Medieval Church Terms
This group of religious leaders, including priests and bishops, guided the spiritual life of medieval society.
What is the Clergy?
This church official ranks just below the pope and oversees multiple dioceses.
Who is an archbishop?
This term describes the system of ranks within the church or society.
What is hierarchy?
A person legally bound to work on a lord’s land and unable to leave without permission.
What is a serf?
The lowest ranging member of clergy in the Catholic Church
What is a priest?
This is the area or district under the supervision of a bishop.
What is a diocese?
This high-ranking church official advises the pope and is involved in selecting a new pope.
Who is a cardinal?
The ruler of a kingdom or empire.
What is a monarch?
A person who pledged loyalty and military service to a lord in exchange for land.
What is a vassal?
These religious wars were fought to reclaim the Holy Land from Muslim control.
What are the Crusades?
This large, important church often served as the central place of worship in a diocese or major city.
What is a cathedral?
The supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
Who is the pope?
A heavily armored soldier who served a lord in exchange for land.
What is a knight?
Land granted by a lord to a vassal in exchange for service.
This system organized medieval society into levels based on land ownership and service.
What is the feudal system?
This religious event celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ in Christian tradition.
What is Easter?
These are sacred rites performed by the church to grant grace to believers.
What are sacraments?
The political and social system where land was exchanged for loyalty and service.
What is feudalism?
A deadly disease that greatly reduced Europe's population in the Middle Ages.
What is the plague?
This deadly disease spread rapidly across Europe, causing massive death and fear. It killed up to 90% of some communities.
What is the black death / the bubonic plague
This is a community where monks live, work, and worship.
What is a monastery?
A religious journey taken by believers to a holy site.
What is a pilgrimage?
The economic system that supported feudalism, centered on large estates.
What is manorialism?
The way a disease spreads from one person or place to another.
What is transmission?
This term refers to unfair treatment or blaming of groups during difficult times.
What is persecution