Part 2 — 18. THE TOWER OF LONDON. PART II.
Reading edition
18. THE TOWER OF LONDON. PART II.
Allegiance: the duty due from a subject to his liege the sovereign.
Lord Hastings was executed by order of the Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III., in 1483 for supporting the side of Edward V. and his relations.
ordnance: artillery, cannon, big guns.
antipast: aftertaste.
clerk: a clergyman, a scholar, because in early times all learning was confined to the clergy.
19. THE PILGRIMS.
ague: a fever coming on at intervals, with fits of shivering.
isolation: living away from outside communication, a lonely position like that of men on an island cut off from the rest of the world.
Flemings: the people of Flanders, a district now comprising parts of Belgium, South Holland, and North France.
Walsingham: a place in the north of Norfolk, where was a famous shrine.
Glastonbury: a small town near Wells, in Somersetshire.
Compostella: a place in Spain where is the shrine of St. James, the patron saint of Spain.
Chaucer: the great early English poet, born in London 1328, died 1400.
expiation: making amends for, atonement.
Holy Sepulchre: the burial place of our Lord at Jerusalem, to rescue which from the Turks was the object of the Crusades.
20. ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S HOSPITAL.
Endowment: money given for the permanent support of an institution, such as a church, hospital, or school.
Hospitaller: one in charge of a hospital. The term is generally applied to the Knights of St. John, who built a hospital for sick Crusaders at Jerusalem.
shambles: a slaughter-house.
Whittington, originally an apprentice in London, became a wealthy mercer, thrice Lord Mayor, and knighted. He died in 1423, without children, and left his wealth for public objects, such as the one in the text.
Dissolution of the religious houses, carried out by Henry VIII. in 1536-1540 for the sake of the plunder they afforded.
Chloroform: a colourless liquid which when inhaled produces complete insensibility to pain.
Norman windows: that is, built in a style introduced by the Normans. The rounded tops of doors and windows maybe seen in the illustration on p. 44.
lanthorn: a raised construction on the roof, with horn or glass sides to give light.
clinical: in attendance at the bedside of patients.
residential college: where they reside or dwell.
convalescent hospital: where those who have had some illness may get quite well and strong again.
21. THE TERROR OF LEPROSY.
Leprosy: a terrible disease of the skin and blood, once prevalent in Europe, now mostly confined to the East.
lazar: a leper; one suffering from a foul disease like Lazarus in St. Luke xvi.
congregate: flock together, crowd with.
stringent: strict.
statutes: rules or laws.
Book of the Jewish Law: that is, the book Leviticus.
ulcerates: is afflicted with ulcers or sores.
Mass: the celebration of the Lord's Supper in the Roman Catholic Church.
Burton Lazars: a village one mile from Melton Mowbray, in Leicestershire. Here, on account of its excellent sulphur springs, the chief leper-hospital was established in the reign of Stephen.
hereditary: transmitted from parents to children.
22. THE TERROR OF FAMINE.
24 shillings a quarter: this is not far from the present price of wheat, which gives us cheap bread. But in 1257 24s. would be equivalent to at least 20l. in our money.
retainers: those in the service of a nobleman and wearing his livery and badge.
Hanseatic merchants: merchants trading with the Hanse cities in Germany (among which was Hamburg) who had formed a league for self-protection about the twelfth century.
granary: a place for storing up grain or corn.