The following is a list of common medieval terms that you might run across as a reader of my stories, or others set in Medieval Times. But don’t worry; I won’t use too many of these—just enough to flavor the narrative or dialogue.
- Aid: A financial obligation the vassal owed his lord for special circumstances or occasions.
- Anon: At once or soon.
- Aye, Yea: Yes.
- Cornettes: Two-pointed headdress.
- Coz: Cousin.
- Craft: A skilled labor.
- Daub: Clay and hair smeared over a wooden structure of a house.
- Demesne: Land held directly by the lord.
- Eyre: English Court.
- Fief, Feud: Land held from a lord.
- Fisyk: Medicine.
- Flail: A stick used to separate wheat grains from ears.
- Frankpledge: A pledge made by all the members of a community in which they vowed to take responsibility for their actions. If one person broke the law, all were responsible for bringing that person to justice.
- Free-lance: A term used for mercenaries.
- Heriot: A death tax paid by the murderer if someone was killed.
- Hither: Here.
- Host: Military service owed to a lord.
- Journeyman, Journeywoman: A skilled worker who was employed by guildmasters or who worked independently for daily wages.
- Knave: A disrespectful form of address to a man.
- Knotty-pated, Addle-pated: stupid.
- Ling: A type of fish.
- Lingulae: The keys on an organ.
- Manor: Land held by a lord and worked by tenants.
- Nay: No.
- Oblate: Someone who entered the church at an early age.
- Oblation: A fee paid to the church by someone who gave their child to the clergy.
- Rogue: Vagrant.
- Sally: Counterattack.
- Simpkin: A fool.
- Sirrah: A derogatory way to address a man.
- Sister: the wife of a guildmaster who was allowed to enter the guild.
- Span: The term for preparing a crossbow to be shot.
- Tallow: a type of candle made from animal fat.
- Thee: You. Used as an object for familiar people and social equals.
- Thine: Yours. Used for social equals and friends.
- Thither: There.
- Thou: You. Used as a subject for social equals and familiar people.
- Thy: Your. Used for social equals and friends.
- ‘Tis: The contraction of it is.
- Tourney: A tournament, especially a melee.
- ‘Twas: Contraction for it was.
- ‘Twill: contraction of it will.
- ‘Twould: The contraction of it would.
- Vassal: A servant who had sworn allegiance to an overlord.
- Villein, Serf: One who owed labor to a lord and was not a free man.
- Wench: A disrespectful term for a woman.
- Yon: That.