Glossary

Ashlar – A style of masonry that makes use of courses of finely cut stone blocks; alternatively refers to one of such blocks.

Batter – The gradual slope of a wall, often at its base.

Bent entrance – An entrance passage that involves at least one abrupt change of direction, typically a turn of 90º or more.

Boss – A protrusion left in the centre of an ashlar, often framed with finely drafted margins.

Casemate – A small vaulted chamber inserted into the thickness of a wall that provides access to an embrasure.

Castellan – The individual charged by a lord with the defence of a stronghold.

Condominium – A region of land where administration and revenues are shared between two parties.

Corbel – A stone that projects out from a wall and is used to support some kind of architectural element.

Counterscarp – The exterior face or wall of a fosse.

Crenels – The open spaces of a crenellated parapet, between solid merlons.

Curtain wall – The main sections of wall, often running between towers, that make up a stronghold’s main line of defences.

Donjon – The principal tower of a stronghold, usually larger than other towers and typically regarded as the final point of refuge for defenders (distinguished here from a keep, although often used synonymously).

Dressing – The finish left on the exterior of an ashlar or facing stone.

Embrasure – An arrow slit through the thickness of a wall that splays inwards.

Enceinte – A fortified enclosure.

Fosse – A ditch, either dry or filled with water, surrounding a stronghold or ahead of an approachable front.

Gallery – A passageway running inside or along the inner side of a wall that provides access to embrasures.

Glacis – Typically a revetted slope leading up to a stronghold, although sometimes used as a synonym for talus.

Greek fire – Originally an incendiary liquid developed by the Byzantines in the Early Middle Ages, its composition was a closely guarded secret as it could not be extinguished by water. By the time of the crusades, the term was applied to a wide range of naphtha-based combustibles, the consistency of which varied from liquids to more viscous mud-like pastes.

Hoarding – Temporary wooden shelters, which rested on beams inserted into putlog holes, that were built out beyond the battlements to provide protection for defenders shooting arrows or dropping stones on targets at the base of the wall below.

Keep – A solitary or central tower, the oldest or only part of a stronghold (distinguished here from a donjon, although often used synonymously).

Machicolation – (Box) A small projection built out from the plane of a wall, resting on two or more corbels, between which defenders can shoot at or drop objects on besiegers. (Slot) A narrow opening stretching across the ceiling of a passageway, typically in front of a gate, allowing defenders to shoot at or drop objects on besiegers.

Mamlūk – An individual, born a non-Muslim, bought as a slave in childhood and raised as a Muslim to be a soldier, part of a regiment, loyal to his owner (distinct from the Mamlūk dynasty – established by mamlūks when they seized power in the thirteenth century).

Mantlet – A simple shelter, often movable and made of wood, that was used to provide protection for archers and other siege troops from projectiles shot by the garrison.

Marcher lord – A figure who held a lordship acknowledged to be on the fringe of a principality, and so granted an added degree of autonomy to protect and expand the limits of his realm, and thus that of his overlord. Also known as a marquis (Fr.) or margrave (Ger.).

Merlons – The solid components (or teeth) of a crenellated parapet or battlements.

Moat – see Fosse.

Penthouse – A shelter or cover, typically used to protect miners or those working to fill a ditch.

Portcullis – A latticed grate, often made or plated with iron, which was raised and lowered in grooves on either side of a passage, used to defend a gateway.

Postern – A small gate in a stronghold from which defenders could launch sallies against their besiegers.

Quadriburgium – A roughly square stronghold with a tower at each corner, some with mural towers between them, particularly popular in the late Roman and early Byzantine periods.

Relief force – An army or body of fighters with the intention of breaking a siege by supplying the defenders, attacking the besiegers, or otherwise compelling the attackers to lift a siege.

Revet – To face with masonry.

Scarp – The interior face or wall of a fosse.

Slight – To destroy or damage so as to leave indefensible.

Spolia – Cut or sculpted stone repurposed or scavenged from an older building and incorporated into a newer one.

Talus – Sloping masonry added to the base of a tower or wall.

Tell – An artificial mound, the product of centuries of occupation as successive generations built on top of earlier remains.

Trebuchet – A machine consisting of a rotating beam, attached to a horizontal axle, that used mechanical advantage to throw stones by harnessing the power of pullers or a counterweight.