fermentation. Depending on local traditions and specific recipes, it may be flavoured with spices, fruit or hops (which produce a bitter, beer-like flavour). It may be still, carbonated or naturally sparkling, and it may be dry, semi-sweet or sweet.
The tradition of mead-making as a by-product of beekeeping still continues, a well-known example being at Lindisfarne, where mead continues to be made to this day, albeit not in the monastery itself.
The Arab name for King Richard, literally ‘King Richard’. Such was his reputation that for generations Arab children were warned that if they did not behave, ‘Melek-Ric will come to get you!’
A domestic waste and sewage dump for a village or burgh. A word of Scandinavian origin, it is still in use in Scotland and the English Pennines.
Millstone grit is the name given to a number of coarse-grained carboniferous sandstones which occur in northern England. The name derives from its use in earlier times as a source of millstones for use principally in watermills. It is found in the Peak District, Pennines and neighbouring areas of northern England.
Miniver is an unspotted white fur derived from the stoat, and with particular use in the robes of peers.
A code of knightly ethics, loosely based on the ancient noble tradition of the Roman aristocracy and the influence of Islamic ethics, such as those of the Futuwwa, which appeared in the late eleventh century and formed the basis of the values of the Age of Chivalry.
A motte-and-bailey castle is a fortification with a wooden or stone keep (or donjon) situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to build with unskilled, often forced labour, but still militarily formidable, these castles were built across northern Europe from the tenth century onwards, spreading from Normandy and Anjou in France, into the Holy Roman Empire in the eleventh century. The Normans introduced the design into England and Wales following their invasion in 1066.
From the Latin
Also known as Lenga d’oc by its native speakers, Occitan is a Romance language spoken in southern France, Italy’s Occitan Valleys, Monaco and Catalonia’s Val d’Aran (the regions sometimes known unofficially as Occitania). It is also spoken in the linguistic enclave of Guardia Piemontese (Calabria, Italy). Occitan is a descendant of the spoken Latin language of the Roman Empire. It is an official language in Catalonia, known as Aranese in Val d’Aran. Occitan’s closest relative is Catalan.
The Ostmen were the Norse-Gaels, a people who dominated much of the Irish Sea region, including the Isle of Man and western Scotland, for most of the Middle Ages. They were of Gaelic and Scandinavian (Viking) origin. Other terms used include Scoto-Norse, Hiberno-Norse, Irish-Norse and Foreign Gaels.
From the French, meaning ‘forgotten place’, this was a form of dungeon which was accessible only from a hole in a high ceiling. The word comes from the same root as the French
Outremer, French (
A thin mattress of linen, wool or cotton, filled with animal hair, straw, wool or even sawdust.
A pectoral cross or pectorale, from the Latin
A small streamer-like flag, flown at the top of a knight’s lance to signify his status. It would have a combination of one, two or three colours to identify him, his origins or the lord he served.
Pennyroyal is a plant in the mint family
The Phrygian cap is a soft conical cap with the top pulled forward, associated in antiquity with the inhabitants of Phrygia, a region of central Anatolia. In the Roman Empire, it came to signify freedom and the pursuit of liberty, probably through a confusion with the pileus, the felt cap of emancipated slaves of ancient Rome. The Phrygian cap is sometimes called a liberty cap.
A pike is a pole weapon. It is a long, sometimes very long (even up to sixteen feet and beyond) thrusting spear used extensively by infantry. Unlike many similar weapons, the pike is not intended to be thrown, but is a defensive weapon, especially against cavalry. Pikes were used by the armies of Philip of Macedon and Alexander the Great and regularly in European warfare from the early Middle Ages until around 1700, wielded by foot soldiers deployed in close order. They were also common in the armies of Asia.
Sometimes called the Great Rolls, they are a collection of financial records maintained by the English Exchequer, or Treasury. The earliest date from the twelfth century, and the series extends, mostly complete, from then until 1833. They form the oldest continuous series of records kept by the English government, covering a span of about 700 years.
In Catholic theology, an indulgence is the full (plenary) or partial remission of temporal punishment due for sins. The indulgence is granted by the Church after the sinner has confessed and received absolution. They are granted for specific good works and prayers. Abuses in selling and granting indulgences were a major point of contention when Martin Luther initiated the Protestant Reformation, in 1517.
A postern is a secondary door or gate, particularly in a fortification like a city wall or castle curtain wall. Posterns were often located in a concealed location, allowing the occupants to come and go inconspicuously. In the event of a siege, a postern could act as a sally port, allowing defenders to make a sortie on the besiegers.
Shorter than the gladius (the standard heavy, stocky sword of the Roman army), the pugio was a side-arm, a weapon of last resort, a tool of assassination and often a highly decorated status symbol for senior army officers and members of the equestrian class.
The colour of the robes of the emperors of Byzantium and, before them, the emperors of Rome and the early bishops of the Church. ‘The Purple’ has become synonymous with imperial rule, piety and tradition and
