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Home , Braies, Chausses, Houppelande, Loincloth

The following "Red Booklet" is a set of guidelines on the historical of Duke Siemovit’s Mazowiecka Banner. All of the information contained therein relate to what is required internally in our camp, and they are the choice of iconography and sources from the vast information about from the period of our interest – i.e. 1390-1410. All kinds of questions and uncertainties related to the discrepancies between the guidelines of the Siemovit Banner and other Grunwald banners – should be cleared up within own camp, with persons involved in the control of the historical costume and with their costumography choices. Commander of the Siemovit’s Banner Małgorzta Rekosz-Piekarska, Red Booklet II

Introduction to the reconstruction of the costume

Reconstructing of the bygone era we must rely on historical sources. The most reliable, are of course clothes preserved to our days, which we can, which we can freely examine and take to pieces. Unfortunately, the fabric does not stand up well to the passage of time, therefore from the late Middle Ages a little survived to our times. We therefore need to supplement our knowledge both with iconography as well as written sources.

In the art of the turn of the 14th and 15th century there are plenty of depictions, which may become useful in reconstruction of the mediaeval . Unfortunately there also is a lot of confusion and traps. Firstly, all depictions mainly show the higher society (founders and their entourage). Secondly the artists of this period often simplified the look of the clothing; there also was a custom of borrowing whole compositions or types of presentations from other artists (famous medieval patterns). Thirdly, many characters seen in the artistic works of paintings and sculptures, are mocking figures, people form foreign lands dressed in exotic , etc. So we have to be careful and learn as much as possible about the presentation we use. Best is to find other works of art, depicting the element of our interest. Thus we shall minimize the possibility of blunder.

Another – very useful source – are the documents from the era. Court rotas, last wills, bills as well as other written texts, provide us with names, materials, and the value of the costumes worn then. Unfortunately very rarely there are descriptions of the appearance of individual items of clothing, and that forces us to speculate, which name corresponds to a certain . So in order to obtain an overall picture of clothes worn in the period of our interest, we connect these three types of sources and try to draw conclusions. This is not an easy task and can often lead to conflicting conclusions, but this is the specifics of this field of research The assumption of the „ Red Booklet”

Work presented here, is a compilation of reflections of other old material culture researchers as well as our interpretation of the sources. However there are many uncertainties and issues not fully explained. So while reading it must be remembered that the Red Booklet is not unerring. Since this is not a dead area of science, and costumology is constantly developing, together with new archaeological findings, researches as well as publications, some changes might be introduced into this booklet in future!

It was not written with the idea to create a comprehensive scientific work; it was written to create: firstly – introduction for people wanting to get acquainted with the subject, and, secondly: the principles and minimum requirements for Duke Siemovit’s Banner. There are many issues that were not addressed, since this work does not aim at completeness of the subject... Therefore, with all our hearts we are open to discussion on items of clothing that are not in the text, as well as ours, presented in the interpretation. We also assure, that we do not restrict anyone to use only items of clothing presented here,, if anyone wants to reconstruct a part of the dress the book does not include, one can do so, provided, that its existence will be proved, based on relevant sources (dissertations, photographs of exhibits, the art of the era, etc.).Please treat this text as an introduction only, to learn more we suggest looking up the bibliography given at the end of the text.

The dating remains unchanged, still in force is the time-interval 1390 – 1410. In order to illustrate the various items of clothing sometimes pictures appear – might be a little later or earlier; not to exceed, say, 1380 - 1415 r. In the future an index of illustrations will be created – so that there will be no doubts where the individual pictures were taken from. Michał Zambrzycki. It is often said that the shoes are the basis for every good reconstruction of dress. Surely this is an important element that should be done very exactly, with care for every possible detail. To properly restore the old shoes, a large professional knowledge is required as well as a detailed analysis of previously used techniques. Luckily thanks to the archaeological research we have pretty much information on the work of the medieval shoemakers. Unlike fabric, leather does not decay so rapidly and to our times there remained relatively a wide variety of copies of medieval shoes, and scraps. Their construction is therefore based mainly on the authentic relics. We use iconography mainly in order to choose appropriate cut shoes to the rest of the outfit. To match shoes with the dress one question should be answered: representative of what social class I'm going to play? The answer will be crucial to the proper selection of ; for example, if I want to be a , it will not be fitting for me to wear shoes known from the iconography of the shepherd.... Not because it was the worse kind of shoes, but because in the era of the Middle Ages attribution to a particular social group was almost irreversible and it was often associated with wearing a particular . It usually confined to how wealthy one was, and what he could afford. It has to be added that footwear first of all had to fulfill some specific functions. One usually had several types of shoes - worn depending on occasion. For example, a nobleman at a duke’s court would dress fashionably, e.g. in ornamented long-toed poulaines, or chausseschausses with full foot and sole. The same knight setting off to war or hunting, would rather wear comfortable shoes and suitable for riding. It is worth remembering, while preparing for the reconstruction Design The footwear consisted of an upper and sole. Usually a heel was sewn in, and leather "seal" (called Otok) to strengthen the construction and protect it against wear off too fast. Upper is covering the upper part of foot. It was usually made of full grain calfskin, rarely goat’s, horse, deer, sheep and even a dog’s. The sole was made of sole calfskin. Pigskin was not used, because it leaked and was difficult in processing. The upper was sewn to the sole with or hemp twine. Shoes were sewn on the left side on the last. After sewing the was soaked and then turned right-side-out, what hid the seam and protracted its existence. The problem appeared with long toed shoes, therefore, the fifteenth century shoemakers often did not stitched them to the end, or sewn them only after turning right-side- out. Sometimes a special stitch was added to reinforce the shoe frame. Different shoe styles were worn – from very low, to the ankle, through knee-high , to high, reaching up to the groin. The latter had to be fastened on the outer side of leg - these are typical riding boots. The footwear does not necessarily have to be pointed, although it may. The long toe was a trend within both lower and higher classes in the late fourteenth and late fifteenth century. There are historical descriptions of the , cutting the log toed shoes to escape safely and sound from the battlefield. [One can kill himself stumbling over his own shoes.] Slender shapes were an expression of elegance, so chic shoes should be tailored to the foot. Excavations provide a less tailored, high boots with loose (probably worn by the lower class [il.11]). Soles should be clearly distinguished - left and right. Lacing of the footwear should not occur at the outer side of the calf (except are the horse riding boots, reaching up to the knee) or on the Achilles tendon. The shoe can be laced in front or on the inside of the leg. Shoe can also be buckled with one or several buckles. An alternative to leather shoes, were wool with sewn on soles. Such a solution was very popular at that time, as evidenced by the iconography ("Grandes Chroniques de France", or different versions of the "The Hours of the Duke of Berry). In an elegant dress most frequently observed were just chausses with a leather sole or very low shoes. Often with pattens [il.6,7,8], meaning – a kind of wooden clogs with wooden or leather sole and leather fastenings.. Pattens were worn also on shoes to protect them from bad weather conditions, or to isolate the foot from the cold floor. In tat time known were both pattens made of one piece of wood, as well as with the fold in the front and laced to the heel. We do not attempt to distinguish the footwear into shoes, poulaines, or turnshoes, as such classification is not needed at his stage. We recommend Mark Carlson’s website; he is well known in the field of medieval footwear, as well as publications on preserved shoes, discovered during excavations in Kołobrzeg and London.

