loop-hole

Isaac Kremer/ July 3, 2024/ / 0 comments

Loop, loup, narrow openings used in the fortifications of the Middle Ages, through which arrows and other missiles might be discharged upon assailants, hence called balistraria or arbalisteria; they were most especially placed in situations to command the approaches, and sometimes were introduced in the merlons of the battlements. These apertures seem to have come into use in the thirteenth century. They are occasionally in the form of a cross; and of this last-mentioned shape they are sometimes found as ornaments in the battlements of ecclesiastical buildings. (Parker, 1896)