a dictionary of medieval terms and phrases

Angelot. See Angel 2

Angevin. The adjectival form of *Anjou and name of a dynasty which came
to rule in England from the reign of Henry II, beginning in 1154. They were
later known as the *Plantagenets. [< L Andegavensis = region of Civitas
Andegavensis, today Anjou]

Angild. A single payment or the rate of compensation for damage. [< OE an

= one + gild = money, payment]

Angles. Bede mentioned the Angles as one of the groups of Germanic people
who migrated to Britain in the 5c; their home territory was in today’s Holstein.
They were known to the Roman historian Tacitus (d. c.117), who wrote about
them in his Germania. They overwhelmed local populations in eastern Eng-
land. – Cf. Saxons

Anglo-Norman. A French dialect which became after 1066 the vernacular of

the court, law, the Church and parliament. It was also a literary language,
from the 12c taking second place only to Latin. It was the language of the
aristocracy in England; its use became necessary for merchants and traders.
However, in the 14c, and during the *Hundred Years’ War, feeling turned
against France and the language began to fall out of favour, English reclaim-
ing lost ground. Anglo-Norman persisted in the law for some time after Eng-
lish came to be deemed acceptable for use in parliament in 1362.

Anglo-Saxon. AS is used to refer to the Germanic peoples, i.e. Angles and

Saxons and others, who settled in what today we call England in the 400
years after the 5c when the Romans left and before the *Viking incursions of
the 9c and later. When speaking of the language, ‘Old English’ is preferred to
‘Anglo-Saxon’. [< OE Angulseaxe ] – Cf. Angles

Anglo-Saxon Chronicles [Old English Chronicles]. An extraordinary and fas-

cinating document begun during the reign of Alfred the Great. The ASC is
one of the few continuous Western histories in a native language, here OE. It
begins with Alfred’s genealogy. The annals themselves begin in 410, with the
last being for 1154, and record the many events of English history over these
years (the earlier entries in particular being less factually reliable).

Animé. Her. The term is used of the eyes of an animal which are of a different
*tincture from that of its body; also when the animal is posed as if ready to
fight. – Cf. Beque; Crined; Membered; Ramé; Unguled

Annal. A year by year record of events set out in a *codex often with a single
sentence for each year: it was a laconic, epigrammatic record of the past,
chronicling the little news there was, when for most, the village or monastery
was all they knew. [< L annalis = of a year] – Cf. Anglo-Saxon Chronicles

Annales Cambriae. The Annals of Wales. A collection of annals recording Welsh

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