Ch. 8-9
*peasant � peasants were the lowest class. They had a very harsh life
*usury � usury is when money was lent with interest. Merchants and bankers made money off usury.
*capital � capital is money for investments. This helped the growth of banking houses
*tithe � a tithe is a tax that the Christians had to pay the church. The idea of a tithe had existed in ancient religions before Christianity.
*fief � a fief is a plot of land that lords would give their vassals. In return for a fief vassals would protect their lords in times of need.
*chivalry � chivalry is a code that the knights had. It required knights to be brave loyal and true to their word
*charter � a charter is a written document that set out the rights and privileges of the town. In return for the charter merchants paid the lord or the king a large sum of money or yearly fee or both
*manor economy � manor economy is the heart of medieval economy. A manor normally included one or more villages and the surrounding lands.
*how monks and nuns lived � monks and nuns tended to the sick. They gave alms or charity to the poor and set up schools for children
*troubador � a troubadour was a wandering poet. Troubadours adopted the view that women should be protected.
*Why was church reform desired? Church reform was desired because the church began to get corrupt. Monks and nus would ignore their vows and married priest would devote more time to family than their church duties
*new agricultural technologies � peasants were using new iron plows that carved deep into the earth. A new kind of harness allowed them to use horses instead of oxen
*defense of castles (moats, etc) � castles had high walls towers and drawbridges over wide moats. Castles dwellers would store up on food and water so they could withstand a long siege
*Battle of Tours � Frankish warriors led by Charles Martel defeated a Muslim army. Christians saw this as a sign from god that he was on their side. Muslims advanced no farther into Western Europe.
*vassals � are lesser lords. They get land from lords in exchange for loyalty
*peasants - a serf was a form of peasant who lived on a manor. They were not slaves but they were not free.
*knights � a knight is a mounted warrior. Boys started to train to be a knight at age 7
*lords � were higher than peasants knights and vassals. Lords held the most land
*why did the church have great power over the people? � The church had power over the people because the were very religious.
*Cluniac reforms � in 900s Abbot Berno at cluny set out to end abuses. He rived the Benedictine rule
*three field system � peasants planted one field grain the second legumes (peas and beans) and the third was left empty. This left only a third of the field not planted instead of � of the field.
*merchant guilds �merchant guilds were the first form of unions. They grouped similar people together by their occupation and helped them make working fair.
*clergy - The body of people intended for religious service.
*nobles � men and women could be nobles. If a noblemen died the wife would take over
*Charlemagne -King of the Franks from 768-814. Founder of the first empire in Western Europe after the fall of Rome.
*Leif Erikson � a Viking leader. He discovered America
*serf � a peasant that lived on a manor. They were bound to the land
*excommunication � people who were excommunicated could not receive the sacraments. This was very serious at that time if they did not go to sacraments they thought they would go to �hell�.
*steel plow - a new agricultural tool that allowed the peasants to farm more harsh land because they could dig deeper and get to better soil. They also could use horses with the new harness that came out this allowed them to go faster
*feudal system � powerful lords divided their large land holdings among lesser lords.
*Black Death- which regions most devastated? % population died? Result? The plague was the worst in Asia and North Africa. In Cairo 7,000 people died a day.
*Magna Carta - The charter of English political and civil liberties granted by King John
*Concordat of Worms � in 1122 a treaty was signed saying that the church had the sole power to elect and invest bishops with spiritual authority. Emperors had the power to invest fiefs
*Chief goal of/ and result of the Crusades - the chief goal of the crusades was to gain back holy sites of Christianity. The result was that the Muslims now hated the Christians.
*Reconquista � this was the campaign to run Muslims out of Spain. This happened after the Muslims conquered most of Spain in the 700s
*early jury system was a group of people that were chosen in the area by a traveling judge to tell the truth and to decide the fate of criminals and other public matters.
*conflict between emperors and popes - the conflict was who had the most power over the people and the emperor wanted the pope to give him spiritual power as well as normal power so he could rule all aspects of peoples daily lives
Short Answer
A. 5 reasons late Middle Ages was a time of decline.
Five reasons that the late middle ages was a time of decline would be the �black death� (bubonic plague), the loss of knowledge, corruption in the church, and religion. It�s obvious why the Black Death made the middle ages a time of decline it killed so many people. Loss of knowledge was a major set back. If we didn�t loose all that knowledge we could be very advanced. Corruption in the church and religion tie together. Both of these were bad because religion ruled instead of a leader.
B. 3 long term effects of the crusades
One long term effect of the crusades is increased trade. The crusades opened up new worlds to both the Muslims and the Christians. Another long term effect was the church gained more power. During this time the church had more power than it ever did. Thirdly the crusades helped economically. They taxed people heavily to finance the crusades and this helped the economy