Western Civ. Vocab
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Created by:
meggiesk8s on January 6, 2011
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191 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 monarchy | government in which a king or queen exercises central power |
| aristocracy | government headed by a privileged minority or upper class |
| oligarchy | government in which ruling power belongs to a few people |
| democracy | government in which the people hold ruling power |
| tyrant | in ancient Greece, ruler who gained power by force |
| legislature | lawmaking body |
| direct democracy | system of government in which citizens participate directly in the day-to-day affairs of government rather than through elected representatives |
| republic | "thing of the people," system of government in which officials are chosen by the people |
| patrician | member of the landholding upper class in ancient Rome |
| dictator | a ruler who has complete control over a government |
| plebeian | farmer, merchant, artisan, trader etc. who had little influence in the government |
| veto | power to block a government action |
| aqueduct | in ancient Rome, bridgelike stone structure that carried water from the hills into the cities |
| messiah | savior sent by God |
| martyr | person who suffers or dies for his or her beliefs |
| heresy | religious belief that is contrary to the official teachings of a church |
| imperialism | establishing control over foreign lands and peoples |
| census | population count |
| satirize | make fun of |
| mercenary | foreign soldier serving for pay |
| republic | "thing of the people," system of government in which officials are chosen by the people |
| patrician | member of the landholding upper class in ancient Rome |
| dictator | a ruler who has complete control over a government |
| plebeian | farmer, merchant, artisan, trader etc. who had little influence in the government |
| veto | power to block a government action |
| aqueduct | in ancient Rome, bridgelike stone structure that carried water from the hills into the cities |
| messiah | savior sent by God |
| martyr | person who suffers or dies for his or her beliefs |
| heresy | religious belief that is contrary to the official teachings of a church |
| imperialism | establishing control over foreign lands and peoples |
| census | population count |
| satirize | make fun of |
| mercenary | foreign soldier serving for pay |
| fief | an estate that belongs to a lord |
| knight | mounted warrior |
| vassal | lesser lord serving under a higher lord |
| serf | a peasant on a manor that is bound to the land and cannot be bought or sold |
| chivalry | a code of conduct that requires knights to be brave, loyal, and true to their word |
| secular | having to do with worldly, rather than religious, matters |
| sacrament | sacred ritual of the Roman Catholic Church |
| excommunication | exclusion from the Roman Catholic Church as a penalty for refusing to obey church laws |
| interdict | excommunication of an entire region, town, or kingdom |
| antisemitism | prejudice against Jews |
| capital | money or wealth |
| guild | in the Middle Ages, association of merchants or artisans who cooperated to protect their economic interests |
| usury | lending money at interest |
| apprentice | trainee |
| crusade | holy war |
| theology | the study of the nature of God and religious belief |
| missi dominici | agents of Emperor Charlemagne who traveled throughout the empire to check the condition of the roads, listen to grievances, and see that justice was done |
| papacy | the office or authority of the pope |
| medieval | Latin for "middle age" |
| frontier | sparsely populated, undeveloped area on the outskirts of a civilization |
| curriculum | formal course of study |
| feudalism | a loosely organized system of rule in which powerful local lords dividing their landholdings among lesser lords |
| tithe | payment to a church equal to 10% of a person's income |
| papal supremacy | authority of medieval popes over all secular rulers |
| canon law | body of laws of a church |
| simony | selling of Church offices |
| friar | a monk who travels throughout Europe's growing towns to preach to the poor |
| charter | written document that sets out the rights and privileges of a town |
| partnership | an organization where merchants join together |
| bill of exchange | a bill issued by a banker in the home city of a merchant, and the merchant can exchange it for cash in a distant city |
| tenant farmer | farmers who pay rent for their land, or hired farm laborers |
| middle class | standing between nobles and peasants |
| journeyman | salaried worker |
| scholasticism | Christian scholars, known as scholastics, tried to resolve the conflict between faith and reason |
| vernacular | the everyday language of the ordinary people, such as French, German, and Italian |
| flying buttress | stone support that stands outside a church in Gothic architecture |
| illumination | the artistic decoration of books |
| epidemic | outbreak of rapid-spreading desease |
| inflation | rising prices |
| longbow | a powerful weapon wielded by English archers that was six feet long and took years to master, but it could discharge 3 arrows in the time a French archer could fire just one, and its arrows could pierce all but the heaviest armor (Hundred Years' War) |
| feudal contract | a pledge exchanged between lords and vassals |
| tournament | mock battle |
| troubadour | wandering poet |
| manor | a lord's estate |
| exchequer | treasury |
| common law | a legal system based on custom and court rulings |
| lay investiture | the king has the power to appoint bishops to office |
| annul | invalidate |
| levy | collect (taxes) |
| religious toleration | a policy allowing people to worship as they choose |
| epic | long narrative poem |
| fief | an estate that belongs to a lord |
| knight | mounted warrior |
| vassal | lesser lord serving under a higher lord |
| serf | a peasant on a manor that is bound to the land and cannot be bought or sold |
| chivalry | a code of conduct that requires knights to be brave, loyal, and true to their word |
| secular | having to do with worldly, rather than religious, matters |
| sacrament | sacred ritual of the Roman Catholic Church |
| excommunication | exclusion from the Roman Catholic Church as a penalty for refusing to obey church laws |
| interdict | excommunication of an entire region, town, or kingdom |
| antisemitism | prejudice against Jews |
| capital | money or wealth |
| guild | in the Middle Ages, association of merchants or artisans who cooperated to protect their economic interests |
| usury | lending money at interest |
