Defending Castles
Attacking Castles
Everyday Life
Crime and Punishment
100
Narrow vertical windows from which castle defenders launched arrows from a sheltered position.
Arrowslits or loopholes.
100
When an enemy surrounds a town, castle or other building so no one can escape and no food can get in.
Siege.
100
By what term was the village and its surrounding land referred to?
Manor.
100
What method of punishment is pictured here?
Pillory.
200
A wooden bridge leading to a gateway, capable of being raised or lowered to either accommodate or prevent entry into the castle, and often spanned a ditch or moat.
Drawbridge.
200
A large, heavy log carried by several people and propelled with force to break open the masonry walls of fortifications or splinter their wooden gates.
Battering ram.
200
Who supervised farm work carried out by serfs to ensure it was done properly?
The reeve.
200
Which crime would you more than likely have been accused of committing if your guilt was determined by whether you floated after being bound in chains and thrown in a river?
Witchcraft.
300
A grating of iron hung over the gateway of a fortified place and lowered between grooves to prevent passage.
Portcullis.
300
A wheeled wooden tower with ladders inside, which was parked next to walls so assailants may safely scale them.
Siege tower.
300
What was the name of the tax given to the Church that was equal to one-tenth of what someone received, grew or raised?
Tithe.
300
Trial by hot iron, which involved examining the accused person's hand a day or two after they had held a red hot piece of iron, is an example of which method of determining a person's innocence or guilt?
Trial by Ordeal.
400
A pattern along the top of a fortified wall, most often in the form of multiple, regular, rectangular spaces in the top of the wall, through which arrows or other weaponry may be shot.
Crenellations.
400
An ancient missile weapon resembling a giant crossbow that launched either bolts or stones at a distant target.
Ballista.
400
What is the name given to the system of farming introduced by the Anglo-Saxons that involved rotating crops and leaving one of the fields fallow so the soil could recover its nutrients?
Three-field system.
400
When there were no witnesses or confessions to settle a dispute between two parties, they could fight each other or nominate a "champion" to fight in their place to determine who was right. What was this method of determining guilt or innocence called?
Trial by Combat.
500
An opening in a projecting parapet (low wall, like a ledge) between corbels (triangular brackets) on a medieval castle, allowing people in the castle to drop stones, boiling water, or other weapons on people attacking the castle.
Machicolation.
500
A type of catapult consisting of a large pivoting arm heavily weighted on one end, used to hurl large stones or other missiles.
Trebuchet.
500
In 1215, some of England's tenants-in-chief forced King John to sign which document that made him respect the system of law rather than do whatever he wanted?
Magna Carta.
500
In the Church's 'Canon Law', what was the name of the crime of having attitudes that conflicted with Catholicism’s accepted teachings?
Heresy.