A page for unfamiliar terms. Remember that many players will never have even seen the word “Outremer” before, let alone know what it means. Similarly don't forget that non-British players may not know that King Richard the Lionheart has any connection with England.
If you are unsure what a term we have used on the wiki means, please contact the GM team so that we can add it to the Glossary.
Anatolia - a region of Asia Minor, usually the central area, though also used to describe most of central Asia Minor.
Levant - generally the “Mediterranean lands east of Italy”, from the Middle French word levant meaning “the Orient”. A more specific meaning is the lands between Egypt and Turkey, near the Mediterranean coast.
Outremer - French (outre-mer) for “overseas”, was the general name given to the Crusader states established after the First Crusade: the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, the County of Tripoli and especially the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The name was often used as an equivalent to Levant, Syria or Palestine, and incorporated areas that are today part of Israel, Jordan, Syria, Turkey and Lebanon.
Bishop of Rome - an alternative title for the Pope.
Roman Empire - the remainder of the Roman Empire in the East, ruled from Constantinople. Otherwise called the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire.
Great Schism - the official division in the Christian Church between the Western (Catholic) Church and the Eastern (Orthodox) Church.
Hajj - the pilgrimage, to Mecca and Medina, required to be performed by all Muslims at some point in their life.
Icon - an image of Christ or various Saints, most common in Orthodox Christianity. Usually a beautiful and stylised painting or carving, of great religious and sometimes local importance.
Patriarch/Patriarchate - one of the five major seats of authority in the Christian world: Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria and, previously, Rome. the Latter is considered by the Western Church to be the seat of supreme authority, while by the Eastern Church an equal of the others or, following the Great Schism, the head of the split-off Western Church.