Gernon, Maude: wife of Ranulf de Gernon. Countess of Chestre.
Gernon, Ranulf de: Earl of Chestre. Kinsman of Ralph d’Avranches.
Ghent, Gilbert: a knight in the Earl of Pengraic’s household.
Ghaznavid: an empire centred in modern-day Afghanistan.
Gilda: a midwife.
Godric of Mappestone: castellan of Godric Castle on the Wye.
Guietta: Gytha’s daughter.
Gytha: a London serving girl, known for her abilities with the dressing of hair.
Hallow’s Eve: 31st October, the day before Hallowmas, now known as Halloween.
Hallowmas: the celebration of All Saints Day on 1st November.
Hauberk: a long ‘shirt’ of maille, reaching generally to mid-thigh. In Norman times it also came with a hood, or coif, and its sleeves reached to the elbow, sometimes lower.
Henry, Prince: eldest son of King Edmond and Queen Adelaide.
Herepath: an army road or route.
Holloways: almost literally, a hollow way. Holloways were narrow thoroughfares, often sunken, through the back country of England. Many of them have been used for thousands of years.
Horse-riding for women: generally only noblewomen would have ridden horses at this period. If they wanted to actually ride (i.e. control) the horse then they most likely would ride astride. Women could also ride ‘aside’, that is, sitting sideways on the horse on a saddle that was more chair than saddle — it did not resemble riding ‘side-saddle’ at all (side-saddle riding did not exist at this point). If a woman rode aside then she had no hope of controlling the horse and someone would need to lead the horse for her.
Hose: stockings, generally made of wool, they would be knee high and held up by garters, or thigh high and tied with laces to the waistband of the braes.
Holbournestrate: Holborn, just west of twelfth-century London.
Hours of the day: clock time, where the hours of the day were evenly divided into twenty-four periods, was virtually unknown in the twelfth century. Most people within hearing of church or monastic bells orientated themselves within the day by the canonical hours. The Church divided the day into seven, according to the seven hours of prayer:
• The day began with Matins, usually an hour or two before dawn.
• The second of the hours was Prime – daybreak.
• The third hour was Terce, set at about 9 a.m.
• The fourth hour was Sext (originally midday).
• The fifth hour was Nones, set at about 3 in the afternoon (it was not moved to midday until sometime during the thirteenth century).
• The sixth hour was Vespers, normally early evening.
• The seventh hour was Compline, bedtime.
These hours were irregular both within the day and within the year; the hours orientated themselves around the rising and setting of the sun, and thus the hours contracted and expanded according to the season.
Hugh of Argentine: Master of the Temple in England. The Templar church in the earlier twelfth century was located on High Holbournestrate just to the west of London.
Innocent II: Pope of the Church.
Jocea: a midwife.
John, Prince: third and youngest son of King Edmond and Queen Adelaide.
Kendal, Mistress Evelyn: an attending lady to Adelie, the Countess of Pengraic.
Kirtle: a closely fitted tunic worn by women over their chemise. Laced up the back, generally it had flowing bell-shaped sleeves, a full skirt, and a tightly fitted body. It could be made of wool, linen or, for the very rich, silk.
Lacy, Gilbert de: Lord of Longtown, Weobley and Ludlow, member of the Knights Templar.
Lacy, Alianor de: wife of Lord Robert de Lacy.
Lacy, Lady Isouda de: widowed member of the powerful Norman family of de Lacy.
Lacy, Robert de: Lord of Bouland and of Blachburnscire. A powerful Norman noble.
Langtofte, Godfrey: nobleman, former pilgrim and sergeant within the Order of the Knights Templar. Father of Maeb.
Langtofte, Leorsythe: Maeb’s mother.
Langtofte, Mistress Maeb: attending woman to Lady Adelie de Mortaigne, Countess of Pengraic.
London: twelfth-century London was a place of many open spaces, fields, orchards and market gardens. Most buildings were of wattle and daub or timber, although more stone houses were being built. Its population would have been about sixty thousand.
London Bridge: London Bridge in the twelfth century was a wooden structure, as it would remain until the famous medieval stone bridge was built from 1176. The early medieval wooden bridges were constantly being destroyed: by storms, by fire, or by rogue Vikings tying a rope to the bridge from their ship and then pulling it down as they rowed away (the children’s rhyme ‘London Bridge is Falling Down’ is based on a Viking song commemorating the event).
Ludo: Master of the Horse to Raife de Mortaigne, Earl of Pengraic.
