King Stephen died on 25 October 1154, at Dover. He was buried at Faversham Abbey alongside his son, Eustace, and his wife, Mathilde.
Henry Plantagenet ruled a vast empire. He is regarded as one of the most significant figures of the Middle Ages and one of England’s greatest monarchs. He and Eleanor had eight children – five boys, three of whom became kings, and three girls, two of whom became queens – and he had at least three illegitimate offspring. Their marriage was, at best, fraught; Eleanor eventually plotted on behalf of her sons against Henry, for which she was placed under house arrest for fifteen years until Henry’s death. She was released by her son Richard, who was crowned Richard I of England on 3 September 1189.
Eleanor acted as regent in England while her son, Richard the Lionheart, went on the Third Crusade. She lived into the reign of her youngest son, King John. She outlived all her children, except John and Eleanor, Queen of Castile. She died on 1 April 1204, at the age of eighty-two.
Thibaud de Vermandois was elected Pope in December 1189, but refused the honour in favour of Paolo Scolari, who became Pope Clement III. De Vermandois died the following year, on 8 November 1188, just over a year after his old friend, Gilbert Foliot.
John Comnenus, Emperor of Byzantium, died on 18 April 1143, at the age of fifty-five. He was succeeded by his son, Manuel Comnenus, who ruled for the next thirty-seven years. John’s tenure, and that of his son, continued the work of the founder of the Comneni dynasty, John’s father, Alexius. The period of the Comneni dynasty is very highly regarded in the history of Byzantium.
John Comnenus’ lifelong companion, John Azoukh, died in 1150. By then, although born a slave, he had been fully integrated into the Byzantine hierarchy.
The Knights Templar continued to be a major force in the affairs of the Catholic Church for many years. They remained vital to the defence of the Holy Land, using the vast resources and manpower they had available to them in Europe.
At its peak, the Order consisted of 20,000 members, 2,000 of which were knights. But they were always surrounded by controversy. Rumours about the Templars’ secret initiation ceremony and ascetic lifestyle created mistrust.
In 1307, King Philip IV of France, deeply in debt to the Order, had many of the Order’s members arrested. They were tortured into giving false confessions, and burned at the stake. Under pressure from King Philip, Pope Clement V disbanded the Order in 1312.
Their abrupt disappearance gave rise to speculation and legends, which have kept the Templar mystique alive to the modern day.
The earliest printed version of ‘The Ballad of Robyn of Hode’ appeared sometime after 1492, called a ‘Gest of Robyn Hode’. It was a printed version of a ballad which, like many similar songs, told of the derring-do of heroes, of outlaws fighting for the oppressed and of wrongs being righted.
The earliest handwritten ballad is ‘Robin Hood and the Monk’, preserved in manuscript form at Cambridge University. It was written shortly after 1450 and it contains many of the elements still associated with the legend. There are almost thirty surviving medieval ballads referring to Robyn of Hode. The origins of the ballads are a mystery, just as there are numerous theories about the characters portrayed in them. The stories they tell may simply be legends. However, it is widely accepted that Robin Hood and his fellow outlaws reflect the deeds of various ‘outlaws’ of the eleventh and twelfth centuries – including Hereward of Bourne, those who fought with him and those who continued his fight against tyranny.
Glossary
ANTIOCH, SIEGE OF
The capture of the great fortress of Antioch was vital to the success of the First Crusade – without control of Antioch, the crusaders could not have moved on to Jerusalem. The siege lasted for seven and a half months, and conditions for the crusaders were often worse than those inside the city. Located in the valley of the Orontes, in mountainous country, the city itself was on the valley floor, with the almost impregnable citadel high in the mountains above. Antioch finally fell on 9 February 1098.
APOPLEXY
Apoplexy was the word used for centuries to describe sudden loss of consciousness and death. Strokes and heart attacks will often have been described as apoplexy in the past.
ARROUAISIAN MONKS
The Abbey of Arrouaise was the centre of a form of the Augustinian monastic rule, the Arrouaisian Order, which was popular among the founders of abbeys during the 1130s. It had developed into a community which adopted the task of providing a service to travellers through the great Forest of Arrouaise in Artois, Flanders.
ARTUQID
The Artuqid dynasty was a Turkmen dynasty that ruled in Eastern Anatolia, Northern Syria and Northern Iraq in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.
ATABEG
Atabeg, Atabek or Atabey, the equivalent of a prince, is an hereditary title of nobility of Turkic origin, indicating the lord of a region or province, usually subordinate to a monarch.
ATHELING
The Anglo-Saxon name for the heir to the throne. Interestingly, the name ‘Clito’ – as in William Clito, the son of Robert, Duke of Normandy, and claimant to the English throne – was a Latin version of the same thing. The Germanic form was ‘Adelin’ – as in William Adelin, the son of King Henry I (Beauclerc) and heir to the throne, who drowned in 1120.
ATTAR OF ROSES
Attar of Roses, or rose oil, is a fragrant oil distilled from fresh petals of the rose family. Rose oils are a valuable ingredient of fine perfumes, liqueurs, scenting ointments and toilet preparations.
