The Oath

GLOSSARY

Aketon – a thick tunic, originally padded or quilted, that was worn over the shirt but underneath a man-at-arms’ hauberk.

Alaunt – a hunting dog, like a greyhound but larger, with a broad head and shorter snout. Known for their ferocity, these dogs were used to hunt big game, even bears.

Ambler – horses for gentle riding were trained to ‘amble’, swinging both left legs together, then both right legs.

Amerce – a financial penalty that was a type of bond. For example, a man would be ‘amerced’ to attend court, and if he failed to appear, the sum was his fine.

Attach – to secure a man’s attendance at court by means of sureties.

Berner – the attendant in charge of hounds.

Centaine – a unit of men-at-arms in the King’s host: a hundred men.

Chevauchée – a technical military term, generally meaning to ride out and pillage an area.

Deodand – a tax, based on the value of a murder weapon, payable as a fine. This tax remained in force until the nineteenth century, when railway companies complained at the value of entire trains being levied for accidental homicides!

Fosser – the sexton, a gravedigger.

Garbage – animal offal used for food.

Guyenne – that part of France still ruled by the British King: Aquitaine, Anjou, etc.

Hainaulter – man from Hainault in Flanders.

Hauberk – the mail shirt that was worn over the aketon but beneath the pair of plates.

Heriot – a fine of the best beast, rendered to a serf’s lord when the serf died.

Hobelar – armed man who rode upon a ‘hobby’, a small riding horse.

Kennel – the central gulley or gutter in a medieval street.

Leyrwite – this was the fine imposed on women for adultery or sexual incontinence.

Lurdan – a term of opprobrium – a sluggard, a laggard, a dimwit.

Mastiff – a large dog, used as a guard and sometimes for baiting.

Murdrum – the fine imposed on a vill when none could prove ‘Englishry’ for a corpse. It had been a means of fining the English rebels after the Norman invasion, and was imposed when a body was thought to be Norman, as a way of punishing the community.

Pair of Plates – a form of body armour made by fixing overlapping plates of steel to the inside of a cloth or leather tunic. It was worn over the mail hauberk.

Palfrey – a small to medium-sized horse noted for its comfort.

Posse Comitatus – the force of the county, available to keep the peace or help hunt down felons.

Rache – a running dog, which we would probably call a greyhound today.

Rounsey – the common horse for general use: also used as a warhorse by men-at-arms, and as a packhorse.

Schiltrom – troops drawn up in battle order.

Vill – a territorial unit, comprising a number of houses and the land adjacent, which was the basic unit of administration under feudal law.

Vingtaine – a military unit of twenty men.