Middle Ages

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Fall of Rome

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476 A.D.

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Franks

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The Franks were people who lived in the region of Gaul, which is now France and Switzerland.

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Serf

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Peasants bound to the land, could not leave, and owed work to their lord.

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Monasteries

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Religious communities built by the Church, devoted to God.

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Middle Ages

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The period from 500 to 1500, after the fall of the Roman Empire, with cultural aspects from Rome, Roman Catholic Christianity, and Germanic traditions.

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Lords

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People under the king, who owned land and gave fiefs to vassals.

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Clovis

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Ruler of the Franks from 481 to 509 A.D.

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Secular

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Not bound by religious rule; Gregory I made the papacy secular and involved in politics.

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Major Domo

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'Mayor of the palace,' the most powerful person in the Frankish kingdom, in charge of the royal household and leading armies.

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Pope

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Leading figure of the Roman Catholic Church.