.1. 2.

3.

4. 5.

6. 7. 8. 9.

10. 11. 12.

Martin Garcia-Dąbrowski, Maciej Herrlein, Michał Zambrzycki. Materials and colours The most expensive part of the medieval costume wasn’t the work of a craftsman but the material. It was the material that sometimes the fortune was spent on. in most of Europe improvement of living and finances of all states becomes evident from the first half of the fourteenth century; now people could afford more expensive materials than before. On the Polish market, there also is more of a variety of fabrics from a decorated cloth through the Flemish linen to quite cheap fustian. All of them are used in tailoring, contributing to a great variety of clothing in use at that time. Flax Flax was easy in culture and was spinned and weaved both in towns and villages. Linen production in Poland was large, and was manufactured in a range of different thicknesses. Delicate and finely woven fabrics were imported from Silesia, Swabia and Cologne. Linen was often dyed, to add additional qualities to it. There was no need for a highly specialized knowledge or equipment to do so, so cloth was dyed even in the country. Linen was used mainly for underwear, and as construction material (lining, stitched layers). There are, however, examples of linen garments (dresses, etc.). I have not found any guild laws that prohibited sewing linen top garments. Despite this, all the time this is a matter of dispute, as some believe that linen was a material not elegant enough. Form the beginning of the 14th century in Europe, already known was a technique of bleaching linen, by soaking it in water with ash and exposing to the sun. This was done by BLECHY (Polish term for Bleacher). They functioned through the whole 14th century in Silesia form where the bleached material must have been exported to Lesser Poland and further. The earliest in Poland statutes of bleachers come from 1385 and concern the bleachery established in Kazimierz by Krakow. It can therefore be assumed that till 1410, bleached linen was prevalent in the lands of the kingdom so that even lower class could buy it. So I think that every member of the Banner should have white linen underwear (unless someone is playing a very poor character – linen should be then in natural colour).

