The Awful Secret (2 page)

A short tunic, originally of thick, boiled leather but later of chain-mail or plate metal, to protect the chest in battle.

The King’s Court or Council, his tenants-in-chief, composed of the most senior barons and churchmen, who offered advice and devised national policy. From this developed the great Offices of State, especially the courts.

A Gaelic word for a boat of similar construction to a Welsh coracle, but dinghy-shaped instead of round. Though flimsily constructed of tarred hide stretched over thin wooden frames, it was used extensively for voyages as far afield as Brittany.

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 might be confiscated by the coroner and sold for the Crown, but was sometimes given to the deceased’s family as compensation for the death.

A war-horse, a large animal strong enough to carry an armoured knight. When firearms made armour obsolete, destriers became draught-animals, from whom carthorses are descended. Previously, ploughing and carting was carried out by oxen.

The fortified tower on the motte in early Norman castles. Originally of wood, it was later replaced by masonry. The later word ‘dungeon’, meaning a prison cell, came from the lowest chamber in the donjon, where prisoners were incarcerated.

A sitting of the Kings’ Judges, 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 (now Crown Courts), which was supposed to visit frequently to try serious cases; and the General Eyre, which came at long intervals to scrutinise the administration of each county.

The first person to discover the corpse of a slain person had to rouse the four nearest households and raise the ‘hue and cry’ to give chase to the culprit. Then the bailiff had to be notified and then the coroner. Failure to do so resulted in amercement (qv) by the coroner.

Also called a ‘byrnie’, this was a chain-mail tunic with long sleeves, to protect the wearer from neck to calf. The skirt was slit to allow him to ride a horse. A metal plate was often secured over the front of the chest to further protect the heart.

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 one ox team could plough in a season.

A holding of land by a lord from the King, a baron or the 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, but some villages were split between different lords.

An administrative sub-division of a county, originally supposed to consist of a hundred settlements.

Unlike modern juries, who must be totally impartial, having no prior knowledge of the case, medieval juries included witnesses, local people who were obliged to gather to tell what they knew about a crime or dispute. The coroner’s jury was supposed to be all the males over the age of twelve from the four nearest villages, though this was usually a practical impossibility.

One of the King’s Chief Ministers in Norman times. In the reign of Richard I, the most effective was Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was his military second-in-command at the Third Crusade, before he returned home during the Lionheart’s imprisonment in Austria and Germany, to raise money for his ransom. Richard made him Chief Justiciar and Hubert virtually ruled the country after Richard’s permanent departure from England in May 1194, only two months after returning from captivity.

A woman’s gown, worn to the ankles, with long sleeves, wide at the wrists, though fashions constantly changed. The kirtle was worn over a chemise, the only undergarment.

An early medieval merchant ship, generally like a Viking longship, but much broader in the beam. It was partly decked with a single hold, mast and sail.

A foreman appointed in every village, either elected by villagers or by the manorial lord. He oversaw the daily farm work and though illiterate like the vast majority of the population, he would keep records of crop rotation, harvest yields, tithes, etc, by means of his memory and notches on tally sticks.

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 shil lings and fourpence (now equal to sixty-six decimal pence).

The artificial mound on which the wooden donjon (qv) was erected in early Norman castles, surrounded by the bailey (qv). An excellent Devon example is at Totnes.

A common punishment for all kinds of offence, as a lesser alternative to hanging. Removal of a hand was the most frequent, but feet, tongues, ears and noses were also cut off, as well as blinding and castration.

There were many types of legal Ordeal, supposed to be a test of guilt or innocence, such as walking over nine red-hot ploughshares, picking a stone from a barrel of boiling water or molten lead or being submerged in water. The ‘Ordeal of the Bier’ was to detect a murderer by making a suspect touch the bier on which the corpse laid, when the fatal wounds would begin to bleed again. This is mentioned by Shakespeare in Richard III, Act One.

Literally, anyone outside the law, usually escaped prisoners or sanctuary seekers. They usually took refuge in the forests and lived by banditry, as in the tales of Robin Hood. Highway robbers were sometimes called ‘trail bastons’. Outlaws ceased to exist as legal persons and were considered ‘as the wolf’s head’, as they could be killed on sight by anyone, who could claim a bounty if they took the severed head to the sheriff or coroner.

The four Christian kingdoms in the Levant at the time of the Crusades, including the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Tuberculosis, rife in medieval times.

One of the two senior burgesses in a township, elected by the others as leaders. They were superseded by a mayor, the first mayor of Exeter being elected in 1208.

A senior canon in a cathedral, responsible for organising the religious services, singing etc.

A Templar establishment (see Commandery).

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 a Norman, and the community was heavily punished by the ‘murdrum’ fine, unless they could prove that the deceased was Saxon. This was done before the coroner by male members of the family. This continued for several centuries, as a good source of revenue for the Treasury, even though it became meaningless so long after the Conquest, due to intermarriage.

A group of islands off Land’s End, noted for pirates in the Middle Ages. In 1208, over 100 pirates were hanged there at Tresco.

A young priest, junior to a vicar (qv), who may also be an assistant to a canon (qv).

Also spelt ‘serjeant’, has several meanings. A senior-man-at-arms, or a law officer in early times, below a bailiff in a town; also the squire of a Templar Knight, who wore brown or black.

