Middle Ages Vocabulary (Chapter 17 and 18)
1.
Medieval – another name for the Middle Ages period, from the Latin words for “middle age;” a
period that lasted from about 500 to about 1500.
2. Monks – religious men who lived apart from society in isolated communities.
3. Monastery – community of monks; where they lived.
4. Knights – warriors who fought on horseback.
5. Vassal – a knight who promised to support a lord in exchange for land.
6. Manor – the large estate owned by a knight or lord.
7. Serfs – workers who were tied to the land on which they lived.
8. Excommunicate – when popes or bishops choose to cast out members from the church
9. Holy Land – Europeans called Palestine the Holy Land because it was the region where Jesus had
lived, preached, and died. It is the region on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea.
10. Clergy – Church officials
11. Heresy – religious ideas that oppose accepted church teachings