1. Above illustration shows linen trade Wool Woollen cloth was the basic type of material used to manufacture garments in the period of our interest, and it is most common among the archaeological findings. In the beginning of the 15th century the production of woollen cloth was already quite complicated and consisted of several processes, such as fouling or lying. By applying different techniques it was possible to obtain wool of various weaves, textures and thicknesses, from very densely woven, to light and thin. It was possible to obtain different patterns (e.g. herringbone), also colourful. Although the iconography does not confirm this, there is a suspicion that patterned wool (e.g. belts) could hale been very popular then. Domestic wools were rather of mean quality and usually not dyed (natural colours – shades of black, whites, greyish, brownish, etc.). They belonged to the league of cheaper and simpler materials so they were used by less wealthy. Better quality coloured cloth was imported to Poland mostly from Silesia (a powerful producer of fabric since the 13th century), but also from Lusatia, the Netherlands and Germany. Through Poznan and Lesser Poland, they spread widely around towns and villages of the Polish Kingdom. As far as I know the prices of the dyed wool were so affordable that it was available among the village people; no to mention the noblemen and merchants. It depended on the cloth quality; we know that black cloth from Brussels was imported on the order of Jagiello’s court at the cost of 1,5 marks for an Ell. Cotton needed for the production of cotton textiles, was entirely imported from the East. This was not the easiest material in processing, yet it quickly conquered the European market, in the late Middle Ages being a cloth used by the poorer social classes. Cotton and linen threads were joined thus forming fustian, a left-sided cotton-linen fabric. It was not too thick and it was used for similar purposes as linen, primarily as a base or underwear fabric. The earliest mention of the craftsmen weaving fustian in Poland comes from 1385. Krakow bills mention „linifices and fustianes” working in Kazimierz. Next mention about the makers of fustian comes from the town registers of 1428. Fustian guilds also existed outside our western border. In 1393 for the knights in Jagiello’s court were sewn from fustian. It was used for wadding of the velvet iacca, meant for the royal brother - Vytautas. This material was already quite popular and widely used. I do not know of any other cotton fabric than fustian - 100% pure cotton was not known in our lands. There is also no solid evidence of cotton velvet, or other similar fabric from his material (like satin etc.).Therefore, the costumes sewn from such fabrics will not be admitted. This especially considers underwear!!! Silk Silk was perhaps the most valuable and most luxurious fabric in the Middle Ages. Italy was European capital of silk from the 10th century - Italians, both imported ready-made fabrics from the Middle East and run silkworm moth farming on the Apennine peninsula. Very soon, there was an industry organized, manufacturing various types of silk (Venice, Genoa, Lucca famous for its excellent weavers). In 14th century Italians had monopoly on silk in Europe, exporting large quantities of it to France, England and Flanders. Till the half of the 14th century silk material was imported to Poland in small quantities, to meet the needs of the royalty and dukes. In the second half of the 14th century, a strong group of Genoese merchants appears in Poland. Genoa industry has long relied on the trade carried by sea from their colony of Crimea - Kaffa. Unfortunately, the Turkish fleet began to threaten the interests of Italians, so it was decided to organize a land route connecting the Kaffa with Genoa, through Lvov, Wroclaw and Burgas. Silk fabric travelled along this route (presumably in both directions). As it is confirmed by accounting books of Lvov, commissioned by the town hall dominate over the high quality dyed wool. We also know that at the end of the 14th century merchants from other Italian towns joined the Genoese merchants, settling in Cracow and Silesia, and organizing a network of department stores. So I think it can be assumed that Poland could have been a good market for the Italians (the accounting books of King Jagiello as well as fabric found in Hedwig’s tomb confirm this.) The second source of silk in Poland was the activity of Armenian merchants, distributing cloth made in the Middle East. It is possible that also Spanish fabric could have reached Poland (Spain was second in order European silk manufacturer), but on far smaller scale than the Italian. Throughout the 14th century silk fabric becomes popular in Europe, and their prices seem to drop. In the half of the century it became so popular that anti-luxury laws were established, to restrict the wearing of it by the lower classes. Apparently it is said that in England in the 1360’s even the wealthier craftsmen could afford it. In Poland its price still was relatively high but not unimaginable; we know that from a copmlaint lodged by a wealthy peasant from Mazovia, who was robbed during his journey and lost his silk ornamented garment. Silk fabrics and threads are mentioned in the accounting books of Jagiello and Hedwig’s court. Such material was used for sewing and decorating garments for the courtiers and servants. There are many different varieties of silk; as for the time of our concern I met velvet, satin, taffeta, damask and Cathay. In addition to the smooth fabric, very popular were patterned silks, which very often were weaved with golden or silver threads. Out of the surviving patterned fabrics (mainly ) most of them are Italian designs form the 14th century. Often Spanish or Turkish ornamented fabrics can be found.

