A representative assembly in England that, by the fourteenth century, was composed of great lords (both lay and ecclesiastical) and representatives from two other groups: shire knights and town burgesses.
An arrangement in which vassals were protected and maintained by their lords, usually through the granting of fiefs, and required to serve under them in war.
The urban-based middle class between the wealthy aristocracy and the working class.
An outward and physical sign of an inward and spiritual grace.
The French representative assembly, composed of the three social "estates" in France, first convened by Philip IV.
The act of anointing with oil as a rite of consecration.
Associations of artisans and merchants intended to protect and promote affairs of common interest.
The period 1378-1417, marked by divided papal allegiances in Latin Christendom.
A written order issued by a court, commanding the party to whom it is addressed to perform or cease performing a specified act.
A trade network of allied ports along the North Sea and Baltic coasts, founded in 1256.
An economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market.
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