| Vocabulary Word | Definition |
| monarch | king or queen |
| feudal lord | managed the land and people of the manor |
| middle class | merchants who focused on business and trade |
| saga | an unwritten legend |
| Middle Ages | a period of cultural isolation |
| manor | large estate owned by a noble |
| Crusades | holy wars |
| feudal system | a system of managing land |
| serf | landless peasants |
| Renaissance | a renewed interest in learning |
| navigation | the science of piloting ships |
| caravel | small sturdy ship with triangular sails |
| Age of Exploration | sea captains sailed and mapped the oceans of the world |
| enslaved person | one forced to serve another person |
| mutiny | seize the captain and take control of the ship |
| Taino | Native Americans |
| colony | a settlement made in another country |
| plantation | large farms that produce only one crop to be sold |
| Columbian Exchange | the exchange of goods and ideas and people between Europe and the Americas |
| strait | a narrow channel of water |
| Northwest Passage | water route to Asia through North America |
| African empires | Ghana, Mali, Songhai |