Villein

The wealthiest class of peasant, they usually cultivated 20-40 acres of land, often in isolated strips. In medieval Europe a peasant personally bound to his lord, to whom he paid dues and services, sometimes commuted to rents, in return for his land. A member of a class of partially free persons under the feudal system, who were serfs with respect to their lord but had the rights and privileges of freemen with respect to others.

Small Holder

A middle class peasant, farming more land than a cottager but less than a villein. A typical small holder would have farmed 10 to 20 acres.

Cottager

A peasant of lower class who owned a cottage, but owned little or no land.

Commoner

Lowest class of people. A person who does not belong to the nobility. A person who has a right in or over common land jointly with another or others.

Peasant

Farm laborers of low social rank; coarse, unsophisticated, boorish, uneducated person of little financial means.

Serf

Serfs lived in small communities called manors that were ruled by a local lord or vassal. Most peasants were serfs. They were bound to the manor and could not leave it or marry without the manor lord's permission. Serfs did all the work on the manor farm: they worked the fields, cared for the livestock, built and maintained the buildings, made the clothing, and cut firewood. Men, women, and children worked side by side. Serfs had small plots of land they could work for themselves; sometimes a serf saved enough money to buy his freedom and became a freeman.

A semi-free peasant (cottagers, small holders, or villeins) who worked his lord's land and paid him certain dues in return for the use of land, the possession (not ownership) of which was heritable. These dues ("corvee"), were in the form of labor on the lord's land, averaging three days a week. Essentially a slave in medieval times.

Steward

The man responsible for running the day-to-day affairs of the castle when the lord was absent. The steward organized farm work and kept accounts of the estate’s money. Stewards were well-paid, powerful figures in the district.

Bailiff

A peasant, next in importance to the steward. The bailiff was not a serf but a freeholder who owned his own land. He was in charge of giving jobs to the peasants, overseeing the care of the livestock, and taking care of building repairs by hiring skilled craftsmen to do the job.

Reeve

The bailiff’s right-hand man. A peasant chosen by the other villagers. He carried a white stick as a badge of office. He supervised work on the lord’s demesne, checking that everyone began on time, and ensuring that none of the produce was stolen.

Burgess

The holder of land or a house within a borough.

Labourers

A person engaged in physical work, esp. of an unskilled kind, serfs.

Hinds

Farm workers

Maid

"A virgin, a young unmarried woman," a shortening of the word maiden. A female servant, girl or young unmarried woman.

Scullery Maid

In great houses, scullery maids were the lowest-ranked and often the youngest of the female servants and acted as assistant to a kitchen maid. The scullery maid reported to the cook or chef. Along with the junior kitchen-maid, the scullery maid did not eat at the communal servants' dining hall table, but in the kitchen in order to keep an eye on the food that was still cooking. Duties included the most physical and demanding tasks in the kitchen, such as cleaning and scouring the floor, stoves, sinks, pots and dishes. After scouring the plates in the scullery, she would leave them on racks to dry. The scullery maid also assisted in cleaning vegetables, plucking fowl, and scaling fish.

Lancers

A member of the Calvary. A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance.


Dragoons

A member of the Calvary. The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills.


Calvary Archers

A member of the Calvary. A horse archer, horsed archer, or mounted archer is a

cavalryman armed with a bow, able to shoot while riding from horseback.

Constable 

An officer who commanded an army or an important garrison, or the officer who commanded in the king's absence.

Vintenar

Man in charge of twenty soldiers.
Man-at-Arms (also Yeoman)
A soldier holding his land, generally 60 to 120 acres, in exchange for military service.

In English history, a class intermediate between the gentry and the laborers; a yeoman

was usually a landholder but could also be a retainer, guard, attendant, or subordinate

official. Most yeomen of the later Middle Ages were probably occupied in cultivating the

land; Raphael Holinshed, in his Chronicles (1577), described them as having free land

worth 6 (originally 40 shillings) annually and as not being entitled to bear arms.


Foot Soldier

A member of the Calvary. A person who serves in an army; a person engaged in military

service. A person of military skill or experience who serves and fights for pay. A person

who contends or serves in any cause: a soldier of the Lord.

Sergeant

A servant who accompanied his lord to battle, a horseman of lower status used as light

cavalry, or a type of tenure in service of a non-knightly character who might have carried

the lord's banner, served in the wine cellar, or made bows and arrows. Sergeants paid the

feudal dues of wardship, marriage, and relief, but were exempt from scutage.

