Glossary
While I try to be clear in posts, I am a seamstress of some years, and I use those terms liberally. Likewise, historical terms and SCA-specific terms that make perfect sense to me, because they are part of my daily life! Thus:
Garments and Armour
Barbette - A narrow piece of linen that runs under your chin and over the crown of your head, like a very-far-pushed-back headband. Helps anchor your veil, and also serves quite nicely as earmuffs, which is great when it's cold and problematic when people are speaking to you.
Bliaut - A late 12th-century gown most popular in France, though apparently worn in various styles across western Europe, with tightly laced bodice, long, full skirts, and long sleeves with triangular or rectangular drapes falling from the lower half. The general silhouette of Arwen's gowns in the Lord of the Rings films is pretty close, though her wide necklines are a fantasy.
Caftan - A fitted, long coat or shirt, often long-sleeved, with ties or buttons to close it. There are at least as many varieties of caftan as there were humans in the Persian Empire, and I cannot possibly define them all.
Ceinture - The French word for belt; I use it to refer specifically to the long, double wrapped and often tasseled and bedazzled belt typically worn with bliauts.
Chemise - A long-sleeved, full-length undergarment that protects your nice clothes from body oils and sweat. My first one is made of medium weight linen-cotton, and gets a 1/10 rating because it did actually do its job. Much better to spring for fine, lightweight linen, which will look nicer and keep you from getting so hot that you then sweat more.
Cuisses - Thigh armour. Also, a reason to take up yoga so getting into your armour is less difficult.
Cote - A fairly general term for 10th-14th century European dresses. In general, these have long, full skirts, high necklines, and long fitted sleeves. There are hundreds of variations, however—this is also where we get the word "surcote," a cote for going over your other cote. Fabric was conspicuous consumption at the time; if you could afford to wear two voluminous dresses at once, you were clearly doing quite well for yourself.
Elbow cops - Actually an SCA-ism; the correct term is couter. Rigid armour that protects the elbows.
Fillet - Not of fish. The short linen "crown" that helps hold your veil on your head; popular in the 12th and 13th centuries, and fading out of fashion again in the 14th.
Gambeson - A padded coat worn over the clothes and under the armour to provide added protection from blows (and to guard against getting bruised by your own armour).
Gorget - Neck armour. Looks like the kind of leather collar the rich antagonist in a heist movie might put on his guard dogs. Not half as glamorous as being the rich antagonist in a heist movie.
Helm - As it sounds, a padded metal bucket that protects your noggin. In the SCA, these often used to be made of freon cans. We're now more sophisticated (and a little more conscious of head trauma).
Hose(n) - Medieval socks/tights. These may be knee-length to hip-length, and are sewn from woven fabric.
Knee cops - Actually an SCA-ism, but such a pervasive one that I never use the proper term, which is poleyn. Rigid armour that protects the knees.
Lamellar - A style of armour composed of small metal or leather plates laced together into a semi-flexible "fabric," common across a variety of time periods and cultures.
Mantle - For me, this is a semi-circular cloak worn both for fashion and utility, in the style of the late 12th century. It covers a lot of other styles of Big Honkin' Piece o' Fabric to Keep The Rain Off, too.
Salwar - Persian trousers, narrow at the cuffs and very wide at the waist.
Veil - Medieval sunblock! Also a fashionable garment that almost all European women from the entire medieval and Renaissance period wore, in various styles. Typically made of gossamer-fine linen; many of mine are silk, because linen nowadays is rarely even close to the fineness of ancient and medieval cloth.
Sewing, Weaving, and Other Craftiness
Flat-felled seams - Seams that are sewn to connect the pieces of fabric right sides together, then the seam allowances are trimmed and folded to enclose the edges before being stitched down. These make a flat surface on both sides of the garment.
French seams - Seams that are sewn once to connect the pieces of fabric wrong sides together with a very tiny seam allowance, then flipped inside out and sewn again to enclose the fabric edges. These leave a "loose" ridge of fabric on the inside of the garment. Absolutely no fraying allowed, although getting the garment so all the finished seams are on the same (inside) surface has proved...challenging for me.
Heddle(s) - Metal or string pieces that have small holes in the middle to carry warp threads; lifting them in a particular sequence creates the pattern of the fabric.
