ALB
A long garment, often elaborately embroidered, worn by priests under a shorter garment called the chasuble, q.v.
AMERCEMENT
The imposition of a fine for some breach of the law. The coroner would record the amercement, but usually it was not collected until after a decision by the visiting judges.
APPEAL
Unlike the modern legal meaning, an appeal was an accusation by an aggrieved person, usually a close relative, against another for a felonious crime. Historically, it preceded (and competed with) the Crown’s right to prosecute and demanded either financial compensation or trial by combat or the Ordeal.
ARCHDEACON
A senior priest, assistant to the Bishop. There were three in the diocese of Devon and Cornwall, one responsible for Exeter.
ASSART
A new piece of arable land, cut from the forest to enlarge the cultivated area of a village.
AVENTAIL
A chainmail neck-covering, similar to a balaclava, attached to the edge of the helmet and tucked into the top of the hauberk.
BAILIFF
Overseer of a manor or estate, directing the farming and other work. He would have manor-reeves under him and in turn be responsible either to his lord or the steward or seneschal.
BALDRIC
A diagonal strap over the right shoulder of a Norman soldier to suspend his sword scabbard on the left hip.
BARBETTE
A fabric band over the head and under the chin, as part of a lady’s attire.
BURGAGE
A house in a town, occupied by a burgess.
BURGESS
A freeman of substance in a town or borough, usually a merchant. A group of burgesses ran the town administration and elected two portreeves (later a mayor) as their leaders.
CANON
A priestly member of the chapter of a cathedral, also called a prebendary, as they derived an income from their prebend, a grant of land or pension. Exeter had twenty-four canons, most of whom lived near the cathedral. Many employed junior priests (vicars) to carry out their duties for them.
CHAPTER
The administrative body of a cathedral, composed of the canons (prebendaries) and the senior clergy. They met in the Chapter House, usually attached to the cathedral, so-called because a chapter of the gospels was read before each meeting.
CHASUBLE
A thigh-length garment, usually embroidered, with wide sleeves, worn by priests.
CONSTABLE
Has several meanings, but here refers to a senior military commander, often the custodian of a castle, otherwise called a castellan.
CORONER
Senior law officer in a county, second only to the sheriff. First appointed in September 1194, though there are a few mentions of coroners in earlier times. The name comes from the Latin CUSTOS PLACITORUM CORONAE, meaning ‘Keeper of the Pleas of the Crown’, as he recorded all serious crimes and legal events for the King’s judges.
COVER-CHIEF
More correctly ‘couvre-chef’, a linen veil worn by women, held in place by a band or circlet around the forehead and hanging down over the back and bosom.
CRESPINES
Gilt nets on either side of the head, to hold hair.
CROFT
A small area of land around a village house (toft) for vegetables, a few livestock, used by the occupant (cottar) who was either a freeman or a bondsman (villein or serf).
CUIRASS
A breastplate or short tunic, originally of leather but later of metal, to protect the chest in combat.
EYRE
A sitting of the royal judges, introduced by Henry II in 1166, which moved around the countries in circuits. There were two types, the ‘Justices in Eyre’, the forerunner of the Assizes which was supposed to visit frequently to try cases – and the General Eyre, which arrived at long intervals to check on the administration of each county.
FIRST FINDER
The first person to discover a corpse or witness a crime, had to rouse the four nearest households and give chase. Failure to do so would result in an amercement (fine).
GORGET
Similar to a wimple, a band worn under a veil or hood, passing beneath the chin and up to the temples: may also be a wide necklace, originating from armour.
HAUBERK
A chainmail tunic with long sleeves to protect the wearer from neck to knee.
HEAD-RAIL
Female head-covering, similar to cover-chief (q.v.).
HIDE
A measure of land, not always constant in different parts of the country, but usually between 30 and 80 acres. A hide was divided into four virgates.
HUE AND CRY
When a crime was witnessed or discovered, the First Finder (q.v.) had to knock up the nearest four households and if possible give chase to the suspect.
