Appendix B: Glossary of Mediæval & Early-Modern Terms

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abbess, n. head of a nunnery.

abbot, n. head of a monastery.

armet, n. visored helmet donned by the locking of hinged cheek-plates, allowing for a close fit.

aventail, n. curtain of maille attached to the skull of a helmet, usually a bascinet.

bailiff, n. executive officer of a local—often manorial—court; the jurisdiction of a bailiff is called a bailiwick.

banneret, n. knight entitled to lead men under his own banner.

bascinet, n. open-faced, brimless, low-cut helmet with a tapered peak, usually worn with an aventail.

bascinet, houndskull, n. bascinet with a visor distinguished by its convex eyeslits and snoutlike shape.

castellan, n. governor of a castle in his lord’s stead; the jurisdiction of a castellan is called a castellany.

corslet, n. armour for the torso.

demesne, n. land held by a lord in his own right, rather than in leased to him by an overlord.

diocese, n. large ecclesiastic district governed by a bishop, for which reason it is also called a bishopric.

doublet, arming, n. lightly padded jacket to which the components of a plate-harness attach via lacing.

fauld, n. overlapping, articulated bands forming a skirt-like component of a plate-harness.

parish, n. local ecclesiastic district centred around a single church managed by a parish priest.

plackart, n. armour for the stomach, articulates with the breastplate.

rerebrace, n. plate-armour for the upper-arm.

sallet, n. high-cut helmet with articulated neck-plate, often has a shallow visor, often worn with a bevor.

vambrace, n. plate-armour for the forearm.

yeoman, n. freeholding peasant belonging to a rural “middle-class”, often serve as longbowman.