Glossary

Sources Consulted

Absalon: Absalom in the biblical tradition, the third son of King David.

Acre: Economic and political capital city of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from the late twelfth century (after 1187) and headquarters of the western Christian forces in the Latin East until 1291; now known as Akko, located in modern-day Israel.

alb: Long, white liturgical undergarment worn by those who served at the altar (EMD).

amice: Liturgical vestment, usually made of linen, placed around the neck to protect other vestments from becoming soiled (EMD); see essay by Maureen Miller.

Antioch: Frankish state in northern Syria, established in the late eleventh century during the First Crusade. It was under western Christian control until 1268 (CHL).

Apulia: Region of the southwestern Italian peninsula, with a capital in Bari; part of the kingdom of Sicily. In the late 1260s, Apulia came under the rule of the Naples-based Angevin Empire. See Sicily.

assises: Court of law, often presided over by noblemen in service to their lord.

Asturias: Kingdom in northern Spain known as a battleground between Christian and Muslim forces for control over the Iberian Peninsula; part of the medieval pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela.

Ayoul: Eponymous hero of the lesser-known thirteenth-century French chanson de geste entitled Aiol.

Baybars(July 19, 1223 – July 1, 1277): Powerful and respected Mamluk general who led the first wave of Muslim victories to dismantle the remaining Frankish holdings in Syria and Palestine, taking Antioch in 1268. His successors would take Tripoli in 1289 and Acre in 1291.

bezant: The most valuable form of gold coinage that circulated commonly in the Islamic states and throughout Outremer.

Bohemond: Leader of the First Crusade who then took rulership of the Principality of Antioch in 1098 (CHL, 40).

Boukhara cloth: Also known as buckram, a luxurious cloth made of cotton or linen; see essay by Sharon Farmer.

bourgeois: Inhabitants of a bourg, or village.

breviary: Liturgical book containing the text of the church service for each day, most often read aloud by a member of the clergy; see essay by Maureen Miller.

bursar: Member of Eudes’s household responsible for issuing pay to other members in the count’s employ.

butt: Unit of measurement for wine, corresponding to 126 gallons.

Caesarea: City located on the coast of modern-day Israel, captured by western crusaders during the First Crusade but retaken by the Mamluk sultanate in 1265.

camlet: Textile typically made from camel fur, often sourced from Central Asia.

carole (to dance the): Popular dance in France and England between 1100 and 1400, performed by all levels of society in secular and ecclesiastical settings often following a feast or celebration.

cendal: A kind of cloth that may have been either silk or very fine linen; by the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries it referred to silk (EMD).

chansonnier: Song book or collection of poems.

chapel: Portable set of items to celebrate the Mass; see essay by Maureen Miller; in other instances, the location in a church where an altar might be found and where the Mass could be performed.

Charlemagne: King of the Franks from 771 CE, declared emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III on Christmas, 800; figure of ecclesiastical legends relating to the liberation of holy sites from Muslims in the East and in Spain; central figure of the Old French epic tradition known for battles against non-Christians, as in the Song of Roland.

Château Pèlerin: Crusader castle in modern-day Israel, also known as ‘Atlit Castle.

chasuble: Liturgical vestment worn over the alb and the stole that covers the wearer’s arms (EMD).

Cîteaux: First Cistercian monastery founded in 1098 in northern Burgundy, head of the Cistercian order, site of the necropolis of the dukes of Burgundy.

complaint: Translation of the French word complainte, a poetic form that either mourns the loss of a person or place, or functions as a criticism about a set of circumstances.

conclave: Private meeting, often of high-level church or political leaders.

Constantinople: Capital city of the Byzantine Empire, conquered by western Christian crusaders during the Fourth Crusade (1204).

corporal: Cloth upon which the consecrated body and blood of Christ were placed during the celebration of the Eucharist (EMD).

Corsica: Large Mediterranean island off the coast of southern France between Marseille and Rome whose rulership was often contested throughout the thirteenth century.

courtoisie, courtois: Terms denoting a code of ethics and behaviors relating to medieval aristocratic court life, defined against the vilainie of agricultural life; involves ideas of nobility, refinement, good manners, and aristocratic obligation.

Crete: Large island in the Aegean Sea that came under Latin domination after the Fourth Crusade in 1204; it eventually came under Venetian rule, and remained so for several centuries thereafter.

cross (to take the): To take a vow to go on crusade.

cuirass: Two-piece armor consisting of a breastplate and a backplate.

Cumans: Nomadic Turks whose origins lay in the Eurasian steppe; in the thirteenth century they were forced westward by Mongol conquests.

Cyprus: Island territory conquered in 1191 by Richard the Lionheart that remained under Latin control until the late fifteenth century (CHL).

dalmatic: Full-length, wide-sleeved overgarment used by the clergy when celebrating the liturgy; see essay by Maureen Miller.

de reaus: Of the realm, meaning a unit of currency that circulated in the Kingdom of Jerusalem; may be related to réaux (regales), which are royal, gold coins that circulated in southern France (MN).