The ‘shire-reeve’, the King’s representative in each county, responsible for law and order and the collection of taxes. There was great corruption amongst sheriffs, and it was a much-sought-after appointment, large sums being paid for the post, due to the many opportunities for embezzlement.

See Steward.

A freeman, as opposed to a bondsman. The latter consisted of villiens, serfs and slaves in descending order of servitude in the feudal system.

The senior servant of a lord, also called a seneschal. It could be a highly prestigious and responsible post, especially in a great house. The Stuart dynasty derived their name from being stewards.

A pack animal, used for carrying loads rather than riding.

Also called a ‘super-tunic’, it was worn over the tunic or over armour, where it protected the wearer from the sun on the metal and provided a site for heraldic emblems. The most famous was the white surcoat of the Knights Templar, with the characteristic broad red Cross.

A highway robber, an outlaw (qv) who usually worked with a gang.

The main garment for a man, pulled over the head to reach the knee or calf. A linen shirt might be worn underneath and a cloak or mantle over it. The skirt was slit for riding a horse.

The lowest level of a fortified building. The entrance to the rest of the structure was on the floor above, isolated from the undercroft, which might be partly below ground level. Removable wooden stairs prevented attackers from reaching the main entrance above.

A priest employed by a more senior cleric, such as a canon (qv) to carry out some of his religious duties, especially attending the numerous services in the cathedral. Often called a vicar-choral, from his participation in chanted services.

A common medieval building technique, where clay or plaster is applied over a woven framework of hazel withies.

The disabled ship drifted rapidly towards the lee shore, a rugged coast seen dimly in the dusk. Although by the violent standards of the Severn Sea the weather was far from extreme, there was a strong north-westerly wind, sufficient to raise spume from the crests of the grey Atlantic rollers and partly obscure the towering cliffs with spray.

The short, stumpy vessel pitched and rolled at the mercy of the waves, having no steerage-way from the single sail, which lay collapsed on the deck. Neither was there a steering oar near the stern, both that and the steersman having been washed away. The little ship was now merely flotsam awaiting the inevitable impact with the northerncoast of Devon. The great cliffs, where Exmoor abruptly tumbled into the sea opposite distant Wales, now loomed on the port beam of the derelict. Although all the land immediately ahead was lower than to the east, it still presented a jagged prospect of rocks, reefs and coves.

The knarr was a broader version of the Viking longboat, with high stem and stern posts, but no dragon carvings ornamented it. The forward and after thirds were decked in, but the centre was an open hatch for the cargo. The canvas cover was gone, as was the cargo, and the hold was thigh-deep in water, which shipped over the sides each time the knarr broached the waves in its uncontrolled plunge towards the rocks.

Although it was dusk, there was still enough light for the sole survivor to see the corpse of one of his shipmates lying alongside him, his feet tangled in a rope, which had saved it from being washed overboard. Terrified, the young seaman clung to a fallen spar on the deck and stared ahead through the spray at the grey bulk of the shore, which seemed to race towards him. He knew most of the landmarks between Penzance and Bristol and, even through his fear, recognised to his left the Great Hangman, England’s highest cliff, which towered more than a thousand feet above the end of Combe Martin Bay.

As the last few cable-lengths of open sea gave way to thunderous white surf, he glimpsed a dim yellow light high on the land, above the point where the vessel must inevitably strike. A few seconds later, with a shriek of terror, the youth felt a grinding crash as a roller lifted the hull on to a jagged reef at the foot of a cliff. The impact tore his feeble grasp from the spar and, as the vessel tilted almost on to her beam ends, he slid across the deck and was washed off into the surf by the advancing wave. The breaker rolled him up a narrow gully between the rocks and almost contemptuously spat him out on to a tongue of shingle that ended in a shallow cave. Sobbing with fear and only half aware of his surroundings, he scrabbled on hands and knees through the white foam that streamed back to meet the next wave and collapsed far enough up the tiny beach to escape being sucked back into the sea.

Wet through in the keen wind, he lay shivering for a while, then slipped into unconsciousness, unaware of the wavering gleam of a horn lantern and the scrunch of feet that came down a narrow path from above.

‘At last, Gwyn! I can do it without that bloody box!’

Later, John de Wolfe thought how strange it was that he should be so exultant at such a little thing, which would never have crossed his mind two months ago. Yet, in Martin’s Lane that morning, he was as pleased as a child with a new toy. The two men who watched him seemed just as delighted, but his servant Mary, who watched from the doorway of his house opposite, clucked under her breath at the infantile antics of three grown men.

The ‘bloody box’ was a set of crude wooden steps knocked together by Gwyn of Polruan. It had done sterling service for the past two weeks, in allowing de Wolfe to climb up on to his new horse, Odin. But this morning he had been able to discard Gwyn’s invention and put his whole weight on his injured left leg to lift the other into the stirrup. Now he sat solidly on the back of the patient stallion, a grin spreading across his normally stern face.

‘You’d better carry this crook for the time being, Crowner,’ advised Gwyn, the shaggy red-headed giant of a Cornishman who had been his henchman for almost twenty years. He handed up a walking stick, which de Wolfe had been using since he threw away his crutch three weeks earlier, and the coroner pranced the stallion up and down the lane for a few yards, turning and weaving in pure pleasure. Although he had been riding for the past ten days, the fact that he could now mount his own horse without climbing steps made him feel independent at last.