*Peasant- Most of the peasants on a manor were serfs, who were bound to the land. The job of the peasants toward their lords was farming the lord�s domain or lands and repairing the lord�s roads, bridges, and fences.
*Usury- Usury is when you lend money at an interest. To the clergy in the Commercial Revolution, thought this was an immoral way that merchants and bankers made profits.
*Capital- Capital is a term meaning money for investments. Capital was needed when merchants, for example needed money to buy goods and borrowed it from moneylenders.
*Tithe- A tithe is a tax equal to a tenth of someone�s income. To support the Church all Christians were required to pay this fee.
*Fief- A fief is an estate. In exchange for the vassals pledge to the lord, the lord would give his vassal a fief.
*Chivalry- Chivalry was a code of conduct the all knights in the Middle Ages had to accept. Chivalry required knights to be brave, loyal, and true to their word.
*Charter- A charter was a written document that set out the rights and privileges of the town. Merchants who set up new towns would ask the local lord for a charter.
*Troubadour- Troubadours were wandering poets. Troubadours accepted the raising of the women�s status and sang love songs praising the perfection, beauty, and wit of women throughout the ages.
*Manor economy- The medieval economy was a small, self-sufficient world. Peasants produced almost everything they needed, form food and clothing to simple furniture and tools.
*How monks and nuns lived- Monks and Nuns had chief duties where they had to do prayers and worship of God. Monks and Nuns tended the sick, gave alms, or charity, to the poor and set up schools for children.
*Why was church reform desired? - Church reform was desired because as wealth and power grew, discipline weakened. Monks and Nuns ignored there vows and some simply devoted more time to the interests otf their families than to their Church duties.
*New agricultural technologies- By about 800, peasants were using new iron plows, also a new kind of harness was used to allow horses rather than oxen to pull, which made it much faster. Also a the power of the wind had been harnessed to grind the peasants� grain into flour.
*Defense of castles (moats, etc) - Medieval towns and cities were surrounded by high, protective walls. To keep constant growth, every few years the walls were expanded.
*Battle of Tours- In 732 after the defeat in the Battle of Tours, Muslims still kept forces up to keep pressure on Europe. The Muslims also conquered Sicily in the late 800s, which became a thriving center of Islamic culture.
*Vassals- Vassals were lesser lords who pledged service and loyalty to the greater lord because the lord gave him land. The relationship between lords and vassals was established by custom and tradition.
*Peasants- Peasants were at the bottom of the Feudal system. Peasants also had to work the fiefs, or estates.
*Knights- Knights were mounted warriors who were mostly nobles trained from boyhood for a future occupation. At he age of 7, a boy was sent to become a knight was sent to the castle of his father�s lord.
*Lords- Lords were the most powerful of the feudal system. Lords divided their large landholdings among the vassals. The vassals then divided their land amongst their vassals and so on.
*Why did the church have great power over the people? - The church had great power over the people because the Christians believed that the only way to avoid the tortures of hell was to participate in he sacraments. Another reason is that if you person disobeyed the Church laws he/she was excommunicated, which means they could not receive sacraments, they couldn�t be buried in sacred ground and all other Christians were required to shun them.
*Cluniac reforms- The cluniac reforms were in the 900s, when Abbot Berno at Cuny, a monastery in eastern France, set out to end abuses. He revived the Benedict Rule. He also said he wouldn�t permit nobles to interfere in the running of the monastery. Also he filled the monastery with men who were devoted solely to religious pursuits.
*Three- field system- To produce faster peasants adopted the three-field system. In this system they planted one field in grain, a second with legumes, such as peas and beans, and left the third fallow.
*Merchant guilds- Merchant guilds were associations, which dominated life in medieval towns. They passed laws, levied taxes, and decided whether to spend funds to pave the streets with cobblestones, build protective walls for the city, or raise a new town hall.