Lucet - Both a tool, and what it makes. The tool is a U or Y-shaped item (mine's wooden, but they can be made of anything reasonably rigid) typically around 4-5 inches long and 2-3 wide. You use it to hold loops of string and turn that into...bigger string, kind of like a two-pronged knitting mushroom. Lucet cord is square, strong, and slightly elastic. It's useful for almost anything you might want cord for.
Peening - Smushing and rounding the tip of a rivet to hold it in place. If you're good, this takes about eight seconds. If you're me, it takes five minutes, and half of that is because your piece slipped off the anvil and you had to go hunting for the escaped rivet.
Selvedge(s) - The uncut edge of a piece of fabric; the long edge as it was woven on the loom. Often woven more densely than the main fabric, and sturdier for it. Often fuzzy at the edges on machine-woven pieces, because modern looms sacrifice beauty and utility for speed. I have feelings about this. Also, the bane of my weaving existence, because getting nice even selvedges is a hallmark of consistent weaving and I'm not there yet.
Shuttle - The stick or bobbin holder that carries the weft when weaving. There are many more varieties than I'm going to go into here.
Warp - The lengthwise threads of a piece of cloth; on a loom, these are raised in pattern by heddles, which helps create the pattern of the fabric.
Weft - The crosswise threads of a piece of cloth; on a loom, these are inserted by the weaver, often by using a shuttle.
SCA Events, Ranks, and Assorted Paraphernalia
A word of explanation—these are my understandings of terms, and often quite specific to my kingdom of Calontir. Other kingdoms are different. Other people within Calontir would also give different definitions of most of these terms. There are about a thousand terms I don't define, because they've already been handily defined here.
Arts and Sciences - Not to be confused with Kingdom Arts and Sciences, which is an event. This is the category into which all creation of objects falls, and the exact distinction between an "art" and a "science" is debatable and fluid. My favorite glib division is that a science hurts if you drop it on your foot; an art typically does not. Mastery of an art or science may result in a Laurel (eventually).
Crown Tournament - Or just "Crown." The double-elimination tournament we hold biannually (that's twice a year) to decide our next rulers, in which a fighter and consort present themselves as candidates for the throne, and the fighter then attempts to defeat all comers until they are made Prince or Princess. Also a grand social opportunity, and typically packed with lovely pageantry.
Cut and Thrust - Or "C&T." Calontir's form of metal-sword fighting, closely related to fencing but with rather more swash in our buckles than some kingdoms. Full-speed, but not full-contact; blows are counted if they offer enough pressure to be felt, and armour is largely fabric-based, with metal facemasks. Mastery of cut and thrust may result in a Master of Defense (eventually).
Garb - The SCA word for "clothing." Specifically, clothing made in the style of a medieval or Renaissance culture—rule of thumb is, if it looks good from ten feet away, you're golden. I move in fiber nerd circles, though, and am rapidly approaching the stage where I'll be making my own cloth to the specifications of extant medieval cloth, because it's not the same with modern equivalents.
Kingdom Arts and Sciences- Often written "Kingdom A&S" because I am lazy. This is an annual Arts and Sciences competition, with three tiers of rubric competition (novice, intermediate and advanced) and a competition against other entrants via total rubric score on three advanced entries. It's a treat, because these tend to be absolutely incredible projects. Check out the full guidelines in PDF form here.
King - His Majesty. He rules us, for six months at a time, and gets to wear a fancy crown and have people bow and scrape and also is responsible for a large chunk of real administrative work. It's very much like the real job, only you (potentially) have to fight off a number of contenders for the privilege, rather than being born to it.
Knight - Someone who has received the highest honor we have in recognition of their skill and teaching of rattan fighting; required to swear an oath of fealty to the Crown. Dangerous people, in both the "whack 'em on the head" sense and the "teach 'em how to do it" sense. "Master of Defense" is an equivalent rank which does not require the swearing of any oath. Both are entitled to wear plain white belts as a sign of their rank, and knights a plain heavy chain as a sign of their fealty, and prepend "Sir" to their names.
Kris Kinder - A popular Calontiri event held in early December, with dozens of merchants and their wares. Usually a good opportunity to catch up with people from far corners of the kingdom, and to show off and admire beautiful garb.
Laurel - Someone who has received the highest honor we have in recognition of their skill and teaching of an art or science. Dangerous people, prone to throwing resources and raw materials at the unwary in a bid to draw them into practicing that Laurel's chosen focus. It often works. Laurels are entitled to wear (embroider, place into stained glass, etc.) a laurel wreath as a sign of their rank, and prepend "Master" or "Mistress" to their names.
