| transcend | be superior or better than some standard |
| dialect | the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people |
| affairs | transactions of professional or public interest |
| plague | a disease |
| adorn | make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc. |
| noblemen | a titled peer of the realm |
| jester | a professional clown employed to entertain a king or nobleman in the Middle Ages |
| joust | a combat between two mounted knights tilting against each other with blunted lances |
| undertook | commit oneself to and begin (an enterprise or responsibility); take on. |
| Middle Ages | Europe between the fall of Rome in 476 CE and the beginning of the Renaissance in the 14th century. |