Landsknect

A member of the infantry. Most often German, mercenary pike-men and supporting foot soldiers from the late 15th to the late 16th century, and achieved the reputation for being the universal mercenary of Early modern

Europe. Landsknechts were trained in the use of the famous long pikes and used the pike square formations developed by the Swiss. The majority of Landsknechts would use pikes, but others, meant to provide tactical assistance to the pike-men, accordingly used different weapons.

Musketeers

A member of the infantry. Muskets were invented in China and were used as part of the

military as early as 1368. They then made their way into Turkey and Arabia (1440),

India (1519), and Spain (1534). The famous French Musketeers that King Louis

appointed as his personal guard weren’t commissioned until 1622, falling in the

Renaissance Period of history.

Crossbow-men

A member of the infantry. The crossbow was a powerful bow whose quarrels could often

penetrate shields and armor, making crossbowmen a formidable part of any army.

Longbow-men

A member of the infantry. Longbows could shoot for great distances. Longbow-men would often use their longbows to shoot flaming arrows into the enemy camp greatly increasing the destructive force of the approaching army.

Falconets

A member of the Artillery. The falconet or falcon was a light cannon developed in the

late 15th century. During Middle Ages guns were decorated with engravings of reptiles,

birds or beasts depending on their size: a snake for the culverin, as the handles on the early cannons were often decorated to resemble serpents. The falconet fired small yet lethal shot of similar weight and size to a bird of prey, and so was decorated with a falcon.


Bombarde

A bombarde is a large-caliber, muzzle-loading medieval cannon or mortar, used chiefly

in sieges for throwing heavy stone balls. The name bombarde was first noted and

sketched in a French historical text around 1380. The modern term bombardment derives

from this. Bombards were usually used during sieges to hurl various forms of missile into

enemy fortifications. Projectiles such as stone or metal balls, burning materials and

weighted cloth soaked in quicklime or Greek fire are documented.

Trebuchet

A siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages. It could fling projectiles of up to three hundred and fifty pounds at high speeds into enemy fortifications. Occasionally, disease-infected corpses were flung into cities in an attempt to infect and terrorize the people under siege, a medieval form of biological warfare. The trebuchet did not become obsolete until the 13th century, well after the introduction of gunpowder. Trebuchets were far more accurate than other medieval catapults.

Catapult

A catapult is a device used to throw or hurl a projectile a great distance without the aid of explosive devices—particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. Although the catapult has been used since ancient times, it has proven to be one of the most effective mechanisms during warfare.

Battering Ram

A battering ram is a siege engine originating in ancient times and designed to break open the masonry walls of fortifications or splinter their wooden gates. In its simplest form, a battering ram is just a large, heavy log carried by several people and propelled with force against an obstacle; the ram would be sufficient to damage the target if the log were massive enough and/or it were moved quickly enough (that is, if it had enough momentum).

Entertainers

Minstrels were entertainers who traveled from town to town, often in groups. Most minstrels were singers or musicians, but some had other skills as well. They juggled, did acrobatics, or danced. Minstrels were known by different names in different parts of Europe. In

Germany minstrels were called minnesingers, in France jongleurs, in Ireland bards. The most famous minstrels were those of southern France. They were called troubadours, from the Latin word that means "to compose." Many of the love poems they composed in the local language, Provencal, are still read and admired today. The troubadours were so famous that we know 500 of them by name.


Minstrel

A medieval poet and musician who sang or recited while accompanying himself on a stringed instrument, either as a member of a noble household or as an itinerant troubadour. He lived and traveled off the largess of the aristocracy.


Troubadour

Composers of epic poems, such as the Chansons de Geste, and love songs, often sung by

wandering minstrels. One of a class of medieval lyric poets who flourished principally in

southern France from the 11th to 13th centuries, and wrote songs and poems of a

complex metrical form in langue d'oc, chiefly on themes of courtly love. Compare

trouvère.

Jongleur


French wandering minstrels (which included musicians, acrobats, jugglers, and clowns),

usually from the lower class, who entertained with tales of epic battles and heroes.

Bard

A minstrel or poet who glorified the virtues of the people and his chieftains.

Gleeman

Saxon composer of songs

Mummers

Actors who re-enacted religious plays. Also used to refer to a masked or costumed merrymaker or dancer especially at a festival


Thespians

The ancient Greek word for an "actor," (hypocrites), means literally "one who interprets”;

in this sense, an actor is one who interprets a dramatic character or personality. In the

past, only men could become actors in some societies. In the ancient Greece and Rome

and the medieval world, it was considered disgraceful for a woman to go on the stage,

and this belief continued right up until the 17th century, when in Venice it was broken. In

the time of William Shakespeare, women's roles were generally played by men or boys. 

Mage

A magician.

