Endnotes
A Latin expression meaning “in the year of our Lord” (Jesus Christ). It was commonly used in medieval Europe. Where we would say “in the year 2014,” a medieval person would have said “Anno Domini 2014.”
A special kind of glove. When nobles threw down the gauntlet, it meant declaring a feud. In such a case, all people who were not heavily armed were likely to run for their lives as fast as possible.
Someone who delivered important messages for nobles.
This is not a name but a title. It is derived from the German “Markgraf” (earl of the mark). A mark was a border region of the Holy Roman Empire. Because control over the border regions was particularly important for successful rule, margraves, compared to normal earls and counts, held great power and were direct subordinates of the Holy Roman Emperor.
A private war between nobles within one country. For the nobles of the Holy Roman Empire, fighting feuds was a favorite pastime.
A singer who toured the country performing at inns and castles. Bards sang love ballads and tales about knights' adventures.
The robber knights were quite a widespread phenomenon of the later Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire. With the rise of wealthy cities and the ongoing inflation, knights at the lower end of the feudal system, who only held small estates, struggled increasingly to make a living. Having been brought up to think themselves superior compared to city-dwellers, they were quick to start collecting more and more duties from people who passed through their lands or from people they met on the road, a practice that often degenerated into robbery.
A medieval instrument of torture, consisting of two metal plates connected by screws. The thumb was placed between the metal plates and the screws were turned, bringing the plates together, which resulted in an unpleasant squeezing sensation in the thumb, and finally in thumb-purée.
The man in charge of managing a noble’s lands.
A large iron grate. It was placed before the gates of the castle for extra protection and could be pulled up using ropes and a tackle. In an emergency, the ropes could be cut in a moment and the portcullis would slam down, protecting the castle even while the gates still stood open—very handy if the enemy was chasing after you.
In a historical context, this can mean two things—?either a woman who has a romantic relationship with a man without being married to him, or as in Ayla's case, it can be the female equivalent of the word “master,” used to refer to a woman of superior social rank, such as the lady of a castle. Strange double meaning, but true.
A coat of arms or a crest—?a symbol which identifies a particular nobleman/noblewoman and, during the Middle Ages, was displayed at tournaments or in warfare to make sure fighters only killed their enemies and didn’t accidentally hack their friends to bloody bits.
A diagonal line separating the two halves of a coat of arms.
Sorry to disappoint the ladies, but this doesn’t refer to high heels. It is a medieval term for a very nasty person.
Medieval German currency.
Medieval expression for a man who is a bit too forward with women.
The Holy Roman Empire was an empire in the center of medieval Europe. It was comprised of modern Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Denmark, and parts of Italy.
“Arms” does not refer to those things your hands are attached to, in this case. “Arms” also happens to be an old-fashioned word for weapons.
In the Middle Ages, most people believed in witches and were afraid of them. Radical elements in the Church played on that fear to eradicate the remaining pagan practices by denouncing those practices as witchcraft. Witches were supposed to ride on broomsticks, worship the devil, and work many kinds of dark magic to harm people. Horseshoes and dolls were supposed to feature prominently in their evil rituals, something to keep in mind when next you go for a ride or buy your child a doll for Christmas.
A medieval pole weapon, an early form of the halberd. The guisarme had a pointed end, like a spear, but was slightly shorter, and also had some kind of curved blade, like an ax—excellent for both skewering and hacking at your enemies.
People in the Middle Ages believed very strongly in the reality of evil and the devil. Whenever somebody did something strange or inexplicable, their neighbors were quick to attribute it to possession by the devil, not to madness or indigestion, as we would today.
A curved sword with only one edge (unlike the double-edged European sword) which was used by Arabs or Turks.
The same as a stretcher, only a slightly old-fashioned term.
A kind of armor used in the Middle Ages. It was made by linking metal rings, the result being a sort of metal cloth made out of chains. Various sorts of armor were made from this: shirts, trousers, and gloves, yet no underpants. Chain mail was not as good a protection as armor made out of solid metal plates, but it required less material and was also more light and flexible.
Special Viking warriors who could work themselves into a battle rage in which they did not feel any pain or fear of death. The word means “those who wear the bear pelt.”
On the edge of medieval villages, there usually lived solitary women who were knowledgeable in healing and herbs. They were often the first to be suspected of witchcraft. Which goes to show that even back then, nobody liked clever people.