Madog ap Gruffydd: a Welsh prince or rebel, depending on which side of the border lie your loyalties.
‘Ap’ means ‘son of ’, so the name means ‘Madog son of Gruffydd’.
Maille: the Norman term for chain mail. (The term chain mail was not used until the seventeenth century.)
Mandeville, Geoffrey de: Earl of Exsessa and castellan of Baynard Castle in London.
Marcher Lords: the Marcher Lords administered the Welsh Marches, a frontier zone between two peoples, two languages, two cultures. They had extraordinary liberties, ruling their lands almost as kings, and were highly independent of the English king. They had the liberty to run courts, establish laws, collect taxes, build castles, run prisons, markets, fairs — essentially they had complete jurisdiction over their subjects. They were very powerful men in Norman England. See also Welsh Marches.
Martinmas: festival of Saint Martin, 11th November.
Mevanou: wife of Madog ap Gruffydd.
Montgomerie, Gilbert de: Earl of Scersberie, and one of the powerful Marcher Lords.
Mortaigne, Adelie de: Countess of Pengraic, wife of Raife de Mortaigne.
Mortaigne, Alice de: daughter of Raife de Mortaigne, Earl of Pengraic. Mortaigne, Ancel and Robert de: twin sons of Raife de Mortaigne, Earl of Pengraic.
Mortaigne, Emmette de: daughter of Raife de Mortaigne, Earl of Pengraic.
Mortaigne, Geoffrey de: son of Raife de Mortaigne, Earl of Pengraic. Mortaigne, Joanna de: daughter of Raife de Mortaigne, Earl of Pengraic. Mortaigne, John de: son of Raife de Mortaigne, Earl of Pengraic. Mortaigne, Raife de: Earl of Pengraic. The most powerful of the
Marcher Lords, and one of the most important of the Norman aristocracy.
Mortaigne, Rosamund de: daughter of Raife de Mortaigne, Earl of Pengraic.
Mortaigne, Stephen de: eldest son of Raife de Mortaigne, Earl of Pengraic.
Old People: the ancient peoples of Britain before the arrival of the Celts and Celtic culture in the millennium before the Common Era. Genetic testing shows that a small percentage of British people (and of British descent) still carry some DNA from the Old People.
Osbeorn: steward to Sir Godfrey Langtofte.
Owain, Brother: priest at the chapel in Pengraic Castle.
Palfrey: a highly prized riding horse, usually one which could amble (see Amble).
Pen Cerrig-calch: the mountain that backs Pengraic.
Peverel, Ella: a Norman woman of good family.
Plough Monday: the first Monday after Twelfth Day of Christmastide celebrations. It traditionally marked the return to agricultural work after the Christmastide celebrations.
Portreeve: see City of London governance.
Privy chamber: a private chamber meant for the use of a lord and his family.
Roche, Walter de: Earl of Summersete. His main base in central England is Walengefort Castle, just south of Oxeneford.
Richard, Prince: second son of King Edmond and Queen Adelaide.
Saint-Valery, Ranulph: a knight from Lincolescire, attached to King Edmond’s court. Saint-Valery is a renowned poet.
Sewenna: a wet nurse in Pengraic Castle.
Small beer: weak beer, generally less than 1% alcohol. Most people drank small beer in preference to water.
Solar: a solar was a private day chamber found in many great houses. It was somewhere the lord and more particularly his lady could retreat and be alone (be sole) from the bustle and lack of privacy of the typical medieval household.
Taillebois, Ivo: Pengraic Castle steward.
Teulu: the bodyguard of Madog ap Gruffydd.
Tilla: a woman from Crickhoel.
Tisson, Charles: valet to the Earl of Pengraic.
Tosny, Roger de: a lord with manors and lands in Redmeleie, Glowecestre. Evelyn Kendal’s daughter has a place within his household.
Uda: a nun at Godstou Abbey.
Vellum: a fine parchment made of the skin of calves or lambs.
Wards: in the twelfth century London was divided into twenty-four wards, each separate administrative areas.
Warenne, Ralph de: a Norman nobleman, and brother to the Earl of Sudrie.
Welsh Marches: a military frontier zone between Norman England and the Welsh territories, ruled over by powerful Marcher Lords. See also Marcher Lords.
West Cheap: Cheapside in London.
Wicker gate: a smaller door-like gate set into the much larger defensive gates of a castle.
William: steward at Rosseley Manor.
Wolves: Britain still had wolves during the Norman period, although the Normans eventually hunted them to extinction.
Wulfsige: the Earl of Pengraic’s head huntsman.