Allure
1) Wall-walk, passage behind the parapet of a castle wall.
(Gies, Joseph and Francis. Life in a Medieval Castle, 225)
2) The patch along the top of a castle or town wall, providing access to any part of the wall circuit behind the cover of the parapet.
(Wise, Terence. Medieval Warfare, 246)
Hoarding
[hawr-ding, hohr-]
Wooden galleries erected on the face of a castle’s battlements to enable the defenders to fire on men attacking the base of the wall. (Wise, Terence. Medieval Warfare, 249)
Villein
[vil-uhn]
Middle English vilain, vilein
1) The wealthiest class of peasant. they usually cultivate 20-40 acres of land, often in isolated strips.
(MEDIEV-L. Medieval Terms)
2) A non-free man, owing heavy labor service to a lord, subject to his manorial court, bound to the land, and subject to certain feudal dues.
(Gies, Joseph and Francis. Life in a Medieval Castle, […]
Coif
Pronunciation: [koif]
Middle English coife, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin cofea
1) Mail hood covering the head (Wise, Terence. Medieval Warfare, 247)
2) a hoodlike cap worn under a veil by nuns
3) any of various hoodlike caps, varying through the centuries in shape and purpose, worn by men and women
Falchion
Pronunciation: [fawl-chuhn, -shuhn]
Etymology: Middle English fauchoun, from Anglo-French fauchun, from faucher to mow, from Vulgar Latin *falcare, from Latin falc-, falx
1) Broad-bladed cutting weapon.
(Prestwich, Michael. Armies and Warfare in the Middle Ages: The English Experience, 347)
2) Short, curved single-edged sword with a broad blade, used for cleaving blows.
(Wise, Terence. Medieval Warfare, 248)
Relief
Pronunciation: [ri-leef]
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English relef, relief, from Anglo-French from relever to relieve
1) The fee paid by the heir of a deceased person on securing possession of a fief. Tradition determines the amount demanded.
2) A fine paid by the heir of a vassal to the lord for the privilege of succeeding to an estate.
(Gies, […]
Retinue
Pronunciation: [ret-n-oo, -yoo]
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English retenue, from Anglo-French, from feminine of retenu, past participle of retenir to retain
a) small troop of fighting men of all types raised on the estate of a knight
b) body of persons “retained” in the service of a noble or royal personage
I’m currently reading A World Without End by Ken Follett, and his historical fiction novel is filled with medieval church architectural terms that I’m not readily familiar with, such as a clerestory or apse or chancel. I read Pillars of the Earth years ago, and some of the terms I remember from reading that novel […]
Investiture
Pronunciation: [in-ves-ti-cher, -choor]
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin investitura, from investitus, past participle of investire
The act of formally putting someone into an office or landholding; it was a major occasion of dispute in the eleventh and twelfth centuries when reformers opposed lay rulers who invested clergy with the symbols of their positions.