ÿþ<html> <head> <title> WHKMLA : Historical Dictionaries : Late Middle Ages </title> <!-- copyright Alexander Ganse, 2004 --> </head> <body bgcolor="lightblue" text="black" link="blue" vlink="red" alink="brown"> <style> <!-- A{ font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-face: arial; } --> </style> <DIV align ="center"> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../index.html"> <img src = "../../whkmla2.jpg" border = "0"></a></TD></TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width = "150" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <font size = "2" face = "arial"><B> Timeline </b></font></TD> <TD width = "36" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../timelines/nhb/tllmc.html"> <img src = "../../region/arrowleft.gif" width = "36" height = "36" border = "0"> </a></TD> <TD align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../timelines/nhb.html"> <img src = "../banhistdic.jpg" border = "0"> </TD> <TD width = "36" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <img src = "../../region/arrowright.gif" width = "36" height = "36" border = "0"> </a></TD> <TD width = "100" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <font size = "2" face = "arial"><B> Biographies </b></font></TD></TR></TABLE> <font size = "3" face = "arial"><B><i>First posted on September 16th 2004 </i></b></font><BR><BR><BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "center" valign = "center" width = "900"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "5"><B> Historical Dictionaries : Late Middle Ages </B></font> <BR> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"><i> http://www.zum.de/whkmla/histdic/nhb/hdlma.html </i></font> </B></font></TD></TR></TABLE> <BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "left" valign = "center" width = "150"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> <A NAME = "avignon"><B>Avignon</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "babyloniancaptivity"><B>Babylonian Captivity <BR></A> of the Church</B> <BR> <A NAME = "blackdeath"><B>Black Death</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>Burghers</B> <BR><BR> <B>Canonic Law</B> <BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "churchrefmov"><B>Church Reform <BR> Movement</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "codeofchivalry"><B>Chivalry, Code of</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>City Council</B> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>City Law</B> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>Cluny</B> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "courtlylove"><B>Courtly Love</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "crusades"><B>Crusades</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "dynunion"><B>Dynastic Union</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "estates"><B>Estates</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "feudalsociety"><B>Feudal Society</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>Feudum</B> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "guild"><B>Guild</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>Heraldry</B> <BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "heretic"><B>Heretic</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>Infidel</B> <BR><BR> <A NAME = "investitureconflict"><B>Investiture Conflict</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>Knight</B> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>Knights Templar</B> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>Lay Investiture</B> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>Militant Orders</B> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>Minstrel</B> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>Monastery</B> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "mystic"><B>Mystic</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>Ordeal</B> <BR><BR><BR> <B>Ostsiedlung</B> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>Outremer</B> <BR><BR> <B>Page</B> <BR> <B>Papacy</B> <BR><BR> <B>Patricians</B> <BR><BR> <B>Privilege</B> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "schism"><B>Schism</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>Serfs</B> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "tatars"><B>Tatars</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>Tournament</B> <BR><BR><BR> <B>Tripartite Society</B> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "university"><B>University</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "urbanrevolution"><B>Urban Revolution</B></A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <B>Witch Hunt</B> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> </font></TD> <TD align = "left" valign = "center" width = "500"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> city and principality located in SW France. Originally a part of the Kingdom of <BR> Burgundy, in the 11th century it had been absorbed by the Empire. In 1307 Pope <BR> Clement