Question | Answer |
Inflation | rapid price increases |
pious (piety) | religious, devout |
clergy (cleric, clerical) | priests etc |
Papacy (papal) | the institution of the Pope |
Schism | division (usually in religious belief) |
Heresy (heretic, heretical) | a belief that goes against the Catholic Church's teaching |
Parliament | a representative body of government |
Lay (laypeople, laity) | people who aren't clergy |
secular | of this world, not religious |
excommunicate | kick out of the Church (which means going to hell) |
Scripture | holy texts (the Bible) |
penance (penitent/repent/repentance) | to ask forgiveness for sins |
theology/theological | the study of religion |
purgatory | in Catholic doctrine, a temporary "hell" where one pays for one's sins |
peasant | lower class person who lives in the countryside; a farmer |
noble/aristocrat | upper class person, usually with a title (the Duke etc) |
tithe | "tax" paid to the Chruch |
monastery | where monks live and work |
urban | city |
rural | countryside |
vernacular | spoken language (not Latin) |
mercantile | adjective form of "merchant" |
oligarchy | system in which a small number of powerful men or families are in control |
Pontificate (Pontif) | era in which a Pope is in power (ex: the Pontificate of John Paul II lasted from 1978 to 2005) |
pagan | related to pre-Christian, nature-based religion |