P
Page: A boy
between 7 and 14 years who is studying to become a knight.
Palisade: A
sturdy wooden fence built to enclose a site until a permanent stonewall could be
built.
It is usually 10-12 feet high.
Pantry: A
small room or closet in or near a kitchen where food, plates, pans, and other
kitchen supplies are kept.
Parapet: Protective
wall at the top of a fortification around the outer side of the wall walk.
Parchment: A
heavy paper like material made from sheepskin.
Peasant: Same as a
serf a farm worker on a manor, who was not free to move anywhere else. The
peasants were at the bottom of the feudal tree.
Peddler: Someone who
travels with goods to sell.
Pele-Peel:
Small tower for defense purposes.
Penthouse:
Roofed shed on wheels for protection of men using battering ram.
Pictorial evidence:
Pictures made shortly after an event took place that gives us clues about what
happened.
Pilgrim: A
person who travels for religious reasons such as visiting a holy site.
Plague: Same as the
Black Death, a disease epidemic that killed about one third of the population of
Europe in the 14th century.
Plow:
something that will drag a large fork across a piece of land.
Poaching:
Hunting or fishing without permission.
Portcullis:
Vertical sliding wooden or metal grille shod with iron, suspended in front of a
gateway, let down to protect the gate and entrance to the castle.
Porter: The guard
of an entrance to guard a castle or an abbey.
Postern: Small rear
or side door or gate in castle.
Postern Gate: A
side or less important gate into a castle, often used for escaping.
Pottage:
A thick broth of vegetables and meat.
Put Logs:
Beams place in hole to protect hoarding.
Put
log holes: A hole intentionally left in the surface of a wall for insertion
of a horizontal pole.
Poverty: A great
lack of money and resources.
Q
Quadrilateral
Castle:
A fourteenth or fifteenth century castle with a rectangular area enclosed
stonewall; with round towers at the corners square flanking towers in the middle;
and two gatehouses a forerunner of the later Tudor houses.
Quarry: An opening
excavation from which stone is obtained by digging or cutting.
Quintain: A
wooden dummy used to practice for jousting.
R
Ram:
Battering ram, used to break down castle walls.
Ramadan:
The ninth month of the Muslim year when Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset.
Ramp: A sloping
passage or roadway that leads from one level to another.
Rampart: Defensive
earth or stone wall surrounding castle.
Reeve:
The lord's estates.
Refectory: The
dining room of a monastery
Revert: To face a
surface or stone slaps with a layer of stone for added strength. Some earth
mottes were revetted with stone.
Romanesque:
An older style of building used to make sculptures out of stone.
Rubble: A random
mixture of rocks mixture and mortar often used to fill In the space between
inner and the outer faces of walls.
S
Saint: A holy or
godly person.
Sanctuary: A
holy place where someone fleeing from law officers could be free from the
arrest.
Sapping: Undermining
as of a castle wall above or below ground by attackers.
Saracen: Another
name for Arab Moslems in crusader times.
Sawtooth: The
raised portion of a battlement.
Scaffold:
Raised wooden framework or platform this framework would be temporary.
Screens: Wooden
partition at the kitchen end of a hall, protecting a passage leading to the
buttery, pantry and kitchen.
Scutage:
Payment exacted by a feudal lord from his vassel in place of military services.
Scythe:
Tool used for cutting hay wheat.
Scriptorium: The
place in a monastery where monks copied books.
Seed
lip: Bag used for carrying seeds for sowing.
Self-sufficient:
The ability to support oneself without help.
Sentry Walk: A
platform on the walkway around the inside top of a castle.
Serf:
A medieval worker owned by a lord, and treated like a slave.
Servant:
A servant must obey the people they work under, they live in the houses or
castles of their masters.
Shield: A piece of
armor carried to protect the body from attack.
Shield Wall: A
human wall made by knights with shields overlapping.
Sickle: An
instrument with a short handle used to cut grain and crops.
Siege: Attempt to
capture a castle by surrounding and
isolating it.
The trapped forces are starved into surrender.
Siege Tower: Tall
wooden tower on wheels covered with ox hide.
Shell Keep: A
stonewall that replace the wooden one on top of the motte.
Slight: To
deliberately damage a castle to prevent further use.
Slit: Arrow-slit.
A narrow opening in a wall for discharge of arrows and admittance of light.
Small
Holder: A middle class peasant, farming more land than a cottager but less
than a villein. A typical small holder would have have 10-20 acres.
Solar: The private
room of the lord and his family. Originally a room above ground level but
commonly applied to the great hall.
Sowing:
Someone who layers seeds.
Specialize: To
work in one area, as a baker specializes in making bread.
Spinster:
A woman who was never married.
Spiral staircase:
A staircase that goes up in a spiral in around a central column.
Squire: Boy of
noble birth, who serves a Knight in preparation. A trainee-knight.
Stained glass Window: A
church window made of colored glass, often shaped into a picture.
Stately Home: Very
large, luxurious house.
Stone keep: The
strongest and most secure part of the castle.
Steward:
The person in charge of the housekeeping chores in the castle.
Sword: A weapon
with a handle and a sharp blade.
Symbol: A visible
sign or emblem, which represents an invisible quality or idea.
T
Tabard:
A loose outer garment worn by a knight over his armor.
Tapestry: A
large piece of cloth onto which a picture is stitched or embroidered.
Tenants: Someone
who rents land or a home from a landlord.
Thatched roof:
A roof made of bundles of straw tied together.
Third penny: The
local earl’s one-third share of fines in shire or hundred courts, often
allocated afterwards to a particular manor or church as income.
Tithe: One tenth of
a person’s income given to support the church.
Tournament: A
meeting at which jousts and tourneys took place. A series of games played.
Tourney: An event
during a tournament in which two groups of knights fought with each other in a
large field.
Tower: Round or
six-sided structure built into castle wall.
Treachery: The
art of betraying people who trust you.
Trebuchet: A
giant sling. Used as a siege weapon.
Trencher:
Personal chopping board.
Trestle:
Framework that supports a bridge.
Trial by Jury:
A trial in which the suspect’s guilt or innocence is decided by 12 people, who
consider all the available evidence.
Troubadour: Some
knights were poets and musicians. Such as the traveling ministrants also known
as troubadours.
Truss: One of the
timber frames built to support the roof over the great hall.
Turning
Bridge:
A drawbridge that pivoted in the middle.
Turret: A small
tower rising above and resting on one of main towers, usually used as a look out
point.
This site is part of the ThinkQuest Jr. 2001 competition.