Unit 3 Vocabulary
Middle Ages In Europe
Byzantine Empire/Manorialism
 Justinian’s Code of Laws: Emperor Justinian collected all existing Roman
laws and organized them into a single code- foundation for Western legal
tradition
 Hagia Sophia: the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom in Constantinople, built by
order of the Byzantine emperor Justinian
 Icon: images of Jesus and Saints (Iconoclasm: the destruction of these
images)
 Middle Ages: the era in European history that followed the fall of the Roman
Empire, lasting from about 500 to 1500 ad – also called the medieval period
 Feudalism: a political system in which nobles are granted the use of lands
that legally belong to their king, in exchange for their loyalty, military service,
and protection of the people who live on the land
 Lords: a person who controlled land and could therefore grant estates to
vassals
 Knights: an armored warrior who fought on horseback
 Serfs: a medieval peasant legally bound to live on a lord’s
 Manor: a lord’s estate in feudal Europe
 Manorialism: Economic system of feudal Europe, consisting of the lord’s
house and his serfs. Each manor produced its own food, clothing, and shelter
 Three-Field System: a system of farming developed in medieval Europe, in
which farmland was divided into three fields of equal size & each was
successively planted with a winter crop, planted with a spring crop, then left
unplanted
 Tithe: a family’s payment of 1/10th of its income to a church
 St. Augustine: emphasized the role of faith
 St. Thomas Aquinas: (1225-1274) Catholic thinker who believed in natural
laws based on reason and in the right to defy unjust laws
 Magna Carta: The Great Charter signed in 1215, a document guaranteeing
basic political rights in England, drawn up by the nobles and approved by
King John- Political ideas limited the power of the nobility, Legal ideas- no
one is above the law
 Great Schism: (1378-1417) Split that occurred in the Catholic Church with 2
Popes, one in Avignon & the other in Rome. The Schism caused many to
question the Church’s authority
 Crusades: (1095-1272) A war requested by the Pope for Christians to
recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims. Crusades led to greatly increased
trade between Europe and the Middle East
 Hundred Years War: (1137-1453) War between England and France over
succession to the French throne. It strengthened royal power and brought an
end to feudalism
 Black Death: (c. 1350) a disease carried on ships from Asia to Europe that
killed millions of people and helped to end serfdom in Europe
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The Islamic World and Africa
Qur’an: the holy book of Islam
Islam: Monotheistic religion founded by Mohammed, based on the five
pillars
Five Pillars: Faith, prayer, charity, fasting, pilgrimage
Sunni: the branch of Islam whose members acknowledge the first four
caliphs as the rightful successors of Muhammad
Shi’a: the branch of Islam whose members acknowledge Ali and his
descendants as the rightful successors of Muhammad
Sharia: a body of law governing the lives of Muslims
Caliph: a supreme political and religious leader in Muslim
Gold Salt Trade: Exchange of salt for commodities such as gold and slaves,
particularly in West Africa.
Atlantic Slave Trade: the buying, transporting, and selling of Africans for
work in the Americas
Persia/ India
 Safavids: A Shi’a empire from Persia to central Asia (1500s-1700s) founded
by Shah Ismail
 Mughals: Establishes a Muslim empire in India under Babur, Akbar, and
Shah Jahan
Tang & Song China/ Mongols/ Ottoman Empire
 Sultan: A Muslim Sovereign
 Sikhism: a religion that developed in Northern India, combining both Islamic
and Hindu beliefs. Sikhs believe in one God, which can only be known
through meditation
 Chinggis (Genghis) Khan: founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire
 Kublai Kahn: reigning from 1260 to 1294, and the founder of the Yuan
Dynasty, a division of the Mongol Empire.
 Ottoman Empire: Turkic empire established in Asia Minor and eventually
extending through the Middle East and the Balkans; conquered
Constantinople in 1453 and ended Byzantine Empire