A misericorde (/ˌmɪzərɪˈkɔːrd/ or /-zɛrɪ-/) (from French word miséricorde 'mercy') was a long, narrow knife, used from the High Middle Ages to deliver the death stroke (the mercy stroke, hence the name of the blade, derived from the Latin misericordia, "act of mercy") to a seriously wounded knight. The blade was thin enough to strike through the gaps between armour plates.[1]