The Tournament of Blood

Aketon

A long-sleeved garment, of fustian or similar thick cloth, often padded with wool and sewn like a quilt, which was worn over the shirt but beneath
the mail to protect a man-at-arms.

À outrance

Fighting under conditions of war. In a tournament this meant using weapons of war: sharp sword, sharp lance, dagger and all other equipment
including full armour.

À plaisance

Fighting for show or entertainment. When demonstrating their speed and prowess, knights often used bated, or blunted, weapons to reduce the danger
of bloodshed.

Banneret

A knight who was entitled to command other knights and men-at-arms under his own banner; also a title of knighthood conferred by the King for
valour on the battlefield.

Béhourd

This was a limited
hastilude
between squires or training knights, occasionally an impromptu response to a celebration. Sometimes events
had the knights wearing
cuir bouilli
and fighting with whalebone swords, such as at the ‘Joust of Peace’ at Windsor in 1278.

Ber frois

The grandstands built to accommodate ladies, nobles and the wealthier classes. They would have surrounded the main fighting area, forming an
oblong so that knights could run
courses
against each other directly in front of the spectators.

Coat armour

Over the
pair of plates
a knight would wear a decorative tunic upon which he would have his heraldic symbols, his ‘arms’.
From this the tunic came to be called
coat armour
. It didn’t offer protection from attack, it only emphasised the nobility of the wearer. Also called
gypon
.

Collée

This was the term given to the light blow from the hand, according to the
Ordène de Chevalerie
and other contemporary books
dealing with knighthood. The
collée
was given by the man who had girded the new knight with his sword, and commonly it was given by the fellow’s lord. It was only rarely
given by the King himself except after a battle or tournament, at which times it was worthwhile making knights to reward them. The Church tried to take over the dubbing of knights, just as
they took on the responsibility of crowning kings, in an attempt to demonstrate that priests were superior to warriors, but they did not succeed.

Commencailles

The initial stage of a
mêlée
or medley in which a few knights selected for their skill would display their abilities in
preliminary skirmishes before the main fight.

Course

One run through the
lists
, so one attempt to hit an opposing knight.

Cuir Bouilli

Leather boiled, shaped and hardened to form a solid, but light covering, used to protect both men and horses.

Diseur

Just as with any sport, rules were invented and must be monitored by professional judges. These referees were called
diseurs
.

À l’estoc

Literally ‘at the point’ of a sword.
Estoc
was sometimes used to mean a vicious thrust into the chest cavity, under the ribs
and leading upwards into heart and lungs: a killing blow.

Gypon

See
Coat armour
above.

Harbinger

The members of a household sent on before the Lord’s arrival in a new location to prepare the way for him, ensuring that rooms were
available at inns en route and finally making the destination ready. Often a rich man like Lord Hugh would have
harbingers
for his servants as well.

Hastilude

Literally ‘spear-play’ from the Latin
hastiludium
: this word was the common term for a
joust
in the 1300s.
I’ve used ‘tournament’ and ‘joust’ in the story because they are better understood by readers in the 2000s.

Hauberk

The name given to the coat of mail worn over the
aketon
but beneath the
pair of plates
.

Heralds

Heralds
grew to importance largely through tournaments, because it was they, the experts in reading heraldic insignia, who must confirm a
man’s lineage to ensure he was entitled to participate, and call out his name as the knight rode into the lists to
joust
. Afterwards it was the heralds who proclaimed the
honour and prowess of the winners.

Heraldry

As warfare and the
mêlée
required ever stronger armour and men’s faces became concealed, knights resorted to symbols
painted upon shields, pennons and banners so that their footsoldiers and friends could recognise them. This was the basis of
heraldry
, which developed into a systematic means of
displaying a man’s heredity.

Joust

Generally this meant single combat on horse or on foot. Commonly in this period, a
joust
consisted of: three
courses
run with
the lance, three with swords and three more (if both competitors could still stand!) with axes. More recently, of course, a
joust
has come to mean
hastilude
.

Lists

Once the
mêlée
gave way to the rather safer idea of individual knights running
courses
against each other, it was
desirable that the clash should take place before the spectators. There was, after all, little point in a knight displaying brilliant prowess in a field half a mile away where no one could
see him. Thus
lists
were created: an enclosed space in which the fighting took place.

Mêlée

Also called a
medley
, this was a free-for-all: in essence a battle. All weapons were genuine and there were few rules. The thrill for the
participants came from booty: seizing another knight’s weapons, horse and armour, as well as taking the man hostage and demanding a ransom. Those who held the field at the end of the
day were victors, while the losers must run to the money-lenders.

Misericorde

Literally ‘compassion’ or ‘mercy’, this name applied to small shelves for monks to rest on and save their legs during long
services, as well as rest homes for monks to recover their health. However, it was also the name of a knight’s dagger used to deliver the
coup de grâce
to a wounded
comrade.

