Medieval Terminology and Glossary

ALLURE: Walkway along the top of a wall, next to battlement.
APPRENTICESHIP: A sort of bonded servitude in which a young boy is given to a master of a trade. The master is usually highly skilled at his job. The boy then learns the trade from the master. In return he does the master's grunt work.
ARROW LOOP: A narrow vertical slit cut into a wall through which arrows could be fired from.
ASHLAR: The outer part of a wall, such as in castle or town fortifications. It was made of squared blocks of smooth stone, neatly trimmed into shape.
ASSART LAND: Land that was only recently turned into farmland.
BAILEY: The ward or courtyard inside the castle walls, include exercise area, parade ground, and emergency corral.
BARBICAN: The gateway or outworks defending the drawbridge.
BASEMENT: The lowest floor in a castle tower. It was often used for storage
BASTION: A small tower at the end of a curtain wall. It was not lived in.
BATTER: A sloping part of a curtain wall. The sharp angle at the base of all walls and towers along the exterior surface. It was used to help objects ricochet off the walls and into enemies.
BATTLEMENT: Top part of a stone wall, consisting of merlons and crenels.
BRATTICE: Timber tower or projecting wooden gallery from which projectiles and missiles could be dropped onto enemies; hoarding.
BREASTWORK: Heavy parapet slung between two gate towers; defense work over the portcullis.
BUTTERY: Next to the kitchen, a room from where wine was dispensed.
CESSPIT: An opening in the wall in which waste from a garderobe was collected. YUCK!
COIF: A type of armored head-covering made out of chain-mail.
CORBEL: A projecting block of stone built into a wall during construction. It was used to hold up an arch.
CRENELS: Low segments in the battlement.
CROFT: A garden which usually resided outside a villager's house. It was used to supplement the year's crop.
CURTAIN WALL: A connecting wall hung between two towers surrounding the bailey.
DAUB: Material made of mud, horsehair, clay, and animal dung mixed together. It was applied to houses, covering the wattle.
DIVINE RIGHT: The belief that the king's right to rule came from God himself.
DONJON: A great tower or keep.
DRAWBRIDGE: A wooden bridge that could be raised and lowered as needed. It spanned the moat and was an important component of the castle gate.
DUNGEON: The jail, usually found in one of the towers.
DOWRY: A present given to a new husband by the bride upon marriage. It took the form of land, goods, or money.
EMBATTLED: Battlemented; crenelated.
EMBRASURE: An opening to either side of a merlon, along the top of a wall
ENCEINTE: The enclosure or fortified area of a castle.
FIEF: A grant of something of value, most often land, from a lord to his vassal.
FOOTINGS: Bottom part of wall.
FOREBUILDING: An extension to the keep, guarding its entrance.
FOSSE: Ditch
GAMBESON: Covering worn under body armor, usually made of wool.
GARDEROBE: A small toilet built into a wall or sticking out of it.
GATE HOUSE: The sum of all the towers, bridges, and walls constructed to fortify and prevent access to the keep of a castle, or town, in times of war.
GLACIS: A cleared bank sloping down from a castle's walls. It makes a clear line of fire in which attackers have nowhere to hide.
GREAT CHAMBER: Lord's solar, or bedroom.
GREAT HALL: The building in the inner ward that was the main meeting and eating room in the castle; throne room.
HALIMOTE: A manorial court presided over by 12 common serfs. It decided petty dispustes and infractures of local regulation. It also meeted out the corresponding punishments.
HAUBERK: An armored vest, usually of chain-mail.
HOARDINGS: Wooden buildings created outside the wall, directly over the enemy forces. Projectiles and other dangerous missiles were dropped down out of holes in the floors of these wooden structures.
HOMAGE AND FEALTY: Part of the contract between a lord and his vassal. The vassal was required to give the lord "homage and fealty". This most often meant monetary and military support. It also pertained to special duties, like serving on the lord's court.
INNER CURTAIN: The high wall that surrounds the inner ward.
INNER WARD: the open area in the center of the castle.
KEEP: A strong stone tower; the most heavily fortified part of a castle.
LANCET: Long, narrow window with pointed head.
LOUVRE: An opening in the roof made to allow smoke to escape.
MACHICOLATION: A stone chute in the outer part of a wall, missiles were dropped down these chutes to harm offending armies. Also, the word was used to describe stone hoardings.
MARLING: A medieval fertilization technique. It consisted of spreading clay containing carbonate of lime on the soil.
MERLON: The vertical, spiked objects along the frontal area of a wall. They often contained arrow holes through which arrows and other projectiles could be hurled.
MOAT: 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.
MURDER HOLES: A section between the main gate and the portcullis where holes were cut in planks above. Defenders dropped dangerous objects from these holes down onto invaders.
NARTHEX: Enclosed passageway between the entrance and nave of a church.
NAVE: Principal hall of the church.
OUBLIETTE: A dungeon reached by a trap door, often in one of the castle towers. The word comes from French meaning "place of forgetting".
OUTER CURTAIN: The wall that encloses the outer ward.
OUTER WARD: The area around the outside of and adjacent to the inner curtain.
PALLIASS: Straw mattresses slept on during the middle ages.
PORTCULLIS: A heavy timber or metal grill lowered to protect the castle gate.
POSTERN GATE: A less important gate or entrance into a castle.
PUTLOG: Wooden beams placed in holes created in the castle wall. They were used to support hoardings.
PUTLOG HOLE: A hole placed in walls to put putlog in.
QUINTAIN: An object used to help train a knight. It consisted of a shield and dummie suspended from a swinging pole. When the shield was hit by a charging squire, the whole apparatus would rotate. The squire's task was to avoid the rotating arms and not get knocked from the sadle.
ROOD: A wooden and occasionally painted crucifixion hung in a church.
SERF: A peasant. Essentially a slave in medieval times.
SHIELD MONEY: Money paid by a vassal to his lord to excuse him from his military service. It was often used to pay for mercenaries.
SOLAR: The upper living room, over the great hall, that was the lord's living room.
TITHE: A kind of tax paid to a clergymen to help support him and the church.
VASSAL: A person who holds a fief granted by a superior, or lord.
VICAR: A word from the Lation "substitute" it was a clergymen paid to act in the true parish priest's stead. A vicar was often very corrupt.
WALL-STAIR: Staircase built into a wall.
WATTLE: A kind of woven mesh of sticks, usually oak or willow, used in house construction.