Groom of the Stool

The Groom of the Stool (formally styled: "Groom of the King's Close Stool to King

(name)") was the most intimate of a monarch's courtiers, whose physical intimacy

naturally led to him becoming a man in whom much confidence was placed by his royal

master, and with whom many royal secrets were shared as a matter of course. This secret

information he was privy to, whilst it would never have been revealed, to the discredit of

his honor, in turn led to him becoming feared and respected and therefore powerful

within the royal court in his own right

Herald

A royal or official messenger. In the Middle Ages, it was a herald who arranged

tournaments and other functions, announced challenges, marshaled combatants, etc., and

who was later employed also to arrange processions, funerals, etc., and to regulate the use

of armorial bearings.

Pursuivant

A heraldic officer of the lowest class, ranking below a herald. An official attendant on

heralds.

Intendant of the Civil List

The Intendant of the King's Civil List is responsible for managing the material, financial

and human resources of the King's Household. He is assisted by the Commandant of the

Royal Palaces, the Treasurer of the King's Civil List and the Civil List Adviser. The

Intendant of the Civil List also advises the King in the field of energy, sciences and

culture and administers the King's hunting rights.

Jester

A professional fool or clown at medieval court.

Keeper of the Seal

The title Keeper of the Seals or equivalent is used in several contexts, denoting the person

entitled to keep and authorize use of the Great Seal of a given country.


King of Arms

A title of certain of the principal heralds of England and certain other kingdoms

empowered by their sovereigns to grant armorial bearings.

Knight

The warrior (on retainer) who owed military service to his lord in exchange for payment

of money, titles, and/or fief (land). Knights also aspired to the ideals of loyalty,

generosity and courtesy, known as chivalry.

Lady-in-Waiting 

A lady who is in attendance upon a queen or princess.

Maid of Honor
An unmarried lady attending a queen or princess.

Majordomo 

A man in charge of a great household, as that of a sovereign; a chief steward.

Page

A boy servant or attendant (as young as age 7) given to a knight to be trained for

knighthood. Generally the son of nobility.

Pantler

The servant or officer, in a great family, who has charge of the bread and the pantry.

Seneschal

An officer having full charge of domestic arrangements, ceremonies, the administration

of justice, etc., in the household of a medieval prince or dignitary; steward.

Squire

At 13 or 14 pages became squires and began to practice fighting on horseback. Squires

served as assistants to knights both in the castle and on the battlefield. At 21 a squire

could become a knight himself, kneeling before the lord of the manor to be "dubbed" on

the shoulder with a sword.

Standard Bearer

An officer or soldier of an army or military unit who bears a standard. A standard-bearer

is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem called an ensign or standard, i.e.

either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honored)

as a formal, visual symbol of a state, prince, military unit, etc.


Steward

The man responsible for running the day-to-day affairs of the castle when the lord was

absent. The steward organized farm work and kept accounts of the estate’s money.

Stewards were well-paid, powerful figures in the district."House guardian," "overseer of

workmen, " "one who manages affairs of an estate on behalf of his employer" a person

who manages another's property or financial affairs; one who administers anything as the

agent of another or others. a person who has charge of the household of another, buying

or obtaining food, directing the servants, etc.

Cup-Bearer

A servant who fills and serves wine cups, as in a royal palace or at an elaborate banquet.

Dapifer

One who brings meat to the table; hence, in some countries, the official title of the grand

master or steward of the king's or a nobleman's household.

Doorward
Was an office in medieval Scotland whose holders, eventually hereditary, had the

theoretical responsibility of being warden of the king's door, i.e. protecting the king's

property.

Falconer

A person who hunts with falcons or follows the sport of hawking. a

person who trains hawks for hunting.

Gentleman of the Bedchamber

A Gentleman of the Bedchamber was the holder of an important office in the royal

household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the

Kingdom of Great Britain. The duties of the office involved waiting on the king when he

ate in private, helping him to dress, guarding the bedchamber and closet, and providing

companionship.

Gentleman Usher

The Gentlemen Ushers occupied a level intermediate between the steward, the usual

head, and the ordinary servants; they were responsible for overseeing the work of the

servants "above stairs", particularly those who cooked and waited upon the nobleman at

meals, and saw to it the great chamber was kept clean by the lesser servants. He was also

responsible for overseeing other miscellaneous service, such as the care of the nobleman's

chapel and bed-chambers. It was traditionally the gentleman usher who swore in new

members of the nobleman's service.

Grandmaster
The head of a military order of knighthood. A person at the highest level of ability or

achievement in any field.

Grand Master of the Hunt
Responsible for organizing hunts and guarding royal forests against poachers.