V. was abducted to Avignon; he returned to Italy the same year, but <BR> took up residence in Avignon in 1309. From 1309 to 1378, all popes resided in <BR> Avignon (Babylonian Captivity of the Church); from 1378 to 1430 Avignon was <BR> home to one line of popes (Schism), the other major line residing in Rome. <BR> phrase coined by Martin Luther, describing the period in which the popes, at <BR> first unwillingly, resided in Avignon (1307, 1309-1378). <BR> also referred to as the Black Plague or Bubonic Plague. Imported from Asia in <BR> 1347, the infectious disease, spread by mice and rats, in the years 1347-1349 <BR> killed off an estimated one third of Europe's population (southern Poland <BR> almost unaffected; in Norway mortality rate 70 %). The event marks the end of an <BR> extended period of sustained population growth and economic expansion. <BR> an inhabitant of a medieval city; a person enjoying the status of a city dweller <BR> and the protection / privileges of city law / his home city. <BR> Church Law. Medieval law was divided in two major spheres - secular law and <BR> church law. Church courts were responsible to deal with matters such as the<BR> validity of a marriage, the legitimacy of a child etc. <BR> began in the abbey of Cluny in eastern France in the 10th century (Abbot St. <BR> Odilo). The reform movement criticized lacking discipline and focus on worship <BR> in monasteries, promoted an extension of peace (i.e. limiting feuds) and <BR> criticized lay investiture. The movement resulted in the reinforcement of monastic <BR> discipline, indirectly caused the Urban Revolution and the emergence of univer- <BR> sities. Reform popes promoted the crusades, engaged in the Investiture Conflict <BR> and caused the schism with the Orthodox Church to become a lasting one. <BR> a set of rules by which knights were expected to live, (1) obedience to the <BR> teachings of the church, (2) defense of the church, (3) defend the weak (women, <BR> children etc.), (4) patriotism, (5) to stand one's ground in combat, (6) to fight the <BR> infidel, (7) to fulfil one's feudal duties, (8) not to lie, to keep one's word, (9) to be <BR> generous and (10) always to side with good gainst evil. <BR> A body of men which administrated medieval cities. In most cases, the council- <BR> men represented the wealthy families (patricians) engaged in long-distance <BR> trade. Membership in the council was for lifetime; if a member died, the remaining <BR> members usually elected a relative of the deceased to replace him. In the later <BR> middle ages, the leaders of the guilds tried to gain access to the city councils, <BR> in a number of cases, at least temporarily, successful. <BR> In medieval Europe, cities were areas exempt from feudal law; within a city every- <BR> one enjoyed the status of personal freedom. Nobles who took up prmanent resi- <BR> dence in a city lost their noble status; serfs who ran away from their masters and <BR> lived in a city for a year and a day could no longer be reclaimed by their former <BR> masters and gained freedom. Cities had distinct city laws, fitting to their economic <BR> function and diversity. Only in the 19th century were universal sets of laws valid for <BR> both city and countryside introduced. <BR> Monastery in the Duchy of Burgundy, eastern France. In the 10th century it was <BR> the nucleus of the Church Reform Movement. Most Benedictine monasteries in <BR> France subsequently asked Cluny for guidance on their reform, and placed them- <BR> selves under the authority of Cluny. The church constructed at Cluny was the <BR> largest church ever built, where monks conducted religious service in shifts so <BR> that religious service was offered around the clock. The monastery was dissolved <BR> during the French Revolution, and most of her buildings torn down. <BR> a set of rules for knights / nobles regarding love. Most of them are about self- <BR> control. Love should be true, selfless and highly-esteemed. Courtly love should <BR> be kept secret; the knight should be obedient to the lady of his choice; he should <BR> be truthful; he should not engage in other love affairs, should not attempt to break <BR> up legitimate love affairs etc. <BR> The first crusade (1096-1099) was launched in response to an appeal of Byzan- <BR> tine Emperor Alexius I. Komnenus because of the threat of the Seljuks. When <BR> Pope Urban II. called for the crusade, the main goal given was the liberation of the <BR> Holy Land (Palestine). Crusaders were promised forgiving for their sins; equally <BR> attractive to the mostly noble crusaders was the prospect of acquiring new fiefs. <BR> At first, the crusades were directed against Muslim territories in the Mediterrane- <BR> an; the 4th Crusade somewhat coincidentially conquered the (christian, but not <BR> Catholic) Byzantine Empire (1204); from then onward, any christian expedition <BR> against non-christians was legitimized as a crusade (the Baltic crusades), as <BR> were expeditions against