Pelican - Someone who has received the highest honor we have in recognition of their devotion to service within the SCA. Often the sort of people who have nine lists in their heads at all times, can soothe a crying baby in one arm while composing a feast menu with the other and dancing a jig. Pelicans are entitled to wear (embroider, place into stained glass, etc.) a pelican in her piety (i.e. piercing her breast to feed her chicks) as a sign of their rank, and prepend "Master" or "Mistress" to their names.
Prince - His Highness. Second in line to the throne for three months, having won or been championed in Crown Tournament.
Princess - Her Highness. Second in line to the throne for three months, having won or been championed in Crown Tournament.
Queen - Her Majesty. She rules us, for six months at a time, and gets to wear a fancy crown and have people bow and scrape and also is responsible for a large chunk of real administrative work. It's very much like the real job, only you (potentially) have to fight off a number of contenders for the privilege, rather than being born to it.
Queen's Prize Tourney - One of my favorite events, this is our annual Arts and Sciences competition for new folks, whether they are new to the SCA in general or new to the art or science they're entering. Entries are sponsored by existing awarded craftspeople, scores are marked against a rubric, and the Queen chooses her favorites to award special prizes to. Check out the full guidelines in PDF form here.
Rattan fighting - Full-contact, full-armour fighting based on medieval and Renaissance techniques and weapons, using duct-taped rattan poles for swords and a variety of padded weapon heads for axes, spears, polearms, and other weapons. Great fun, often resulting in bruises—but frankly, I ran a greater risk of serious injury when I played soccer. Mastery of rattan fighting may result in a Knighthood (eventually).
SCA - Society for Creative Anachronism. A nonprofit teaching organization that focuses on medieval and Renaissance Europe through living history and creative anthropology. We get together to dress up in flashy clothes, hit each other with sticks, make blue pigment out of toxic ingredients and fire, and other medievally things. We're also a collection of very friendly, very historically-obsessed nerds. And a lot of us make killer fermented beverages.
Scroll - An illuminated and calligraphied paper given as proof of an individual's admittance to a particular order or rank. These get fancier (and bigger, and more likely to be something other than a piece of paper or parchment) as the rank gets higher, but they're all handmade and absolutely lovely. People tend to cry when they receive scrolls. Artists cry when assigned them. It's an ecosystem.
Garments and Armour
Barbette - A narrow piece of linen that runs under your chin and over the crown of your head, like a very-far-pushed-back headband. Helps anchor your veil, and also serves quite nicely as earmuffs, which is great when it's cold and problematic when people are speaking to you.
Bliaut - A late 12th-century gown most popular in France, though apparently worn in various styles across western Europe, with tightly laced bodice, long, full skirts, and long sleeves with triangular or rectangular drapes falling from the lower half. The general silhouette of Arwen's gowns in the Lord of the Rings films is pretty close, though her wide necklines are a fantasy.
Caftan - A fitted, long coat or shirt, often long-sleeved, with ties or buttons to close it. There are at least as many varieties of caftan as there were humans in the Persian Empire, and I cannot possibly define them all.
Ceinture - The French word for belt; I use it to refer specifically to the long, double wrapped and often tasseled and bedazzled belt typically worn with bliauts.
Chemise - A long-sleeved, full-length undergarment that protects your nice clothes from body oils and sweat. My first one is made of medium weight linen-cotton, and gets a 1/10 rating because it did actually do its job. Much better to spring for fine, lightweight linen, which will look nicer and keep you from getting so hot that you then sweat more.
Cuisses - Thigh armour. Also, a reason to take up yoga so getting into your armour is less difficult.
Cote - A fairly general term for 10th-14th century European dresses. In general, these have long, full skirts, high necklines, and long fitted sleeves. There are hundreds of variations, however—this is also where we get the word "surcote," a cote for going over your other cote. Fabric was conspicuous consumption at the time; if you could afford to wear two voluminous dresses at once, you were clearly doing quite well for yourself.
Elbow cops - Actually an SCA-ism; the correct term is couter. Rigid armour that protects the elbows.
Fillet - Not of fish. The short linen "crown" that helps hold your veil on your head; popular in the 12th and 13th centuries, and fading out of fashion again in the 14th.
Gambeson - A padded coat worn over the clothes and under the armour to provide added protection from blows (and to guard against getting bruised by your own armour).
