_The Earth And Its Peoples_ Terms: Chapter 10, Christian Europe Emerges, 300-1200 Ce

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Byzantine Empire

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Historians' name for the eastern portion of the ROman Empire from the fourth century onward, taken from "Byzantion," an early name for Constantinople, the Byzantine capital city. The empire fell to the Ottomans in 1453.

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Charlemagne (742-814)

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King of the Franks (r. 768-814); emperor (r. 800-814). 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.

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Crusades (1096-1291)

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Armed pilgrimages to the Holy Land by Christians determined to recover Jerusalem from Muslim rule. The Crusades brought an end to western Europe's centuries of intellectual and cultural isolation.

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Fief

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In medieval Europe, land granted in return for a sworn oath to provide specified military service.

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Horse collar

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Harnessing method that increased the efficiency of horses by shifting the point of traction from the animal's neck to the shoulders; its adoption favors the spread of horse-drawn plows and vehicles.

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Investiture controversy

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Dispute between the popes and the Holy Roman Emperors over who held ultimate authority over bishops in imperial lands.

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Kievan Russia

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State established at Kiev in Ukraine ca. 879 by Scandinavian adventurers authority over a mostly Slavic farming population.

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Manor

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In medieval Europe, a large, self-sufficient landholding consisting of the lord's residence (manor house), outbuildings, peasant village, and surrounding land.

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Medieval

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Literally "middle age," 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.

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Monasticism

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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 medieval Europe.

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Papacy

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The central administration of the Roman Catholic Church, of which the pope is the head.

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Pilgrimage

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Journey to a sacred shrine by Christians seeking to show their piety, fulfill vows, or gain absolution for sins. Other religions also have pilgrimage traditions, such as the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca and the pilgrimages made by early Chinese BUddhists to India in search of sacred Buddhist writings.

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Schism

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A formal split within a religious community.

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Serf

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In medieval Europe, an agricultural laborer legally bound to a lord's property and obligated to perform set services for the lord. In Russia some serfs worked as artisans and in factories; serfdom was not abolished there until 1861.

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Vassal

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In medieval Europe, a sown supporter of a king or lord committed to rendering specified military service to that king or lord.

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Holy Roman Empire

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Loose federation of mostly German states and principalities, headed by an emperor elected by the princes. It lasted from 962 to 1806.