Middle Ages Vocabulary – 0405a

chivalry – a code of conduct that required knights to be brave, fight fairly, and protect women, children, and priests and monks

communal - characterized by collective ownership and use of property; when all people of the group work together for the good of the whole group

endemic - of or relating to a disease (or anything resembling a disease) constantly present to greater or lesser extent in a particular locality

epidemic - affecting or tending to affect a disproportionately large number of individuals within a population, community, or region at the same time

fief – land granted to a vassal by a lord (the vassal controls the land)

illuminated text - a manuscript decorated with gold or silver or brilliant colors or with often elaborate designs or miniature pictures

knight – a noble man on horseback

lord – a noble who grants land to a vassal

manor -a territorial unit in the Middle Ages consisting of an estate under a lord enjoying a variety of rights over land and tenants including the right to hold court

monk - a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery and is not a priest

peasant - 1 : a member of a European class of persons tilling the soil as small landowners or as laborers; also : a member of a similar class elsewhere 2 : a usually uneducated person of low social status

pogrom – an organized massacre of Jews by Christians

serf – peasants who lived on manors, they were not slaves, but they could not leave the manor and they owed the lord labor and service

subsistence agriculture – 1. a system of farming that provides all or almost all the goods required by the farm family usually without any significant surplus for sale; 2. a system of farming that produces a minimum and often inadequate return to the farmer

vassal – a person under the protection of a feudal lord, the person owes the lord allegiance and loyalty