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To begin, ALL of you must be familiar with the terms of the day.
Glossary of Medieval Terms
- Apprentice: one who works with another to learn an art or trade
- Bailey: the enclosed courtyard of a castle; often there was an inner and outer bailey
- Barbican: tower at a gate or bridge
- Barter: to trade by exchanging one item for another
- Calligraphy: beautiful handwriting; during the Middle Ages, books were carefully copied and preserved by monks who took pride in their penmanship
- Chevalier: French for knight or horseman (Krak des Chevaliers)
- Chain mail: rings and rivets linked together by hammering into flat rings and "knitted" together to protect the knight.
- clergy – persons ordained to perform certain religious dutiesda Vinci, Leonardo: one of the greatest painters of the Renaissance; a genius in many areas: anatomy, astronomy, botany, geology, and designing inventions
- Drawbridge: crossed the castle moat and could be pulled up or away a protection against attack
- Duel: a fight to the death with formal rules to settle an argument
- Escutcheon: technical name in heraldry for a shield
- festival: a day or special time of rejoicing or feasting, often in memory of some great happening
- feudalism –a system of power in Europe during the Middle Ages, in which kings and queens had the most power, followed by nobles, knights, and peasants
- freemason: stone cutters and carvers working under the master mason to build a castle
- Gauntlet: protective glove used during fighting or hunting
- Great Hall: formal business room in a castle, also used for feasting
- Guild: an association of all the people in a town or village who practiced a certain trade; weavers, grocers, masons, and other craft workers in the Middle Ages formed guild and set standards for quality and pricesHerald: a knight's assistant, representative at the joust, and expert advisor on heraldry; also acted as an official at battles and tournaments
- Joust: a combat with lances between two knights on horseback
- Journeyman: a worker who has served an apprenticeship and is qualified for work in a specific trade
- Keep: The innermost part of the castle
- King: Crowned ruler of a territory or country called a kingdom
- Knight: formal title for a class of lower nobility charged with fighting for the lord; the role of the knight was often changing between the demands of lady, court, church, and battlefield
- Lance (unit of organization): the small unit that surrounded a knight during battle; the lance might consist of one or two squires, the knight, and one to three men-at-arms and possibly an archer
- manor–a large estate that often included a village as well as farmlands inhabited by peasants
- Middle Ages - the years between ancient and modern times; from about A.d. 500 until 1500MOAT: A trench filled with water dug around the castle. It was often filled with sharp and dangerous objects like rusty metal and glass. Inhabitants of the area often also threw refuse in it, contributing to the stink of the area.
- NARTHEX: Enclosed passageway between the entrance and nave of a church.
- NAVE: Principal hall of the church.
- Oubliette: a dungeon reached by a trapped door, often in one of the castle towers. The word comes from the French meaning "place of forgetting."
- PAGE: The youngest term of a knight's training, usually held by boys from eight to thirteen. During this time they served the household needs of their lord.
- RANSOM: The idea that a knight would be captured rather than killed or defeated. In war, this meant the payment of a large capital sum, while in tourney it often meant the forfeiture of armour and horse.
- serf – a peasant in medieval Europe considered to be part of the land; a noble’s manor included serfs
- SIR: The title for a knight.
- SIRE: One title used for king, a more familiar title reserved for confidants.
- Tournament[Tournoi]: The tournament began as a training for war, and was gradually more regulated and specialized. Knights would compete against one another under the watchful eyes of the heralds and ladies of the gallery, earning renown and fame.
- vassal – in medieval Europe, a man who promised to be loyal to a landowner, who in return gave him a share of the land, called a fief
- Vows: A knightly promise to accomplish some feat, usually a military feat in meeting a number of challengers, conducting jousts, or campaigning against an enemy. The vow became an important element of the knightly gesture.
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