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A plain English medieval history glossary for KS3 and GCSE students, covering England and Wales
History has its own vocabulary, and knowing it makes the Middle Ages easier to read, talk about and write about. This medieval history glossary explains over 130 key words in plain English, with a focus on England and Wales. It is written for KS3 and GCSE students, and it works whichever exam board you study, including AQA, Edexcel, OCR and WJEC. The words are sorted into eight groups: people and society, power and law, castles and war, belief and magic, money and daily life, sources and evidence, time and change, and the command words used in essays. Use the search box to find a word, or jump straight to a section. Every word has its own link, so you can share or bookmark a single definition.
A skilled worker who made things by hand, such as a blacksmith, weaver or baker.
A powerful lord who held large areas of land directly from the king.
People who worked for the Church, such as priests, monks and nuns.
A person not tied to a lord, who could leave, rent land or work for wages.
Landowners below the nobles. Wealthy and respected, but without a high title.
A group of workers or traders in the same trade who set rules and protected their members.
A trained, mounted soldier who fought for a lord or the king, often in return for land.
A man who owned land and held power over the people who lived and worked on it.
Someone who made money by buying and selling goods.
A man who lived in a monastery, following strict rules of prayer and work.
A person of high birth with a title, such as a baron, earl or duke.
A person placed outside the protection of the law. Anyone could hunt them down.
An ordinary person who worked the land. Most people in medieval Britain were peasants.
A man chosen to manage a lord's farmland and make sure the work got done.
A peasant tied to a lord's land who could not leave without permission.
The king's officer in a county. He collected taxes, held courts and kept order.
A Welsh noble. The plural is uchelwyr. They held land and influence under Welsh princes.
A peasant who farmed land from a lord and paid for it with work and rent. Usually not free to move away.
Welsh land divisions. A cantref was a large district, split into smaller commotes.
Law built up from royal courts and past decisions, applied across England.
Taking control of a land and its people by force.
The ceremony where a monarch is crowned.
A huge survey of England ordered by William the Conqueror in 1085 to record who owned what and how much tax they owed.
A sworn promise of loyalty to a lord.
A system where the king gave land to lords, who gave land to knights, who were served by peasants. Everyone owed something to the person above them.
The person who is due to inherit a title, land or the throne.
A ceremony where a vassal knelt and promised to serve his lord.
A group of local people who gave a verdict or reported what they knew about a case.
A charter agreed in 1215 that limited the king's power. Rebel barons forced King John to accept it.
An estate run by a lord, including the farmland, the village and the people who worked there.
The border lands between England and Wales, ruled by powerful Marcher lords with unusual freedom from the king.
Rule by a king or queen, usually passed down through a family.
A solemn promise, often sworn on a holy object. Breaking one was a serious matter.
A meeting where the king consulted nobles, Church leaders and later representatives of towns and counties.
An armed or organised uprising against a ruler or the authorities.
Someone who rules on behalf of a king who is too young, ill or away.
The right of a person to shelter in a church and avoid arrest for a time.
An old word for a county, an area of land governed under the king.
Betraying the king or the state. It was punished very harshly.
A painful test, such as carrying hot iron, believed to reveal whether a person was guilty. God was thought to decide the result.
Someone who seizes a throne or title without the right to it.
A person who held land from a lord and promised loyalty and service in return.
A narrow slit in a wall that let archers shoot out while staying protected.
The zigzag top of a castle wall. Defenders hid behind the raised parts and fired through the gaps.
The official in charge of a castle when the owner was elsewhere.
Armour made of linked metal rings.
A bow fixed to a wooden frame, with a trigger. Powerful and easy to use with little training.
The tall wall that ran around a castle's courtyard.
A bridge over a moat that could be raised to stop attackers crossing.
The soldiers stationed in a castle or town to defend it.
A fortified entrance to a castle, often with towers, a portcullis and heavy doors.
The main room of a castle, used for feasts, meetings and justice.
The main tower of a castle, and its strongest part.
A tall bow made of yew, famous for its power in English and Welsh armies.
A soldier who fights for pay rather than loyalty.
A ditch around a castle, often filled with water, to keep attackers back.
An early Norman castle: a wooden tower on a man-made hill (the motte) beside a fenced yard (the bailey).
Openings in a gatehouse ceiling used to drop stones or boiling liquids on attackers below.
A heavy grille that was lowered to block a gateway.
Money demanded to release a captured person. Nobles were often captured for this reason.
