Crusade (53 page)

HAMMER-BEAM ROOF

A hammer-beam roof allows a span greater than the length of any individual piece of timber. In place of a normal tie beam spanning the entire width of the roof, short beams – the hammer beams – are supported by curved braces from the wall, and further structure is built on top of the hammer beams. The earliest hammer-beamed building still standing in England (built in 1308) is located in Winchester, in Winchester Cathedral Close, next to the dean’s garden, and is known as the Pilgrims’ Hall, now part of the Pilgrims’ School. The roof of Westminster Hall (1395–9) is a fine example of a hammer-beam roof. The span of the hall is 68 feet 4 inches, and the opening between the ends of the hammer beams 25 feet 6 inches. The height from the paving of the hall to the hammer beam is 40 feet, and to the underside of the collar beam 63 feet 6 inches, so an additional height in the centre of 23 feet 6 inches has been gained by the use of hammer beams.

HAUBERK

A chain-mail ‘coat’ worn like a long pullover down below the groin. Hauberks for the infantry were slightly shorter so that the men could run in them, and were split only at the sides. Cavalry hauberks extended almost to the knee and were split front and back. The mail could extend into a hood (ventail), like a balaclava, but had a flap in front of the throat and chin that could be dropped for comfort when not in the midst of battle. Three
kinds of mail were used and were progressively more expensive: ordinary ring mail, scale mail and lamellar mail (in which overlapping individual plates were fastened together by leather thongs).

HEARTHTROOP

The elite bodyguard of kings, princes and lords of the ninth, tenth and eleventh centuries.

HIDE

Not a fixed area but an amount of land sufficient to support a family, which became a unit subject to a ‘geld’ tax. The geld would be collected at a stated rate per hide. After the Norman Conquest, hidage was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 and stayed in use until the end of the twelfth century.

HOUSECARLS

The elite troops of the Anglo-Saxon kings, following their establishment by King Cnut in 1016, in the Danish tradition. Cnut brought his own personal troops to supplement the English fyrd (citizen army) when he succeeded to the throne following the death of Edmund Ironside.

KNAAR

A traditional Norse ship, a modified form of the Viking longship, but used as a cargo vessel.

LAMELLAR

Armour made from small iron plates tied together with leather (
see
hauberk
).

LATT

A heavy bronze-headed mace favoured by Saracen (Muslim) warriors.

LEVUNIUM, BATTLE OF

The most decisive victory of the reign of Alexius I, Emperor of Byzantium. On 29 April 1091, an invading force of Pechenegs was defeated by the combined forces of the Byzantine Empire and its Cuman allies (nomadic warriors of the Eurasian Steppe, related to the Pechenegs). The outcome was a massacre on a terrible scale. The Pechenegs went into battle with their entire families. Few survived; those who did were taken into slavery by the Byzantines.

MAMLUK

An Arab soldier, usually an infantryman. Born a slave, he would make his way in life as a professional soldier.

MANCEAUX

Plural of Manceau, an inhabitant of Le Mans or Maine, the province of France between Anjou and Normandy.

MANZIKERT, BATTLE OF

Fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Turks led by Alp Arslan on 26 August 1071 near Manzikert (modern Malazgirt in eastern Turkey). The devastating defeat of the Byzantine army and the humiliating capture of the Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes brought the empire to the brink of annihilation, destroyed Byzantine authority in Anatolia and Armenia, and allowed the Turks to populate Anatolia.

MEAD

An ancient drink, common to many lands. It was a potent and popular concoction in Britain for hundreds of years. It is made from honey, water and yeast. Fruit or spices can be added for alternative flavours. It can be very alcoholic, was thought to be a powerful aphrodisiac and was often given to newlyweds to boost fertility.

MIDDEN

A domestic waste dump for a village or burgh. A word of Scandinavian origin, it is still in use in Scotland and the English Pennines.

MOS MILITUM

A code of knightly ethics, loosely based on the ancient noble tradition of the Roman aristocracy and the influence of Islamic ethics, such as those of the Futuwwa, which appeared in the late eleventh century and formed the basis of the values of the Age of Chivalry.

