Medieval Word of the Day

Surcote: I previously defined the surcote here, but in addition, it was also a tunic worn over a knight’s armor, decorated with the heraldic device of his house 


You can see this kind of surcote in this beautiful painting, The Shadow, by Edmund Blair Leighton.

Medieval Word of the Day

With the release of my new medieval romance, Dangerous Favor, I have some new medieval words to share with you. Since  a medieval tournament plays a large role in my story, let's begin with some of the armor a knight must don for a tournament:


Coif: A hood made from metal rings (i.e., mail), worn beneath a knight’s helmet

Ventail: A piece of mail that protected a knight’s throat and chin

Here's an example of a mail coif

(from CAS Hanwei)

Here's one example of a ventail in the form of a diagonal flap that tied onto the coif to protect the lower part of the knight's face. This flap could be square as well as diagonal.

(from Swords of Might)

That looks pretty uncomfortable, especially if all this hardware is worn underneath a metal helmet! Some drawings of ventails show them only covering the throat and chin, like this:

My hero, Etienne, preferred this style of ventail.

(Image from The Montague Millennium)

View some other parts of a medieval knight's armor from this September 16, 2009 Medieval Word of the Day entry.

Medieval arms & armor

Thank you to my sister for discovering this wonderful internet site I'm about to share with you! Several years ago, she and I visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art. They had an amazing exhibit of medieval armor, and needless to say, I spent a goodly portion of my time wandering blissfully through all that mail :-) I don't recall now whether they didn't have many audio presentations for the exhibit or if I just missed them, but a few days ago, my sister sent me this link simply brimming with fascinating little audio "tours" of Medieval Arms and Armor. Learn how to keep your armor clean (Stop 170), how to handle a two-handed sword (Stop 188), how to handle a crossbow (Stop 199), and much, much more! The blue links include pictures, and all of the audios can even be downloaded to iTunes so you can listen to them whenever and wherever you want.

Click here to go to the Philadelphia Museum of Art audio tours, then enjoy!

(Picture is of Henry VIII's armor from the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)

Medieval Word of the Day

Okay, now that you know what mail is, take a look at this knight. See the armor that covers the upper part of his body? That's called the hauberk: a long tunic made of chain mail.

Underneath that hauberk he would wear a gambeson: a quilted jacket worn beneath a knight's armor to cushion the blows of battle. I couldn't find a free clip art picture of a gambeson to show you, but you can see what one looks like by clicking here. (Scroll down to the picture beneath the "jack".)

That chain mail covering the knight's legs is called chausses: that portion of the chain mail that covered the feet, legs, and body below the waist.

Now toss on a helmet, strap on a sword, grab your shield, and you're all ready for battle!

Check out today's blog review of Illuminations of the Heart at Romance, Old School. Leave a comment to win one of four prizes, including an autographed copy of Illuminations

Medieval Word of the Day

Okay, so it's not so easy to truly show you what mail looks like via an illustration, but let's give it a try. See the knight to our left? See the armor covering his arms and legs, neck and head? Now picture those little lines and squiggles and boxes as "a flexible armor made of small, overlapping metal rings". He's got mail! (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

The knight on the right is wearing plate armor.

See the difference?

(Plate armor began evolving towards the end of the 13th Century. Mail armor was used in the 12th Century, the time setting of my novels.)

Check out today's blog review of Illuminations of the Heart at Karlene Reviews Everything! Leave a comment to win one of four prizes, including an autographed copy of Illuminations