This workbook defines some 4000 medieval terms and expressions from art and architecture, sex and science, costume and cookery, literature and magic, liturgy and astrology, and warfare and ceremony. A companion to medieval culture; the book also included geneal concepts central to medieval thinking, such as allegory, polyphony, and numerology. Entries include: blackmail: Scottish for rent or tribute paid in grain or meat, as opposed to white mail paid in sliver or coin; corduroy: from the French corde du roi, cloth of the king, is a ridged silk or cotton fabric; gossip: from the Anglo-Saxon god sib, sister in God, a friendly woman companion; and upper crust: the top crust cut from round loaves of bread presented to the noble guest at feasts.