As explained in the text above, barbs were little hooks on the heads of arrows which were intended to prevent the arrow from being removed. Barbed arrows were widely used throughout the Middle Ages, not because they were more effective during battle, but because they were more difficult to remove afterwards. If the surgeons of an army knew how to remove them, it cost them time. If they didn't, or if it wasn't possible, thousands of warriors died from the terrible wounds. Often, more soldiers died from their wounds after a battle than during a battle.
A fancy expression for “hairy.”
The name of the wife of the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates. She was such an energetic, outspoken lady that her name became a synonym for “shrew.”
A typical medieval curse. Back then, the foulest thing to say was to swear a false oath on the name of, or some part of, God (e.g. “I swear on the teeth of God that...”). In time, this wearing of a false oath got shortened to just referring to some part of God. But that's the reason why, even today, a curse is also referred to as an “oath.”
A slightly old-fashioned word for a military fortification.
A medieval mystic, healer, and abbess. She was famous for coming up with her entire own branch of medicine, which, she claimed, she had derived not from experience but from direct divine inspiration. Nobody knows whether this is true. Yet if she didn't receive her medical knowledge through divine inspiration, we do not know where she received it from, since historical studies have not been able to prove that she ever received any medical training. Her methods have been used with success by modern practitioners of medicine.
A vassal was a subordinate in the medieval feudal structure of military power, and answerable to his overlord / master / mistress. The highest overlord was the king / emperor. He would have dukes, margraves, and counts as his vassals, who in turn would have lesser nobles and knights as vassals, who in turn would have peasants and simple men-at-arms as their vassals. In a modern analogy, you could say that if you’re an assistant at a big company, you’re a vassal of your manager, who in turn is a vassal of your company CEO. Fortunately though, in modern times you don’t have to go to war for them.
One of the seven princes of hell in Christian demonology. According to the classification of demons by the medieval theologian Peter Binsfeld, Amon is responsible for starting all feuds and wars in the world. There is no proof that Binsfeld visited hell personally to do research for his classification, but if he is correct, you know who is to blame next time you hear of bullets starting to fly somewhere on the globe.
Another one of the lovely princes of hell from Binsfeld’s classification. In Christian demonology, Mammon is, as the name already indicates, responsible for all greed in the world.
In spite of its name, this is actually a kind of sausage made from a mixture of meat and thickened blood. Enjoy your meal!
In the Middle Ages, cut-off horns were used both for drinking out of and for signaling, like a trumpet. Horns of deer were used by nobles, while oxen horns were used by less wealthy people.
A medieval piece of clothing. It looked like a nightshirt with long short sleeves and was traditionally worn by knights in the thirteenth century as the outermost garment, over their chain mail.
Medieval story-singers who travelled from village to village and castle to castle, telling tales and singing songs. They specialized in courtly ballads of romance appropriate for all ages.
A slightly archaic term used to refer to an army or a detachment of soldiers.
These are the actual, historically correct commands used on the battlefields of medieval Europe. “Fire,” our modern-day military command, only appeared along with firearms, because you had to set fire to the gunpowder to “fire” the gun. Just a little info in case you ever need to know how to command an army of medieval archers.
Mixing honey into wine was very popular in the Middle Ages. Back then, most of the wine available was cheap and sour. So people mixed it with honey and / or herbs to make it taste a little less like vinegar.
By this, as you surely will have guessed, is meant the middle finger. This particular gesture is no modern invention: on the contrary, it has been around since antiquity and was very popular in the Middle Ages. So popular, in fact, that knights had their own variation. Since they could not raise their middle finger wearing armored gloves, they raised their lances instead. The height of courtly manners, wouldn’t you say?
A nasty castle defense mechanism. My advice: don’t stand underneath one.
In contrast to chain mail, which is little metal rings woven into a sort of metal cloth, plate armor consists of solid metal plates, sometimes overlapping, sometimes connected by joints. As time passed during the Middle Ages, more and more parts of the body were covered with plate armor, over traditional chain mail. This resulted in very heavy armor. Towards the end of the Middle Ages, knights could hardly move while in their armor and had to be heaved onto their horses by friendly passersby.
An insulting medieval adjective. In spite of diligent research, I have been unable to discover what it actually means, but I am sure it is nothing very nice. The investigation is ongoing.
Not just a sharp piece of wood with which knights stabbed each other, but also the name of a medieval military unit. It could be of varying sizes and consist of all kinds of troops mixed wildly together.
Incidentally, I have it on good authority that flaming arrows with lard do indeed burn fiercely. One of my dear readers actually tried setting one on fire and shooting it, and it worked. Not an experiment I would recommend repeating at home.
A giant feast with loads of wine and food available, and sometimes also amorous activities...