Glossary

~ The placement of an event, person, or thing out of its proper chronological relationship, sometimes unintentional. If it wasn’t around during the period you are portraying then it is an anachronism, classics are digital watches ,modern glasses and biker boots with piercings making a new arrival in the last few years. Just have a look next time you are at an event it can be fun to spot and even funnier to point out to the perpetrators (but be sure that you can out run them first!) In the picture there are, at least, five Anachronisms. To see an enlargement of this picture, go to the Web Masters page.

~ A technique used by Blacksmiths, Armourers and manufacturers of iron or steel components to change the burnished or polished appearence of steel into a Blue colour.

The steel component is heated, all over, to an even temperature and quenched into oil. The blue shade can be varied by varying the temperature of the steel at the time of quenching. The resultant finish is not totaly abraision resistant.

~ Is a word that is often brandished by some as the be all end all, generally it’s what we are trying to be.

To be truly “Authentic” there is evidence that it WAS around during the period that you are trying to portray, either as written word in documents or scrolls, or as pictures in books. This can be open to interpretation as some believe that if the technology was available then (insert item) COULD have been used “after all they didn’t document EVERYTHING they used did they?” this sort of discussion can invoke a storm of debate which can result in groups splitting up and forming a new “splinter groups” who are proper authentic cos “we don’t allow (insert item) to be used as there is no proof“.

Generally speaking unless you spend the weekend pooing in a hole in the ground ,fighting off lice and in church on Sunday morning then none of us are doing it properly and that’s that!

~ An Authentic Camp is an area of a re-enactment site intended to provide a roughly accurate portrayal of an army on the move.

This is where the Living History takes place, tents will be constructed in authentic styles from canvas, food is cooked on open fires, and sometimes crafts like weaving, sewing, fletching etc, are demonstrated.

Modern items should not be visible on an authentic site, and should be hidden at the back of tents, under sheepskins and blankets, or (the re-enactors favourite) disguised in Hessian.

~ Battles are an organised display of combat on a large scale.

A variety of groups from diverse parts of the country will attend a Battle.

These events may also include other displays, such as cannon, archery and foot combat demonstrations. They will probably have an authentic camp as well, with some living history displays. As an example, the annual event at Tewkesbury regularly has 900-1000 people on each side.

~ The bill is a medieval Weapon and the mainstay of common soldiery in late medieval period. Originally they were descended from agricultural instrument, the billhook, which was a hedging tool, comprising of a hooked blade on the end of a shaft. As a weapon, the bill appears in any number of styles, but it is a "pointy stick" type weapon, with a head more elaborate than a spear, and varies from 5 to 8 feet in length. A bill should not be confused with the pike, a later and longer weapon, especially in front of a billman, as some of them can get quite precious about it

~ (commonly contracted to foolscap or folio) is paper cut to the size of 8½ × 13½ inches (216 × 343 mm).

This was a traditional paper size used in Europe and the Commonwealth, before the adoption of modern international paper A4 paper (the most common standard size outside the United States), because it offers greater protection to the edge of the pages than an A4 binder.Recently it has met more widespread use in some circles in the United States, where the term is applied to any paper measuring about 8½ × 13 inches (216 × 330 mm) - not necessarily the original 8½ × 13½ inches paper size.

A full foolscap paper sheet is 17 x 13½ inches

(432 × 343 mm) in size, and a folio sheet of any type is simply half the standard sheet size.

Foolscap was named after the fool's cap and bells watermark commonly used from the fifteenth century onwards on paper measuring 17 × 13½ inches

(432 × 343 mm) or a subdivision of this into halves, quarters and so on.

The earliest example of such paper that is firmly dated was made in Germany in 1479.Unsubstantiated anecdotes suggest that the watermark was introduced to England in 1580 by Sir John Spielmann, a German who established a papermill at Dartford, Kent.

Apocryphally, the Rump Parliament substituted a fools cap for the royal arms as a watermark on the paper used for the journals of parliament.

~ are, for all practical descriptions, medieval underwear. Some styles of Hose leave the braies showing, but where this is not the case most re-enactors do not feel the need to wear them, and wear modern underwear instead. This can lead to embarrassing situations as due to the poorer quality of modern wool joined hoes are liable to split in rather revealing places!

~ If its made from metal and you wear it or hit someone with it then it’s hard kit , this covers everything from helmets and armour to spears and swords. Though I suppose you could go as far as large cooking spoons and ladles (seen on one battlefield) to clubs and shovels, though they are not exactly weapons and so are not allowed by our safety rules!

~ Hose are the medieval equivalent of trousers, and over several hundred years manage to come in many different styles and designs. Early hose are quite baggy, and usually only consist of a pair of unconnected legs. By the very end of the fifteenth century they become tight and fully joined like modern trousers. Hose have no pockets, zip flies, or belt loops, which is damned inconvenient. They were kept up by attaching them to a pourpoint, although lots of re-enactors cheat by using a belt instead.

~ Travellers hood’s and chapperons both had long tubular strips of material known as liripipes. These in some cases could be quite long and were for a practicable use (as a sort of scarf or chinstrap) as well as an aesthetic addition. There is an idea that travellers would put some money in the end of their lairise in case they were robbed on the road, but if we know this then surely the brigands did as well! So I’m not sure that there is a lot of truth in that.