Knighthood, Chivalry & Tournament
Glossary of Terms
D
Dais: The raised platform upon which the lords of a manor would take their meal, generally elevated a foot or so above the level of the rest of the tables.
Dauphin: The official title of the eldest son of the king of France.
Deaths in Tournament: In early mêlée-style engagements, where the combats took on the form of real combats, there were a number of deaths, sometimes of notable persons. Sometimes these early tourneys fell into real fighting, where many were slain. Among the famous slain in tournaments:
Declaration: See Tournament declaration.
Defense, knight’s duty of: A knight was to defend both his liege lord, and to others who require defense such as ladies, the infirm and poor, children and the old. The two duties began as separate constraints. The first one, defense of the liege lord, is common to all feudal cultures. All warriors were to defend their lords. The addition of duties extending to ladies, and others in need of defense comes both from the romantic literature and from the church. Romantic literature added reverence for women to a knight’s duties, while the defense of others was forwarded as a Christian duty by the church. By the late 14th century, both of these influences had successfully added to the knight’s list of virtues and duties.
Degradation from knighthood: Because the office of knighthood was treated with so much regard, taking on aspects of holy devotion, to be forsworn and stripped of knighthood was a purposefully traumatic experience. The king could make the determination to remove knighthood from a man, as could certain courts. In nearly all instances, the degraded man’s spurs were ‘hacked from his heels’, his sword broken (sometimes over his head), his cote of arms burned, and his shield hung upside down in a church or other public place. Often this disgrace was matched with a death sentence, for such knights were often charged with and found guilty of treason. Treason, cowardice, and being forsworn were reasons often cited for the degradation, though it appears to have been rarely used.
Demense: The central part of a manorial estate set apart for the lord’s own use that provided for the needs of his household. For example, such a demense might contain: a manor house and ‘close’ of small acreage, a pigeon house, a mill, fishery, wood lots containing trees for logging, arable land up to 500 acres or so, meadows for grazing and pasturelands.
Démesuré: Fr. Sinful pride, as distinct from ordinary pride, which results in extraordinary cost. Roland was labeled with this flaw in the Chanson de Roland, when he refused to withdraw in the face of overwhelming odds because his pride would not allow him to flee. As a result he and the men with him were slain.
Destrier, Dextrarius: The knight’s warhorse. The destrier was probably a very powerful breed of horse capable of great strength and good speed and maneuverability. The warhorse was valued anywhere from £1 to more than £100 during the century, and was a valuable way that commanders paid their troops. In addition to the pay they received, the horses taken on a campaign were divided up amongst the nobility and the soldiers, sold or shipped home for additional income. The price of such a horse in modern terms was approximately analogous to an automobile. The best mounts were known as coursers, and fetched the higher prices. Knights generally rode palfreys between engagements, then mounted their destrier when they were required to be in armour, since the palfrey would fare poorly under such great weight, and was a walker more than a hunter, as the destrier seems to have been.
Device (heraldic): The symbols displayed to distinguish a knight on the battle- or tournament field. The rules of how such devices could be rendered, called heraldry, was to grow after the 14th century from an ad hoc set of customs to a more rigid set of rules, particular during the early 16th century. Prior to that time, heralds were often associated with the artistic rendering of devices upon shields, crests, and in record books, but there was no system of registration until the 16th century.
Dieu et Mon Droit: Fr. "God and my Right." Motto used by Richard I as a password a the battle of Gisors. Commemorating this victory, he made it the motto of the Royal House of England.
Diocese: The area of jurisdiction for an individual bishop. Some regions, such as Lincon, could develop substantial incomes, while others, such as St. Davids, were extremely poor.
Diseurs: The French term for judges, found in Geoffrey de Charnay’s Demands.
Disparage: To degrade by unequal marriage, as when a man or woman married someone who was not their peer--i.e. a countess marrying a simple knight would be considered to be disparaged, and her honor reduced accordingly.
Distraint of Knighthood: As the office of knight became a more costly proposition to uphold, many gentlemen decided not to accept the accolade of knighthood, which seemed to carry uneven responsibilities and few additional privileges. By the early 12th century this problem was already acute. Henry III issued a command called the ‘distraint of knighthood’ in order to require all landholders holding a knight’s fee to be accorded the accolade of knighthood. Such distraints were extended by subsequent monarchs, as in the following example issued by Edward I in 1278:
"...to destrain without delay all those in your bailiwick who have lands worth twenty pounds per year, or one whole knight’s fee worth twenty pounds per year, and hold this in chief and ought to be knights but who are not, to receive from us before Christmas or on that feast the arms of a knight..."
Dolorous Stroke: In Malory, the blow dealt to King Pellam by Balin of the Two Swords, reducing the region of Logres to a wasteland.
Dominus: L. Title used by the English monarch after election but before coronation.
Double-elimination lists: The SCA variant on the medieval tournament where each combatant may lose two fights before withdrawing from the event. Generally a series of formal single combats, the field is gradually reduced as ‘trees’ of combatants meet and eliminate one another until there are two remaining. These two fight in the finals under a great deal of focus and attention. A purely modern creation, such lists were not used during the middle ages, being most closely related to ‘jousting cheques.’
Douzepeers: Fr. The twelve peers or paladins of Charlemagne said to be his greatest and bravest knights, attendant upon the emperor’s person.
Dowry: Marriage prize brought by the bride or groom as a condition of their marriage, often consisting of lands, titles, or cash payments.
Drawbridge: The moveable section of a wooden bridge or causeway, often over a moat, operated by counterweights to keep an enemy force from the easy approach to the gatehouse.
Dubbing: The adoubement ceremony, by which squires and young men in arms became knights, originally the colée.
Duarte of Portugal (On Jousting) The Art of Good Horsemanship: c. 1434. A detailed treatise on what it was like to joust during the 15th century, the book is very practical, detailed, not dissimilar from contemporary works on falconry or hunting. Excellent translated passages in Barker & Barber’s Tournaments,
Duel: See trial by combat or judicial duel.
Duke: The highest title of nobility in England, ranking below the prince, introduced for the first time by Edward III when bestowing various castles and estates in Cornwall to his son, the Black Prince. The title, imported from the continent, originally meant a military commander, and the English retained this etymology by endowing English dukes with special fees in war, where command expertise was expected. In Germany, the title ‘Herzog’ was equivalent, though they were often elected and carried more administrative and social duties than military ones. A duke is properly addressed as ‘your grace’, equivalent to the rank of archbishop in the church hierarchy.
Within the SCA the title is reserved for those gentles who have served twice as king of an SCA kingdom, won through the Crown Tournament. They are know by coronets bearing strawberry leaves in the familiar three leaf patterm, ranking just below the Princes of the realm.
Durendal: The mystical sword of count Roland, famous from the Song of Roland (chanson de Roland) and from the Chanson d’Aspremont.
Back
to Glossary Index