Middle Ages

Tomas Aquinas

Doctor of the Church. Friar Roman Catholic Priest, influential philosopher, theologian, and jurist.

Missionaries

Propagated learning and religion beyond the European boundaries of the old Roman Empire.

*The Dark Ages (Ideas)

Term sometimes applied to the early Middle Ages, the first few centuries after the Fall of Rome.

Monasteries

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

*Jerusalem

A holy city for Jews, Christians, and Muslims; the capital of the ancient kingdom of Judah and of the modern state of Israel. The name means "city of peace.

Magna Carta

Charter of liberties to which the English barons forced King John to give his assent. A document constituting a fundamental guarantee of rights and privileges.

*Stained Glass

Colored glass used to form decorative or pictorial designs, notably for church windows, both by painting and especially by setting contrasting pieces in a lead framework like a mosaic.

*Byzantine Empire

Continuation of the Roman Empire in the East during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople.

Black Death

Epidemic outbreak of bubonic plague in Europe that killed between one-third and two-thirds of the population in less than five years.

Benedict

His Rule was the foundational document for thousands of religious communities in the Middle Ages. To this day, The Rule of St. Benedict is the most common and influential Rule used by monasteries and monks, more than 1,400 years after its writing.

Battle of Hastings

Norman-French Army of Duke William II of Normandy and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conquest of England.

Eleanor of Aquitane

One of the most powerful and fascinating personalities of feudal Europe.

*Northwestern Africa

Place where moors were when they invaded Spain and Portugal.

*Glad Dracula (People)

Prince of Wallachia, was a figure in the Medieval era who impaled friend and foe alike. Horribly cruel man but an effective warlord and disciplinarian.

Monks and Friars

Religious; a member of a religious order who is bound by vows of poverty and chastity and obedience.

Hundred Years War

War between France and England, the kings of England invaded France, trying to claim the throne.

Crusades

Were a series of intermittent military campaigns in the years from 1096 to 1487, sanctioned by various Popes

Holy Roman Empire

A major political institution in Europe that lasted from the ninth to the nineteenth centuries.

*Kings (Ideas)

A man who holds by life tenure, and usually by hereditary right, the chief authority over a country and people.

*Robin Hood (People)

A person or group likened to a heroic outlaw, especially; one that robs the rich and gives to the poor.

*Knights Templar (Ideas)

A religious and military order for the protection of pilgrims to the Holy Land.

Reconquista

A series of campaigns by Christians states to recapture territory from the Muslims.

Gaul (France)

An ancient region which became a Roman province and was conquered by Julius Caesar.

Pope Urban I

Bishop of Rome or Pope.

St. Patrick

Bringing Christianity to Ireland. Saint Patrick may also have had a hand in Christianizing the Picts and the Anglo-Saxons. He is Ireland's most famous Patron Saint.

Rome

Capital of Italy, largest city in the country, and seat of the Roman Catholic Church.

Pope

Central figures of power and influence. During this time many people from all walks of life flocked to the Holy Land to see the pope.

Medieval

In European history, the Middle Ages or Medieval period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery.

Ireland

Island in the Atlantic Ocean separated from Great Britain by the Irish Sea.

St. Francis of Assisi

Italian Roman Catholic friar and preacher. Founded the Men's Order of Friars Minor, the women's Order of Saint Clare, the Third Order of Saint Francis, and the Custody of the Holy Land.

King Richard I

Knightly manner and prowess the Third Crusade made him a popular King in his own times as well as the hero of countless romantic legends.

Growth of towns and trade

Lead to the rise of towns during the Middle Ages, along with population growth.

*King Arthur (People)

Legendary British leader who led the defense of Britain against Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries AD.

Spain

Marked by the waves or conquerors who brought their distinct cultures to the peninsula.

Charlemagne

Medieval emperor who ruled much of Western Europe from 768 to 8. Became king of the Franks.

Saladin

Muslim military and political leader who led Islamic forces during the Crusades. Greatest success was the Battle of Hattin.

Architecture

The complex or carefully designed structure of something.

*The Great Schism

The division or conflict in the Roman Catholic Church from 1378 to 1417, when there were rival popes at Avignon and Rome

Feudalism

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.

*Treaty of Verdun

The first of the treaties that divided the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms among the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious, the son and successor of Charlemagne.

Britain

The island containing England, Wales, and Scotland.

Holy Land

The lands comprising ancient Palestine and the land of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religions.

Parliament

The legislature of Great Britain, historically the assembly of the three estates, now composed of Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal, forming together the House of Lords, and representatives of the counties, cities, b

Chivalry

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

William the Conqueror

The policies of William the Conqueror, king of England from 1066 until his death in 1087, may be largely responsible for eventually making Britain the most powerful nation in Europe. ... At the age of 8, became duke of Normandy.