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Middle Ages Vocab
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Feudalism | |
| "Caste" System | Middle Ages had a rigid class structure with the King on top, nobility, knights, peasants, and finally serfs. |
| Nobles | Landed gentry such as Dukes and Barons that were given manors in exchange for providing protection in the form of castles and knights back to the King. |
| Knights | part of the warrior class that exchanged protection services for payment, shelter, and food |
| Peasants | the lower class that worked the land for the nobles and gave a portion of their crops to noble in exchange for protection |
| Serfs | the lower labor class that works on the manor in exchange for protection, this group actually conveys with the manor which severely restricted their freedoms |
| Manor | the castle and the surrounding lands |
| Magna Carta | document signed in 1215 that limits the rights of the English monarch |
| Black Death/ Black Plague | the bubonic plague that originated in china and was carried by fleas on rats to Europe where it killed 1/4 - 1/2 of the population |
| Medieval | describes the period of the Middle Ages from 500 - 1200 ad in Europe |
| Charlemagne | the best known Frankish king ever the holy Roman Empire. known for his stance on education |
| Vikings | germanic people from Scandinavia who often raided Western Europe on longships during the ad 800s and 900s due to a growing population and poor farmland |
| Monastery | a building where religious monks lived and worked. Convent is the female version of nuns |
| Crusades | a series of christian military expeditions from 11th - 13th centuries to recapture the holy land from the muslims |
| Sacred | religious |
| Secular | not religious |
| Page | the 1st step of knighthood, about age 7 |
| Squire | the 2nd step of knighthood, about age 14 |
| Chivalry | a code of behavior for a knight including fairness and respect for a woman |