Glossary

BLIAUT: medieval gown

brAIES/brEECHES: men’s underwear with fastening cord

BUSTLE: often made of foxtails, worn under skirt to exaggerate buttocks

CASTELLAN: commander of a castle

CHAUSSES/LEGGINGS: men’s close-fitting leg coverings usually of wool

CHEMISE/SHIFT: a woman’s loose-fitting undergarment or nightdress

COIF: hood-shaped cap made of cloth or chain mail

CORSET: close-fitting undergarment for shaping a woman’s figure (and some men)

COTE: mid-thigh fitted jacket; buttoned up front with close-fitting buttoned sleeves

COTEHARDIE: lavish cote; usually thigh-length for men and full-length for women (buttoned or laced)

DAGGES: fabric edges cut into points

DEMESNE: home and adjoining lands held by a lord

DOUBLET: padded mid-thigh jacket; buttoned up front with close-fitting buttoned sleeves

DONJON: tower at center of a castle serving as a lord’s living area

FEALTY: tenant or vassal’s sworn loyalty to a lord

FORTNIGHT: two weeks

GARDEROBE: enclosed toilet

GIRDLE: belt worn upon which purses or weaponry might be attached

KNAVE: dishonest or unprincipled man

LEAGUE: equivalent to approximately three miles

LIEGE: superior or lord

MAIL: garments of armor made of linked metal rings

MISCREANT: badly behaving person

MISSIVE: letter

MORROW: tomorrow; the next day

NOBLE: one of high birth

NORMAN: people whose origins lay in Normandy on the continent

PARCHMENT: treated animal skin used for writing

PELL: used for combat training, a vertical post set in the ground against which a sword was beat

PIKE: long wooden shaft with a sharp steel or iron head

POLTROON: utter coward

POMMEL: counterbalance weight at the end of a sword hilt or a knob located at the fore of a saddle

PORTCULLIS: metal or wood gate lowered to block a passage

POSTERN GATE: rear door in a wall, often concealed to allow occupants to arrive and depart inconspicuously

QUINTAIN: post used for lance training to which a dummy and sandbag are attached; the latter swings around and hits the unsuccessful tilter

SALLY PORT: small hidden entrance and exit in a fortificatio n

SENNIGHT: one week

SHIFT/CHEMISE: a woman’s loose-fitting undergarment or nightdress

SURCOAT: loose robe worn over armor

TAPETS: decorative pieces of cloth dangling from sleeves and hoods

TRENCHER: large piece of stale bread used as a bowl for food

TUNIC/OVERTUNIC: linen shirt

UNDERTUNIC: shirt worn under tunic; considered underwear

VASSAL: one who holds land from a lord and owes fealty

WIMPLE: cloth headdress worn by married women and nuns, covering head, neck, and sides of face