Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index See electric charge, magnetic charge, explosive charge, criminal charge, or colour charge During the European Middle Ages, a charge often meant an underage person placed under the supervision of a nobleman. Charges were the responsibility of the nobleman they were charged to, and they were usually expected to be treated as guests or a member of the household. Charges were at times used more or less openly as hostages, ensuring that the parents kept in line. Today, the word is still used to mean anyone that a person is responsible for, such as a parent or chaperone's children, a supervisor's employees, or a nurse or doctor's patients. To charge is a maneuver in battle where soldiers rush towards their enemy to engage in close combat. Charges have lost a lot of their effectiveness over the last 150 years because of handguns, assault rifles, and various forms of artillery. See also military tactics. Famous charges Charge of the Light Brigade (October 25, 1854) at the Battle of Balaklava in the Crimean War Pickett's Charge (July 3, 1863) at the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War In heraldry, charge means objects on the shield. In money, a charge is any fee assessed, such as a charge for using an automatic teller machine (ATM), entering a museum, being late with a payment, etc. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.