Glossary

archery	shooting with a bow and arrows
Auld Alliance	(Old Alliance) a series of treaties, offensive and defensive in nature, between Scotland and France, aimed specifically against England
Battle of Agincourt	(25 October 1415) an English victory against a larger French army in the Hundred Years' War
Battle of Bosworth field	(22 August 1485) the penultimate battle of the Wars of the Roses, in which King Richard III was defeated and killed by the army led by Henry Tudor. Historians consider Bosworth Field to mark the end of the Plantagenet dynasty, making it one of the defining moments of English history
Battle of Crécy	(26 August 1346) one of the most important battles of the Hundred Years’ War won by the English
Battle of Poitiers	(19 September 1356) another of the three great English victories of the Hundred Years' War
Battle of Sluys	(24 June 1340) one of the opening conflicts of the Hundred Years’ War. The first major naval battle between England and France, it resulted in the destruction of most of France's fleet
Black Prince	(1330-76) eldest son of Edward III of England
Calais	a ferry port in northern France. Captured by Edward III in 1347 after a long siege, it remained an English possession until it was retaken by the French in 1558
Chapel of St George	the place of worship at Windsor Castle. It is the chapel of the Order of the Garter
crossbow	a medieval bow of a kind that is fixed across a wooden support and has a groove for the bolt and a mechanism for drawing and releasing the string
Elizabeth Woodville	(c. 1437 – 1492) was the Queen consort of Edward IV
Flanders	a region in the south-western part of the Low Countries, now divided between Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. It was a powerful medieval principality
fleur-de-lis	a stylized lily composed of three petals bound together near their bases, the former royal symbol of France
Gascony	a region and former province of SW France. It was held by England between 1154 and 1453
Geoffrey Chaucer	(c. 1343 – 1400) an English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat, best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales
Henry of Lancaster (Henry IV)	(1367 - 1413), son of John of Gaunt; reigned 1399 - 1413; known as Henry Bolingbroke
Henry Tudor (Henry VII)	(1457 - 1509), the first Tudor king; son of Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond; reigned 1485 - 1509
House of Lancaster (Lancastrians)	a branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. It was one of the opposing factions involved in the Wars of the Roses
House of York (Yorkists)	a branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. It had a senior genetic claim to the throne of England when compared with the House of Lancaster
Joan of Arc	(c.1412-31), French national heroine; known as the Maid of Orleans. She led the French armies against the English in the Hundred Years War
John Ball	(c. 1338 – 1381) was an English Lollard priest who took a prominent part in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381
John of Gaunt	(1340-99), son of Edward III, effective ruler of England during the final years of his father's reign and the minority of Richard II
John Wycliff	(mid-1320s – 1384) an English theologian, lay preacher, translator, reformist and university teacher who was known as early dissident in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century. His followers are known as Lollards
Lollardy	the political and religious movement of the Lollards from the mid-14th century to the English Reformation. Its demands were primarily for reform of Western Christianity
longbow	a large bow drawn by hand and shooting a long feathered arrow. It was the chief weapon of English armies from the 14th century until the introduction of firearms
Lords Appellant	a group of powerful barons who came together during the 1380s to seize political control of England from King Richard II
Order of the Garter	the highest order of English knighthood, founded by Edward III c.1344
Peasants' Revolt	an uprising in 1381 among the peasant and artisan classes in England, particularly in Kent and Essex
Philipe de Valois	(1293 - 1350), reigned 1328 – 50; the founder of the Valois dynasty. His claim to the French throne was challenged by Edward III of England; the dispute developed into the Hundred Years War
plague	a contagious bacterial disease characterized by fever and delirium, typically with the formation of buboes. The plague bacterium is transmitted by rat fleas. Epidemics occurred in Europe throughout the Middle Ages (notably the Black Death and the Great Plague of 1665 - 66)
Princes in the Tower	the young sons of Edward IV, namely Edward, Prince of Wales (b.1470) and Richard, Duke of York (b.1472), supposedly murdered in the Tower of London in or shortly after 1483
Thomas Malory	(c. 1405 – 1471) was an English writer, the author or compiler of Le Morte d'Arthur, a compilation of romances about King Arthur, first printed in 1485
Treaty of Brétigny	a treaty signed on 8 May 1360, between King Edward III of England and King John II (the Good) of France. It marked the end of the first phase of the Hundred Years' War, as well as the height of English hegemony on the Continent
Treaty of Troyes	an agreement that Henry V of England and his heirs would inherit the throne of France upon the death of King Charles VI of France. It was signed on May 21, 1420 in the aftermath of the Battle of Agincourt
Wars of the Roses	the 15th-century English civil wars between the Houses of York and Lancaster, represented by white and red roses respectively, during the reigns of Henry VI, Edward IV, and Richard III
Watt Tyler	(1341 – 1381) the leader of the English Peasants' Revolt of 1381
William Caxton	(c. 1415~1422 – 1492) an English merchant, diplomat, writer and printer. He was the first English person to work as a printer and the first person to introduce a printing press into England
William Langland	(c. 1332 - c. 1386) is the conjectured author of the 14th-century English allegorical poem Vision of Peter the Plowman (Piers Plowman)
yeoman	a man holding and cultivating a small landed estate; a freeholder