MOTTE AND BAILEY

A motte (a large mound of earth topped by a wooden and then, later, by a stone castle) surrounded by a bailey (an enclosed courtyard, encircled by a fortified wall) was the archetypal Norman fortification, used to subdue and intimidate the defeated Saxons. Most of the medieval castles of England, such as Windsor and the Tower of London, started life as motte and bailey constructions in the 1070s and 1080s.

MUSLIM

In a historical context, the words ‘Muslim’ (a follower of the religion of Islam), ‘Saracen’ (usually applied to the Muslim armies
that opposed the Crusades) and ‘Moor’ (usually applied to the Arab peoples of North Africa and Spain) are often used interchangeably. The word ‘Arab’ defines the Semitic peoples who originated in Arabia and whose influence spread across the Middle East and North Africa in the seventh and eighth centuries. Sunni and Shia Islam are the two major denominations of Islam. Approximately 80–90 per cent of the world’s Muslims are Sunni and 10–20 per cent are Shia, with most Shias belonging to the ‘Twelver’ tradition (derived from their belief in twelve divinely ordained leaders, known as the Twelve Imams) and the rest divided between several other groups. Sunnis are a majority in most Muslim communities in South-east Asia, China, South Asia, Africa and most of the Arab World. Shias make up the majority of the population in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Bahrain, and they are the largest religious group in Lebanon (collectively called the Shia Crescent), while Pakistan has the second largest Shia Muslim population in the world. The historic background of the Sunni–Shia split lies in the schism that occurred when the Islamic prophet Muhammad died in the year 632
AD
, leading to a dispute over succession that culminated in the Battle of Siffin. Sectarian violence persists to this day from Pakistan to Yemen and is a major element of friction throughout the Middle East. Over the years Sunni–Shia relations have been marked by both cooperation and conflict, often with deadly violence. A period of relative harmony during most of the twentieth century has recently been replaced by conflict. Today there are differences in religious practice, traditions and customs as well as religious beliefs.

PENNON

A small streamer-like flag flown at the top of a knight’s lance to signify his status. It would have a combination of one, two
or three colours to identify him, his origins or the lord he served.

PLAINCHANT

Otherwise known as ‘plainsong’, the monophonic melody sung by monks from as early as the eighth century is more popularly known as ‘Gregorian chant’.

PURPLE, THE

A term that came to describe the office of Emperor of Byzantium, derived from the imperial purple cloak worn by Byzantine emperors and their Roman predecessors.

PUTRID FEVER

One of the many names – others include slow/camp/ship/jail fever (it flourishes in overcrowded human environments) – for epidemic typhus. The name comes from the Greek ‘typhos’, meaning hazy, describing the state of mind of those affected. Symptoms include severe headache, a sustained high fever, cough, rash, severe muscle pain, chills, falling blood pressure, stupor, sensitivity to light, as well as delirium. During the second year of the Peloponnesian War (430
BC
) Athens suffered a devastating epidemic, known as the ‘Plague of Athens’, which killed, among others, Pericles. The plague returned twice more, in 429
BC
and in the winter of 427/6
BC
. Epidemic typhus is thought to have been the cause in each case.

QUARREL

The missile of a crossbow, sometimes referred to as a bolt. Generally shorter and sturdier than an arrow, its name derives from the old French for ‘square’, arising from the fact that the tip of the quarrel was often made square in order to maximize its killing
power. More cumbersome, slower and more difficult to load than a longbow and only effective at short range, it was nevertheless a much more powerful weapon and could penetrate even the thickest medieval armour.

QURAN

The Quran, literally ‘a recitation’, is also transliterated as Qur’an, Koran, Qur’ãn, Coran, Kuran and al-Qur’ãn. It is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God (Allah) and the Final Testament, following the Old and New Testaments. It is regarded as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language. The Quran is divided into 114 suras of unequal length which are classified either as Meccan or Medinan depending upon their place and time of revelation. Muslims believe the Quran to be verbally revealed through angel Jibrı-l (Gabriel) from God to Muhammad gradually over a period of approximately twenty-three years beginning in 610
AD
, when Muhammad was forty, and concluding in 632
AD
, the year of his death. Muslims further believe that the Quran was precisely memorized, recited and exactly written down by Muhammad’s companions (Sahaba) after each revelation was dictated by him.