Dominicans: Religious order founded in the early thirteenth century (ca. 1210) by Saint Dominic that has preaching as its primary mission. The Dominicans were criticized by Rutebeuf as hypocrites. Also called Jacobins.

doublet: Close-fitting, padded garment with a round neck and fitted sleeves (EMD).

ell: Unit of measure for cloth, corresponding to about a yard (36 inches) in length (EMD).

escheat: Return of land to one’s feudal lord upon the death of the landowner if there is no direct inheritor.

feast of the Holy Cross: Traditionally held on September 14.

feast of Saint Leu: Traditionally held on September 1.

feast of Saint Lawrence: Traditionally held on August 9.

feast of Saint Michael: Traditionally held on September 29.

feast of Saint Remy: Traditionally held on October 7.

Franciscans: Religious order founded in the early thirteenth century (1209) around Saint Francis of Assisi and dedicated to a life of poverty. Like the Dominicans the Franciscans were criticized by Rutebeuf as hypocrites. Also called the Minors or Friars Minor.

frontal: Liturgical cloth that covers the front of the altar (EMD); see essay by Maureen Miller.

gambeson: Over-jacket for armor made of padded, quilted material (EMD).

ganache: Thick cape or overdress that covered the body, often made of wool, could be lined with vair or other material.

gentillesse: Term that suggests aristocratic birth, generosity, and kindness; the life of a prudhomme was often described in terms of his gentillesse.

Godfrey of Bouillon: One of the leaders of the First Crusade, and the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem that was established in 1099 (CHL).

grosvair: The gray and white belly fur of a northern European squirrel, used as trim or lining for expensive garments (EMD); see also miniver.

henap: Goblet, cup, or footed cup; see essay by Richard Leson.

Holy Sepulcher: The church believed to be built over the sites where Jesus Christ was crucified and buried; securing dominion over this space was a motivating rationale for crusading efforts from the West.

The Hospital: Military order, also known as the Hospitallers, whose mission was to provide aid and care for Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land; located in Jerusalem at the Hospital of St. John.

Jacobins: In France the first Dominican convent was located on the rue St.-Jacques in Paris, and therefore they came to be called Jacobins.

Jaffa: Ancient port city in modern-day Israel and a part of the County of Jaffa, a larger territory established by western Christians after the First Crusade that included the city and surrounding areas, with boundaries that shifted over time.

lais: A word with multiple meanings; in Rutebeuf’s poem relating to a will or testament, also spelled legs, as in legacy, what one leaves to inheritors.

lament: See complaint.

lynx: Fur of a wild cat, ranging in color from gold to dark brown and often spotted (EMD).

Mamluk: Initially referred to slave mercenaries of Turkic descent from the Eurasian steppes; rebelled against Ayyubid rule in 1258 and came to rule a unified Muslim territory that stretched from Egypt to northern Syria from 1258 to 1517. In 1291 the Mamluks effectively expelled the crusaders from Outremer.

maniple: Ornamental, nonfunctional handkerchief worn on the left forearm by members of the clergy (EMD); see essay by Maureen Miller.

mark: Unit of currency and of account in silver, often referring to the English pound, which was of slightly higher value than the French pound.

Matins: In the Christian liturgy, the service that takes place in the dark hours of the early morning.

miniver: The white belly fur of a northern European squirrel, used as trimming for luxurious garments; gros miniver or grosvair includes both gray- and white-colored fur, while miniver is only white in color (EMD).

Minors: See Franciscans.

missal: Liturgical book containing all the texts used during the Mass for the year; see essay by Maureen Miller.

mon segnor: My lord, a term that referred to a person of elevated social status, of the knightly rank or higher. The term messire was used similarly to denote respect and elite status.

monstrance: Receptacle with a transparent window used to display the Eucharist or other consecrated object in an ecclesiastical setting.

The Morea: Crusader settlement, also known as the Principality of Achaea, established in the years after the Fourth Crusade in the northern part of the region of southern Greece now called the Peloponnese.

Naime of Bavaria: Figure of Old French epic (chanson de geste) and of Italian romance epic; wise and trusted advisor to Charlemagne of the older generation; fails to perceive Ganelon’s treachery in the Song of Roland.

Ogier: Figure of Old French epic and later of Scandinavian legend; part of Charlemagne’s close circle in the cycle of poems related to the king; later a central figure of the cycle of the rebel barons.

orphrey: Detailed and decorative embroidered band, used on liturgical vestments or aristocratic robes.

Outremer: This term, which means “overseas” or “beyond the sea,” refers to a configuration of eastern Mediterranean territories with ever-changing boundaries where western Christians exerted political control following their conquest of these territories during the First Crusade. Also called the Holy Land (by Christians), the Levant, the Latin East, or the Crusader States, among other terms.

pagan: Derogatory and inaccurate term used to describe a person who was of neither Christian nor Jewish faith. In the context of the 1260s, this refers to persons of the Muslim faith or other eastern communities, such as the Mongols.

palfrey: Horse used for riding, as opposed to a war horse.

passage: The trip to the Holy Land, taken from the West, or return trip from the East.

patriarchs: Title used for the heads of the Eastern churches; the bishop of Jerusalem is referred to as the patriarch, meaning “father” in Greek.

phylactery: Small metalwork or glass container for carrying small relics, fragments of the True Cross, as well as oil, balm, or water; term is used in both secular and scared contexts.