| apprentice | trainee |
| crusade | holy war |
| theology | the study of the nature of God and religious belief |
| missi dominici | agents of Emperor Charlemagne who traveled throughout the empire to check the condition of the roads, listen to grievances, and see that justice was done |
| papacy | the office or authority of the pope |
| medieval | Latin for "middle age" |
| frontier | sparsely populated, undeveloped area on the outskirts of a civilization |
| curriculum | formal course of study |
| feudalism | a loosely organized system of rule in which powerful local lords dividing their landholdings among lesser lords |
| tithe | payment to a church equal to 10% of a person's income |
| papal supremacy | authority of medieval popes over all secular rulers |
| canon law | body of laws of a church |
| simony | selling of Church offices |
| friar | a monk who travels throughout Europe's growing towns to preach to the poor |
| charter | written document that sets out the rights and privileges of a town |
| partnership | an organization where merchants join together |
| bill of exchange | a bill issued by a banker in the home city of a merchant, and the merchant can exchange it for cash in a distant city |
| tenant farmer | farmers who pay rent for their land, or hired farm laborers |
| middle class | standing between nobles and peasants |
| journeyman | salaried worker |
| scholasticism | Christian scholars, known as scholastics, tried to resolve the conflict between faith and reason |
| vernacular | the everyday language of the ordinary people, such as French, German, and Italian |
| flying buttress | stone support that stands outside a church in Gothic architecture |
| illumination | the artistic decoration of books |
| epidemic | outbreak of rapid-spreading desease |
| inflation | rising prices |
| longbow | a powerful weapon wielded by English archers that was six feet long and took years to master, but it could discharge 3 arrows in the time a French archer could fire just one, and its arrows could pierce all but the heaviest armor (Hundred Years' War) |
| feudal contract | a pledge exchanged between lords and vassals |
| tournament | mock battle |
| troubadour | wandering poet |
| manor | a lord's estate |
| exchequer | treasury |
| common law | a legal system based on custom and court rulings |
| lay investiture | the king has the power to appoint bishops to office |
| annul | invalidate |
| levy | collect (taxes) |
| religious toleration | a policy allowing people to worship as they choose |
| epic | long narrative poem |
| schism | split |
| icon | holy image |
| patriarch | highest Church official |
| autocrat | sole ruler with complete authority |
| patron | financial supporter [of the arts] |
| humanism | an intellectual movement at the heart of the Italian Renaissance that focused on worldly subjects rather than on religious issues |
| perspective | artistic technique used to give drawings and paintings a three-dimensional effect |
| indulgence | a lessening of the time a soul would have to spend in purgatory (a place where souls too impure to enter heaven atoned for sins committed during their lifetimes) |
| recant | give up one's views |
| predestination | God has determined long ago who will gain salvation |
| theocracy | a government run by church leaders |
| heliocentric | sun-centered |
| humanities | the subjects taught in ancient Greek and Roman schools |
| engraving | a form of art where an artist etches a design on a metal plate with acid |
| vernacular | everyday language of the ordinary people |
| utopia | an ideal society |
| canonized | recognized as a saint |
| compromise | acceptable middle ground |
| ghetto | a separate quarter of the city [Jews were forced here] |
| absolute monarch | a ruler with complete authority over the government and the lives of the people |
| divine right | the authority to rule came directly from God |
| limited monarchy | a constitution or legislative body limits the monarch's powers |
| balance of power | a distribution of military and economic power that would prevent any one nation from dominating Europe |
| armada | fleet [of ships] |
| intendants | royal officials who collected taxes, recruited soldiers, and carried out Louis XIV's policies in the provinces |
| dissenters | Protestants who differed with the Church of England |
| habeas corpus | no person can be held in prison without first being charged of a specific crime |
| boyar | land-owning noble [in Russia] |
| westernization | the adoption of western ideas, technology, and culture |
| warm-water port | one that would be free of ice all year round |
| partition | divide up |
| inflation | the rapid raising of prices |
| entrepreneur | enterprising merchants |
| mercantilism | a new economic policy aimed at strengthening national economies saying that a nation's real wealth was measured in gold and silver, and a nation should export more than it imports |
| tariff | a tax on imported goods |
| capitalism | the investment of money to make a profit |
| joint stock company | private trading company in which shares are sold to investors to finance business ventures |
| natural rights | rights that belong to humans from birth |
| philosophe | "lover of wisdom," an Enlightenment thinker that applied the methods of science to better understand and improve society |
| laissez faire | a policy allowing business to operate with little or no government interference |
| bourgeoisie | middle class |
| suffrage | the right to vote |
| nationalism | a strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's country |
| social contract | an agreement by which people give up the state of nature for an organized society |
| natural laws | laws that govern human nature |
| physiocrats | Enlightenment thinker who searched for natural laws to explain economics |
| censorship | restricting access to ideas and information |
| salons | informal social gatherings at which writers, artists, philosophes, and others exchanged ideas |
| enlightened despots | absolute rulers who used their power to bring about political and social change (Frederick the Great, Catherine the Great, Joseph II) |
| constitutional government | a government whose power is defined and limited by law |
| popular sovereignty | all government power comes from the people |
| federal republic | power is divided between the federal government and the states |
| deficit spending | a government spending more money than it takes in |
| factions | small groups |
| emigres | nobles, clergy, and others who had fled France and its revolutionary forces |
| republic | government ruled by elected representatives |
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