Knighthood, Chivalry & Tournament
Glossary of Terms
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Gallery: The audience watching a tournament, or the structure from which the audience watched a tourney. From the 12th to the 14th century, these were generally informal places such as a hillside or a pavilion where ladies, courtiers and heralds could watch the engagement, but during the 15th century as the splendor of the tournament created a more elaborate pageant, wooden structures similar to "box seats" were built and decorated with fabric. Such galleries are common in the illustrations of King René d’Anjou’s Livre de Tournoi from the middle 15th century. See Chronique: The Journal of Chivalry #10.
Garderobe: Privy or latrine in English castles.
Gatehouse: A building forming the gate of a castle, generally encompassing a narrow passageway with several gates. Often the gatehouses were fitted with arrow-slits, murder-holes, or other ingenious defensive devices designed to wreck havoc upon the besiegers as they attempted to storm the gates. Some gatehouses held lodgings for guards with rooms for officers above and prisoners below.
Gavelseed: Grain or corn paid by peasants to their lord as rent for land.
Generosity: See largesse.
Gentleman: A man who bore arms through grant or inheritance. The word derived from the ‘gentle’ qualities that were supposed to belong to the upper class, the refined sense of nobility grown from both noble descent and education. To be ‘gentle’ in the medieval sense meant that a man must be born to the class, he could not become ‘gentle’ by deed.
Gestech: Ger. Jousts à plaisance, of peace. A form of the joust practiced in Germany with lances fitted with coronels, aimed at his opponent’s stechtarsche, a small shield laced to the left arm.
Glastonbury: An abbey in Somersetshire that claimed the remains of both Joseph of Arimathea and King Arthur.
Glorieuse: The sword of Oliver, from the Song of Roland, made of a magical steel that hacked apart the blades of the Saracen attackers during the Battle of Ronçevalles.
Glory: The quality of fame won by deeds, not quite the same as renown. Glory is the quality of the ‘rush’ won from victory, and as such was highly valued as a motivator by warriors and equally scorned by the church. Warriors and knights considered glory a good thing, one that drove men to greatness, a reward for excellence that was the right of the successful warrior. The church viewed glory as a force that drove men to recklessness, to vainglory, to excess.
Golden Fleece, Order of the: {}
Grace: An essential virtue not necessarily of knighthood, but of nobility. Remember that in the Middle Ages the question of nobility was two-fold; on one hand a man had to be born into nobility, because people believed that there was a strong heredity component to human behavior. Certain virtues were expected of members of the nobility or the aristocracy because they were different from the lesser folk. On of the virtues expected was grace, the quality that combined tact, courtesy, good judgment, and respect for others into a single ‘graceful’ nature that was only possible with a mature, virtuous soul.
Grace, Your: Formal title of address for archbishops, dukes, princes or even kings, used such as ‘your grace.’
Graf: German title equivalent of count.
Grail, Graal: The cup of the last supper in which Joseph of Arimithea caught the blood of crucified Christ. It was, by legend, carried to Britain where it was hidden, entrusted to Joseph’s descendants, ending with Galahad. The search for the grail quest has become a metaphor for man’s search for purity and grace; the search for the grail forms the center of many Arthurian romances as the knights strive to overcome flaws in their own character to achieve grace. This quest, laid out best in Wolfram von Eshenbach’s Parsifal and the Vulgate Cycle, has been echoed many times.
However, there are contentions that the grail is not a cup at all; indeed that there is some dispute concerning whether medieval authors had any consensus to claim that it was a cup. See What is the Grail? analysis from Dr.Linda A. Malcor THE CHALICE AT THE CROSS.
Grand Company of the Peacocks: The SCA tournament team based in the Middle Kingdom, a late 14th century group whose colors are azure and vert, the colors of the Peacock. They were instrumental in bringing about interest in the Middle Kingdom to the historical tournament concept, working closely with the Tenans of Noble Folly to experiment with the King René tournament format in the SCA context. The group boasts a wide base of artistic talent, which is evidenced by their fine equipment and harness. See especially Chronique: The Journal of Chivalry #10.
Great Company: A huge mercenary army that formed in 1361, largely formed of English soldiers displaced by the lull in fighting during the Hundred Years War. The international contingent moved through France, pillaging and capturing fortress after fortress until Charles V appealed to Edward III for assistance. Charles sent Bertrand de Guesclin, the army moved to Castile, where they deposed the king despite the efforts of the Black Prince.
Green Knight: The giant who challenges Gawain to an exchange of single blows, testing his virtue and his prowess.
Greyhound: Generic term for any medieval hunting-dog.
Guidon: Another word for the pennant of a bachelor-knight.
Guild: Professional, mercantile or craft association formed to maintain standards and support its members. Guilds formed the center of town life; the guilds grew in power and prestige, frequently forming monopolies in their area of expertise.
Guildmaster: The head of a medieval guild.
Gules: Heraldic color for red.
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