perceived heretics within Catholic christianity (the <BR> Albigensian and Stedinger crusades etc.). The crusades resulted in a deteriora- <BR> tion of relations between Catholic christianity on one side, Islam, Judaism and <BR> Orthodox Christianity on the other (prior to the first crusade, Muslim merchants <BR> travelled Europe; the Jewish communities in Western Europe were plundered by <BR> the crusaders in order to finance their travel costs). Also, western nobles came <BR> in contact with a superior civilization; the Europeans learnt a lot from their Muslim <BR> contemporaries (from the 'Arab' numerals over the chess game to the code of <BR> chivalry and courtly love). <BR> The concept of two monarchies being united under one monarch, for instance <BR> Castile and Aragon, England and Scotland, Poland and Lithuania. The original <BR> states maintained their separate institutions (diets, laws, capitals, certain <BR> administrative officials); the person of the monarch being the bracket holding the <BR> union together. The concept was popular with the subjects, as it was expected <BR> to bring synergy effects (good relations with the other country, lower costs re- <BR> garding the maintenance of the royal court); at times, the monarchy preferred <BR> one country over the others (Kalmar Union - Denmark preferred; Sweden alienated). <BR> Many dynasties strove to establish dynastic unions or to add further countries <BR> to their cllection of titles, most successfully the Habsburg Dynasty. <BR> <B>(a)</B> a term describing the different social strata of feudal society - (1) clergy, <BR> (2) nobility, (3) the commoners (free peasants and city folk, summarily called <BR> "Third Estate". A fourth stratum, the serfs, were not counted, as they were unfree. <BR> <B>(b)</B> a term describing medieval diets, which had come into being and were <BR> assembled every couple of years for the purpose of approving extraordinary <BR> taxation. They convened by estate, i.e. the estate of the clergy, the estate of the <BR> nobles and the third estate. All three estates had to approve the request. The <BR> English diet traces her roots back to the Magna Carta of 1215. In Spain, the <BR> diet was called Cortes, in Poland Sejm, in France Etats Generaux, in the Nether- <BR> lands Staten, in Germany Reichstag respectively Landtag. <B>(c)</B> Large plots of <BR> land the possession of which entitled to participation in the diet. <BR> A society based on feudal law. It was based on the concept of land (feudum) for <BR> service (military service, obedience); of central importance as the oath of allegi- <BR> ance which tied the vassall (recipient of the feudum) to the lord. The term 'Feudal <BR> Society' is applied for a period ranging from the Early / High Middle Ages to the <BR> 18th century. Over this period it has seen many changes. <BR> Plot of land (often comparatively large), given by a lord to a vassall, in return for <BR> his service. Originally granted for the duration of his service, later they became <BR> hereditary. In exceptions, other sources of revenue such as tolls or tithes could <BR> also be granted as feudum. <BR> a corporation of craftsmen exercising the same craft. As corporations, such <BR> guilds enjoyed monopolies. No one could open a bakery in a medieval city who <BR> was not member of the local guild of bakers; accession was limited. Among her <BR> members, the guild established rules which guaranteed minimal income for all <BR> members while maintaining a high standard of quality. <BR> the tradition of identifying noble families, individual nobles, medieval states, <BR> cities and regions by their coat-of-arms, the set of rules by which these coat- <BR> of-arms had to be composed. <BR> an interpretation of christianity deemed as false by the church. The best known <BR> medieval heresies inclue the Waldensians, the Catharians (Albigensians). <BR> followers of a heresy are called heretics. The Catholic church regarded the <BR> Orthodox church of Greece heretic, and vice versa. <BR> non-believer; from the perspective of a crusader-age christian the term included <BR> Jews, Muslims and pagans (for instance Prussians and Lithuanians). <BR> Conflict between the popes and the emperors over the matter of lay investiture. <BR> Main period 1075-1122. Pope Gregory VII., a reform pope, forbade Emperor <BR> Henry IV. to interfere in the election of bishops, and, when his order was disre- <BR> garded, excommunicated the Emperor (thus freeing all imperial vassalls from <BR> the obligation to remain loyal). The rivalry between popes and emperors lasted <BR> on until the end of the Staufer Dynasty (1254) and resulted in the weakening of <BR> the Empire; afterward the papacy also exprienced a decline of her power. <BR> A nobleman by birth and education; as a teenager, the future knight learnd his <BR> business (to care for horses and weapons, to ride and to fight) by serving <BR> another knight (not a relative) as a page. He would also learn languages, <BR> manners, dancing