Glossary Flashcards
Housecarls
Professional well-trained soldiers.
Minting
Process of making coins.
Burghs
Anglo-saxon fortifications.
Fyrd
Peasant army.
Thegn
An Anglo-saxon who owned land but was not noble.
Exile
Being sent to another country which is not your own particularly for political reasons.
Witan
Council of senior nobles and churchmen who advise the king.
Sub-regulus
Deputy king.
Earl
A member of the nobility.
Earldom
An area of land owned by an earl.
Godwin
Influential family of earls during the reign of Edward the Confessor.
Allegiance
An agreement to be on someone else’s side, often in war.
Novissima Verba
To be promised the throne upon a death bed.
Post Obitum
A designation or bequest of a throne.
Aethling
Of noble birth.
Relic
A holy object such as the bones or belongings of a saint.
Oath
Sacred promise => cannot/ not supposed to be broken.
Papal Banner
Formal support given by the Pope to a King.
Holy War
A war fought either on behalf of God or with the support of God.
Cavalry
Soldiers on horseback.
Shield Wall
Anglo-Saxon defence strategy; soldier interlinked circular shields with the aim of creating an impenetrable wall.
Infantry
Foot soldiers.
Lance
Long wooden weapon with a pointed metal head.
Mercenary
A soldier who can be hired to fight for money.
Archer
Soldier with a bow and arrow.
Mobilise
To prepare an army for war.
Coronation
Ceremony of crowning a monarch.
Circa
Relating to dates, meaning ‘around’ or ‘approximately’.
Inherit
To be given/gifted something from someone after they died.
Gonfannon
A type of heraldic flag or banner.
Feigned retreat
Pretending to run away.
Demoralised
Lost confidence or hope.
Desertion
Leaving an army without permission.
Apologists
Someone who puts forward a view designed to make a person or group appear more acceptable.
Propoganda
Deliberately chosen information presented in order to influence people to think something specific.
Fealty
A promise to be loyal to someone of higher social status in the feudal system.
Motte
Mound - either manmade or natural; used for Norman castle building.
Bailey
Encircled area of land around/at base of motte.
Keep
Secure/safe building to house Norman earls on top of the motte.
Marchlands
Area of land on the border between countries/ territories.
Fortifications/Forts
Defences in case of an attack.
Crenellations
Battlements.
Rampart
Defensive wall of a castle.
Regent
Someone who rules a country in the absence of the monarch.
Harrying
The devastation of the North of England in 1070.
Danelaw
An area of land extending from the North East of England to East Anglia where most of the population were of Danish descent.
Salting
Throwing salt over farmland to make it infertile.
Guerilla
A type of warfare where soldiers fight in small groups and hide in order catch out the enemy, who is usually larger/more powerful than them.
Fenlands
Low area of marshy land.
Outlaw
A person who is not under the protection of the law; if they were caught they would be punished for previous crimes, often by death.
Disinherit
To cut someone out of someone’s will.
Aristocracy
The highest-ranking people (except the monarch) in most societies.
Feudal System
The medieval social system in which the vassal gives fealty and military service to the monarch in return for land and titles.
Patronage
Land, titles or power given to ensure an individual’s support.
Villein
A peasant.
Baron
A person at the lower end of the nobility who held land from the king.
Social Hierarchy
A system with layers of classes.
Fief
Land held in the feudal system.
Tenants-in-chief
Someone who held land from the king.
Subinfeudation
The splitting of land with a social inferior, by a lord who expected homage in return.
Scutage
Tax paid to the monarch instead of service.
Fiscal Feudalism
System under which land could be exchanged for military service or money.
Garrison
A strong building or fortress designed to defend the occupants.
Geld
Tax levied to pay for something specific, e.g, a war.
Hides
An area of land.
Ploughs
A machine used in farming to turn soil, moved by either a man or an ox.
Hundred
A subdivision of an Anglo-Saxon shire, which were 100 hides in size (a hide is c120 acres).
Homage
Special honour or respect shown publicly.
Sheriff
The king’s chief legal official in the area.
Honorial Court
Often in castles; where tenants could appeal against their landlord.
Jury
Members of the public who hear legal cases.
Primogeniture
Process by which the eldest son inherited all the land or titles from his father; younger sons/daughters would be left with nothing.
Ecclesiastical
Issues concerning the church and religion.
Murdrum Fine
The heavy fine payable to the king by an entire area where the criminal lived if a Normal earl was murdered.
Reeve
A senior official such as chief magistrate.
Demesne
All the land owned by a particular lord.
Serfs
A person who had to give services to the lord and transferred along with the land.
Bailiff
Someone who collected tax for the landlord.
Pottage
Soup made from beans and peas and flavoured with herbs.
Wattle and Daub
What the walls of peasants houses were made of.
Fallow
Fields left empty for a year or two to give the soil time to recover so that it would produce better crops when they are planted again.
Holidays
Time off work.
Shin-Kicking
A form of entertainment, where two people kick each others shins.
Trencher
A meal where bread was used as a bowl to hold soup.
Villein
A peasant.
Tithe
A tax paid to the church, usually 10% of income.
Oxen
A type of cow used for ploughing.
Common Land
An area of land that was common/open to everyone and everyone could use it to graze their animals.
Scythe/Sickle
A tool used in agriculture with a long curved blade.
