| A | B |
|---|
| Baron | A person who held land from the King. |
| Battlements | Top of castle walls where soldiers kept look-out. |
| Bayeux Tapestry | A long strip of embroidered linen cloth which tells the story of the Norman conquest of England. |
| Bishop | A churchman who is next to an archbishop. Some of them had great power in the Middle Ages. |
| Buttress | Supporting wall. |
| Catapult | A weapon which uses a sling to hurl stones. |
| Chain mail | A suit of armour, also called a hauberk, made from linked metal chains and worn by a Norman knight. |
| Chapter House | Part of a monastery where the monks met to make decisions. |
| Chronicles | Stories written down. Anglo-Saxon monks kept an account of the history of the time. These books are known as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. |
| Cistercian | A monastic order started in 1098. They lived mainly by working on the land and they wore white habits. |
| Cloister | A covered walk in a convent or monastery. |
| Coat -of-Arms | Emblems on a family crest. |
| Concentric | A castle which has at least two walls, one inside the other, with the inside one being much taller than the outside one. |
| Cottar | Owned less land than a villein and had to work more days for the Lord of the Manor. |
| Crop rotation | System of changing the crops grown in each field each year so as to keep the ground fertile. |
| Crossbar | A powerful bow held horizontally at the shoulder. It uses a steel bolt instead of an arrow. The bolt can pierce armour. |
| Curtain wall | The outer wall of a castle. |
| Domesday Book | A record, made in 1086, of the ownership of land in England, by order of William the Conqueror. |
| Dormitory | A room in a castle or monastry where people slept. |
| Drawbridge | Bridge over a moat or a wide ditch surrounding a castle. It was hinged at one end so that it could be raised. |
| Fealty | An oath of loyalty. |
| Feudal system | A method of holding land by giving service, rather than money, to the owner. |
| Freeman | A farmer or craftsman who owned his own land, or rented it from the Lord of the Manor without having to work for him. |
| Friar | A member of a religious order who travelled around preaching. |
| Gaelic | To do with Irish language and customs. |
| Garde-robe | Toilet in a castle. |
| Gatehouse | Place at the entrance toa castle where the soldiers on guard stay. |
| Great Hall | The largest room in the castle, used for entertaining, and for the Manor Court. |
| Harrying | To kill and destroy people, crops and buildings. |
| Hauberk | Tunic or suit of armour |
| Infantry | Foot soldiers |
| Infirmary | Hospital, or place shere sick people are treated. |
| Jousting | A competition held between knights on horseback. |
| Keep | The strong central tower of a castle. |
| Knight | A heavily armed soldier on horseback. |
| Laudabiliter | Name given to the letter which Pope Adrian gave Henry II, giving him permission to invade Ireland. |
| Longbow | A bow from which a well trained archer could fire 10-15 arrows per minute. |
| Loophole | A slit in a wall through which arrows are fired at the enemy. |
| Lord of the Manor | The owner of the land who rented it out to tenants. He was very powerful and lived in a manor house. |
| Mangonel | Very powerful catapult used in war. |
| Manor | A unit of land owned by a fuedal lord who lived in a manor house. |
| Medieval | The period of history between the 5th and 15th century. Also known as Middle Ages. |
| Moat | A wide ditch filled with water, surrounding a castle. |
| Motte | A hill of earth which made up part of the motte and bailey castle. It was the highest ground in the castle and usually had a keep built on top of it. |
| Murderhole | A hole above a castle entrance used to fire stones down or through which boiling oil was poured over people trapped below. |
| Nasal | The part of a knight's helmet which protected his nose. |
| Northmen | Name for Vikings who settled on north coast of France. Later referred to as Normandy. |
| Palisade | A fence made from pointed stakes of wood. |
| Peasant | A person who owned no land and worked for the Lord of the Manor. Also called a serf. |
| Pillory | A wooden frame with holes for the head and hands. An offender could be chained in this as punishment, usually in a public place. |
| Portcullis | A strong heavy grating which could be lowered to protect the entrance to a castle. |
| Postern gate | Back gate to a castle. |
| Refectory | The room in the monastery where the monks had their meals. |
| Saxons | People who ruled England before the Normans. |
| Serf | Peasant who was at the bottom of feudal society. He had no land. |
| Siege tower | High wooden construction which soldiers could move up to the walls of a castle which they were attacking. |
| Squire | The servant of a knight. |
| Tenant | A person who did not own land, but rented it from the Lord of the Manor. |
| Trebuchet | A weapon used by the Normans for attacking a castle. |
| Villein | A person who had some land but worked for the Lord of the Manor for an agreed number of days. |
| Witan | Name for the King's Council in Saxon times. |