HUNDRED
A sub-division of a county, originally named from a hundred hides of land or a hundred families.
JURY
Unlike modern juries, the medieval jury were witnesses, local people who were obliged to gather to tell what they knew of a crime or dispute and to come to a decision on the verdict. The coroner’s jury was supposed to comprise all the males over twelve years old from the four nearest villages, though this was often a practical impossibility.
KIRTLE
A woman’s dress, worn to the ankles, with long sleeves, though fashions changed frequently. The kirtle was worn over the chemise, the only undergarment.
LEAT
A ditch cut to drain a marsh.
MANOR REEVE
A foreman appointed in each village by the lord of a manor to oversee the daily farm work. Although illiterate, like the vast majority of the population, he would keep a record of crop rotation, harvest yields, tithes, etc., by means of memory and notches on tally-sticks.
MANTLE
A cloak, usually of square or semicircular shape, secured at the neck by a brooch-pin or ring. May have a hood for travelling.
MARK
A sum of money, though not an actual coin, as only pennies existed. A mark was two-thirds of a pound, i.e., thirteen shillings and fourpence (sixty-six decimal pence).
MIDDEN
A rubbish pit or dump, often used for sewage.
MURDRUM FINE
A fine or amercement levied on a village by the coroner when a person was found dead in suspicious circumstances and no killer could be produced, if the locals could not make ‘presentment of Englishry’ (q.v.).
ORDEAL
Though sometimes used to extract confessions, the Ordeal was an ancient ritual, abolished by the Vatican in 1215, where suspects were subjected to painful and often fatal ordeals, such as walking barefoot over nine red-hot ploughshares, picking a stone from a vat of boiling water, licking white-hot iron, etc. If they suffered no injury, they were judged innocent. Another ordeal was to be thrown bound into deep water: if they sank, they were innocent, if they floated, they were guilty and were hanged or mutilated!
PEINE FORTE ET DURE
‘Hard and severe punishment’ used for the extraction of confessions from suspects.
PORTREEVE
One of the senior burgesses in a town, elected by the others as a leader. There were usually two, later superseded by a mayor, the first mayor of Exeter being installed in 1208.
PREBENDARY
See ‘Canon’.
PRECENTOR
A senior cleric in a cathedral, responsible for organising the services and singing, etc.
PRESENTMENT OF ENGLISHRY
Following the 1066 Conquest, many Normans were killed by aggrieved Saxons, so the law decreed that anyone found dead from unnatural causes was Norman and the village was punished by a murdrum fine (q.v.) unless they could prove that the deceased was English or a foreigner. This was usually done by a male member of the family. This continued for several hundred years, as even though it became meaningless long after the Conquest, it was a good source of revenue.
REEVE
See ‘Manor Reeve’.
SENESCHAL
The senior servant or steward to a lord.
SHERIFF
A ‘shire-reeve’, the King’s representative in each county, responsible for law and order and the collection of taxes.
SUPER-TUNIC
Similar to a surcoat, but usually heavier: worn as a lighter alternative to a mantle (cloak).
SURCOAT
A garment worn over the tunic, usually shorter. It was also used to cover armour, to protect from the sun and used for heraldic recognition devices.
TABARD
A male over-garment, open at the sides and laced at the waist.
TITHE
A tenth part of the harvest, demanded by the Church.
TUNIC
The main men’s garment, pulled over the head to reach the knee or calf. A linen shirt may be worn underneath. For riding, the tunic would be slit at the sides or front and back.
UNDERCROFT
The ground floor of a fortified building. The entrance to the rest of the building was on the floor above, isolated from the undercroft, which might be partly below ground level. Removable wooden steps prevented attackers from reaching the main door.
VICAR
A priest employed by a more senior cleric, such as a prebendary or canon, to carry out his religious duties. Often called a ‘vicar-choral’ from his participation in chanted services.
WIMPLE
A linen or silk cloth worn around a lady’s neck to frame the face. The sides were pinned up above each ear and the lower edge tucked into the neckline of the kirtle or chemise.