Hijrah
The flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina; the first year in the Muslim calendar
Monastery
- A community of men who have taken religious vows
Chivalry
Code of conduct for medieval knights, based on ideals of honor and courtesy
Calligraphy
The art of beautiful handwriting
Guild
Medieval business association of merchants or crafts-workers
Qur'an
The holy book of Islam
Sunni
The branch of Islam whose members acknowledge the first four caliphs as the rightful successors of Muhammad
Clergy
Persons, such as priests, given authority to conduct religious services
Czar
(from "caesar") title taken by rulers of Russia beginning in the late 1400s
Caliph
Supreme leader of Islam, chosen as the: successor" to Muhammad
Shi'a
The branch of Islam whose members acknowledge Ali and his descendants as the rightful successors of Islam
Sufi
A Muslim who seeks to achieve direct contact with God through mystical means
Excommunication
Formal exclusion from membership or participation in a church
Crusades
Military expeditions by European Christians in the 11th-13th centuries to regain the Holy Land from the Muslims
Vizier
A prime minister in a Muslim kingdom or empire
Gentry
Class of powerful, well-to-do people who enjoy a high social status
Pastoralist
A member of a nomadic group that herds domesticated animals
Samurai
One of the professional warriors who served Japanese feudal lords
Shinto
The native religion of Japan
Icon
- A Christian religious image or picture
Magna Carta
A document written in England in 1215 that granted certain rights to nobles; later these rights came to be extended to all classes
Bushido
The strict code of behavior followed by samurai warriors in Japan
Secular
Concerned with worldly rather than spiritual matters
Sacrament
One of the Christian ceremonies in which God's grace is transmitted to people
Lay Investiture
The appointment of religious officials by kings or nobles
Parliament
A body of representatives that makes laws for a nation
Shogun
Military leader of feudal Japan
Gothic
Architecture of the twelfth-century Europe, featuring stained-glass windows, flying buttresses, tall spires, and pointed arches
Reconquista
The effort by Christian leaders to drive the Muslims out of Spain, lasting from the 1100s until 1492
Shari'ah
Islamic code of law that includes rules for all aspects of life
Inquisition
A Roman Catholic tribunal fro investigating and prosecuting charges of heresy - especially the one active in Spain during the 1400s
Simony
- The selling of official positions in the medieval Roman Catholic Church
Matrilineal
Relating to a social system in which family descent and inheritance rights are traced through the mother / Relating to a social system in which family descent and inheritance rights are traced through the father
Vernacular
The language of everyday speech, not of scholars, in a country or region
Feudalism
Political system in which nobles are granted the use of lands that legally belong to their king, in exchange for their loyalty, military service, and protection of the people who live on the land