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Page 402
they were tied at the waist with a drawstring and fitted to the legs with crossgarters.
Compline:
one of the canonical hours, about 9 P.M., but earlier in winter and later in summer.
Crossgarters:
long, thin strips of cloth or leather that were wrapped crosswise around the leg and tied below the knee to prevent the chausses from bagging excessively.
Demesne:
the land held and possessed by the owner and not rented or controlled by any subordinate, such as a vassal or castellan.
Destrier:
a war horse, a highly trained animal.
Disseise:
to put out of possession; to dispossess a person from his estates in such a way that his legal heirs are also disqualified from inheriting; the term was usually used when the dispossession was wrongful.
Fewter:
a rest on the saddle into which a lance was set in preparation for jousting. (The fewter was not yet developed at the time of this book, and here the term is used as a verb to describe the act of holding the lance between arm and body supported by the hand.)
Forebuilding:
an addition to a keep that sheltered that stair which went up to the entrance. (No keep had an entrance on the ground floor for reasons of defense.)
Haurerk:
armor; the mail shirt made up of linked rings or chains of metal; it had a hood that went over the head and could be laced at the neck and extended a little below the knee, being split in the middle, front and back, almost to the crotch so that a man could mount and ride a horse.
Headdress:
small, round pillbox hat pinned to the top of the wimple; could be embroidered or bejeweled for ornamentation.

 
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