OCR GCSE History B key terms

An area of low-lying marshland in eastern England, containing patches of higher ground such as the Isle of Ely.

An Anglo-Saxon landholder who held a position below an earl and could provide military service.

Political groups supporting greater social and economic equality, including social democrats and communists in Germany.

The belief that health depended on a balance between four bodily substances: blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile.

A person paid to recover stolen property and sometimes deliver suspected thieves to the authorities.

An assembly where people dealt with laws, disputes and political decisions in Norse society.

An enslaved person at the bottom of Viking society, without the freedom of a farmer or landowner.

A building whose main supporting structure is a framework of wooden posts and beams.

A portable tent used by nomadic Plains peoples, which could be dismantled and transported when a camp moved.

A group of roughly ten men aged twelve or over whose members were responsible for bringing one another to court if accused of breaking the law.

A small group of related families that formed the basic unit of Lakota society.

The Aztec rain god, believed to provide essential rainfall but also to send destructive weather.

An Aztec ruler who also commanded military campaigns.

The people of independent Tlaxcala, longstanding enemies of the Mexica who allied with Cortés after initially fighting his forces in 1519.

A charge paid to use a route, crossing or trading facility.

The extensive direction of society’s labour, resources and everyday activities towards fighting a war.

A war that requires the mobilisation of civilian workers, industry and resources as well as the armed forces.

An Indigenous people living near the Gulf coast of Mexico, including at Cempoala, whose leaders sought Spanish help against Aztec rule in 1519.

An organisation of workers that represents its members in disputes over matters such as pay and working conditions.

A base where merchants buy, sell and store goods for transport elsewhere.

The name associated with the forced removal and suffering of Indigenous peoples, especially the Cherokee removal beginning in 1838.

The forced transportation of enslaved African people across the Atlantic to the Americas.

A railway linking the eastern and western United States. The first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869.

Sending convicted offenders overseas to serve their sentences, usually through compulsory labour in a colony.

Groups of actors who travelled around the country performing plays.

A serious offence against the monarch or state, such as plotting to overthrow or kill the monarch.

A formal agreement between political communities or governments, setting out promises and obligations.