2. Figure no 2 shows several possible types of ornament. It is worth mentioning that straps (ribbons) were woven from silk threads. They were used to make very ornamented belts; those were used to ornament garments (I will develop this subject in future). Silk was certainly not unknown in Poland and there is no need to fear to use it. It has to be used reasonably, and it should be remembered that it was a luxurious fabric used for elegant dresses, and was not used to make clothes for hunting or travelling. Furs and leather Both were widely used in Poland. The leather industry was very developed and is now fairly well researched. Leather was obtained from the breeding and hunting, the latter was often imported from Russia and Lithuania. Most often found during the archaeological excavations are tanned bovine leather (also sheep, goat, horse, deer). Tanning was an advanced technique that allowed obtaining different types of leather - hard for soles, soft and stretchable, also suede and parchment. Fur trade was developed, and we also know of the existence of furriers guilds. Furs were Polish export commodity in the 13th and 14th centuries; a lot of it was also imported from the East. Among the gifts for officials and knights the accounting books of Jagiello’s court, mention furs of squirrels, foxes, martens and sables. We also know that beaver fur was very expensive. Poorer used furs of sheep, rabbits and hares. Colours The choice of the colour seems to be just a cosmetic matter but in fact is very important. Even well-tailored costume, coloured with chemically bright colours, will look artificial and more like a theatrical costume than reconstruction. The safest option is to use natural dyes and hand-dye the fabric; but as it is time-consuming (or expensive) I simply recommend caution when choosing the material for a costume. It is a good idea to check how others do it – and to check the colours obtained from plant dyes. Dyes Some problems appear when using the iconography. Colours used in painting (wall, book, altar, etc.) are based on mineral dyes, quite different from those used in dyeing (mostly organic). For example, black tempera paint can be easily obtained from soot from charred wood. When dying fabrics, this technique is useless, and the blacks are obtained in a lot more difficult way. What we see form the art of the era, does not have to finally give us the real look of the then colours of garment. It is good to see the existing relics of such garment. Natural plant and animal dyes were used, such as the bark of birch, alder, oak, apple, barberry branches, gorse stems, tinctorial roseda, buckthorn berries, saffron flower, blueberry, onion shell and many others. This gave a range of natural colours of brown, gray, yellow, green. In addition special plants were grown - in order to obtain the dyes to dye clothes. Madder (planted in Silesia) gave a red colour (reddish), but it was used to obtain purple. Pastel was imported from Thuringia and Saxony, and was used to obtain a whole scale of blues and navy, as well as black, and was therefore very widely used, although difficult in use (import monopolized by Świdnica). To obtain red colour mainly the larvae of the famous Polish June bug were used, massively exported to the West from Krakow and Silesia. Finally, there were also used, although much less frequently, dyes imported from the Far East such as indigo (blue) and the so-called "Brazilian tree” (Brazilwood common in Asia), giving a red brown colour. They were, however, expensive dyes and used less than those found in Poland. How did such mass of dyes relate to the real look of medieval garment? It's hard to say exactly, because of the scarcity of sources, but during the excavations in Gdansk and Międzyrzecz many pieces of material with very different colours were discovered: red, orange, yellow, yellow-green, black, shades of green, brown-black, violet, dark - violet. The use of different techniques gave a very wide range of colours, so we assume that all colours can be used except for very bright. Of course, best is to use hand-dyed fabrics, organic dyes, but this is rather a wishful thinking. The choice of colours The symbols of colours in the Middle Ages are quite complicated and have a rich literature. The choice of the colours depended on religious symbols, literature, fashion, celebrations, preferences, etc. So for the purpose of basic reading and Red Book again I refer to more specialist literature. There are however few things which I want to mention. Very fashionable in the times of Grunwald was a sectional system. Half of a certain element of a dress was made in one colour and the other half of it in the other. Often this is seen in case of chausses (np. one leg blue, the other white) then top dresses and hoods [il4,5]. When grand assiette are concerned (deeply sewn sleeves) often sleeves are of different colour than the rest of the dress (np. green sleeves, the rest white). Rarely but it still this was done with normally sewn sleeves. Seldom I find a popular in Poland chequered pattern where colours cross or complicate even more, like - left leg black, right - red, left side of the red, the right - black. It was not an unknown composition at that time, but certainly not widely used. More complicated systems of colours appear in the late 15th century, so I would advise not to exaggerate with the brightness of dress. 3. 4. 5. 6.

7. The colours were very boldly combined, giving a bit shocking combination (using complementary colours together.) The lining was often contrasting to the rest of the garment. Generally before starting sewing the dress, have a glance at some pictures from the times of our concern, so as to gain a brief imagination about the colours of the times.

Michał Zambrzycki Female clothing

Underwear

Under- The female under-tunic evolved together with dresses. Just as in the 13th century it had a form of wide and loose clothing, in the 15th century it became much tailored to the body, with wide neckline cut to the shape of dress. It was sewn from two trapezoids – tightly fitting to the body. Could have thin straps, sewn or attached with a pin (as shown in Fig. 3 – the straps were detachable for bathing), or with long sleeves [il.1].

1. 2. 3. Females also wore – sewn like men’s. The female one, however, was longer, from mid-thigh even to the knee. The neckline was not very widely cut, so as to provide warmth. It seems logical that the females also wore some form of . . There are some presentations of females in such underwear, but it is not clear whether those depictions are mocking or not, and whether the pictured women were regarded as immoral. However it is a fact that women – had to handle their monthly problems in some way. It is assumed that in the 15th century women wore briefs, or piece of cloth or a linen tape [il.4]. If briefs, they were sewn as men’s braies, however more tailored, so as to fulfill their function. The brief legs – were almost knee-long, and women rolled them on their thighs. 4. 5. 6.

Hosen

Women’s hosen reached to the knee, under it they were tied with a fabric or leather (sometimes with buckle). Hosen were usually made from a Wright cloth, but other colours were also found, also cloth woven in different patterns can be found [il.7]. Easiest is to sew the hosen – basing on the men’s hosen pattern. [il.9] (of course shorter). Women’s hosen always had a sole; there is no possibility to sew the hosen with a stirrup. For shape more tailored to the calf, some hosen were cut at the seam above the ankle, and fastened with a clasp. The example of medieval; clasps can be seen further below.

7. 8. 9.

10.

Dresses: Female dresses evolved as nice appearance was required from women. Dresses became narrower at the top, while the bottom was widened. Gores sewn from under the armpit shaped the figure thanks to the additional seams, at the same time – widening the bottom of the dress. In addition in the front and rear gores - a cut was made from the hips, into which a triangular panel was sewn for even more material at the bottom of the dress [il.11]. At that time – not know was the seam used today for modelling, it runs now through the centre of the bust.

11.

For the convenience of putting on and wearing - women's dresses were cut. Such cut occurred at the front, on both sides, or (in the case of pregnant women) both in the front and sides. Figure 14 shows a dress, tied at the side.

Under Dresses: Besides underwear and top dresses, women also something we call today an under dress. This costume was used for household work only, and absolutely did not belong to a representative garment. Therefore the painters did not portrait women in their under dresses too often. Most often we shall see her wearing an – and in a home scenery. The under dresses were sewn from wool or flax. The woollen version may (but doesn’t need to) have a lining for the winter; the linen dresses were worn mainly in summer.

