Glossary673France. It demanded partible inheritance and in later years was
said to forbid the succession of women.
Chapter 8
Comitatus. The Latin term for a war band bound to their
chieftain by oaths of loyalty.
Custom of the Manor. The collective record of contractual
obligations within a manor, including the dues and services
owed by each tenant to the lord. It was usually preserved in the
form of an oral tradition until the fourteenth century.
Fief. The landed property granted to a warrior in return for his
promise of military service. It was sometimes called a Benefice,
but this term more commonly refers to property granted for the
support of a cleric.
Feudalism. A social and economic system based upon grants
of land offered in exchange for military service.
Homage. The formal expression of loyalty offered by a vassal
to his lord.
Private Jurisdiction. The right of a vassal to establish courts of
law within his fief. It was normally granted by a lord as part of
the feudal contract.
Manor. An estate whose inhabitants are the legal subjects of
its lord or owner. In most cases, manorialism involves some form
of tenancy. Peasants hold land and a cottage in return for
specified dues and services.
Subinfeudation. The process by which vassals grant a portion
of their fiefs to vassals of their own, thereby creating subtenants
who owe homage to them rather than to the original tenant-in-
chief.
Tenement, or Tenure. Property held by a peasant within the
manor.
Vassal. The party to a feudal agreement who receives a fief in
return for military service. Though subordinate to a lord, all
vassals were by definition members of the feudal elite.
Chapter 9
Dominium. The theory that the church, and in particular the
pope, has authority over secular rulers.
Gothic. A style of medieval architecture characterized by
pointed arches, extensive carving, and sometimes by flying
buttresses.
Hildebrandine Reformation. The movement for papal reform
that grew out of the Cluniac movement, for which Hildebrand
of Soana (Pope Gregory VII) has been given too much credit.
Investiture. The process by which rank or office is bestowed.
In the Middle Ages, Lay Investituremeant the granting of
ecclesiastical rank or authority by lay people.
Mendicant Orders. Religious societies, the first of which were
founded in the thirteenth century. Their members were bound
by vows and were expected to live by begging. Collectively
called Friars,they included the Dominicans and the Franciscans.
Nominalism. The theory that universals are not real, but nomina
or “names” that reflect little more than linguistic convention.
Romanesque. A style of architecture that featured massive
vaulting and round arches. It generally preceeds the Gothic.
Scholasticism. The thought of the medieval schools and
universities. It attempted to solve theological and philosophical
problems through the application of Aristotelian logic.
Universals. Those qualities and categories held by
philosophical realists to have objective reality of their own (e.g.,
redness, justice, beauty, etc.).Chapter 10
Agricultural Specialization. The practice of cultivating those
crops for which a given estate is best suited. It is the opposite of
Subsistence Farming,which seeks to grow everything that the
inhabitants of a farm or estate may need.
Commune. A government of citizens and its institutions, as
opposed to one controlled by a bishop or feudal lord. In some
medieval towns the commune at first grew in parallel with the
government of the lord and then supplanted it.
Signorie. In some Italian cities, the name of the elected council
that governed the town, combining legislative and executive
authority.
Ghetto. Part of a city in which members of a minority group
live as a result of social, religious, or economic discrimination.
Originally, the district of Venice to which Jews were confined.
Guild. An association of craftsmen or merchants whose
purpose was to guarantee quality, set prices, and provide for the
general welfare of its members. In some cities, citizens had to be
guild members.
Hanse. In North Germany, a league of cities formed to protect
their commercial and military interests.
Militia. The citizen-soldiers of a medieval city.
Monoculture. Primary reliance on a single crop by a farm or
manor. The ultimate form of agricultural specialization.
Rentiers. Townspeople who live primarily from the proceeds
of rented or leased property. They were an important segment
of the elite in most medieval towns.
Vendetta. A feud or private war, usually between two
clientage groups or factions within a town or among the landed
nobility.Chapter 11
Chivalric Romance. An epic, often recited in poetic or musical
form by troubadours, which glorified the chivalric values of
bravery, loyalty, and courtesy.