English Civil War Glossary
English Civil War Glossary
The English Civil War brought with it new developments in weaponry and military strategy. These new weapons brought in new terms, some of which are still in use today. This English Civil War Glossary offers definitions for the weapons and military tactics used in the war.
| Basilisk: | a sixteenth century medium cannon, usually made of brass |
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| Buff-coat: | an item of leather clothing worn by cavalry and officers during the seventeenth century |
| Caliver: | an early muzzle-loaded firearm used in the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries. Similar to the musket, but was initially lighter and easier to carry |
| Caracole: | a half turn executed by a horse and rider. |
| Clubmen: | bands of local defence vigilantes during the English Civil War who tried to protect their villages against the damage caused by the armies |
| Commission of Array: | a commission given by English royalty to officers or gentry to muster a militia. |
| Parliament: | Sat at Derby House and the committee contained some of England and Scotland’s most influential men such as Cromwell, Manchester and Essex. |
| Committee of Public Safety: | established by the Parliamentarians in July 1642. Was the first of a number of successive committees set up to oversee the English Civil War. |
| Corselet: | a suit of light half armor or three-quarter armor of the 16th centuryor later. |
| Cuirassier: | a cavalry soldier wearing a corselet |
| Culverin: | An ancestor of the musket, and later a medieval cannon. The culverin was used to bombard targets from a distance. |
| Dragoons: | mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills |
| Engagement: | The agreement between Charles I and the Scots signed on 26 December 1647, whereby the Scots offered military support to the king if Charles established Presbyterianism for three years. |
| Flintlock: | the system that ignited a firearm; a flint struck against a steel plate (the frizzen) and a shower of sparks ignited the priming powder. |
| Fusil: | a gunlock in which a piece of flint striking against steel produces sparks that ignite the priming. |
| Halberd: | a shafted weapon with an axlike cutting blade and apical spike,used especially in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. |
| Harquebusier: | a cavalryman armed with a harquebus (carbine). |
| Ironsides: | name given to Cromwell’s horse and later applied to the cavalry of the Eastern Association. |
| Musket: | a muzzle-loaded, smoothbore firearm, fired from the shoulder. They were designed for use by infantry. |
| Pike: | usually between twelve and eighteen feet in length with a diamond-shaped head |
| Pole-axe: | a weapon with an axe blade on one side of the handle and a spike on the other |
| Wheel-lock: | an old type of gunlock in which sparks are produced by the friction of a small steel wheel against a piece of iron pyrites. |
See also: The English Civil War
MLA Citation/Reference
"English Civil War Glossary". HistoryLearning.com. 2024. Web.