12. 13. 14. 15. The under dress was girdled with a , and to it tied there were indispensable bits and pieces – like money pouch or keys. [il.13] Some dresses had short sleeves, to which a separate sleeve was pinned, often made from more decorative material than the rest of the dress.

16.

Top Dresses

Most of the worn top dresses had the same basic shape and form, and only modified were sleeves, necklines, and trimming; thus making the dress look more decorated and more court like. The lower social classes wore top dresses not much differing from the under dresses, without special ornamentation, furs and modifications. [il. 17]. Some of the dresses had sleeves cut from the elbow, the others had short sleeves with a decorative strip of cloth or fur (called “dog’s tongue”) sewn to it; it also had flared sleeves, necklines were expanded onto the shoulders, fur trimming was added. There is a great variety of the top dresses. Some of them have a cut which enables easier access to the pouch hung on the belt. Although cuts look like today's pockets they are not them. Some dresses were buttoned with a row of buttons – on the entire length or from the top to the waist. [il. 25] Sewing a buttoned dress – it must be taken into account that it has to be tailored to fit. 17. 18. 19. 20 21.

22. 23. 24.

25.

Other form of women’s dress was the . A dress, falling into many folds, girdled under bust with an ornamented belt, was sewn from fragments of full circle and surprised with its volume. In 15 th century the houppelande was a very elegant otfit, with wide sleeves and high collar, up to the ears. Some time later the collar was placed on the shoulders, and the sleeves were narrowed on the hands – forming a kind of the sack. Houpplande very often was fastened under neck with fasteners (hook and eye). Illustration 30 shows such a hook found on Grunwald fields. 26 27 28.

29. 30.

Earlier surcot changed into fendu. It is a wide dress, very rich and elegant, with wide cuts under armpits (devil’s windows). They were trimmed with fur, richly embrodiered, with precious accessories and heavy belts.

31. Women’s Head Dresses

In the Middle Ages, it was necessary for married women to wear white headscarf . Such was the custom. However its form varied, depending on the social status of a woman. Of course – so as not to make any mistake in reconstruction of a dress, it is best to apply the head dress being illustrated together with a dress. Always appropriate is a headscarf with a – as seen on pictures showing lower and upper social classes. It is characterized by a band with fixed to it loosely hanging headscarf, sometimes hiding the neck. Richer headscarves were frilled (kruseler), most often seen with houppelands and corset fendues.

32. 33. 34.

Straw were worn mainly by peasant women working in the field. Hoods were worn by women of nearly every social class – and were to protect from the cold. We know open hoods, or buttoned at the front.

35. 36.

I appeal to keep to the iconography when choosing the dress, and also to keep to the pattern. Do not forget about the colours and do not forget the head dress. If you consider the situation of the figure, there is a great chance that the confusions might be avoided. And although everything looks so crooked – have fun while completing your costume. In the end – we are doing what we like 

Barbara Ciubak MEN’S CLOTHING Underwear The pattens of did not change much from 1200’s till 1500’s. They were sewn from the rectangles (sometimes slightly widening downwards) had certain measurement and little gores sewn under the armpits. They were more or less about thigh long. It is good to keep to simple patterns, with sleeves from one piece, no ruffles, no straps for fastening cuffs or neckline, etc. The shirt may have slits on both sides. It may have a slight slit on the neckline, straight or triangle. The trimming of the collar should be only hem on the ridge. Generally – the more simple - the better.

1. 2. 3. 4. Braies Braies should fit the chausses. Less fitting and loose chausses will need longer braies (ending before the knee). To the tight and fashionable chausses – rather a boxer type briefs should be worn. Iconography shows sometimes short slits, along the seams of the legs [il. 5 and 6]. Braies were laced in a different way. No copy survived till today, but there are many ways to be in accordance with history – using linen string, wool, hemp, linen tape, white ribbon, etc

5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Chausses and ways of wearing them In the 13th century – loose chausses were worn – tied to braies directly with a single strap. Such type is used through the whole 14th century, becoming slowly a domain of the poor (of such type are the chausses found in Herjolfsnes No.88, il.10). They can be seen among the richer too.

9. 10. 11. About the half of the 14th century the “short men’s fashion” reaches its peak. Jackets ending on the required the chausses become longer so as to hide the braies (showing underwear was very much improper and was criticized by moralists of the times). So in that time there were separate legs, reaching thighs and probably even longer, partially hiding the buttocks. Among numerous depictions from that times it is hard to recognise what is what, but analysing them logically both types can be found. Take a close look at the executioner at fig. 12, with such a short , so as to at least partially hide braies, his chausses had to reach buttocks. Such chausses were tied to braies, or to the belt of the braies, to the lower part of the clothes with leather straps, or woven wool strings – both variants should have an aglet (I met only such made of metal – bent into a cone).

12. 13. 14.

15. 16. During the evolution of chausses, around 1400, there appears also a joined model, with completely hidden buttocks and a in front. In literature they appear sometimes as leg-pants. Here again we have difficulties in finding appropriate iconography. It is worth remembering that if they were already in use – they must have been a novelty then, and were worn by dandies, so it is possible that they were tied to the lower side of a dress – e.g. doublet.

17. 18. 19. 21.

