,500–11,000 years ago and earlier. The culture is distinguished by heavy, leaf-shaped stone spearheads.
Charlemagne
The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire; his name means “Charles the Great.”
Khanate
Khanate or Khaganate is a political entity ruled by a Khan or Khagan.
The Golden Horde
The Golden Horde was one of the four empires that emerged as a result of the division of the Great Mongol Empire.
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.
Vassal
A holder of land by feudal tenure on conditions of homage and allegiance.
Knight
(in the Middle Ages) A man who served his sovereign or lord as a mounted soldier in armor.
Fief
An estate of land, especially one held on condition of feudal service.
Chivalry
The medieval knightly system with its religious, moral, and social code.
Monk
A member of a religious community of men typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
Carolingian Dynasty
The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD.
Middle Ages
The period of European history from the fall of the Roman Empire in the West (5th century) to the fall of Constantinople (1453), or, more narrowly, from circa 1100 to 1453.
Vikings
Any of the Scandinavian seafaring pirates and traders who raided and settled in many parts of northwestern Europe in the 8th–11th centuries.
Manor
A large country house with lands; the principal house of a landed estate.
Serf
An agricultural laborer bound under the feudal system to work on his lord’s estate.