Poitiers: City located in what is now the west-central part of France; was the main city within the duchy of Aquitaine and one of the principle cities in the county of Toulouse. After 1249, Alphonse of Poitiers (1220–71), brother of King Louis IX, became the Count of Toulouse and is often referred to as the Count of Poitiers.

prebendery: Member of the clergy who receives a prebend, or stipend, from the church.

prelate: Exalted member of the church hierarchy, such as a bishop or archbishop.

Promised Land: At various times, another term for the Holy Land, modern-day Palestine, or for heaven.

prudhomme: Term combining prode or preux, as in “prowess,” with homme to denote a wise, brave, and prudent man; associated with good counsel; by the turn of the fourteenth century it also described members of judicial councils charged with litigation involving artisans.

pyx: In the Christian tradition, a box or other container to carry the consecrated Host.

quarroble: Unit of eastern currency, smaller than a bezant.

regiment: Military unit of soldiers, often of knights and their retainers, or those in their retinue including squires, pages, and servants. Typical medieval regiments were of twenty, thirty, or fifty knights. The regiment of knights that the French king Louis IX established in Acre in 1254 was made up of approximately one hundred men. The company of knights in Prince Edward’s force in 1271 may have had as many as two hundred men.

reliquary: Container, box, or vase use to hold and often transport holy objects such as wood of the True Cross, bones and bone fragments of saints, oil, water, dust, cloth, stones from holy places, and other materials that are venerated as relics. Reliquaries can take many forms and be decorated or simple boxes, or reused vases or cases.

retinue: Followers of a lord or knight, those within the household including other knights, vavassors, squires, pages, and servants; a closer household unit and group of followers, often sharing the same livery; the number of men in a retinue surrounding a single knight or lord depended on his resources.

rochet: White overgarment worn by members of the clergy for non-Eucharistic occasions; see essay by Maureen Miller.

Roland: Figure of Old French epic, nephew of Charlemagne, leader of his uncle’s armies in Spain in the fight against King Marsile in the Song of Roland, dies as a result of the treachery of Ganelon.

s. lb t./l. t.: Abbreviation for units of currency that correspond to sous tournois and pounds/livres tournois referring to denominations from the city of Tours, located in the Kingdom of France.

Saint Peter of Rome: First pope of the Roman Catholic Church.

Saracens: Term commonly used by western Europeans in the Middle Ages to refer to Muslims; it is derogatory, based on a myth that Muslims lied about their ancestry, claiming descent from Abraham and his wife Sara when they were (according to the myth) descendants of the offspring of Abraham’s relationship with his slave, Hagar.

Sepulcher: See Holy Sepulcher.

serge: Type of woolen fabric, often used to make soft furniture and overcoats and outer garments (EMD).

serpent’s tongue: Spiky-leafed plant most likely of the Ophioglossum family, commonly used in poultices to relieve soreness and inflammation; or implement used for testing food.

Sicily: From the late 1260s until the fifteenth century, Sicily was ruled by the Angevins, a dynasty whose rulers originated in the county of Anjou, within the Kingdom of France. The Angevin dynasty is named for Charles of Anjou, the brother of Louis IX (also known as Saint Louis). In the late 1270s, Charles of Anjou purchased the title of king of Jerusalem.

sous: Monetary denomination used in the Kingdom of France.

sterling: Currency valuation originating in England but used internationally during the medieval period.

stole: Narrow strip of cloth worn by members of the clergy during the liturgy (EMD).

sultan: The most senior rank of secular ruler in the Muslim world. In the 1260s the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem suffered heavy losses to the Mamluk sultans of Egypt.

surplice: Simple sleeved garment worn by clergymen, made of linen (EMD); see essay by Maureen Miller.

Tancred: Hero of the First Crusade who took the title of prince of Galilee and regent of the Principality of Antioch.

Tartars: Generalizing and pejorative term commonly used by western Europeans in the Middle Ages to refer to the Mongols.

The Temple: Military order also known as the Templars; location in Jerusalem associated with the Temple of David.

tiretaine: Mixed-blend cloth, in which two types of materials, such as wool and silk, or wool and linen, are woven together in one fabric; see essay by Sharon Farmer.

tireteinne cameline: Camelin tiretaine, a linen-wool blend cloth; see essay by Sharon Farmer.

tourneyers: Young knights, noblemen, and warriors who participate in tournaments and competitions to test their skills for battle.

tournois: Coming from the city of Tours, located in the Kingdom of France.

tunic: Loosely fitting garment, often made from a single piece of cloth and lacking shoulder sleeves.

turcopole: Mercenary, a man hired to fight by force of arms.

vair: Squirrel fur used to line or trim garments; see miniver and grosvair.

vavassor: Lord who had his own retainers, but who owed allegiance to his own lord; ranked lower than a baron.