\Clay"more`\, n. [Gael. claidheamhmor a broadsword; Gael. claidheamh sword + mor great, large. Cf. Claymore.] A large two-handed sword used formerly by the Scottish Highlanders.

\Sling"er\, n. One who slings

Medieval swords

The Rapier

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Medieval music

The instruments used to perform Medieval music are largely still in existence, in different forms. The Medieval cornett differed immensely from its modern day counterpart, the trumpet. Cornetts in medieval times were quite short, either straight or somewhat curved. The flute was once made of wood rather than silver, and could be made as a side-blown or end-blown instrument. The recorder, on the other hand, has more or less retained its past form. The gemshorn was similar to the recorder, or ocarina. One of the flute's predecessors, the pan flute, was popular in medieval times, and is possibly of Greek origin.

This instrument's pipes were made of wood, and were graduated in length to produce different pitches. Many medieval strings were most alike to the modern-day guitar, such as the lute, mandolin, psaltery, and zither. The dulcimer, similar in structure to the others, was not plucked but hammered. The hurdy-gurdy was played with a rosined wheel of wood attached to a handle, as opposed to a modern day bow. String instruments without sound boxes, such as the harp and Jew's harp were popular also. Early versions of the organ, fiddle (or vielle), and trombone (called the sackbut) existed as well.

During the early Medieval period, the chant (or plainsong), a monophonic sacred form, was popular in the Christian church. The Jewish Synagogue tradition of singing psalms was a strong influence on Christian chanting. Chant developed separately in several European centers. The most important were Rome, Spain, Gaul, Milan, and Ireland. These chants were all developed to support the regional liturgies used when celebrating the Mass there. Each area developed its own chants and rules for celebration. In Spain, Mozarabic chant was used and shows the influence of North African music.

The Mozarabic liturgy even survived through Muslim rule, though this was an isolated strand and this music was later suppressed in an attempt to enforce conformity on the entire liturgy. In Milan, Ambrosian chant, named after St. Ambrose, was the standard. Celtic chant was used in Ireland. Around 1011, the Catholic Church wanted to standardize the Mass and chant. At this time, Rome was the religious center of Europe, and Paris was the political center. The standardization effort consisted mainly of combining these two (Roman and Gallican) regional liturgies. This body of chant became known as Gregorian Chant.

Another musical tradition of Europe originated during the early Middle Ages was the liturgical drama. In its original form, it may represent a survival of Roman drama with Christian stories--mainly the Gospel, the Passion, and the lives of the saints--grafted on. Every part of Europe had some sort of tradition of musical or semi-musical drama in the middle ages, involving acting, speaking, singing and instrumental accompaniment in some combination. Probably these dramas were performed by traveling actors and musicians. Many have been preserved sufficiently to allow modern reconstruction and performance (for example the Play of Daniel, which has been recently recorded).

During the middle period of the Medieval era, the music of the troubadors and trouvères was a vernacular tradition of monophonic secular song, probably accompanied by instruments, sung by professional, occasionally itinerant, musicians who were as skilled as poets as they were singers and instrumentalists. The language of the troubadors was Occitan (also known as the langue d'oc, or Provençal); the language of the trouvères was Old French (also known as langue d'oil). The period of the troubadors corresponded to the flowering of cultural life in Provence which lasted through the twelfth century and into the first decade of the thirteenth. Typical subjects of troubador song were war, chivalry and courtly love. The period of the troubadors ended abruptly with the Albigensian Crusade, the fierce campaign by Pope Innocent III to eliminate the Cathar heresy (and appropriate the wealth of a defenseless people) which effectively exterminated the entire civilization. Surviving troubadors went either to Spain, northern Italy or northern France (where the trouvère tradition lived on), where their skills and techniques contributed to the later developments of secular musical culture in those places.

As often seen at the end of any musical era, the end of the Medieval era is marked by a highly manneristic style known as "Ars subtilior." In some ways, this was an attempt to meld the French and Italian styles. This music was highly stylized, with a rhythmic complexity that was not matched until the 20th century. In fact, not only was the rhythmic complexity of this repertoire largely unmatched for five and a half centuries, with extreme syncopations, mensural trickery, and even examples of augenmusik (such as a chanson by Baude Cordier written out in manuscript in the shape of a heart), but also its melodic material was quite complex as well, particularly in its interaction with the rhythmic structures.

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