martyr-racu

martyr-racu, f.n: an account of martyrs. (MAR-tur-RA-kuh / ˈmaɹ-tɝɹ-ˌra-kʌ)

A bonus Word of the Day because I broke my tweet line-up…

saint
St Margaret of Antioch freeing herself from the dragon’s innards. Historiated initial in a Book of Hours. Walters Museum MS 168, f. 222r. Creative Commons licensed via Flickr.

fȳst-gebēat

fȳst-gebēat, n.n: a blow with the fist. (FUST-yeh-BAY-aht / ˈfɝːst-jɛ-ˌbeːat)

medieval-fighting-e1376628594115
I found this image on Medievalists.net along with a paper discussing whether the art of boxing vanished during the Middle Ages. It’s surprisingly difficult to find medieval images of unarmed people fighting with their hands only. This one (Codex Wallerstein) is from the late Middle Ages, c. 1470.