Chroniclers of the Crusades from the 11th through the 13th centuries often used the various Classical Latin terms for trumpets and horns-including tuba, cornu, buccina, and lituus-alongside the more up-to-date French term trompe with reference to instruments employed in the Christian armies.
In the early 15th century, Jean de Gerson listed the lituus among those string instruments that were sounded by beating or striking, either with the fingernails, a plectrum, or a stick.