22. 23. Chausses were sewn from wool, and had a vertical seam on the back of the leg. All types either ended with a stirrup, or full foot, in order to stretch them better. Loose chausses of the first type, worn by the poor, are sometimes unfinished at the bottom. Chausses may have linen lining (blanchet), ending below the knees and notched. Notches were applied so as the horizontal line would not be seen when worn. The colour of the lining should be white or should match the colour of the chausses. It is possible to have chausses without the lining. Cord, belt cord, lumbale. The cord is generally part of the underwear, but I decided to describe it at this point, because most likely, its sole function was to tie fabric chausses to it. In the then art it appears occasionally. Below is how Krystyna Turska describes the cord in her book „ in the era of the first Jagiellonians”: „The belt of the chausses (lumbale), called the cord or belt cord, was sometimes used instead the braies – as we presume. It consisted of a lap belt and a little wider attached to it (…). Belt holding the chausses was sewn from several layers of cloth, and was supplied with holes to thread the band”. The reference is to the belt, worn on the hips, to which chausses were suspended. Turska also writes about the sewn on loincloth, replacing the braies, but the sources do not confirm that. I found only one depiction from the break of the 14th and 15th centuries, which shows probably a cord (il.24). The figure of a farmer or a pauper, with a wide bottom band to which loose chausses are attached. For a better understanding of the subject I added the earlier and later evidence for existence of the cord belt. We know, that the cord appeared already in the 13th century, it was confirmed by chausses excavated from the tomb of the Castilian bishop Rodrigo Ximénez`a de Rada (died 1247) - with a preserved suspending belt. Unfortunately I was not able to find accurate information on the material from which it was made, and how it was fastened. This is most likely a leather belt. The next example is a sculpture by Donatello, from 1430 showing Cupid (il.26) where the broad, probably leather belt enwraps the figure at hip level. Chausses are tied in two places, through holes made in the lower edge of the cord. A similar solution can be guessed from the 1467 fresco located in the church of Santa Maria del Castello in Spain, and depicting the working peasant (il.27).

24. 25.

26. 27. 28.

29. There are many representations where a cord belt can be guessed, as in the figure of a peasant from The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry (1413-16) [il.28] or in the picture of the worker from the Roman Tacuinum (the character does not wear pants, to which he could tie the chausses, and nevertheless they somehow hold on) [il.29]. Some would argue that suspending the chausses to the waist is a solution used by the low social classes and outdated in Grunwald times. However from the accounts of the court of Jagiello and Hedwig, we know that the king commissioned a cobbler to do a reinforced cord belt. If this solution was good for the king, I think it was also good for his courtiers. Of course it is possible that Jagiello ordered a belt for hanging plate chausses, and not to tie fabric chausses, but as usual, every stick has two ends so you have to admit both possibilities. Top Dresses: Preface The top garment in the Middle Ages was the most important part of clothing. In the presentations from the then times - persons show in underwear can be counted on the proverbial "fingers of one hand" and usually, they are shown then in very intimate situations, at home, in bed or in moments of humiliation, they can be characters of the convicts or performing very heavy physical work (mowing, wrestling, etc.). So possessing a top garment (whether it be the Doublet, Jacquet, Houppelande or something else) is mandatory. Naming The variety of top garment is large, as everyone probably noticed while browsing medieval iconography. There is a mix of different types of components such as sleeves, trimming, colour, etc. In fact, the only fair as a form of classification of top garment would be dividing them into loose and tight-fitting and even that is not so. In the iconography of the late 14th and 15th centuries, we often see copies, which can not qualify to any of these groups. Medieval written sources concerning the dress code is an obstacle, rather than help, because there were no universal terms defining precisely all types of clothing. Not to mention the fact that the same clothes could bear completely different names in different regions. It is very difficult however to give any outlines to persons sewing for the first time, without giving more detailed characteristics of the garment, or giving up any naming, therefore I allowed myself to give a more detailed classification. I must underline that this is rather a kind of a conventional compromise. The terminology comes from literature, if anyone wishes to examine and further clarify the matter, at the end of the text I've included a bibliography, which I used. Tight fitting garment A very tight fitting clothes fashion appeared in Europe in the mid-fourteenth century. Their look differed strongly from the dominating long and loose cotte and surcote. There was a great variety of such , but they can be characterized in common: all are very much tailored to the body, ending at the height of the buttocks, or below buttocks, and are usually sewn on padded backing to give the body a fashionable hourglass form. Common were also the varying types of fastening: 1) A single, long string tied "in the ladder." This requires a dense arrangement of holes [il.30 – example]. The tying by pairs of straps, placed in a certain distance is a much later invention. 2) Buttons, metal cast (follow the historical patterns such as Fig. 31), or tin solder material stitched into small ball / disk, or made of wood and covered with material 3) After some thought, it would add hooks; there is a chance that this type of fastener was already used. At the same time, it is a slightly risky matter, as anyone wants to be sure it's better to choose the buttons/string. For example, a hook found at Grunwald [il.32] 4) 30. 31. 32. Tight fitting fashion was very popular throughout the whole 14th century and at the beginning of the 15thcentury. It was worn mainly by the nobility but the poorer could afford it too (although it was obviously more expensive than typical loose ). In this category there are a lot of different costumes, which are really very hard to be distinguished. Especially since as I wrote, naming is so terribly inexact. For example, in French and English publications, the word doublet, pourpoint and gippon are used interchangeably, for naming the tight, tailored clothing, with the possibility of suspending (or not) chausses. The distinction used in the "milieu" for: "pourpoint = Charles de Blois’ " and "doublet = bottom outfit, described by Maria Gutkowska-Rychlewska" is in no way to explain the written sources and iconography of the era. There is no chance to describe those outfits with precision of the proverbial "chausse hole" in a fair, unquestionable, and universal way for all possible variants. Like in armament of those times, also fashion underwent experiments patterns were duplicated inaccurately, the copies of types of garment were redone, and therefore unique pieces were created, etc. Despite this, I decided to split this category into two smaller groups. I did it to help the reader understand the topic, and not because such was the then description. So please remember this. Doublet, pourpoint, farsetto, underneath gippon. Clothing – by most researchers derived from worn under . It is designed from four fitting parts, in waist it has a cut – reaching more or less to the half of buttocks. The front opening is either fastened or tied. The sleeves are tight; and for a better fitting they may be buttoned with a row of small buttons (only once I met laced sleeves from that period of time, but I do not recommend this solution). Initially, these clothes do not have a collar; closer to 1400, there appears a sewn on low round stand-up collar; it can be recessed in a form of a long gore. The characteristic feature of the doublet is the ability to tie woollen chausses to it. Doublets from the turn of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries are long, and usually end below the buttocks. This was solved in two ways: • Straps were sewn to the inner side of the piece, as seen on poupoint of Charles de Blois [il.40]. In this case, these are the straps, but also possibly sewn wool strings. The sewn in seem to be a slightly earlier solution. • Lacing was reeded through holes made on the edge of the outfit. In this case – the number of holes in the skirt piece edge and in the chausses should match [il.33]. For this I would rather use braided cords, ended with aquilites, although in principle, there is no prohibition to use if preferred. 33. 34. 35. 36.

