Middle Ages

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Middle Ages

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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 c. 1100 to 1453.

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Franks

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Germanic-speaking people who invaded the western Roman Empire in the 5th century.

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Monastery

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a building or buildings occupied by a community of monks living under religious vows.

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Secular

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not subject to or bound by religious rule; not belonging to or living in a monastic or other order.

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Charlemagne

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king of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor from 800. He united much of western and central Europe during the early Middle Ages.

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Feudalism

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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.

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Vassal

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a holder of land by feudal tenure on conditions of homage and allegiance.

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Lord

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someone or something having power, authority, or influence; a master or ruler.

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Serf

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an agricultural laborer bound under the feudal system to work on his lord's estate.

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Knights

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men who served his sovereign or lord as a mounted soldier in armor.

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Manor

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a unit of land, originally a feudal lordship, consisting of a lord's demesne and lands rented to tenants.

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Fief

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an estate of land, especially one held on condition of feudal service.

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Tithe

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one tenth of annual produce or earnings, formerly taken as a tax for the support of the church and clergy.

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Chivalry

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the medieval knightly system with its religious, moral, and social code.

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Troubadours

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a French medieval lyric poet composing and singing in Provençal in the 11th to 13th centuries, especially on the theme of courtly love.

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Clergy

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the body of all people ordained for religious duties, especially in the Christian Church.

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Conan Law

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ecclesiastical law, especially (in the Roman Catholic Church) that laid down by papal pronouncements.

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Holy Roman Empire

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a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806.

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Crusades

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a medieval military expedition, one of a series made by Europeans to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries.

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Bubonic Plague

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one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia and peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1351.