Gorget - Neck armour. Looks like the kind of leather collar the rich antagonist in a heist movie might put on his guard dogs. Not half as glamorous as being the rich antagonist in a heist movie.
Helm - As it sounds, a padded metal bucket that protects your noggin. In the SCA, these often used to be made of freon cans. We're now more sophisticated (and a little more conscious of head trauma).
Hose(n) - Medieval socks/tights. These may be knee-length to hip-length, and are sewn from woven fabric.
Knee cops - Actually an SCA-ism, but such a pervasive one that I never use the proper term, which is poleyn. Rigid armour that protects the knees.
Lamellar - A style of armour composed of small metal or leather plates laced together into a semi-flexible "fabric," common across a variety of time periods and cultures.
Mantle - For me, this is a semi-circular cloak worn both for fashion and utility, in the style of the late 12th century. It covers a lot of other styles of Big Honkin' Piece o' Fabric to Keep The Rain Off, too.
Salwar - Persian trousers, narrow at the cuffs and very wide at the waist.
Veil - Medieval sunblock! Also a fashionable garment that almost all European women from the entire medieval and Renaissance period wore, in various styles. Typically made of gossamer-fine linen; many of mine are silk, because linen nowadays is rarely even close to the fineness of ancient and medieval cloth.
Sewing, Weaving, and Other Craftiness
Flat-felled seams - Seams that are sewn to connect the pieces of fabric right sides together, then the seam allowances are trimmed and folded to enclose the edges before being stitched down. These make a flat surface on both sides of the garment.
French seams - Seams that are sewn once to connect the pieces of fabric wrong sides together with a very tiny seam allowance, then flipped inside out and sewn again to enclose the fabric edges. These leave a "loose" ridge of fabric on the inside of the garment. Absolutely no fraying allowed, although getting the garment so all the finished seams are on the same (inside) surface has proved...challenging for me.
Heddle(s) - Metal or string pieces that have small holes in the middle to carry warp threads; lifting them in a particular sequence creates the pattern of the fabric.
Lucet - Both a tool, and what it makes. The tool is a U or Y-shaped item (mine's wooden, but they can be made of anything reasonably rigid) typically around 4-5 inches long and 2-3 wide. You use it to hold loops of string and turn that into...bigger string, kind of like a two-pronged knitting mushroom. Lucet cord is square, strong, and slightly elastic. It's useful for almost anything you might want cord for.
Peening - Smushing and rounding the tip of a rivet to hold it in place. If you're good, this takes about eight seconds. If you're me, it takes five minutes, and half of that is because your piece slipped off the anvil and you had to go hunting for the escaped rivet.
Selvedge(s) - The uncut edge of a piece of fabric; the long edge as it was woven on the loom. Often woven more densely than the main fabric, and sturdier for it. Often fuzzy at the edges on machine-woven pieces, because modern looms sacrifice beauty and utility for speed. I have feelings about this. Also, the bane of my weaving existence, because getting nice even selvedges is a hallmark of consistent weaving and I'm not there yet.
Shuttle - The stick or bobbin holder that carries the weft when weaving. There are many more varieties than I'm going to go into here.
Warp - The lengthwise threads of a piece of cloth; on a loom, these are raised in pattern by heddles, which helps create the pattern of the fabric.
Weft - The crosswise threads of a piece of cloth; on a loom, these are inserted by the weaver, often by using a shuttle.
SCA Events, Ranks, and Assorted Paraphernalia
A word of explanation—these are my understandings of terms, and often quite specific to my kingdom of Calontir. Other kingdoms are different. Other people within Calontir would also give different definitions of most of these terms. There are about a thousand terms I don't define, because they've already been handily defined here.
Arts and Sciences - Not to be confused with Kingdom Arts and Sciences, which is an event. This is the category into which all creation of objects falls, and the exact distinction between an "art" and a "science" is debatable and fluid. My favorite glib division is that a science hurts if you drop it on your foot; an art typically does not. Mastery of an art or science may result in a Laurel (eventually).
Crown Tournament - Or just "Crown." The double-elimination tournament we hold biannually (that's twice a year) to decide our next rulers, in which a fighter and consort present themselves as candidates for the throne, and the fighter then attempts to defeat all comers until they are made Prince or Princess. Also a grand social opportunity, and typically packed with lovely pageantry.
Cut and Thrust - Or "C&T." Calontir's form of metal-sword fighting, closely related to fencing but with rather more swash in our buckles than some kingdoms. Full-speed, but not full-contact; blows are counted if they offer enough pressure to be felt, and armour is largely fabric-based, with metal facemasks. Mastery of cut and thrust may result in a Master of Defense (eventually).
