GLOSSARY
Affinity/Retinue
– a characteristic feature of ‘bastard feudalism’ in England, comprising a
network of servants and supporters who assisted a magnate in local affairs, in
his household and on military campaign. Such men might be contracted to serve
in a variety of ways including the payment of annuities, the grant of household
privileges and indentures (both for life service and more limited durations).
Aides –
taxation on retail and wholesale consumption introduced in 1360 in France to
pay royal ransoms incurred after the battle of Poitiers (1356). This developed
from an earlier system of ‘feudal aids’ payable on designated occasions.
Allod/allodium –
inherited family land held absolutely rather than of a lord or monarch. The
Plantagenets often claimed the duchy of Gascony was an allod rather than a fief
held of the French king.
Appanage –
arrangement for the support of children of a royal person, usually property set
aside to be held by a younger son. The Capetian and Valois kings adopted an ‘appanage policy’
by which the French royal domain was divided into a number of semi-independent
territorial units. Of these Burgundy became the most powerful.
Appatis –
protection money paid following an agreement made between a community (often a
town or village) and a military force (soldiers or mercenaries).
Appellants
– group of English nobles who opposed Richard II and his ministers in 1387.
They included: Thomas of Woodstock, duke of Gloucester (1355–97); Henry
Bolingbroke, earl of Derby, later Henry IV (1366–1413); Richard FitzAlan, earl
of Arundel (1346–97); Thomas Beauchamp, earl of Warwick (c.1339–1401); Thomas
Mowbray, earl of Nottingham (1366–99).
Bailli –
French royal administrative officer operating north of the River Loire, with
judicial, military and financial responsibilities.
Ban/arrière-ban –
summons to the nobility for military service. The troops serving in this
capacity are usually referred to as comprising the arrière-ban.
Bastides –
fortified towns constructed in Languedoc during the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries.
Bouche
de/en court – the right to eat at a lord’s table; a
household privilege often granted in return for service or as part of a
contract with a member of a retinue/affinity, possibly in addition to wages or
an annuity.
Chambre
des comptes – French royal financial institution
founded in 1303 with the power to raise and spend revenue. It served as the
chief audit court of the monarchy. Many princes also had their own chambres
des comptes.
Chevauchées –
military expeditions conducted by English armies in France with the intention
of destroying revenue and resources. These raids may have been deliberately
provocative, launched with the aim of forcing the French into a pitched battle.
Condottiere –
leader of a mercenary company, so called because he contracted (condotta)
soldiers to serve under him.
Écorcheurs –
(literally ‘skinners’ or ‘flayers’, because they often stripped peasants of
everything, even their clothes), these unemployed soldiers/mercenaries
terrorised large parts of northern France in the aftermath of the treaty of
Arras (1435) (see also Routiers).
États (estates)
– assemblies of regional political elites (nobles, churchmen and burghers)
summoned and consulted by royal officers to facilitate and legitimise the
collection of taxes.
États
généraux (estates general) – representatives of local
political society gathered to consult with the French king/ruler or his
regent/deputy.
Fletcher
– a maker of or dealer in bows and arrows.
Gabelle –
export duty/taxation on salt imposed in France.
Guet
et garde – system of urban defence in France (literally,
‘watch and ward’). Guetinvolved mounting watch on a town’s
ramparts, usually at night; garde meant sentry duty at the
town gates in daytime.
Inquisition
– an ecclesiastical commission of inquiry staffed by trained theologians,
entrusted with detecting those guilty of heresy and of taking depositions from
them under oath.
Langues
d’oc –
group of broadly related languages spoken in southern and central France.
Langues
d’oïl – group of broadly related languages spoken in
northern France.
Liege
homage – a form of elevated homage that clearly established a lord’s
superiority/sovereignty. Service could involve the provision of military assistance,
and a vassal could not act in concert with his lord’s enemies or assist them in
other ways.