Surrounding a castle or town and cutting it off, trying to force it to surrender.
An organised contest where knights fought in mock battles or jousts.
A huge siege weapon that threw heavy stones using a swinging arm and counterweight.
Digging a tunnel beneath a wall so it collapsed.
A military campaign backed by the Church, usually to take or defend holy land.
Local healers and charm makers who offered cures, lost property and protection.
Henry VIII's closing of the monasteries in the 1530s. He seized their land and wealth.
Being cast out of the Church. People believed it put their soul in danger.
A spirit, often in animal form, said to help a witch.
Stories, customs and beliefs passed down by ordinary people, usually by word of mouth.
A book of magic, containing spells, charms and ritual instructions.
A belief that went against official Church teaching. It could be punished by death.
A payment or good deed that the Church said reduced punishment for sins.
A story about a person or event that may have a small root in history but has grown with retelling.
A community where monks lived, prayed and worked. Many also ran schools, hospitals and farms.
A traditional story that explains beliefs or events, often involving gods or heroes. It may not be true.
A follower of an older, non-Christian religion, such as the Norse gods.
A journey to a holy place to pray or ask for forgiveness.
A place where souls were believed to be cleansed of sin before entering heaven.
The 1500s movement that split many Christians away from the Catholic Church and created Protestant churches.
A holy object, often a saint's bone or belongings, thought to have special power.
A belief in luck, omens or hidden forces that goes beyond religion or science.
Using magic to harm or help. Accusations of witchcraft were often about fear, blame and power.
A young person who learned a trade by working for a master craftsman for several years.
Swapping goods or services without using money.
A deadly plague that reached Britain in 1348 and killed a huge share of the population.
Land that villagers could use for grazing animals or collecting firewood.
Money or goods owed to someone else.
Fencing off common land for one owner, often leaving poorer people without access.
A severe shortage of food, causing widespread hunger and death.
Gathering crops. A bad harvest could mean hunger for the whole year.
A rise in prices, meaning money buys less than before.
A regular gathering where goods were bought and sold. Towns needed a royal licence to hold one.
Farming in large shared fields, where each villager worked strips of land scattered across them.
A tax charged per person, no matter how rich or poor. The 1381 poll tax helped spark the Peasants' Revolt.
Money demanded by a ruler to pay for things like wars, courts and government.
Someone who rents land or a home from a landowner.
A tenth of a person's crops or income, paid to the Church.
Selling wool, England's most valuable export in the Middle Ages.
Something placed in the wrong time period, such as a clock in a Viking scene.
Studying the past by digging up and examining objects and buildings.
An object made by people in the past, such as a coin, tool or brooch.
A one-sided view that favours one person, group or opinion unfairly.
A written document granting rights, land or privileges.
A written account of events in order of time, usually by a monk or clerk. Chroniclers often had their own opinions.
The surrounding circumstances that help explain why something was said or done.
Someone who saw an event happen. Useful, but they can still be mistaken or biased.
A fake document or object made to deceive. Some medieval charters were forged to claim land.
A historian's explanation of what evidence means. Different historians can reach different conclusions.
A book or document written by hand.
Evidence from the time being studied, such as a letter, law, chronicle or building.
Information designed to shape opinion, often by exaggerating or leaving things out.
The history of a source: who made it, when, why and where it has been since.
Trustworthy. A reliable source gives accurate information you can check against other evidence.
Something written later about the past, such as a textbook or a historian's book.
The people who ruled much of England from about 450 until the Norman Conquest in 1066.
A reason why something happened.
The order in which events happened.
A result of an event or decision.
Things that stayed the same over time.
An old nickname for the early Middle Ages. Many historians avoid it because the period was full of activity.
A line of rulers from the same family, such as the Plantagenets or the Tudors.
What an event or person leaves behind for later generations.
Relating to the Middle Ages, roughly the years 500 to 1500.
People from Normandy in France who conquered England in 1066 under William.
How important something was, judged by its effects on people at the time and later.
A moment after which things changed direction in a big way.
Break something into parts and examine how they connect.
Name the source of your evidence so others can check it.
Point out what two things have in common.
Point out how two things are different.
Say what something was like, giving clear details.
Look at different sides of an issue before reaching a conclusion.
Weigh up the strengths and weaknesses, then reach a judgement.
Give reasons and show how or why something happened.
Give reasons and evidence to support your argument.
Put someone else's words into your own words.
Give the main points briefly, without small details.
