Medieval Society
What is the manorial system?
Land-based economy where peasants worked a lord’s manor for protection and subsistence
What was the Commercial Revolution?
Expansion of trade, banking, and a money economy in late medieval Europe.
What were the Crusades?
Religious wars to capture the Holy Land and protect pilgrims.
What was the Protestant Reformation? Name one reformer.
Movement opposing Catholic abuses and doctrine.
Martin Luther, John Calvin, (Henry VIII kind of but not really)
What was the Protestant Reformation? Name one reformer.
Movement opposing Catholic abuses
Martin Luther, John Calvin, (kind of sort of not really Henry VIII)
Describe the feudal hierarchy.
King → nobles/lords → vassals/knights → peasants/serfs; fiefs = land granted for service
What were guilds?
Artisan/merchant associations that set standards, trained apprentices, and protected members.
Two causes of the First Crusade.
Religious fervor and Byzantine request for help against Turks.
What were Luther’s main objections in the 95 Theses?
Sale of indulgences, salvation by faith, Scripture over Church tradition
Luther’s main objections in the 95 Theses?
Sale of indulgences, emphasis on salvation by faith (not through the purchase of pardons or the Church) and religious truth through the Bible along (not Bible + church rituals).
Why did power become decentralized after Rome fell?
Central authority collapsed; local lords provided protection, creating feudal bonds.
How did trade lead to town growth?
Markets and fairs attracted merchants, creating towns and a merchant middle class (bourgeoisie).
Who called the First Crusade and why?
Pope Urban II (1095) to aid Byzantium and reclaim Jerusalem.
What is humanism? Name one effect
Focus on classical texts and human potential. Led to liberal arts education, realistic art/literature, and a questioning of authority.
What is predestination?
Belief God chooses who will be saved (central to Calvinism).
One political and one cultural contribution of Charlemagne?
Political: reunited much of Western Europe and crowned emperor. Cultural: promoted learning
Effects of the Bubonic Plague?
Massive deaths, labor shortages, higher wages, social unrest, decline of serfdom.
Two long-term impacts of the Crusades.
Increased trade/cultural exchange; weakened Byzantium and altered political power; partially set up Western Europe for the Renaissance
Name one Renaissance scientific achievement and its significance
Copernicus’s heliocentric idea challenged geocentric views and set stage for later work of Galileo (provided evidence for the heliocentric theory, improved telescope), Kepler (supported with math and models), and Newton (gravity, physics, and calculus).
How did the English Reformation differ from the Protestant Reformation in mainland Europe? Role of Henry VIII?
It was deeply personal and political rather than religiously motived. Henry broke from Rome to control the church. Act of Supremacy made the monarch head of the Church of England.
How did the Church exert political power? Give one example.
By legitimizing rulers, collecting tithes, and using excommunication/interdict to pressure leaders.
How did post-plague changes weaken feudalism?
Labor scarcity increased peasant power; many moved to towns or demanded wages, undermining manorial labor
One way the Crusades changed trade — give an example.
Boosted Italian maritime trade (Venice/Genoa); increased spice and luxury imports to Europe.
How did Renaissance humanism help lead to the Scientific Revolution?
Humanism revived classical texts and encouraged observation and inquiry; scholars built on classical and Islamic knowledge, leading to empirical methods used by scientists like Kepler and Galileo.
What was the Counter-Reformation, and what were the two major methods to achieve this goal.
Catholic Church's response to the reformation. Aimed to slow/end the Reformation through the Jesuits (educated, missionized, and defended Catholicism) and the Council of Trent (meeting of church leadership to consider reforms).