MIDDLE AGES STUDY GUIDE
Ch. 8-9
Peasant The lowest class of people in a Feudalistic society. They were indebted to their Lords and often lived in poverty.
Usury Lending money at interest. To the clergy, the profits that merchants and bankers made were immoral.
Capital Money for investment. The creation of it spurred the growth of banking houses in medieval Europe.
Tithe A tax equal to a tenth of a persons income. The church required all Christians to pay a tithe to support itself.
Fief An estate. They ranged from a few acres to hundreds of square miles and included peasants to work the land.
Chivalry A code of conduct adopted by knights. Chivalry required knights to be brave, loyal, and true to their word.
Charter A written document that set out the rights and privileges of the town. They were given out by a local lord or a king.
Troubador Wandering poets. They adopted the code of chivalry towards women.
Manor economy Manors were almost completely self sufficient. Most manors included one or more villages and the surrounding lands.
How monks and nuns lived They lived in isolated monasteries and withdrew from worldly life. They lived under the Benedictine Rule and took oaths of poverty, chastity, and obedience to the abbot.
Why was church reform desired? As wealth and power grew, the discipline of the church weakened. The clergy became worldly, and began to live in luxury.
New agricultural technologies Around 1000, peasants adapted new farming technologies that made their fields more productive. They began using iron plows and a new kind of harness that allowed peasants to use horses rather than oxen to pull the plows.
Defense of castles (moats, etc) By the 1100s, castles were made of stone with high walls, towers, and drawbridges over wide moats. Castle dwellers stored up food and water so that they could withstand a long siege.
Battle of Tours Occurred in the year 732. Frankish warriors led by Charles Martel defeated a large Muslim army and Christians saw the battle as a sign from God that he was in their favor.
Vassals Lesser lords. They pledged service and loyalty to greater lords in exchange for land.
Peasants By 800, the agricultural revolution had begun and peasants could pay off their debts to Lords with money. They could now move to larger cities and seek other occupations.
Knights A mounted warrior. They had heavy training from an early age and followed a code of chivalry.
Lords Ruled over lesser lords, knights, and peasants, but were below royalty. Feudal lords constantly battled for power.
Why did the church have great power over the people? The church owned vast lands in central Italy, known as papal states, as well as influence over most royalty in Europe. They also held absolute power over the life of all Christians.
Cluniac reforms Reforms by Abbot Berno at Cluny to end corruption in the church. He prohibited simony and outlawed marriage for priests as well as prohibit nobles to interfere in the business of the church.
Three field system Peasants planted one field in grain, a second in legumes and left the third fallow. By doing this, the soil could be restored and added variety to the peasant diet.
Merchant guilds Merchant guilds were associations of people of a certain trade. They passed laws, levied taxes, and decided how to spend funds.
Clergy The body of the church and all of its administrators. In medieval Europe, it was a powerful entity that held influence and power over Europe.
Nobles The high class of medieval and feudalistic society. They held power over the peasants and held more rights than the peasants did.
Charlemagne French leader who established a stable Frankish Empire around the year 800. He spread Christianity and education throughout his empire.
Leif Erikson Leader of the Viking colony in North America. It was short lived, but was an example of Viking exploration and craftsmanship.
Serf Peasants who were bound to the land. They were not slaves, but were not free.
Excommunication A punishment the church placed on people for disobeying them. An excommunicated person could not receive sacraments and could not be buried on sacred ground, as well as other Christians being required to shun them.
Steel plow Plows that could carve deep into the heavy soil of Europe, in comparison to the old wooden plows designed for the light soils of the Mediterranean. One of several agricultural improvements that led to the agricultural revolution.
Feudal system A loosely organized system of rule in which powerful local lords divided their large land-holdings among lesser lords. It had a defined position for each member of society.
Black Death- which regions most devastated? % population died? result? The region most heavily devastated by the black death was the city of Cairo, in which up to 7,000 people were killed a day. Nearly a third of the population of Europe was killed. As a result, revolts occurred and the economy was destroyed.
Magna Carta A document that limited the power of the King and gave more rights to the people. It led to the formation of a parliament.
Concordat of Worms Ended the investiture struggle that lasted for almost 50 years. It stated that the Church had the sole power to elect and invest bishops with spiritual authority.
Chief goal of/ and result of the Crusades The chief goal of the crusades were to recapture Christian holy lands in the middle east from infidels. The results were a lasting legacy of religious hatred that still lingers to modern day.
Reconquista An effort by Christians to retake Muslim lands in Spain. The reconquista finally ended in 1492 when Ferdinand and Isabella became rulers.
Early jury system An early jury system was developed in England under Henry II. Local officials collected a group of men sworn to speak the truth.
Conflict between emperors and popes Started as a conflict arose over who would control appointments to high Church offices. Control over Germany and Italy went into turmoil until resolution was reached with the Concordat of Worms.
Short Answer
A. 5 reasons late Middle Ages was a time of decline.
Five reasons the late Middle Ages were a time of decline firstly because religious persecution was at its highest. Another reason why the late Middle Ages were a time of decline was that monarchs frequently disputed with the church, which could easily throw an otherwise stable state into anarchy. A third reason would be the Crusades; 200 years of fighting over the lands in Palestine and other Muslim populated regions and throwing the areas into turmoil for hundreds of years, with religious effects still lingering today. A fourth reason were the greater split created between the Byzantine and Roman churches that further created a gap between the two. The fifth reason for the time of decline was that the Black plague had decimated nearly a third of the population of Europe.
B. 3 long term effects of the crusades
Three long term effects of the crusades were a deep religious split that still exists today. A second long term effect is the split that occurred between the Roman and Byzantine churches, which still exists today between altered forms of the two. A third long term effect would be the lands gained by the crusades would add power to many empires that would expand to sizes comparable to todays current national borders.