Middle Ages

Magna Carta

"the Great Charter"; a written legal agreement signed in 1215 that limited the English monarch's power

Norman Invasion

(1066) Norman conquest of England, William becomes king

Battle of Tours

(732 CE) European victory over Muslims. It halted Muslim movement into Western Europe.

steppe

A dry, grassy, treeless plain found in Asia and eastern Europe.

Craft guilds

set standards for quality and fixed prices of finished goods

Charlemagne

800 AD crowned by the Pope as the head of the Holy Roman Empire, which extended from northern Spain to western Germany and northern Italy. His palace was at Aachen in central Europe

Holy Roman Empire

A medieval and early modern central European Germanic empire, which often consisted of hundreds of separate Germanic and Northern Italian states. In reality it was so decentralized that it played a role in perpetuating the fragmentation of central Europe.

Feudalism

A political system in which nobles are granted the use of lands that legally belong to their king, in exchange for their loyalty, military service, and protection of the people who live on the land

Crusades

A series of holy wars from 1096-1270 AD undertaken by European Christians to free the Holy Land from Muslim rule.

Charles Martel

Carolingian monarch of Franks; responsible for defeating Muslims in battle of Tours in 732; ended Muslim threat to western Europe.

magnetic compass

Chinese invention that aided navigation by showing which direction was north

Joan of Arc

French heroine and military leader inspired by religious visions to organize French resistance to the English and to have Charles VII crowned king

moveable type

Individual characters made of wood or metal that can be arranged to create a job for printing and then used over again.

Pope Urban II

Leader of the Roman Catholic Church who asked European Christians to take up arms against Muslims, starting the Crusades

Some eastern Slavic people were converted to

Orthodox Christianity

Hundred Years war

Series of campaigns over control of the throne of France, involving English and French royal families and French noble families.

gunpowder

The formula, brought to China in the 400s or 500s, was first used to make fumigators to keep away insect pests and evil spirits. In later centuries it was used to make explosives and grenades and to propel cannonballs, shot, and bullets.

Pax Mongolica

The period of approximately 150 years of relative peace and stability created by the Mongol Empire.

Mediterranean trade centers

Venice and other Italian cities

Model Parliament

a council of lords, clergy, and common people that advised the English king on government matters

carruca

a heavy, wheeled plow with an iron plowshare

Porcelain

a thin, beautiful pottery invented in China

patrician

a wealthy, powerful landowner

Mongol Empire

an empire founded in the 12th century by Genghis Khan, which reached its greatest territorial extent in the 13th century, encompassing the larger part of Asia and extending westward to the Dnieper River in eastern Europe.

Temujin

birth name of the Mongol leader better known as Chinggis Khan (1162-1227)

Vikings

conquered the eastern Slavs who live in present day Ukraine and Russia

King Philip IV

created a French Parliament

Bubonic plague

disease brought to Europe from the Mongols during the Middle Ages. It killed 1/3 of the population and helps end Feudalism. Rats, fleas.

William the conqueror

duke of Normandy who led the Norman invasion of England and became the first Norman to be King of England

Kiev Rus

first Russian state, ended in 1169

serfs

in medieval Europe, a peasant legally bound to the land who had to provide labor services, pay rents, and be subject to the lord's control

three-field crop rotation

increased food production by keeping two-thirds of ag land in production at all times

Towns in Flanders

major trade centers in northern Europe

bourgeoisie

the middle class, including merchants, industrialists, and professional people