Medieval Information

Abbey: A community composed of monks or nuns.

Allure: A walkway on a wall.

Apse: Circular end of a tower.

Arrow loop: A hole in a wall from which arrows could be fired to the outside.

Ballista: Huge siege engine resembling a crossbow.

Battering Ram: A machine used by many soldiers to break a castle's weak spot.

Battlement: An intermittent wall built on an allure to help archers from being attacked.

Curtain wall: A castle wall protecting a courtyard or another important place.

Cut: Assault tower.

Donjon: The keep.

Dungeon: A jail found in either one of the basements or underground.

Enceinte: An exterior wall protecting a castle.

Fief: Land given by lord to knights.

Gate House: Complex system of doors and walls used to protect the main entrance of a castle.

Keep: The last defensible position of a castle.

Murder Holes: Holes inside the gatehouse from which arrows could be fired at the invaders. They also served for throwing oil.

Oubliette: A generally underground dungeon reached by a trap door. Criminals would be left to emaciation until their death.

Trebuchets: War engines used to throw stone--or other projectiles--at a castle.

Turret: A small tower raising above a main tower. They were mostly used as a look out point.

Wall Walk: See allure.