37. 38. 39.

40. Please pay attention to how much all this description differs from dresses we used till now and which we usually called doublets. Not padded, woollen short jacket, with very short flaps to tie the chausses appear in European art for good from c.a. half of the 15th century. Doublets from the break of 14th and 15th centuries are longer and have different proportions and mostly seem to have been padded. Fig No. 39 presents the doublet of the first half of the fifteenth century, proving that this fashion was still popular for some time. This garment was worn under other, top dress (np. houppelande, top gippon) or alone, with belt low-hung on the hips, like any other jacket. Padded or not padded? It is a controversial matter. Padding was to get a characteristic slender form and it was very fashionable at that time, both in the court circles and among merchants, and townspeople. Fit clothes were made from the stitched wads, similarly to . Few layers of cheaper materials were stitched together (linen, fustian), cotton-wool or felt (seemingly sheep's fleece) to model the foundation of the garment. This was done in order to create something like a rack, which gave the wearer a trendy silhouette, with a strong indentation at the waist and breast pushed to the front . The chest and shoulders were given more material in order to bring them forth. All was finally covered with better material. Last layer could also be a quilt, or could be left smooth. Analysing the art of this period, we see that sometimes the sleeves were quilted, and were getting narrow towards the wrist. The lines of quilt run vertically or horizontally. Sometimes the top of the dress was quilted only vertically, and the lower part was stitched horizontally. Sometimes horizontal quilting was left visible in the lower part of the dress, with the upper covered with a smooth material. Probably the same methods were used while sewing the wappenrock for Duke Vytautas, similarly was sewn a pourpoint from Lyon [il.38]. It surely is a historical solution. We are not sure however about not padded doublets. In later times padding disappears, but we do not know whether in the times of our interest such solution was already known. There is strong evidence that it was (especially in Italian art), so until then not padded doublets will be allowed. Cotehardie, jacquet, iacca, top gippon, ioppa, jupon. It is a kind of a short jacket, which generally is not different form the one described above. Made of four parts, may be cut in waist, but it is not necessary. Slit and buttoned in front and very well fitting. Different collars appear. There may be no collar at all, or as in doublet, a low stand-up collar, however I met higher and stiff collars in houppelande style. There were different sleeves: around 1390 r. tight, optionally buttoned, but in the beginning of the 15th century others appear: loose, bag-sleeves, wide bell-like, funnel like, covering the hand, etc. In case of jackets – there is uncertainty again: padded or not, but going through the iconography, one can meet more depictions, where the garment seems not to have it (sometimes padding is seen like in doublets). Always however there is the fashionable figure with breast pushed forward. It means that either the jacket is padded, or it has an underneath padded dress.

41. 42. 43.

44. 45. 46. 46.b.

The image above shows the possible shape of the body, proposed by Krystyna Turska (46.b). Another possible variant of the jackets, is fit in the upper part of the body to the lowered waist line, and below extended by sewn in triangles. This creates a loose, hanging freely skit piece. It can be knee long or even longer. Krystyna Turska calls it top gippon and says that in that period, it was a very popular garment among the Polish knights. The most known example of such a top garment is the tomb sculpture of Wladyslaw Jagiello in Wawel Cathedral.

47. 48. 49. . Grande assietes To a fit garment – the sleeves were sewn very deeply, with semi-circular cuts. This gave a bigger freedom of movement, with even tighter fitting dress. I will not give a pattern here, because it seems to me that this type of sleeve can be made in different ways, so just look around more in the topic before starting sewing – it’s good to analyse the cut of pourpoint of Charles de Blois.

