| Term | Definition |
| vassal | - in the Middle Ages, one who
served the lord in exchange for
land |
| trade | the exchange of goods |
| tapestry | heavy cloth woven with designs
usually telling a story, hung on
walls during the Middle Ages
for warmth |
| serf | a poor person who lives on and farms the
manor, they are not free, but belong to the
land, one step above a slave. If the land is
transferred they go with it |
| Seljuk | any of several
Turkish
dynasties that
ruled over
parts of SW
Asia from the
11th to the
13th centuries
C.E. |
| qanat | qanat |
| serf | a poor person who lives on and
farms the land, they are not free,
but belong to the land, one step
above a slave. If the land is
transferred they go with it. |
| pilgrimage
hajj | travel to a shrine or
holy place to worship |
| peasants | poor, but free people
who live on the
manor, and farm the
land. They give crops
and services to the
Lord in exchange for
protection |
| Pax
Romana | the peace that existed between nationalities
within the Roman Empire |
| nobles | members of the
wealthiest class in
feudal society |
| Nika
Riots | In C.E. 532 the most violent riots in the
history of Constantinople, with nearly half the
city being burned or destroyed and tens of
thousands of people killed |
| mosaic | a decoration on a surface made by setting
small pieces of glass, tile, or stone of different
colors into another material so as to make
pictures or patterns |
| Middle Ages | the name given to the time period between 800
and 1400 C.E. |
| manor | a large self-sufficient estate or farm
belonging to a noble family. Peasants and
serfs worked the land and engaged in crafts
to supply the lord and his family with all
they needed in exchange for protection |
| Lord | the second in order in the
feudal world, a noble who
owned less land than the king,
and was loyal to the king |
| Knight | a trained horseman who fought
for the king or his lord, a noble
by birth |
| King | the ruler of the land, the top of
the feudal pyramid |
| Justinian’s
Code | the collections of laws
and legal
interpretations
developed under the
sponsorship of the
Byzantine emperor
Justinian I from C.E.
529 to 565 |
| Jerusalem | the capital of the ancient
kingdom of Israel and
contains sites sacred to
the Jewish, Christian,
and Islamic religions |
| infidels | people who do
not believe in a
particular religion |
| illuminations | designs, pictures, and
decoration used in manuscripts
to make them more appealing |
| Icon | a religious image
usually
painted on a small
wooden panel |
| Holy
Lands | the lands comprising
ancient Palestine
and including the
sites and territories
of the Jewish,
Christian, and
Islamic religions |
| hippodrome | an Grecian stadium
for horse racing and
chariot racing.
Adopted by other
ancient cultures |
| Hagia
Sophia | a former Greek Orthodox Baslica (church)
later an imperial mosque, and now a museum |
| guild | a group organized by
merchants, artisans and craft
worker to protect the members
and set quality and price
standards for all |
| fief | land held as a result of an
agreement (pledge) between the
vassal and the overlord, who
pledges to honor and protect
his vassal |
| feudalism | a system where vassals (lesser
nobles) held land from lords
(nobles and the king) in
exchange for protection and
military service |
| Crusader | a Christian soldier who fought
in a holy War to free Jerusalem
from the Muslims |
| Crusade | any of the military expeditions made by
Christian countries in the 11th, 12th, and
13th centuries to recover the Holy Land
from the Muslims |
| Coat of Arms | the symbol used to identify the
members of a noble family,
often found on the shields of
knights and on the outside of
nobles’ homes |
| chivalry | the rules of behavior expected
of the knight: they include
fairness, courtesy, respect,
protection of the weak |
| castle | home to the king, lords and
their families; often used a
place of protection for the
people of the manor |
