agency
agency (n.)
Definition
a person’s ability to be responsible for their own actions or life events
Sample Sentence
Workers on the lord’s manor had little agency.
Image Credit: Courtesy of the British Library
7 | Module 1
apprentice
apprentice (n.)
Definition
a person who learns a job or skill by working for a fixed period of time for someone who is very good at that job or skill
Sample Sentence
The young apprentice learned from the expert baker.
Image Credit: Scanned from Maggie Black’s “Den medeltida kokboken”, Swedish translation of The Medieval Cookbook. The Bodleian Library, Oxford.
7 | Module 1
expectation
expectation (n.)
Definition a belief that something will happen or is likely to happen
Sample Sentence
The queen had clear expectations for her child.
Credit: Florilegius/Alamy Stock Photo
Image
hierarchy
hierarchy (n.)
Definition a system in which people or things are placed in a series of levels with different importance or status
Sample Sentence
At the top of the hierarchy was the king.
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medieval
medieval (adj.)
Definition of or relating to the Middle Ages, the period of European history from about 500 CE to 1500 CE
Sample Sentence Medieval art often depicts the daily life of nobles.
Image Credit: Master of the Codex Manesse (Additional Painter I) (fl. circa 1305–circa 1340)
7 | Module 1
midwife
midwife (n.)
Definition a person (usually a woman) who helps a woman when she is giving birth to a child
Sample Sentence
The midwife helped the new mother.
Image Credit: North Wind Picture Archives/Alamy Stock Photo
7 | Module 1
parentage
parentage (n.)
Definition a person’s parents; used especially to describe the origins or social status of someone’s parents
Sample Sentence
The family tree showed the child’s parentage.
Image Credit: The Print Collector/Alamy Stock Photo
7 | Module 1
privilege
privilege (n.)
Definition a right or benefit given to some people but not to others
Sample Sentence
The young knight enjoyed the privilege of learning to read and write.
Image Credit: Chronicle/Alamy Stock Photo
status
status (n.)
Definition the position or rank of someone or something when compared to others in a society, organization, group, etc.
Sample Sentence
The knight had a higher social status than the peasant.
7 | Module 1