In twelfth century London, they were referred to as the ribauz and they spent their time always on the edge of a crowd. They begged and plundered at the slightest provocation. They hung around outside the door of the banquet hall when a large feast was held. The king of England had three hundred bailiffs whose duty it was-though not all at one time-to keep these people back as food was moved from the kitchens to the hall, and to see that guests were not disturbed. Frequently in twelfth-century romances a beautiful damsel is threatened with the awful fate of being turned over to the ribauz. Nothing more horrible can be imagined.

DEFINE: Explains the historical term 'ribauz' — a social class of medieval beggars/plunderers who hovered at crowd edges. FICTION: The ribauz as a threatened fate for a damsel in twelfth-century romances is a vivid, reusable storytelling detail.

Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order a…, loc. 208