674GlossaryDomus. In southern Europe, an entity composed of the family
(usually extended), the household, and the physical property
from which both took their name.
Entail. A legal restriction placed upon an inheritance to
prevent future generations of heirs from alienating or
otherwise disposing of property against the wishes of the
original holder.
Lent. The six-and-a half week period of fasting and penitence
from Ash Wednesday to Easter during which Christians were
supposed to refrain from eating meat.
Lineage. The concept of a family name and family
identity handed down from generation to generation. More
common in southern than in northern Europe, it was often
based upon the domusor the possession of some other
landed estate.
Midwife. A woman trained to assist in childbirth. In medieval
and early modern times, university-trained physicians did not
normally practice obstetrics.
Primogeniture. Inheritance of all or most of an estate by the
eldest son.
Tournament. A contest between knights that attempted to
mimic the conditions of feudal warfare in a controlled, ritualized
setting.
Wardship. The placement of orphans (and their assets) under
the guardianship of an individual or of the courts. In medieval
and early modern times the practice was largely restricted to the
wealthier classes.
Chapter 12
Bastion Trace. A system of fortification based upon a series of
bastions or projections connected by walls and manned by
artillery. Ideally, every part of a bastion trace could be covered
by defending fire.
Bundschuh. The peasant boot, bound with laces. German
peasants took it as symbol of social revolt during the fifteenth
century, hence the term Bundschuh revolts.
Forest Laws. Laws passed to prevent peasants from
hunting, fishing, or gathering firewood in forests claimed
by the lords
Ghazis. Muslim raiders, primarily of Turkish origin,
who raided the Byzantine Empire and other Christian states.
They were in some respects the Muslim equivalent of
crusaders.
Regency. The period during which an individual or group of
individuals is appointed to rule on behalf of a prince who is
either a minor or incapacitated.
Soldier. A warrior who receives a cash payment or soldefor
fighting, as opposed to one who serves in return for land or in
the discharge of some non-monetary obligation.Chapter 13
Classicism. The admiration (and emulation) of the styles,
aesthetics, and thought of the “classical” civilization of ancient
Greece and Rome.
Domain. Land, properties, rents, and income-producing rights
that are the personal property of a ruler. Domain Revenuesare
those derived from the domain as opposed to those derived
from taxation.
Enclosure. The process by which landowners deprived
peasants of a village’s common lands and seized them for their
own use.
Humanism. The study of Greek and Roman classics with the
intention of applying their teachings to life in the present.
Neoplatonism. A philosophical school founded originally
in Hellenistic Alexandria and revived during the
Renaissance. Its chief concern was achieve knowledge of the
Platonic forms.
Perpetual Taxes. Taxes that may be collected each year
without further permission from a representative body. In the
medieval and early modern period, most taxes required a special
and separate vote each time they were levied.
Pomest’eSystem. In Muscovy, the system by which the Tsar
granted land directly to cavalrymen in return for military
service, thereby creating a kind of “service nobility” that was
separate from the traditional boyars.
Serfdom. A form of servitude in which tenants are regarded as
the property of an estate. Unlike slaves, they cannot be sold as
individuals, but they lack all other rights and may be sold as part
of the property on which they live.Chapter 14
Anticlericalism. Opposition to the influence and special
privileges of the clergy or to the existence of the clergy as an
organized hierarchy.
Conciliarism. The theory that the rulings of a council of the
church are superior to those of any pope, and that a council may
depose an unworthy pope if necessary.
Mysticism. The effort to achieve personal union with God
through ecstatic contemplation.
Popular Culture. The culture that springs from the interests,
activities, and entertainments of the people rather than from the
received traditions of the cultural elite.
Possessionist Controversy. The dispute between Spiritual or
Observant Franciscans and Conventual Franciscans over
whether it was permissible for the order to hold property.
Transubstantiation. The doctrine that the substance of the
bread and wine in Communion are converted by consecration to
the body and blood of Christ, though their appearance or
“accidents” remains the same.