The Middle Ages: Chapter 2

by Miri Rubin
This work of historical nonfiction, part of the Very Short Introduction series, discusses society, religion, and politics in Europe from around 500 to 1500 CE.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. autonomy
    personal independence
    Endowing people in the past with a sphere of autonomy, and even of choice—however modest—is sometimes described by historians as considering their agency.
  2. manumission
    the formal act of freeing from slavery
    Serfs could be freed by manumission, either granted as a favour—as when a serf’s son was freed in order to qualify for training to become a priest—or against payment.
  3. vestige
    an indication that something has been present
    Even after manumission a vestige of unfreedom could linger, as in the case of those entitled colliberti on French estates.
  4. comportment
    manner of behaving or conducting oneself; bearing
    Clothing, comportment, use of space, all served to display the gendered order of society.
  5. embedded
    inserted as an integral part of a surrounding whole
    Such ideas were embedded in the system of ethics and science inherited from antiquity according to which the human person resided in a body which was also home to the soul.
  6. flux
    a state of constant change
    The grid of natural bodily conditions was understood to be in flux, and the balance at any moment was affected by planetary movements, but also by the routines of eating and bodily care undertaken by individuals.
  7. exigency
    a pressing or urgent situation
    The conventions and exigencies which operated on men and women were complex and varied.
  8. undertaking
    any piece of work that is attempted
    The Carolingian scholar and courtier Einhard spoke of missing his wife Imma (d. 835) ‘every day, in every action, in every undertaking’.
  9. leniency
    mercifulness as a consequence of being tolerant
    Pope Gregory I allowed the missionary to southern England, Augustine of Canterbury (d. 604), to act with leniency with the recently converted English on the issue of licit marriage partners.
  10. stricture
    a principle that restricts the extent of something
    Such strictures were hard to live by.
  11. edifying
    enlightening or uplifting so as to encourage improvement
    The Psalms, the Creed, the widely used prayers Ave Maria and Pater Noster, and edifying religious tales were taught in households in the mother tongue and were integrated into family life.
  12. echelon
    level of authority in a hierarchy
    The land held within this relationship could include a combination of one or more estates; in the highest echelons it amounted to a county, duchy, or even a kingdom—their population, resources, and related jurisdiction.
  13. dearth
    an acute insufficiency
    And dearth produced fantasies of plenty, like the Land of Cokaigne, occasionally imagined in poems: a land where it rained meatballs and pancakes, where roasted chickens flew straight into the mouths of the hungry.
  14. acumen
    shrewdness shown by keen insight
    Kinship loyalty and mercantile acumen combined to create formidable mercantile lineages.
  15. concerted
    involving the joint activity of two or more
    Such concerted work required an active bureaucracy with the powers to tax their citizens and conduct diplomacy—and even war—on behalf of member cities.
Created on Wed May 27 08:19:13 EDT 2026 (updated Mon Jun 08 18:41:19 EDT 2026)

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