EUROPEAN HISTORY FINAL EXAM REVIEW
KING – top of feudal class system
KNIGHT – noble warriors of feudal class system
SERFS – class unable to leave land unless their debt was paid
FEUDAL SYSTEM – economic/political system of Middle Ages bound
together by loyalty
MANOR – self-sufficient estate
DOWRY – in Middle Ages way in which a woman could own land
ILLITERACY – most peasants were illiterate in Middle Ages so signed
church documents with an X
ST. PATRICK – missionary spread Christianity throughout British Isles
CANTERBURY – became center of Christian Church in England in 600
AD
BAYEUX TAPESTRY – Norman conquest depicted in 72 embroideries
CHIVALRY – code of conduct for knights
SPANISH INQUISITION – those found guilty of witchcraft were
burned
WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR – gave England control over Northern
France
DOMESDAY BOOK – log book in England documenting everyone’s
wealth & land
THOMAS A. BECKET – archbishop of Canterbury assassinated by a
group of knights loyal to Henry II
ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE – Henry II’s wife; how Henry II acquired
Aquitaine & Gascony in northern France
RICHARD I – succeeded Henry II and known for his Crusades &
numerous wars
MAGNA CARTA – document written in 1215 protecting the rights &
liberties of the nobles; “The Great Charter”
OTTO I – ruler who began the German family line of monarchs
HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE – consisted of Germany & northern Italy at the
turn of the century
DIET OF WORMS – met in 1122 to discuss lay investiture
POPE URBAN II – pope responsible for calling for the Crusades
CRUSADES – set of religious holy wars tried to recapture the Holy lands
in Middle East; symbol of Crusades was a cross; only one was successful
SALADIN – Muslim leader who provoked the Third Crusade by
capturing Jerusalem
FREDERICK BARBAROSSA – on his way to the Holy Land during the
Crusades but drowned so he never made it
JIHAD – Muslim holy war
DIET – commonly used term for a government assembly
TOLLS – merchants travelling during the Middle Ages were forced to
pay these at each new kingdom
SILK ROAD – most commonly used roadway for people to trade from
Europe to Asia during Middle Ages
VIKINGS – 1000 AD they were most responsible for trading in the North
FLANDERS – region in northern France known for is wool production
HANSEATIC LEAGUE – created by 70 cities that joined together to
change dangerous and difficult condition in northern Europe
CHAMPAGNE (NOT THE DRINK) – largest fair in Europe was held in
this city
BARTER SYSTEM – every region had its own currency so no money was
used to change hands; form of payment
DOMESTIC SYSTEM – with an advancing wool industry people began
making products at home
MONEY CHANGER – this job was created because the regions had
different types of currency
GUILDS – association of merchants when they joined together
MONASTERIES – schools of the Middle Ages before there were actual
schools
ST THOMAS AQUINAS – wrote Summa Theologica which serves as
basis for teaching theology today
DANTE – author of the Divine Comedy
CHAUCER – wrote Canterbury Tales about a pilgrimage travelling to
shrine of Thomas A. Beckett
APPRENTICE SYSTEM – how a young boy learns a craft
CRAFT GUILDS – created to set hours, regulate wages and set sale
prices of a product
BOURGEOISE – class that emerged at end of Middle Ages at the same
time cities emerged; the middle class
HUNDRED YEARS WAR – war fought between France & England for
over 100 years; new invention of the longbow was used; France won back
most of its land except Calais where the English held a fort for 200 years
WAR OF THE ROSES – name given to England’s civil war that emerged
after the Hundred Years War
YORKISTS – wore WHITE rose during War of Roses
LANCASTRIANS – wore RED rose during War of Roses; won the war
HENRY VII – began Tudor dynasty; combined the roses; emerged as
England’s leader at end of civil war
JOAN OF ARC – French peasant girl who fought in Hundred Years War
because God told her to; she was burned at the stake at the hands of
the English
ESTATES-GENERAL – representative assembly established in France by
King Philip IV; made up of the three social classes of France
PHILIP IV – King of France who set up the Estates-General, France’s
first representative assembly; held no real power other than to advise the
king who made all final decision (absolute monarchy); reconvened
periodically throughout 1600s and instrumental in ending absolute
monarchy in France during French Revolution (1789); disassembled after
French Revolution
FIRST ESTATE – clergy & religious leaders
SECOND ESTATE – nobility/aristocracy
THIRD ESTATE - townspeople
GREAT SCHISM – in 1370s there were two popes to the Catholic
Church one French & one Roman
RENAISSANCE – rebirth or reawakening; began in northern Italy in 1350;
Byzantines preserved the Greek & Roman classics studied during the
period; people were most interested in the classics from Ancient Greece
and Ancient Rome (Humanism movement); could not have occurred
without the support of patrons
GUTENBERG – invented the printed press which helped increase
literacy; the Bible was the most printed book
THOMAS MORE – Utopia; a book about an ideal society that exists
nowhere
SHAKESPEARE – greatest English playwright
ERASMUS – In Praise of Folly, great humanist in northern Europe
MICHELANGELO – created the Sistine Chapel
BOTTICELLI – created the Birth of Venus
DA VINCI – Renaissance man because he was well-rounded in many
different avenues
CERVANTES – Spanish Renaissance writer who wrote Don Quixote a
satire on the chivalry of medieval knights
MACHIAVELLI – wrote the Prince a handbook on how to succeed in
politics; he dedicated it to de Medici
DE MEDICI – family of Florentine statesmen, patrons of the arts, the
Prince was written for him
PETRARCH – Italian writer pioneer of Humanism
FRESCO – painting on wet plaster; Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel
PERSPECTIVE – Renaissance artists used this technique to create the
illusion of depth on a flat canvas
REFORMATION – changes to the Catholic Church inspired by the
Renaissance
WYCLIFF – English reformer 200 years before Reformation; one of most
outspoken people against the practices of the Catholic Church
LUTHER – biggest complaint was sale of indulgences; believed people
should interpret Bible for themselves
SALE OF INDULGENCES – Luther’s biggest criticism of the Church;
paying for forgiveness of sins; listed his complaints on 95 thesis
PEACE AT AUGSBURG – Lutherans won the right to practice their
religion; ended wars between Lutherans & Holy Roman Empire
CALVIN – Reformation supporter; believed in predestination
PREDESTINATION – there is no free will, our fates are already
predetermined for us
HUGUENOTS – followers of Calvin in France; French
Protestants/Calvinists
HENRY VIII – King of England; broke away from Catholic Church
because pope wouldn’t grant him a divorce; created his own Protestant
Church of England – the Anglican Church
ANGLICAN – Church of England created under Henry VIII; Protestant
INDEX – list of books people were not allowed to read because the
Catholic Church decreed it so
COUNCIL OF TRENT – part of Counter Reformation; document stated
Pope was highest & final authority in church
PURITANS – fled to the Americas for religious freedom
EXPLORATION – reasons for exploration in 15th-17th centuries – Gold
God Glory; gain wealth, establish trade, set up colonies
SCURVY – disease caused the death of many sailors at sea
COLUMBUS – sailed for Portugal; he died believing he reached the West
Indies
DIAZ – first sailor to reach the Cape of Good Hope
VESPUCCI – his first name was used to label North America
MAGELLAN – his crew was the first to circumnavigate the globe; he
died en route
BALBOA – first to cross the Isthmus of Panama
DA GAMA – first to sail around Africa & land in Asia
PONCE DE LEON – responsible for giving Florida its name
BLACK DEATH – nursery rhyme “Ring Around the Rosie” was originally
written to describe the death associated with the Black Death/Bubonic
Plague