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A person learning the basics of a skilled trade, such as masonry (working with brick or stone) or weaving.
Someone who controls land and the people who live on it. Aristocrats generally inherited their positions from their fathers (occasionally from their mothers).
The economic system in which skilled craftspeople manufactured goods, such as cloth, from their homes rather than in factories. This scenario was typical of the period before the Industrial Revolution.
A political system in which a majority of the people determine the government and its policies, as opposed to governments determined, for example, by inheritance (such as those run by kings and aristocrats).
The belief that knowledge derives from examining subjects.
A social and political system prevalent in Europe from about 400 to 1500, in which aristocrats, or lords, controlled the land and so-called common people (known as serfs) were legally bound to work on the land under the direction of the aristocrat and with the benefit of his protection.
Associations of skilled craftspeople that set rules and standards for their work. Guild members generally advanced from apprentice (beginner) to journeyman (ordinary worker) to master, the highest level.
A French expression meaning "free to do," referring to the belief that governments should let economic activity take place without interference.
Another name for the Middle Ages (500 to 1400), the period from about the end of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the Renaissance.
An economic system in which government manages national economies by regulating trade, agriculture, and manufacturing with the aim of accumulating wealth. It was a system criticized by England's Adam Smith, who argued that people acting in their self-interest would result in the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
The rules, thought to be taken from nature, by which the universe operates.
A period in European history from about 1400 to 1700 in which classical (ancient Roman and Greek) ideas about art, literature, and other intellectual pursuits began to replace long-held religious beliefs.