Lit de
justice – special session of the parlement which
the French king could call in order to enforce his power against another legal
authority.
Lollards
– insulting name applied, sometimes wrongly, to the followers of the heresiarch
John Wyclif (c.1330–84). Wyclif attacked the papacy, the secular authority of
the Church, the doctrine of transubstantiation, masses for the dead,
pilgrimages and the veneration of images. The beliefs of the later Lollards
were strongly influenced by unorthodox interpretations and translations of the
New Testament.
Marmousets –
royal favourites of King Charles VI of France (r.1380–1422) who replaced the
king’s uncles on the council prior to the first manifestation of his madness in
1392.
Mercer
– merchant or trader, usually in textiles.
Napery
– office in a medieval household responsible for table and other linens.
Ordonnance/Compagnies
d’ordonnance – established in 1445 by King Charles VII of France
(r.1422–61), these permanent military units formed the core of a standing army.
The compagnies consisted of men-at-arms (gens d’armes)
and archers.
Parlement –
French legal body that dispensed royal justice. The parlement of
Paris claimed jurisdiction over the whole of the French kingdom for most of the
late Middle Ages. Some of its powers were delegated to Poitiers, Toulouse,
Grenoble and Bordeaux in the fifteenth century.
Prévôt (provost)
– local judicial officer of the French Crown.
Prince
of the Blood – a legitimate descendant in the male line of the monarch of a
country.
Purveyance
– compulsory purchase of foodstuffs for the English king’s army during a period
of war. The imposition was extremely unpopular because purveyors set the price
to be paid for the requisitioned goods, which was often lower than the market
value. Payment was frequently slow and sometimes not made at all.
Routiers –
bands of mercenary soldiers (deriving from the word route, meaning
troop or band).
Sénéchal –
French royal administrative officer operating south of the Loire, with
judicial, military, and financial powers.
Staple
– place designated by English royal ordinance as a special centre of commerce.
Tail
male – limitation of the succession of property or title to male descendants.
Taille –
French system of municipal/household taxation.
Villeins
– peasants occupying land subject to a lord. They were effectively tied to the
land/manor and not allowed to leave without permission.
A Note
on Money
During
the Hundred Years War financial transactions might be conducted in money of
account (a conventional measure of value) or money of payment (i.e. the coins
in which payment was actually made).
In
England the mark was a unit of account worth two-thirds of a pound (13s. 4d.).
The main coins in circulation were made of gold silver or billon (silver-copper
alloy). They included the silver penny (‘d.’), the shilling (‘s.’, worth 12d.),
and the pound (‘£’, worth 20s. or 240d.). In 1344 the gold noble was
introduced, valued at 6s. 8d.
The
French unit of account, the livre (l), was worth
20 sous (s), each with the value of 12 deniers (d).
The value of the livre depended on its place of origin (Tours,
Bordeaux or Paris) and on levels of devaluation. The sum of £1 sterling was usually
valued as: 5–6livres tournois (l.t.); 5–6 livres
bordelais (l.b.); 4–5 livres parisis(l.p.).
The
main coins in circulation in France were the silver gros (worth
1 sou parisis) and the gold franc (franc d’or) (worth
1 l.t.), which was gradually replaced by the écu d’or (there
were approximately 9 écus d’or to the £). The English
administration in northern France in the fifteenth century also minted
the salut d’or, which had a similar value. The French mouton,
worth 4s. 10d., was first produced in 1355.
The
Castilian unit of account was the maravedi (comprising 10
pennies/dineros). The sum of £1 sterling was worth about 230 maravedis.
The main Castilian coins in circulation were the real and the
gold doblas (worth about 4s.).
The
other major coin in circulation in Europe was the gold florin of Florence
(worth about 4s. sterling).
A Note
on Names
The
French spelling of personal names has been retained unless they are
particularly familiar in their English form, for example, Joan of Arc and
Margaret of Anjou.
