The early Middle Ages helped set the stage for a new society to emerge from Roman, Christian, and Germanic traditions, and for a revival of the classical world to influence the rise of Islamic culture. Kings, clergy, and scholars helped to preserve the classical past and maintain diplomatic and economic ties across western Afro-Eurasia.

The growth of cultural and religious cohesion through western Europe and the crude but effective institutions of the feudal world laid the groundwork for a period of stability and growth to come in the High Middle Ages The Abbasid rulers had established their control over the Middle East and created a multiethnic, multireligious society that promoted trade, scholarship, and urbanization.

chivalry — a code of ideal conduct meant to validate the practices of noble warriors by Christianizing knightly violence and behavior. feudalism — a collection of practices that bound lesser lords to greater lords through land and privileges given in return for personal and military support. mamluks — educated, formerly enslaved men who served as soldiers and administrators in Islamic societies beginning in the ninth century. manorialism — a medieval economic system of agricultural production directed by a lord and carried out by serfs or other varieties of unfree laborers.