Garb - The SCA word for "clothing." Specifically, clothing made in the style of a medieval or Renaissance culture—rule of thumb is, if it looks good from ten feet away, you're golden. I move in fiber nerd circles, though, and am rapidly approaching the stage where I'll be making my own cloth to the specifications of extant medieval cloth, because it's not the same with modern equivalents.
Kingdom Arts and Sciences- Often written "Kingdom A&S" because I am lazy. This is an annual Arts and Sciences competition, with three tiers of rubric competition (novice, intermediate and advanced) and a competition against other entrants via total rubric score on three advanced entries. It's a treat, because these tend to be absolutely incredible projects. Check out the full guidelines in PDF form here.
King - His Majesty. He rules us, for six months at a time, and gets to wear a fancy crown and have people bow and scrape and also is responsible for a large chunk of real administrative work. It's very much like the real job, only you (potentially) have to fight off a number of contenders for the privilege, rather than being born to it.
Knight - Someone who has received the highest honor we have in recognition of their skill and teaching of rattan fighting; required to swear an oath of fealty to the Crown. Dangerous people, in both the "whack 'em on the head" sense and the "teach 'em how to do it" sense. "Master of Defense" is an equivalent rank which does not require the swearing of any oath. Both are entitled to wear plain white belts as a sign of their rank, and knights a plain heavy chain as a sign of their fealty, and prepend "Sir" to their names.
Kris Kinder - A popular Calontiri event held in early December, with dozens of merchants and their wares. Usually a good opportunity to catch up with people from far corners of the kingdom, and to show off and admire beautiful garb.
Laurel - Someone who has received the highest honor we have in recognition of their skill and teaching of an art or science. Dangerous people, prone to throwing resources and raw materials at the unwary in a bid to draw them into practicing that Laurel's chosen focus. It often works. Laurels are entitled to wear (embroider, place into stained glass, etc.) a laurel wreath as a sign of their rank, and prepend "Master" or "Mistress" to their names.
Pelican - Someone who has received the highest honor we have in recognition of their devotion to service within the SCA. Often the sort of people who have nine lists in their heads at all times, can soothe a crying baby in one arm while composing a feast menu with the other and dancing a jig. Pelicans are entitled to wear (embroider, place into stained glass, etc.) a pelican in her piety (i.e. piercing her breast to feed her chicks) as a sign of their rank, and prepend "Master" or "Mistress" to their names.
Prince - His Highness. Second in line to the throne for three months, having won or been championed in Crown Tournament.
Princess - Her Highness. Second in line to the throne for three months, having won or been championed in Crown Tournament.
Queen - Her Majesty. She rules us, for six months at a time, and gets to wear a fancy crown and have people bow and scrape and also is responsible for a large chunk of real administrative work. It's very much like the real job, only you (potentially) have to fight off a number of contenders for the privilege, rather than being born to it.
Queen's Prize Tourney - One of my favorite events, this is our annual Arts and Sciences competition for new folks, whether they are new to the SCA in general or new to the art or science they're entering. Entries are sponsored by existing awarded craftspeople, scores are marked against a rubric, and the Queen chooses her favorites to award special prizes to. Check out the full guidelines in PDF form here.
Rattan fighting - Full-contact, full-armour fighting based on medieval and Renaissance techniques and weapons, using duct-taped rattan poles for swords and a variety of padded weapon heads for axes, spears, polearms, and other weapons. Great fun, often resulting in bruises—but frankly, I ran a greater risk of serious injury when I played soccer. Mastery of rattan fighting may result in a Knighthood (eventually).
SCA - Society for Creative Anachronism. A nonprofit teaching organization that focuses on medieval and Renaissance Europe through living history and creative anthropology. We get together to dress up in flashy clothes, hit each other with sticks, make blue pigment out of toxic ingredients and fire, and other medievally things. We're also a collection of very friendly, very historically-obsessed nerds. And a lot of us make killer fermented beverages.
Scroll - An illuminated and calligraphied paper given as proof of an individual's admittance to a particular order or rank. These get fancier (and bigger, and more likely to be something other than a piece of paper or parchment) as the rank gets higher, but they're all handmade and absolutely lovely. People tend to cry when they receive scrolls. Artists cry when assigned them. It's an ecosystem.