RUM, SULTANATE OF

The Seljuk Turk Islamic Sultanate of Rum held sway over most of Anatolia in the years after the disaster of the Battle of Manzikert and the end of Byzantine control of the area. The name ‘Rum’ was chosen by the Seljuks to signify their inheritance of the legacy of Ancient Rome.

SEAX

A short, stabbing sword.

SENLAC RIDGE, BATTLE OF

Now known as the Battle of Hastings, the decisive battle of William the Conqueror’s Norman Conquest of England was fought on Senlac Ridge, also called Senlac Hill, at a place now known as Battle, seven miles north of Hastings, on England’s south coast. Known in Old English as ‘Santlache’ (Sandy Stream), in Norman French it was adapted to ‘Sanguelac’ (Blood Lake), which was then shortened to Senlac. The ridge was probably higher than it is today, the very top of it being levelled in the building of Battle Abbey.

SHIA MUSLIM

See
Muslim
.

SOUS

‘Sous’ evolved as a French word from the Roman coin ‘solidus’, which mutated to ‘soldus’, then ‘solt’, then ‘sol’ and finally ‘sou’. No gold solidi were minted after the Carolingians adopted the silver standard; thenceforward, the solidus or sol was a paper accounting unit equivalent to one-twentieth of a pound (librum or livre) of silver and divided into 12 denarii or deniers. The monetary unit disappeared with decimalization and the introduction of the franc during the French Revolution (First Republic) in 1795, but five centimes, the twentieth part of the franc, inherited the name as a nickname.

STRATEGOI

A commander (general) of a theme (division) in the army of Byzantium (see also ‘
theme
’ below).

SUB-REGULUS

Second in the land; only a king would take precedence over him.

SUNNI MUSLIM

See
Muslim
.

SURCOAT

A long cloth coat, like the long dress of female clothing, worn over a knight’s armour. It would often be embroidered with the knight’s colours or his heraldic symbols.

TAIFA

A series of city states of the eleventh century, including Zaragoza, Cordoba, Seville and Valencia.

THEGN

A local village chieftain of Anglo-Saxon England. Not a great landowner or a titled aristocrat but the head of a village. Thus, thegns formed the backbone to the organization of Anglo-Saxon life. While serving with the army, usually as part of their service to the earl of their province, they formed a large part of the king’s elite fighting force, the housecarls.

THEME

The Byzantine Empire was organized into military districts or themes, which reflected its different nationalities. Themes were responsible for generating their own regiments for the Emperor’s army. In turn, retired soldiers were granted lands in the military theme from which they served. By the end of the eleventh century, there were 38 themes in the Byzantine Empire, each composed of between 4,000 and 6,000 men, giving a standing army of approximately 200,000 men.

TILT FIELD

A roped-off field used for tilting (jousting). It was also called ‘the lists’ or ‘list field’. Later in the Middle Ages, enclosed spaces were built (tiltyards) and the tilting become a sport as well as a form of military training.

TITHE

Tax owed to a superior in the hierarchy of the feudal system of the eleventh century and later. For example, from a tenant to his lord or the Church, or from landowners to the king.

TRIREME

An Ancient Greek galley with three rows of oars, each above the other. A vessel of war on which the oarsmen’s strength could produce a ramming speed of significant impact.

TROUBADOUR

A lyric poet composer in a tradition that began in south-west France (Aquitaine, Provence) in the Occitan language in the eleventh century. William IX, Duke of Aquitaine, was the first well-known exponent. Some of his songs have survived. The songs extolled the virtues of Courtly Love, a mix of erotic and heroic sentiments between a knight and his love, a woman who wasn’t necessarily his wife. Troubadours came from all walks of life, some of whom were professionals who made a living as strolling minstrels.