No one knows quite where the Avars came from, although they were active in Eastern Europe from the sixth to the ninth centuries. The centre of their empire was the Hungarian plain between the Danube and Tisza Rivers.
Basilica:
The name was originally used to denote an ancient Roman hall used as a center for lawmakers or public gatherings. Distinguishing features were an apse and colonnades. The term is also used to describe a church, with similar architectural features to the Roman structure.
Bishopric:
The office of the bishop.
Campanile:
A free-standing bell tower.
Campo:
A square in front of a church.
Crusader:
Person who joined any one of the medieval European military campaigns to wrest Holy Land from the Muslims. More generally, a crusader is someone absolutely dedicated to a specific cause.
Cupola:
A rounded dome which forms a ceiling or roof.
Doge:
The word `doge' means duke or leader. Altogether, there were 120 doges between AD697 and 1797. The first 25 mostly met sticky ends: three were judicially blinded, one exiled, one became a saint, four abdicated, three were murdered, four deposed, one executed for treason, and one was killed in a battle with pirates.
Ecclesiastic:
A priest.
Exarch:
A bishop whose power extended over an area larger than a diocese. A title used in the Orthodox Church, the exarch comes after the patriarch in rank .
Excommunicate:
Banish a person from the church
Ferro:
The 44-pound iron prow which stabilizes the gondola. Its seven horizontal prongs are symbolic: the six facing away from the boat represent the six districts of Venice; the one facing in, the island of Giudecca.
Franks:
A Germanic tribes that dominated Europe after the collapse of the Western Roman empire. They conquered Gaul in the 5th century and set up medieval western Europe's most powerful Christian kingdom. They were divided into three groups: Chatti (Hessians), Salians, Ripuarians.
Gaul:
The land of the Celts that existed in what today encompasses France, Belgium, western Germany and northern Italy. The Gauls were divided into tribes and ruled by a landed class.
Goths:
The Goths were divided into two groups - the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths. Both were united in their harassment of the Roman Empire. They were distinguished in battle by their round shields and short swords.
Hannibal:
Commander of the Carthaginian attack on Rome in the Second Punic War from 218-201BC. Born in 247BC, Hannibal fought a constant battle against Rome. In 218 BC he marched on Italy across the Alps on elephants, braving trecherous terrain and guerrilla attacks. Hannibal's troops ravaged Italian resistance, however, his fighting strength began to stretch thin and in 203BC he abandoned Italy. Despite the treaty between Carthage and Rome, Hannibal continued agitating against Rome. When the Romans were finally able
to obtain Hannibal's surrender, the great military leader poisoned himself. The year is thought to be 183.
Huns:
A nomadic people who evoked fear and terror with their ferocious fighting strategies. The Huns invaded southeastern Europe in AD370 and over the next seven centuries consolidated a gigantic empire. One of the most famous Huns is Attila who murdered his brother in AD445 and unsuccessfully invaded Gaul in AD451 - his sole defeat. Attila died in AD453 and the end of the Huns was nigh as his sons quarelled among themselves and opened the way for defeat by their enemies.
Istria:
The 1,220-square-mile peninsula between the Gulf of Venice in the west and the Kvarner in the east. Istria became part of Yugoslavia in 1947, and in 1954 it was divided between Italy and Yugoslavia.
Kubilai Khan (1215-1294):
Mongolian general and the first emperor of China's Yuan Dynasty, Kubilai Khan was the grandson of Genghis Khan. Although he could never read or write Chinese, he surrounded himself with with trustworthy Chinese advisors. Kubilai's adoption of a Chinese-based policy and his increasing identification with the Chinese rather than the nomads drew much criticism from Mongols. Marco Polo was Kubilai Khan's most famous employee. All important posts were allotted to foreigners.
Lombards:
Rulers of a kingdom in Italy from 568 to 774.
Normans:
Vikings who settled in northern France about AD900.
Ostrogoths:
One of two groups who made up the Goths.Their empire existed north of the Black Sea in the third century.
Patricians:
Members of the Venetian nobility.
Polenta:
Porridge made from corn meal.
Trachyte:
A fine-grained, igneous rock of light colour and rough texture. Trachytes are normally formed from small lava flows.
