Ave Maria ('Hail, Mary'), are the first two words of the angel Gabriel's salutation according to Luke I 28, and the beginning of the very common Latin prayer to the Virgin in the Roman Catholic Church. Its lay use was sanctioned at the end of the twelfth century, and a papal edict of 1326 ordains the repetition of the prayer thrice each morning, noon, and evening, the hour being indicated by sound of bells called the Ave Maria or Angelus Domini. The prayers are counted upon the small beads of the rosary, as the Paternosters are upon the large ones. Research Ave Maria
The Bean-king was the person chosen king in former Twelfth Night festivities in virtue of having got the piece of cake containing the bean buried in the cake for this purpose. Research Bean-King
Bestiaties (Bestials) were books of the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth century describing all sorts of animals, real and fabled, and forming a species of mediaeval encyclopedia of zoology. The books contained pictures of animals and described their symbolism. These books were very popular. The volumes are to be found both in Latin and in the vernacular, in prose and in verse. Research Bestiaries
Bibliomancy also called sortes biblicae, or sortes sanctorum is divination by means of the phrases in a book, especially the verses in the bible. Bibliomancy was an ancient practise, the ancients drew prognostications from the works of Homer and Virgil. In 465 the Council of Yannes condemned the practice, as did the Councils of Agde and Auxerre. But in the twelfth century we find it employed as a mode of detecting heretics, and in the Gallican Church it was long practised in the election of bishops, the installation of abbots, etc. The idea was to open a book, frequently the bible, at a random page, and without looking to point to a verse. The verse thus indicated would be applicable.
Bibliomancy was also employed as a form of trial, whereby a person suspected of witchcraft or heresy was weighed against a bible. If the bible bore down the other scale, the accused would be acquitted. It is unlikely many such unfortunate victims were acquitted. Research Bibliomancy
Black-letter is the name commonly given to the Gothic characters which began to supersede the Roman characters in the writings of Western Europe towards the close of the twelfth century. The first types were in black-letter, but these were gradually modified in Italy until they took the later Roman shape introduced into most European states during the sixteenth century. Research Black-Letter
Chivalry is a term which indicates strictly the organization of knighthood as it existed in the middle agea, and in a general sense the spirit and aims which distinguished the knights of those times. The chief characteristics of the chivalric ages were a warlike spirit, a lofty devotion to the female sex, a love of adventure, and an undefinable thirst for glory. The Crusades gave for a time a religious turn to the spirit of chivalry, and various religious orders of knighthoodarose, such as the Knights of St John, the Templars, the Teutonic Knights, etc.
The education of a knight in the days of chivalry was as follows: In his twelfth year he was sent to the court of some baron or noble knight, where he spent his time chiefly in attending on the ladies, and acquiring skill in the use of arms, in riding, etc. When advancing age and experience in the use of arms had qualified the page for war, he became an esquire, or squire. This word is from the Latinscutum, a shield, it being among other offices the squire's business to carry the shield of the knight whom he served. The third and highest rank of chivalry was that of knighthood, which was not conferred before the twenty-first year, except in the case of distinguished birth or great achievements. The individual prepared himself by confessing, fasting, etc; religious rites were performed; and then, after promising to be faithful, to protect ladies and orphans, never to lie nor utter slander, to live in harmony with his equals, etc, he received the accolade, a slight blow on the neck with the flat of the sword from the person who dubbed him a knight. This was often done on the eve of battle, to stimulate the new knight to deeds of valour; or after the combat, to reward signal bravery.
The rules of chivalry only applied to the nobility. While knights on the battle field and in combat enjoyed rules of engagement and a degree of mutual respect - with the notable exception of the Battle of Agincourt where the captured French knights were murdered at the order of king Henry V - peasants, or the ordinary common folk, were slaughtered and raped by knights as though they were not human at all, and certainly not treated in a chivalrous fashion. Research Chivalry
December is the twelfthmonth of the year. It was originally the Roman tenthmonth of the year, hence the name from the Latin decem meaning ten. The British commenced their year on the 25th of December until the reign of William I. Research December
Abbreviations
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