Glossary of Terms

Agate - an ornamental stone consisting of a hard variety of chalcedony (quartz), typically banded in appearance.

 

Allegories - a story, poem, or picture which can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral one.

 

Antiquity - the ancient past, especially the period of classical and other human civilizations before the Middle Ages.

 

Breviary - Contained the texts of the chants to be absolved during prayers.

 

Company halls - a hall run for and by certain guilds of the time, for meetings etc.

 

Didactic - intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive.

 

Ecclesiastical - relating to the Christian Church or its clergy.

 

Ecumenical - meeting of the different Christian Churches.

 

Evangeliary - The most important Liturgical book, it contained complete texts of the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  It was placed on a throne during ecumenical councils, carried in festive processions and used to swear oaths.

 

Evangelistary - It contained specific passages from the four gospels, and was used in church as part of the liturgy for feast days and during monastic vigils.

 

Exodus - a mass departure of people.

 

Gesso - a hard compound of plaster of Paris or whiting in glue, used in sculpture or as a base for gilding or painting on wood.

 

Gospel - the record of Christ’s life and teaching in the first four books of the New Testament.  Each of the first four books of the New Testament. 

 

Guild -  a medieval association of craftsmen or merchants, often having considerable power.

 

Idolatry -the worship of idols.  Extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone.

 

Illuminated Manuscript -  a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations. In the most strict definition of the term, an illuminated manuscript only refers to manuscripts decorated with gold or silver.

 

Insular - relating to or from an island, derives from insula, the Latin term for "island" :  (goods of insular origin, relating to a form of Latin handwriting used in Britain and Ireland in the early Middle Ages: insular illumination of the 6th century)

 

Laity/Lay - ordinary people, distinct from the clergy.

 

Lectionary - a list or book of portions of the Bible appointed to be read at divine service.

 

Middle Ages -  the period of European history from the fall of the Roman Empire in the West (5th century) to the fall of Constantinople (1453), or, more narrowly, from circa 1000 to 1453.

                      - Early Middle Ages is generally referred to as from the 5th to 11th centuries, also called the Dark Ages.

 

Medieval -  the history of the period from the 5th to the 15th centuries.

 

Parchment - a stiff, flat, thin material made from the prepared skin of an animal, usually a sheep or goat, and used as a durable writing surface in ancient and medieval times.

 

the Passion - the suffering and death of Jesus.

 

Passover - the major Jewish spring festival which commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, lasting seven or eight days from the 15th day of Nisan.

 

Psalter -  A collection of the 150 Psalms from the Old Testament.

 

the Reformation - a 16th-century movement for the reform of abuses in the Roman Church ending in the establishment of the Reformed and Protestant Churches.

 

Sacramentary & Missal - Sacramentaries contained all the prayers and texts to be read by the celebrant during the Mass, they were for the use of the priests only.  Missals replaced sacramentaries in the 13^th century.

 

Scriptoriums - rooms set aside for writing, especially in monasteries.

 

Secular - not connected with religious or spiritual matters.

 

Seder - a Jewish ritual service and ceremonial dinner for the first night or first two nights of Passover.

 

Temporal - Contained daily texts, for Mass through the festivals of the church year: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Passiontide, Holy Week and Easter.

 

Treatises - a written work dealing formally and systematically with a subject.

 

Oxford Online Dictioneries 2012, Oxford University Press, viewed 19th April 2012, <http://oxforddictionaries.com/>.