BERSERKERS
Berserkers were Norse warriors who are reported in Old Norse literature to have fought in a nearly uncontrollable trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the English word ‘berserk’.
BEZANT
A gold coin from the Byzantine Empire.
BLACKLETTER
Blackletter, also known as Gothic script, Gothic minuscule, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1100 to well into the seventeenth century. It continued to be used in the German language until the twentieth century. Blackletter is sometimes called Old English, but it is not to be confused with the Old English language, despite the popular, though mistaken, belief that the language was written with blackletter. The Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) language predates blackletter by many centuries, and was itself written in the insular script.
BLOODY FLUX
Bloody flux is the old name for dysentery, an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, caused by viral, bacterial or parasitic infestations. It results in severe diarrhoea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces, with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery is often fatal.
BRACCAE
Braccae is the Latin term for trousers, but now refers to a style of pants. The Romans first encountered this style of clothing among peoples who they called Gauls. Braccae were typically made with a drawstring, and tended to reach from just above the knee at the shortest to the ankles at the longest, with length generally increasing in tribes living further north. When the Romans first encountered the braccae, they thought them to be effeminate; Roman men typically wore tunics, which were one-piece outfits terminating at or above the knee. However, braccae eventually became popular among Roman legionaries stationed in cooler climates to the north of southern Italy. Eventually they became fashionable in late Roman times and into the Eastern Empire of Byzantium.
BUCENTAUR
The bucentaur was the state galley of the Doges of Venice. It was used every year on Ascension Day up to 1798 to take the Doge out to the Adriatic Sea to perform the ‘Marriage of the Sea’ – a ceremony that symbolically wedded Venice to the sea. The last and most magnificent of the historic bucentaurs made its maid
en voyage in 1729 in the reign of Doge Alvise III Sebastiano Mocenigo. Depicted in paintings by Canaletto and Francesco Guardi, the ship was 115 feet long and more than 26 feet high. A two-deck floating palace, its main salon had a seating capacity of 90. The Doge’s throne was in the stern, and the prow bore a figurehead representing Justice with sword and scales. The barge was propelled by 168 oarsmen, and another 40 sailors were required to man it. The ship was destroyed in 1798 on Napoleon’s orders to symbolize his victory in conquering Venice.
BURGH
The Saxon name for a town or city.
CAPPA ROBE
A long-sleeved, ankle-length ecclesiastical robe, tied at the waist by a corded belt. Usually made from cotton or wool, for Templars it would have had a slit at the front and rear so that it could be worn on horseback. In battle, the cappa would have been worn over a full-body hauberk of chain mail.
CARUCATE
The carucate was a unit of assessment for tax used in most Danelaw counties of England, and is found in the Domesday Book. The carucate was based on the area a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was subdivided into oxgangs, or ‘bovates’, based on the area a single ox might till in the same period, which thus represented one eighth of a carucate; and it was analogous to a ‘hide’, a unit of tax assessment used outside the Danelaw counties. The tax levied on each carucate came to be known as ‘carucage’.
CASTELLAN
A castellan was the governor or captain of a castle. The word stems from the Latin castellanus, derived from castellum (castle). Also known as a constable, governor of the castle or captain.
CATAPULT
Castles, fortresses and fortified walled cities were the main form of defence in the Middle Ages and a variety of catapult devices were used against them. As well as attempting to breach the walls, missiles and incendiaries could be hurled inside, or early forms of biological warfare deployed, such as diseased carcasses, putrid garbage or excrement. The most widely used catapults were the following:
Ballista
Similar to a giant crossbow and designed to work through torsion. Giant arrows were used as ammunition, made from wood and with an iron tip.
Couillard
See ‘trebuchet’
Mangonel
These machines were designed to throw heavy projectiles from a bowl-shaped bucket at the end of an arm. With a range of up to 1,300 feet they were relatively simple to construct, and wheels were added to increase mobility.
Onager
Mangonels are sometimes referred to as ‘onagers’. Onager catapults initially launched projectiles from a sling, which was later changed to a bowl-shaped bucket.
Springald
The springald’s design was similar to that of the ballista, effectively a crossbow propelled by tension. The springald’s frame was more compact, allowing for use inside tighter confines, such as the inside of a castle or tower.
Trebuchet
Trebuchets were probably the most powerful catapult employed in the Middle Ages. The most commonly used ammunition was stones, but the most effective involved fire, such as firebrands and the infamous ‘Greek fire’. Trebuchets came in two different designs: traction, which were powered by people; and counterpoise, where the people were replaced with a weight on the short end of an arm. A simplified trebuchet was known as a ‘couillard’, where the trebuchet’s single counterweight was split, swinging on either side of a central support post.
CERDIC/CERDICIAN
The dynastic name of the kings of Wessex, who ultimately became Kings of England, from Egbert, King of Wessex in 820, to Edward the Confessor’s death in 1066. The only exceptions were the three Danish kings, Cnut and his sons Harold Harefoot and Harthcnut, between 1016 and 1042. The name reputedly derives from Cerdic, a prince of the West Saxons from circa 600, who was an ancestor of Egbert, the first King of England.
