The Middle Ages

Middle Ages Vocabulary

1. Fjord - Steep-sided valley that is an inlet of the sea; where the Vikings often settled.

2. Missionary - A person who travels to carry their ideas and religion to others.

3. Excommunicate - To declare that a person, or a group, no longer belongs to the Church.

4. Concordat - An agreement between the Pope and the ruler of a country.

5. Feudalism - Political system based on bonds of loyalty between lords and vassals.

6. Vassal - A noble given land by higher-ranking lord in exchange for service and loyalty.

7. Fief - Under Feudalism, the land a lord granted in exchange for military service and loyalty.

8. Knight - Heavily armored warrior who fought from horseback.

9. Serf - Peasant laborer bound by law to the lands of a noble could leave that land with the permission of their lord.

10. Guild - Medieval business group formed by craftspeople and merchants.

11. Grand Jury - A group that decides whether there is enough evidence to accuse a person of a crime.

12. Trial Jury - A group that decides whether an accused person is innocent or guilty.

13. Clergy - Religious officials, such as priests, given authority to conduct religious services.

14. Mass - Catholic worship service.

15. Heresy - Belief that differs from, or contradicts, the accepted teachings of a religion.

16. Anti-Semitism - The hatred of the Jewish people.

17. Theology - The study of religion.

18. Scholasticism - Medieval way of thinking that tried to bring together reason/logic and the faith in the study of religion.

19. Vernacular - Everyday language used in a country or region. (I say pop, you say soda)

20. Plague - Disease that spreads quickly and kills many people.

21. Reconquista - Christian struggle to take back the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims.