A misericorde ( or ) (from French word  '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 , "act of mercy") to a seriously wounded knight.
The misericorde, or as it is referred to, served as a long, narrow knife during the High Middle Ages to administer the fatal blow (the mercy stroke) to an injured knight. This term originates from the Latin meaning "act of mercy."