Medieval Glossary

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Glossary

This glossary helps to explain some of the unusual words that you might find in these pages.  The words are arranged in alphabetical order.

Abhors   Absolutely hates or loathes
Allegiance Loyalty to someone, to be on their side
Bequest A gift left to a person by one who has died
Bordars 
Had a cottage, some land and one or two oxen. They had to do week work for the lord of the manor for a certain amount of days per week, the rest of the time he could hire himself out.
Burgess A freeman or citizen of an English borough
Burh Anglo Saxon fortified town
Chattels Personal property
Carucate Ploughland, the Danelaw equivalent of the Anglo Saxon hide
Danelaw The sections of England under the jurisdiction of Danish law
Demesne Land owned by the lord of the manor that the peasants had to work on
Ecclesiastical  About the Church
Etymology Study of the origin of words
Freeman Owned land in the manor which they could sell or otherwise dispose of
Furlong A unit for measuring distance, equal to 1/8 mile (201 meters)
Geld  Tax
Grestak A kind of tax
Heriot A death duty to the lord ( a piece of military equipment or the best beast)
Hide Area of land big enough to support one family
Hundred The name is derived from the number one hundred and it may in some areas once have referred to a hundred men under arms - in England, however, it was that amount of land sufficient to sustain one hundred families
Indenture A written agreement between two or more people
Mancuses Gold coins
Manor The district over which a lord ruled
Merchet A fee paid to the lord when a tenant's daughter gets married
Messuage House and adjoining land
Obscure Not clear
Pannage The right to release pigs into woodland to eat fallen acorns
Per annum Each year
Perpetual For ever
Pitcher Jug
Populace  People
Serfs Almost slaves
Succumb Give in to
Sustenance Usually food, what is needed to keep alive
Synod Meeting of Bishops and other churchmen
Villeins They had more land than Bordars, but still had to do week work
Virgate Measure of land between 15 and 40 acres
Week work Work that the peasants did for the Lord of the manor in exchange for a place to live and protection of living on the manor
Witan  Council of advisers to the Anglo Saxon kings
Withal In addition


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