A guide to the language of history
History glossary
Understand the people, places and ideas behind the stories. Find a term, read its meaning, then explore it in context.
73–108 of 797 terms
Bolshevik
a member or supporter of the revolutionary party led by Vladimir Lenin in Russia.
Bolshevism
the revolutionary communist movement associated with Lenin's Bolsheviks and the Soviet state.
bondage
a condition of being enslaved or held without personal freedom.
Book of Common Prayer
the English-language prayer book that standardised worship in the Church of England.
Boston Tea Party
the December 1773 protest in which colonists destroyed tea in Boston Harbor to resist British tea policy.
boycott
refusing to buy or use a service to press for change.
brigands
armed bands or outlaws, often imagined during the Great Fear as hired enemies of peasant communities.
Bronze Age
a period when bronze tools, weapons, and ritual objects shaped elite power and state formation.
Browder vs Gayle
the court case that overturned Montgomery bus segregation in 1956.
Brown vs Board of Education
the 1954 Supreme Court case that rejected racial segregation in public schools.
Bureaucracy
a system of officials, records, and rules used to manage a large organization or state.
Byzantine Empire
the eastern Roman Empire centered on Constantinople, lasting for centuries after the western Roman Empire fell.
Byzantines
a later name for the eastern Romans and their empire, centered on Constantinople.
Byzantium
the ancient Greek city on the Bosporus that later became Constantinople; also a common shorthand for the Byzantine Empire.
cadres
party officials or activists responsible for implementing policy, mobilizing people, and enforcing political campaigns.
Caliph
a successor-leader of the Muslim community after Muhammad.
Caliphate
a form of Islamic rule led by a caliph, a political and religious successor figure.
Canals
human-made channels that move water for farming, transport, drainage, or urban supply.
Canton System
the Qing system that restricted most Western maritime trade to Canton.
Capetian
the French royal dynasty descended from Hugh Capet, whose direct male line failed in 1328.
Capitalism
an economic system based on private ownership, wage labor, markets, investment, and profit.
caravel
a small, maneuverable sailing ship used by Portuguese and Spanish explorers in long-distance Atlantic voyages.
Carnelian
a reddish-orange semi-precious stone used for beads and ornaments.
Carolingian
relating to the Frankish dynasty of Charlemagne and his successors.
Carolingian Renaissance
a revival of learning, manuscript copying, church reform and Latin education under Charlemagne and his successors.
Carthaginian
belonging to Carthage, the North African city-state that became Rome's great rival.
cartography
the making and use of maps to understand, claim, or navigate space.
castle
a fortified residence and military site used to project lordly or royal power.
Cathars
a medieval Christian movement in southern France condemned by the Catholic Church as heretical.
Catholic Church
the western Christian church led by the pope in Rome.
Catholicism
the branch of western Christianity led by the pope and centred on the Roman Catholic Church.
Celtic
a broad label for related Iron Age peoples, languages, and cultures across parts of Europe.
Celts
diverse ancient and medieval peoples linked by related languages, art styles, and cultural traditions.
Central Powers
the First World War alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria.
Cheka
the early Soviet secret police founded in December 1917 to defend Bolshevik rule.
Chernobyl
the 1986 nuclear disaster that exposed Soviet secrecy, mismanagement, and official distrust.