Pair of plates

The name given to the stout armour worn over the
hauberk
. It comprised a heavy-duty cloth or leather garment which had, on the inner
surface, a series of plates stitched or riveted in place. Often the rivet-heads could be seen, shaped like flowers for decoration. Inside, the plates overlapped to give greater protection.
The
pair of plates
was replaced by large individual plates of armour.

Tenant

Occasionally a knight wishing to prove his prowess and strength would issue a challenge to all-comers, promising to fight whomsoever took up his
challenge. He was the
tenant
.

Tilt

To prevent horses running into each other while charging, a rope was sometimes slung between two posts, a cloth draped over it, and the horses
were supposed to run their courses on the right, with the knights holding their lances to threaten the man approaching on their left. In later years (from about 1420) the rope was replaced by
a more substantial, low wooden fence.

Venant

A man who answered a
tenant
’s challenge.

Vespers

Although this commonly meant the sixth canonical service (now called Evensong),
vespers
also meant the eve of a festival. As such it came
to mean the vigil day before a tournament and was later used as the technical term for practice runs by knights at each other.

Sir Baldwin de Furnshill

Once a Knight Templar, Sir Baldwin has returned to his old home in Devon and is Keeper of the King’s Peace. He’s known to be an astute
investigator of violent crime.

Lady Jeanne

His wife, to whom he has been married only a year. Jeanne is a widow whose first husband treated her cruelly, and now she is learning to enjoy
married life for the first time.

Edgar

Baldwin’s servant and trusted steward. Edgar was Baldwin’s Sergeant when he was a Knight Templar and is, like his master, a highly
experienced fighter, trained with all weapons.

Simon Puttock

The Bailiff of Lydford is the Stannary Bailiff, responsible for law and order on Dartmoor under Abbot Champeaux, the Warden of the Stannaries.

Sir Roger de Gidleigh

Exeter’s Coroner and for some months a friend of Sir Baldwin.

Margaret Puttock (Meg)

Simon’s wife, daughter of a local farmer, whom he married many years before.

Edith

Simon and Margaret’s daughter, nearly fourteen years old.

Hugh

Hugh has been Simon and Margaret’s servant for many years. Although the previous year he left them to marry, he has now rejoined them.

Lady Alice

The teenaged daughter of a neighbour of Sir John’s, orphaned when she was a small child and subsequently taken by Sir John as his ward.

Squire Andrew

Sir Edmund’s squire is a battle-hardened older man with the quick reflexes of a professional man-at-arms.

Sir Peregrine of Barnstaple

Lord Hugh’s loyal servant. This banneret is as keen as his lord to see how skilled Lord Hugh’s host, his army, is.

Sir Walter Basset

Known for his violence in tournaments, Sir Walter of Cornwall is quick to anger and never forgets an insult. In great debt to money-lenders, he is
keen to earn money from a tournament.

Lady Helen

Sir Walter’s beautiful and loyal wife.

Wymond Carpenter

Master-builder and craftsman, Wymond has worked alongside Hal for several years. Morose, and truculent with it, Wymond is disliked by his workers
and others.

Lord Hugh de Courtenay

This nobleman has decided to patronise a tournament, in order to assess the skills and loyalty of his vassals in the wake of the Battle of
Boroughbridge, in which Earl Thomas and his men were killed.

Sir John de  Crukerne

A knight from West Dorset who is attending the tournament with his son. He is Lady Alice’s legal guardian.

Squire William

Sir John’s son, whom Sir John would like to see engaged to Alice and who is expecting to be knighted at the tournament.

Benjamin Dudenay

A usurer, Benjamin has often helped knights who need to raise money, either to pay ransoms or to buy arms and armour. He also helps men like Lord
Hugh to fund the tournament itself.

Squire Geoffrey

Alice’s lover who, like William, anticipates being knighted at the tournament.

Sir Edmund of Gloucester

This wandering knight is without a lord since Boroughbridge and wishes to impress Lord Hugh with his prowess in the lists.

Helewisia

Alice’s maid, a servant from Sir John’s household.

Herald Odo

A herald who has returned to England after some years in France and Germany learning new songs and a little about the Continental approach to
heraldry and tournaments.

Sir Richard Prouse

Grievously wounded many years before in another tournament, Sir Richard is bitter about his hideous scars and disabilities.

Hal Sachevyll

A renowned architect of the buildings involved in a tournament, Hal also considers himself an expert on the pageantry associated with these
events. Filled with magnificent ideas which would challenge the purse of a king, he often has to scale down his initial concepts to meet the needs of his clients.

Mark Tyler

Lord Hugh has one herald who remains with him and who bears the title ‘King Herald’ of his household. Mark is a middle-aged man,
sour-natured and jealous of others who might try to take his post.