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| 233879228 | Abbasid Caliphate | Descendants of the Prophet Muhammad's uncle, al-Abbas, the Abbasids overthrew the Umayyad Caliphate and ruled an Islamic empire from their capital in Baghdad (founded 762) from 750 to 1258. (p. 234) | 0 | |
| 233879229 | Caliphate | Office established in succession to the Prophet Muhammad, to rule the Islamic empire; also the name of that empire. (See also Abbasid Caliphate; Sokoto Caliphate; Umayyad Caliphate.) (p. 232) | 1 | |
| 233879230 | Islam | the religion of Muslims collectively which governs their civilization and way of life | 2 | |
| 233879231 | Hijra | The Migration of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in A.D. 622, marking the founding of Islam | 3 | |
| 233879232 | Muhammad | Came from family of merchants. Founded Islam. Believed he was the final prophet. Learned of Christianity and Judaism from merchants. Believed Gabriel the archangel told him he was god's prophet. Wrote the Koran. Forced out of Mecca to Medena. | 4 | |
| 233879233 | Mecca | City in western Arabia; birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, and ritual center of the Islamic religion. | 5 | |
| 233879234 | Medina | Also known as Yathrib; town located northeast of Mecca; grew date palms whose fruit was sold to bedouins; became refuge for Muhammad following flight from Mecca (hijra) | 6 | |
| 233879235 | Quran | the sacred writings of Islam revealed by God to the prophet Muhammad during his life at Mecca and Medina | 7 | |
| 233879236 | Sunnis | Muslims belonging to branch of Islam believing that the community should select its own leadership. The majority religion in most Islamic countries. (See also Shi'ites.) (p. 225) | 8 | |
| 233879237 | Shi'ites | Muslims belonging to the branch of Islam believing that God vests leadership of the community in a descendant of Muhammad's son-in-law Ali. Shi'ism is the state religion of Iran. (See also Sunnis.) (pp. 225, 531) | 9 | |
| 233879238 | Umma | the Muslim community or people, considered to extend from Mauritania to Pakistan | 10 | |
| 233879239 | Ulama | the body of mullahs (Muslim scholars trained in Islam and Islamic law) who are the interpreters of Islam's sciences and doctrines and laws and the chief guarantors of continuity in the spiritual and intellectual history of the Islamic community | 11 | |
| 233879240 | Umayyad Caliphate | First hereditary dynasty of Muslim caliphs (661 to 750). From their capital at Damascus, the Umayyads ruled an empire that extended from Spain to India. Overthrown by the Abbasid Caliphate. (p. 232) | 12 | |
| 233879241 | Byzantine Empire | Historians' name for the eastern portion of the Roman Empire from the fourth century onward, taken from 'Byzantion,' an early name for Constantinople, the Byzantine capital city. The empire fell to the Ottomans in 1453. (250) | 13 | |
| 233879242 | Charlemagne | King of the Franks (r. 768-814); emperor (r. 800-814). Through a series of military conquests he established the Carolingian Empire, which encompassed all of Gaul and parts of Germany and Italy. Illiterate, though started an intellectual revival. (250) | 14 | |
| 233879243 | Crusades | a series of military expeditions in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries by Westrn European Christians to reclain control of the Holy Lands from the Muslims | 15 | |
| 233879244 | fief | land granted by a lord to a vassal in exchange for loyalty and service | 16 | |
| 233879245 | Investiture controversy | struggle between the papacy and the secular rulers of Europe over the latter's presentation of the symbols of office to churchmen | 17 | |
| 233879246 | Kievan Russia | State established at Kiev in Ukraine ca. 879 by Scandinavian adventurers asserting authority over a mostly Slavic farming population. (p. 267) | 18 | |
| 233879247 | manor | A large estate, often including farms and a village, ruled by a lord. | 19 | |
| 233879248 | medieval | Referring to the middle ages | 20 | |
| 233879249 | monasticism | a way of life in which men and women withdraw from the rest of the world in order to devote themselves to their faith, Monasticism was the monastic life practiced by Christian monks and nuns in monasteries across Europe. Monks and nuns lived, prayed, worked, and studied in monasteries and convents. The lives of Benedictine monks and nuns were regulated by the Benedictine rule. | 21 | |
| 233879250 | Papacy | The central administration of the Roman Catholic Church, of which the pope is the head. (pp. 258, 445) | 22 | |
| 233879251 | pilgrimage | A journey to a place considered sacred for religious purposes. | 23 | |
| 233879252 | schism | division of a group into opposing factions | 24 | |
| 233879253 | serf | peasants on a manor; they were bound to the land; they were not slaves who could be bought and sold—still they were not free | 25 | |
| 233879254 | vassal | in the middle ages, a noble who usually was given a fief by his lord in exchange for loyalty | 26 |