CHEMISE
A simple garment worn next to the skin to protect clothing from sweat and body oils, the precursor to the modern shirt. The chemise seems to have developed from the Roman tunica and first became popular in Europe in the Middle Ages. Women wore a shift or chemise under their gown or robe. Men wore a chemise with their trousers or braies, and covered the chemise with garments such as a doublet or robe.
CHIGNON
A female hairstyle that can be traced back to antiquity, where the hair is swept back from a central parting and tied in a loosely folded bun at the back of the head.
CHURCHWRIGHT
A church builder or architect.
CLOTH OF GOLD
Cloth of gold is a fabric woven with a gold-wrapped or spun weft. In most cases, the core yarn is silk wrapped with a band or strip of high-content gold. In rarer instances, fine linen and wool are used as the core. It is mentioned on both Roman headstones for women and in the Book of Psalms as a fabric befitting a princess. The Ancient Greek reference to the Golden Fleece is thought to be a reference to gold cloth. Cloth of gold has been popular for ecclesiastical use for many centuries.
CONSTABLE
Historically, the title comes from the Latin stabuli (count of the stables) and originated from the Eastern Roman Empire. Originally, the constable was the officer responsible for keeping the horses of a lord or monarch. The title was imported to the monarchies of medieval Europe, and in many countries developed into a high military rank and great officer of state, for example, the Constable of France.
CORDWAINER
A cordwainer is a shoemaker/cobbler who makes fine soft leather shoes and boots. The word is derived from cordwain or cordovan, the leather produced in Córdoba, Spain. Historically, there was a distinction between a cordwainer, who made shoes and boots out of the finest leathers, and a cobbler, who repaired them.
CORSELET (CORSELETTE)
Now an item of female underwear, the corselet was originally a piece of armour, covering the torso, made of leather or mail – chain or lamellar. The origin of the English word comes from cors, an Old French word meaning ‘bodice’.
CRUSADES
The Crusades were a series of religious wars first initiated by Pope Urban II in 1095 with the goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was and is a sacred city and symbol of all three major Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). The Byzantine emperor, Alexius I, feared that all Asia Minor would be overrun by Muslims and called on western Christian leaders and the papacy to come to the aid of Constantinople by undertaking a pilgrimage or a Crusade that would free Jerusalem from Muslim rule. The main series of Crusades, primarily against Muslims in the Levant, occurred between 1095 and 1291. Historians have given many of the earlier Crusades numbers. After some early successes, the later Crusades failed and the crusaders were defeated and forced to return home.
Several hundred thousand soldiers became crusaders by taking vows and the Pope granted them plenary indulgences. Their emblem was the cross — the term ‘crusade’ is derived from the French term for taking up the cross. Many were from the domains of northern France and called themselves ‘Franks’, which became the common term used by Muslims.
The First Crusade (1095–99) was The ‘Great’ Crusade that finally captured Jerusalem in 1099 and led to the establishment of the Christian States of the Holy Land. The Second Crusade (1147–9) was called by various clerics, particularly by Bernard of Clairvaux. French and Southern German armies, under the Kings Louis VII and Conrad III respectively, marched to Jerusalem in 1147, but they failed to win any major victories and launched a failed siege of Damascus.
The Third Crusade (1187–92) was the most famous of the crusades. The Muslims had long fought among themselves, but were finally united by the Sultan Saladin. Following his victory at the Battl
e of Hattin in 1187, where he easily overwhelmed the disunited crusaders, he captured all of their holdings except a few coastal cities. Saladin’s victories shocked Europe. Pope Gregory VIII issued a papal bull proposing a Third Crusade. Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa of Germany, King Philip II Augustus of France, and King Richard the Lion-Hearted of England responded. Frederick died en route and few of his men reached the Holy Land. The other two armies arrived but were beset by political quarrels. King Philip feigned illness and returned to France, there scheming to win back the Duchy of Normandy from Richard’s control.
In 1191, Richard captured the island of Cyprus from the Byzantines, who had aligned themselves with Saladin, and the island became used as a crusader base for centuries to come. After a long siege, Richard recaptured the city of Acre and placed the entire Muslim garrison under captivity; they were then executed after a series of failed negotiations. The crusader army headed south along the Mediterranean coast. They defeated the Muslims near Arsuf, recaptured the port city of Jaffa, and were in sight of Jerusalem. However, Richard did not believe he would be able to hold Jerusalem once it was captured, as the majority of crusaders would then return to Europe, and the Crusade ended without the taking of the city. Richard left the following year after negotiating a treaty with Saladin. The treaty allowed trade for merchants and for unarmed Christian pilgrims to make pilgrimages, but the city remained under Muslim control.
CURFEW
The word ‘curfew’ comes from the French phrase couvre-feu (cover the fire). It was used to order the extinguishing of all lamps, candles and fires. The purpose was to guard against accidental fires overnight in towns and cities that were mainly built of wood and thatch. It was soon adapted to get people off the streets in times of unrest or danger. The word was later adopted into Middle English as ‘curfeu’, which later became the modern ‘curfew’.
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