A small area of land around a village house for vegetables and few livestock, used by the occupant (cottar) who was either a freeman or a bondsman (villein or serf).
CUIRASS
A breastplate or short tunic, originally of thick boiled leather but later of metal, to protect the chest in combat.
DEODAND
Literally ‘a gift from God’, it was the forfeiture of anything that had caused a death, such as a sword, a cart or even a mill-wheel. It was confiscated by the coroner for the King, but was sometimes given as compensation to a victim’s family.
DONJON
The central fortified tower in early Norman castles, later called the keep. Originally of wood, it was soon replaced by masonry. The word dungeon, meaning a prison cell in the base of a castle tower, is a later derivative of donjon.
EYRE
A sitting of the King’s Justices, introduced by Henry II in 1166, which moved around the country in circuits. There were two types, the ‘Justices in Eyre’, the forerunner of the Assizes, which was supposed to visit frequently to try serious cases, and the General Eyre, which arrived at long intervals to check on the administration of each county.
FIRST FINDER
The first person to discover the corpse of a slain victim or to witness a crime, had to rouse the four nearest households and give chase to the culprit (the hue and cry). Failure to do so would result in an amercement (q.v.) by the coroner.
HAUBERK
Also called a byrnie, this was a chain-mail tunic with long sleeves, to protect the wearer from neck to calf; the skirt was usually slit front and back to allow him to ride a horse.
HIDE
A medieval measure of land, which varied from place to place, but was usually 120 acres at the time of the Domesday survey, but later quoted at anything between 30 and 80 acres. A hide was supposed to be enough to support a family and was divided into four virgates. Another land measure was the carucate, about 100 acres, the area that one ox-team could plough in a season.
HONOUR
A holding of land from the King, baron or Church. It might be a large estate or a single manor and many honours consisted of numerous separate holdings spread over many counties. A manor might be one village or several, under the same lord. Some villages were split between different lords.
HUE AND CRY
When a crime was witnessed or discovered, the First Finder (q.v.) had to knock up the four nearest houses and give chase to any suspects.
JURY
Unlike modern juries, who must be totally impartial, the medieval jury included witnesses, local people who were obliged to gather to tell what they knew of a crime or dispute. The coroner’s jury was supposed to consist of all the men over the age of twelve from the four nearest villages, though this was often a practical impossibility.
JUSTICIAR
One of the King’s chief ministers in Norman times. In the reign of Richard I, the most effective was Hubert Walter, who was Richard’s military second-in-command in Palestine, before he returned home during the Lionheart’s imprisonment in Austria to help raise his ransom. Richard made him Archbishop of Canterbury and Chief Justiciar, and he virtually ruled the country after Richard’s permanent departure from England in May 1194, only two months after returning from captivity.
KIRTLE
A woman’s gown, worn to the ankles, with long sleeves, wide at the wrists, though fashions changed constantly. The kirtle was worn over a chemise, the only undergarment.
MANOR REEVE
A foreman appointed in each village, either by election of the villagers or by the manor lord. He oversaw the daily farm work and though illiterate like the vast majority of the population, he would keep a record of crop rotation, harvest yields, tithes etc., by means of memory and notches on tally sticks.
MARK
A sum of money, though not an actual coin, as only pennies were in use. A mark was two-thirds of a pound or thirteen shillings and fourpence (now equal to sixty-six decimal pence).
MOTTE
The artificial mound on which the wooden donjon (q.v.) tower was erected in early Norman castles, surrounded by the bailey (q.v.). An excellent example is Totnes Castle.
MURDRUM FINE
An amercement (q.v.) levied on a community by the coroner when a person was found dead in suspicious circumstances and no culprit could be produced – unless the villagers could make ‘presentment of Englishry’ (q.v.).
ORDEAL
Though sometimes used to extract confessions, the Ordeal was an ancient ritual, abolished by the Vatican in 1215, in which suspects were subjected to painful and often fatal activities, such as walking barefoot over nine red-hot plough-shares, picking a stone from a vat of boiling water, licking white-hot iron, etc. If they suffered no injury, they were judged innocent. Another common ordeal was to be bound and thrown into deep water; if the victims sank they were innocent; if they floated they were guilty, and were hanged or mutilated.
OUTLAW
Literally, anyone outside the law, usually escaped prisoners or fugitives lurking in the forests. They ceased to exist as legal persons, and anyone was entitled to kill them on sight to collect a bounty, as if they were the ‘wolf’s head’.
OUTREMER
The four Christian kingdoms in the Levant at the time of the Crusades, including the kingdom of Jerusalem.
PEINE ET FORTE DURE
‘Hard and severe punishment’, a torture used for the extraction of confessions from suspects.
PHTHISIS
Tuberculosis, rife in medieval times.
PORTREEVE
One of the senior burgesses in a township, elected by the others as leader. There were usually two, later superseded by a mayor, the first mayor of Exeter being installed in 1208.
PREBENDARY see CANON
PRECENTOR
A senior canon in a cathedral, responsible for organising the religious services, singing, etc.
PRESENTMENT OF ENGLISHRY
Following the 1066 Conquest, many Normans were covertly killed by aggrieved Saxons, so the law decreed that anyone found dead from unnatural causes was presumed to be Norman and the village was punished by a murdrum fine (q.v.) unless they could prove that the deceased was English or a foreigner. This was usually done before the coroner by a male member of the family. This continued for several centuries as, even though it became meaningless so long after the Conquest, it was a good source of revenue to the Crown.
RULE OF ST CHRODEGANG
A strict regime of a simple communal life, devised by an eighth-century bishop of Metz. It was adopted by Bishop Leofric, who founded Exeter Cathedral in 1050, but did not long survive his death. The canons soon adopted a more comfortable, even luxurious lifestyle.
SHERIFF
The ‘shire reeve’, the King’s representative and principal law officer in a county, responsible for law and order and the collection of taxes.
SURCOAT
Either a light over-tunic or a garment worn over armour, to protect it from the sun’s heat and to display heraldic recognition devices.
TITHE
A tenth part of the harvest and all farm produce, demanded by the Church. Stored in large tithe barns in each village.
TUNIC
The main garment for a man, pulled over the head to reach the knee or calf. A linen shirt might be worn underneath and the lower sides or front and back would be slit for riding a horse.