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L

Lady: Each lady must obey her husband or her father if she is not married, as well as her king.

Lance: A long spear used for Jousting.

Lancet: Tall narrow window with pointed head.

Lavatory: Another word for bathroom.

Legend: A story from the past sometimes believed to be true.

Leprosy: A very serious skin disease. 

Limestone: A type of rock that can be used to make sculptures usually in medieval times.

Lime-Wash: White protective coating applied to walls, to protect the mortar

Linen: Cloth made from the flax plant. 

Lists: The fenced area where the jousts are held.

Loophole: Slit for light, air, or shooting through.

Lord/Lady of the manor: A proprietor of  feudal land usually a nobleman/noblewoman. The lord owned the fields and peasants.

 Louver: A covered hole in ceiling that kept out rain and let out smoke so it served as a chimney.

M

Machicolations: A projection in the battlements of a wall with openings through which missiles could be dropped on attacking besiegers.

Mail Armor: Flexible armor made of overlapping metal circles.

Man-At-Arms: A soldier holding his land generally 60-120 acres, specifically in exchange for military service. Sometimes called a yeoman. 

Manchet: Small loaves of bread used to mop up gravy.  

Mangon: A machine used for hurling heavy stones at castle walls. Used as a siege weapon.

Manor: A piece of land that a king gives a vassel in return for loyalty and service.

Mansor: a small holding typically 1200-180 acres with its own court and probably its own hall but not necessarily having a manor house. The manor as a unit land is generally held by a knight  (knight fee) or managed by a bailiff for some other holder.   

Mantlet: A movable wooden shield.

Mark: Former English unit of money.

Mason: A person who builds or works with stone or bricks. They build and level the castle walls.

Master: A skilled craftsman who teaches a trade with an apprentice.

Master Engineer: Is someone who instructs the building of the castle.

Masterpiece: An example of a journeyman’s work.

Medieval: Years 1000 to 1500

Merlon: Solid Part of battlements. The square “saw tooth” between the crenels. The high segment of a altemative high and low segments of a battlement.

Meutriere: Arrow loop, slit in battlement or wall to permit firing of arrows or for observation.

Mew: Area where the Kings hunted birds are kept in cages.

Mining under walls: A method of attack on a castle that resulted in the collapse of a part of the castles wall.

Minstrel: These are people that traveled from castle to castle singing and playing music while people ate to entertain them.

Minaret: A tower in a mosque.

Moat: A deep trench dug around the castle usually filled with water. It was used to impede attack from the surrounding land.

Monarch: King, Queen , Emperor or Empress.

Monastery: A self-sufficient religious community devoted to worship.  

Mortar: A building material made of sand, water, and lime. The cement used to hold together bricks, or building blocks permanently.

Monastery: A place where a group of monks lived.

Monk: A man who joins a religious group to devote his whole life to god. They promise to serve god by work and prayer.

Mosque: The place of worship for believers in Islam.

Mother Superior: The leader of a group of nuns.

Motte: A man-made mound of earth on which a castle or dungeon could be built.

Motte and Bailey: Early castle design 950 AD, A type of early Norman castle built on a hill.

Mummers: these were local people in costume or disguise that dance and perform plays in exchange or replace for food, drink or even money. It was considered unlucky to send them away. 

Murder Holes: Opening in floors of rooms where hot liquids and rocks would be thrown down. A section between the main gate and the inner portcullis where arrows rocks and what was called Greek fire could be dropped from the roof through holes.

N

Naker: Small drums from the middle east. 

Newel: Center post of winding staircase.

Nun: A woman who has promised to serve god by work and prayer and some times by teaching and helping people.

Normans: The descendants of Vikings who settled in northern France 

Nunnery: A place where the nuns lived and worked together. Same as a convent.

O

Oath: Any statement, promise, of affirmation.

Obedience: Doing what one is told.

Oiliette: A round opening at the base of loophole.

Ordeal by battle: A fight between two Knights to find which one is telling the truth.

Ordeal by fire: Making suspects carry a piece of red-hot iron to find if they are innocent or guilty.

Ordeal by water: Throwing a suspect into a pond to see if they are innocent or guilty. 

Oriel or Oriel window: Projecting room on an upper floor, upper floor bay window.

0ubliette: Concealed dungeon reached by trap door, where prisoners were left to starve to death.

Outer curtain: The outside wall of a concentric castle.

Outer ward: The area enclosed by a castles outer curtain

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