etc. Pages were knighted on two occasions - on the eve of <BR> a battle or on the eve of a tournament. See Code of Chivalry. <BR> The first of the militant orders (founded 1118), and one of the foremost. Founded <BR> in order to fight the infidels, the order acquired numerous lands in France and in <BR> other countries, and became wealthy. In 1307/1309, King Philip of France pres- <BR> sured the pope into declaring the Knights Templar in France heretics, which <BR> legalized the confiscation of Templar property by the king. In Portugal, the order <BR> continued to thrive. <BR> In the early middle ages, most Catholic kings could not read and depended on <BR> bishops to write their corresondence, run their chancery. The bishops were <BR> rewarded by large grants of land. Kings continued to rely on this service by <BR> bishops into the high midle ages; they were keenly interested in seeing their <BR> favourites elected bishop in case a bishopric became vacant. Bishops were <BR> elected by the respective cathedral chapter, a body of church officials. Kings <BR> ued to pressurize or bribe these to elect the candidates of their choice; this <BR> procedure is known as lay investiture and was criticized by the Church Reform <BR> Movement. See Investiture Conflict. <BR> or military orders, organized similar to monastic orders, i.e. requiring their <BR> members to swear chastity, poverty, total obedience, differing from the <BR> monastic orders in that their main task was fighting the 'infidels'. Among <BR> the militant orders figure the Knights Templar, the Knights of St. John, <BR> the Teutonic Knights, the Livonian Knights, the Knights of Calatrava etc. <BR> also called troubadour, a knight who entertained a noble audience by playing <BR> ballads, written in the vernacular, praising valiant heroes and beautiful ladies. <BR> While the ballads often referred to the Knights of King Arthur's round table, <BR> to Alexander or the fight for Troy, the characters were usually described in a <BR> way that they were identified by the udience with individual persons present or <BR> known by everybody present. The most famous minstrels include Chretien de <BR> Troyes and Walther von der Vogelweide. <BR> Monasteries were communities of monks who swore to live lives of poverty <BR> and chastity and to devote their lives to the service of God. In the early middle <BR> ages they also were centers of civilization, while society outside the monastery <BR> walls reverted to a more primitive stage; writing, outside the monsteries, almost <BR> was forgotten. In a society based on self-sufficient economy and limited barter <BR> trade, monasteries were the centers of education and of sophisticated production. <BR> When Charlemagne had the pagan Saxons baptized, monks were entrusted with <BR> the task to do the job, and monasteries were endowed with lands. While the <BR> normal peasant was a jack-of-all-trades, within monastery 'enterprises', division <BR> of labour and quality production was developed. Until the Church Reform Move- <BR> ment demanded monks to refocus on their original task, monasteries were the <BR> cultural and economic centers of medieval society. <BR> a person who believed to and was believed to hear the voice of God. In the 14th to <BR> the 15th centuries, in Catholic Europe a number of laymen and laywomen claimed <BR> to be recipients of revelations; the most famous were St. Brigitta of Sweden, St. <BR> Catherine of Siena, Jeanne d'Arc, Meister Eckhard and Thomas a Kempis. The <BR> latter is regarded the author of a book titled "Imitatio Christi"; a number of these <BR> mystics lived a lifestyle aiming at becoming one with Christ. In the view of the time, <BR> that process was concluded when the stigmata appeared on the body of the <BR> mystic. <BR> a knight had the right to challenge the judgment of a court by risking <BR> his life in a duel with an opponent appointed by the court. The outcome <BR> of this duel was interpreted as God's judgment <BR> When Bohemia, Poland, Hungary, Mecklenburg, Pomerania converted to <BR> christianity in the 10th/11th centuries, the countries were economically <BR> backward, lacked monasteries (with their advanced economies), cities. <BR> Slavic farmers used wooden plows suitable for fertile soil; the rich, but <BR> heavy soil could only be cultivated with the iron plow as used by German <BR> farmers. Rulers of Slavic countries or Hungary invited settlers from the various <BR> regions of Germany, from Flanders, Holland and Friesland to settle there, <BR> farmers, merchants and craftsmen, miners. These were granted privileges <BR> assuring them the right to appoint their own priests/mayors etc., to live <BR> according to their own traditions, with the effect that entire villages / cities in <BR> Slavic countries continued to speak German for centuries to come. Some areas <BR> in Eastern Central Europe (Thuringia, Saxony, Brandenburg, Prussia, Livonia <BR> with Courland) became German by conquest, the conquerors calling in