Byzantine Empire

Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to

Byzantium, a Greek city in the eastern part of the empire. Ruled over
the Balkan Peninsula, the Middle East and parts of Italy.

Constantinople
Founded by Emperor
Constantine in 330 AD
Located along land routes
that connected Europe and
Asia
On the Bosporus, a waterway
connecting the Black Sea t
the Mediterranean
Surrounded on three sides
by water, had thick wall,
making it almost
invulnerable to attack.

Justinian
Byzantine Emperor
Reconquered much of the old Roman
Empire
Code of Justinian

Code of Justinian

Emperor Justinian collected all of the existing Roman laws and organized them
into a single code listing all the laws and opinions on each subject. Required all
persons to belong to the Eastern Orthodox Christian faith.

Hagia Sophia

Built by the Byzantines with its giant dome. Included colorful icons and mosaics.

Theodora

Strong-willed wife of Emperor Justinian

who ruled as Co-Empress and held great
influence over the Emperor.

Great Schism
A split between the Eastern Orthodox
Church and the Roman Catholic Church
in 1054. The Byzantines developed
their own form of Christianity Eastern
Orthodoxy and did not recognize the
Pope as the head of their church.
There were differences on the role of
icons, views on the Trinity, and the
shape of the cross.

Orthodox Christianity

Separate from the Roman Catholic

Church, Orthodox Christians differed
on the role of icons, views on the
Trinity, and the shape of the cross.

Roman Catholicism

The single most powerful organization in Western Europe during the Middle
Ages. The head of the Catholic Church was the Pope in Rome.

Icons

Images of Jesus and the saints.

Patriarch

Eastern Orthodox Christians did not recognize the Pope as the head of their church.
Instead, they had their own Patriarch.

Pope
The head of the Roman
Catholic Church. The Pope
was regarded as the
successor of St. Peter, leader
of the apostles after the
death of Jesus. Catholics
believe the Pope had
inherited the role of Peter in
running the Church. The
Pope governed the Church
with the help of cardinals,
bishops, and other church
officials.

Vikings
Explorers, warriors, merchants,
and pirates who raided, traded,
explored and settled in wide
areas of Europe, Asia and the
North Atlantic islands during
the Middle Ages. This period of
Viking expansion known as
the Viking Age forms a major
part of the medieval history.

Kievan Rus

Viking invaders organized Slavs in the Baltic and Black Sea region into a kingdom centered in
Kiev. They carried on a brisk trade with the Byzantine Empire during which Orthodox
Christianity and the Cyrillic alphabet were introduced to Russia.

Czar

A title used to designate supreme rulers of the

Russian Empire. The term is derived from the
Latin word Caesar.

Cyrillic

Named after St. Cyril, a writing system developed in the 9th10th century ad for
Slavic-speaking peoples of the Eastern Orthodox faith.

Middle Ages

From the fall of Rome in 476 AD to the 1400s, historians refer to this time period as
The Middle Ages, or Medieval Period (period between ancient and modern times).

Feudalism

Begun by the Franks and spread to all of

Western Europe, kings offered nobles a grant of
land, known as a feud or fief, in exchange for
loyalty and service. The nobleman, known as
the vassal, gave allegiance to the king.

Manorialism

During feudalism, most people lived on manors. A manor consisted of the lords house and
the peasants living in the surrounding territory. This economic system is referred to as
manorialism.

Three-Field System

Farmers laced specific knowledge of how to enrich the soil or rotate crops. Each
year, only 2/3 of the land was cultivated, letting the other 1/3 remain fallow or
uncultivated.

Peasants/Serfs
Peasant farmers produced the
food used by medieval society.
Most worked long hours to grow
enough food to survive each year.
Although most peasants were
farmers, some were millers,
blacksmiths, and tavern owners.
Life revolved around the agrarian
calendar. Most of the time was
spent working the land. Peasants
live din small towns or nearby
farms on their lords manor. A
typical home was a 2 room cottage
with wall of dried mud, branches
and straw.

Lords/Nobles
Nobles controlled political life under
feudalism. They built large castles for their
own protection, often rivaling those of the
king in size. They surrounded themselves
with armed knights. The king relied on his
nobles for his own army, and the nobles
often fought among themselves or
challenged the kings authority. Civil wars
were frequent, and powerful nobles often
grabbed land for themselves.

Monarchs
One who reigns over a state or
territory, usually for life and by
hereditary right, especially a
sole and absolute ruler.

Knights

Lords had small armies of knights armed warriors on horseback. Knights

followed a Code of Chivalry (honor and order).

Charlemagne
Charlemagne (King Charles) became king in 768
AD. He expanded the practice of giving land to
his nobles in change for their promises of
loyalty and service. He enlarged his kingdom to
include France, Germany, Holland, Belgium and
Northern Italy. He established a new capital a
Aachen which he turned into a center of
learning. He was crowned Emperor of the Holy
Roman Empire in 800 by the Pope.

Crusades

In 1095, Pope Urban II called on all Christians in Europe to unite and fight a
holy war to recapture the Holy Land from its Muslim rulers. The Church
promised salvation to all who participated.

Thomas Aquinas
A great Christian thinker who had great
influence on the Middle Ages. His most
famous book, Summa Theologica,
provided a summary of Christian
beliefs. Aquinas showed how
Christianity was compatible with works
by Aristotle and said that God had
given man the power to reason to help
him explain and interpret the world.
There fore, we should trust reason as
well as faith.

Magna Carta
In 1215, the English nobles (barons)
rebelled against the taxes and
forced loans being collected by
King John. John was forced to sign
an agreement that guaranteed all
free men the right to a trial by jury
and forced the king to obtain the
consent of a council of nobles for
most new taxes.

Compound Bow

Originating with the Mongols, compound bows were a transforming technology

during the Hundred Years War.

Calicut

During the Middle Ages, Calicut in India was called City of Spices for its role as
the major trading point of eastern spices such as black pepper and cardamom.
Muslim Arab merchants graded with Calicut as early as the 7th century.

Novgorod
Novgorod was the main
Russian port for many
centuries and was important
for Baltic Sea trade. The city
participated in the Hanseatic
League and was one of the
main trade routes from
Northern Europe to the
Roman Empire and
Constantinople.

Hanseatic League

An economic alliance of trading cities and their guilds that dominated trade along the
coast of Northern Europe in the Middle Ages. The Hanseatic cities had their own legal
system and furnished their own protection and mutual aid.

Longships

Naval vessels used by the Vikings for trade, commerce, exploration and warfare
during the Viking Age. It is characterized by a long, narrow graceful hull.

Hundred Years War

A war between England and France over succession to the throne. This long period of
warfare slowly strengthened royal power in both countries and allowed new weapons
to emerge, such as the English long bow.

Joan of Arc
A young French maiden
who rallied French troops
around the heir to the
throne during the Hundred
Years War. She turned the
tide when she successfully
drove the English out of
the city of Orleans and
crowned the new French
king at Rheims Cathedral.
She was later captured and
burned at the stake by the
English as a witch.

Norman Invasion

(Bayeux Tapestry)
The invasion and subsequent occupation of England by an army of Normans and French led
by Duke William II of Normandy. William, who defeated King Harold II of England in 1066 at
the Battle of Hastings, was crowned king . He then consolidated his control and settled many
of his followers in England, introducing a number of governmental and societal changes,
including the end of feudalism.

Holy Roman Empire

Lands in western and central Europe ruled over first by Frankish and then by German kings
for 10 centuries, from Charlemagnes coronation in 800 until the renunciation of the
imperial title in 1806.