German <BR> etc. settlers. In German, this complex process, which occurred from c.1150 to <BR> c.1350, is referred to as the Ostsiedlung (colonization of the east). <BR> French for overseas; expression for the crusader states in Greece and the Levant, <BR> most of which were ruled/controlled by French nobility <BR> nobleman while or after his training, before being knighted; see under knight <BR> office/institution of the pope (bishop of Rome) recognized as the head of the <BR> Catholic church. He also was the sovereign of the Papal State. <BR> leading families in the medieval cities of Europe, mostly owing their wealth to long <BR> distance trade. In most cities they monopolized the city council. <BR> a special law applying only for a certain family, city, territory, guild, group of <BR> people. Privileges were usually granted by kings or by the Emperor and made <BR> jurisdiction very difficult; for instance, the Imperial chancery (there was no capital, <BR> and in the 13th to 15th century no continuous dynasty) had no complete records <BR> about privileges granted. <BR> refers to a split within the universal church. Two major schisms in the late middle <BR> ages, boh sometimes referred to as the Great Schism : (a) the schism of 1054 - <BR> formal separation of Catholic (Latin) and Orthodox Church, still lasting; (b) the <BR> schism of 1378-1430 (Avignonese, Roman papacy). <BR> term referring to unfree persons in the middle ages. Technically, christianity re- <BR> jected the institution of slavery. Serfs were regarded as belonging to the land <BR> they worked; they could neither marry nor leave the land without permission of <BR> the owner. They did not have family names. Serfdom was abolished only in the <BR> 18th/19th century. <BR> in 1240 the Kipchak Tatars, a Turkic people under the command of the Mongol <BR> Khans, conquered Kiev; in 1241 they defeated a German-Polish army in the <BR> Battle of Legnica/Liegnitz. The Khanate of the Golden Horde, established in the <BR> break-up of the Mongol Khanate at the end of the 13th century, was a Khanate of <BR> the Kipchak Tatars. In the 15th century it broke up into the Khanates of Kazan, <BR> Astrakhan and Crimea. <BR> noble form of entertainment, held on the occasion of royal weddings etc.; a <BR> tournament provided the opportunity for young noblemen to prove their valour and <BR> earn knighthood. Tournaments were costly to stage and therefore rare. <BR> concept of society being divided into three groups - clergy, nobility, commoners. <BR> A fourth group, the serfs, were not taken into consideration; the three groups <BR> were further stratified (royalty, higher nobility, lower nobility etc.). The concept <BR> of tripartite society was fundamental to feudal society and only was challenged <BR> by the enlightenment and the French Revolution. <BR> The first European universities - Bologna, Paris, Oxford - appear in the records <BR> around 1200; previously, monastic schools and Cathedral schools functioned <BR> as the highest institutions of education. In medieval universities, Latin was the <BR> language of instruction; four subjects were studied - theology, law, medicine and <BR> philosophy, the latter including most modern sciences. <BR> Until 1100, in Europe north of the Loire and the Alps, cities were economically <BR> insignificant, their main raison d'etre being the residence of a bishop. The <BR> Church Reform Movement resulted in monasteries giving up their sophisticated <BR> economic operations. Groups of lay brethren, specialized craftsmen, now moved <BR> into cities, where they produced for the market and formed guilds. Market <BR> places in cities became the centers of a new economy, in which money became <BR> a universally accepted currency. In the 11th to 14th centuries, cities grew, many <BR> new cities were founded. <BR> While the middle ages had the concept of witches and occasionally individuals <BR> were accused of using witchcraft, tried and executed, the phenomenon was rare <BR> until Pope Innocent VIII issued the "witches bull" in 1484. In 1487 the infamous <BR> Malleus Maleficarum was published, a guidebook for the Inquisition on how to <BR> treat perceived witches. <BR> </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "left" valign = "center" width = "700"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> PRINTED REFERENCE : <BR> </font></TD></TR></TABLE> <BR><BR> </DIV> </DIV> <DIV align="center"> <A href="mailto:aganse@hotmail.com"> <IMG src="../../email.gif" border="0"></a><BR> </DIV><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <!-- Start of CH Counter --> <script type="text/javascript"> //<!-- // chCounter v2.0.0 // settings: cstatus = "active"; visible = "0"; path_to_counterfile = "http://www.zum.de/whkmla/counter/counter.php"; urlhp = "http://www.zum.de"; //////////////// url = unescape(location.href); file = url.substring(url.lastIndexOf(urlhp) + urlhp.length, url.length); file = (file.charAt(0) != "/") ? 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