50. 51. 52. Loose garment Tunic, cotte Lower social classes, such as peasants, workers, poorer townspeople, servants, or craftsmen – wore loose, very simple dresses, having nothing to do with courtly fashion. This type of dress also appeared among the elderly people, not specially following changes in fashion. Similar to earlier 12th and 13th century’s cotte, it has uncomplicated design, reminding of a shirt, sometimes wider in the lower part or having gores, with or without a low collar, and sewn from simple materials (linen, wool). Tunics often appear in art of the 14th century. To this should come chausses and braies/belt cord.

53. 54. 55. Houppelande () Houppelande derives from the French fashion and was first mentioned around 1360. Very soon it became popular around European courts, as a formal, exquisite and very fashionable dress. Its greatest popularity is confirmed by the Italian, French and English sources, but its presence is also noticeable in other parts of Europe. It is characterized by vertical tubular folds, not very much visible on the chest, however becoming more evident closer to the edge of the garment [il.59]. It was draped with a belt in front and on the back (in that time the folds were not yet sewn together). Houppelande was a loose, flaring top dress, sewn of sections of a circle without a cut off at the waist. It was made from four sections (two in the back and two in the front) although it was possible to make it from three sectors (two in the front and one wider in the back). It was very important to cut the quarters from the slant of the material because otherwise the folds did not lie properly. The most popular seems to have been a completely sewn model, dressed over the head (most with a slight slit at the neck), although we also know examples of houppelands cut in front and laced or buttoned or hooked. Lacing – similar as in tight fitting vestments, buttons very tightly one by one, or in bigger intervals and sometimes in pairs. Arranging buttons in pairs seemed to have been a novelty around 1410. Buttons – like in the tight fashion. Houppelande could have slits in front, in the back and on the sides – to simplify mounting a horse. The collar area was finished in different ways. Sometimes there was no collar, sometimes there was a low stand- up collar. The most fashionable version was a high, stiff collar, reaching base of the skull and chin, fastened in front or laced up. Such collars, as seen especially in French art, are characteristic for wealthy persons, who dressed up exquisitely. We find evidence on the different length of the houppelande. From very long vestments, with a , to very short – reaching just below the hips, sewn for horse riding. This dress may also have characteristic „pockets” being in fact short slits in the material at the waist. They enabled to reach for a pouch if the owner of the houppelande wore a belt underneath. There is also a great variety of sleeves in houppelands, from straight through slightly widened, with bell cuts, bag sleeves etc. A sleeve can be buttoned on forearm or wrist. Houppelands were sewn from various materials, but because they were elegant dresses, I presume the materials were not the cheapest ones. In winter they were lined with expensive furs, and in summer with material. They were worn with or without a belt. 56. 57.

58. 59. 60.

61. 62. Note: Houppelande and robe. In our milieus we treat these outfits as two different cases, while within 1360 – 1410 they did not differ at all (only later in the 5th century the robe gained its characteristic appearance, known from the Dutch art). Men’s hats In the Middle Ages the headwear was a completion of a dress, and it was a habit to wear stylish hats both in formal situations and every day. Above all they served practical purpose - straw hats for summer, or warm hoods for winter. Head dresses were mentioned very often in numerous property lists, so it seems that owning them was a general . However I do not agree that they had to be worn all the time and everywhere, because there is absolutely no evidence either in the iconography or in any other sources. Art of the era often presents figures of courtiers, bareheaded in formal situations, exposing their artistic hairdo. The were put aside during work. Therefore let us treat wearing a head dress as a custom and not as an order. In the 14th century universal and comfortable hoods were generally worn by everyone. Quite a lot of them survived until our times so we have a pretty good idea of their construction. Hoods were cut from one or two pieces, sometimes had a stitched in small triangle gores into a , so that it would smoothly lie on the shoulders. Its length slightly varied, but in that period of time it usually reached the shoulders. Very often the hoods had a tail (fr. ), sewn with the whole, or stitched onto it. In the west, the tail length was associated with the owner's social status, but in Poland, as far as we know this was not the case. The hoods were then often buttoned in front so as to tightly fit the head. In general the hood should be tight to the head. Baggy and loose hoods, covering faces, were worn in western Europe during the funerals.

63. 64. 65. 66. It was very popular to arrange the hood into a decorative . It was done in different ways, such as wearing it on the head, with opening on the face, and stabilising the whole with the tail..

67. 68. 69. 70. 71. Hoods were sewn from different materials, better and worse, depending on the occasion they were to be worn on. Those which survived to our times were made of wool. It’s interesting that most of them do not have a lining, but we know that some of them had. Form my experience I can say, that woollen hoods with woollen lining settle very well on the head. Caps Felt or fabric sewn caps were as popular during this period as the hoods were. Often those two head dresses were joined, and a was worn on a tight fit hood. There was such a great variety of models, colours, and trimming of such caps, that it is difficult to describe them. Very popular were felt so called „Robin Hoods”, high caps, hats and other. There are also stitched fabric bag hats and round low caps. In addition, all sorts of fur hats, decorated with and many, many more.

72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79.

Chaperon Exquisite head dress that evolved during the evolution of a hood. The hood was sewn into a round roll or was stretched onto a special wooden frame to give it the desired shape. I have not met such a head dress too often before 1415-20 so I would suggest caution. On the other hand it is difficult to tell them from the hoods arranged on heads. So I would allow chaperones, but only in combination with a rich, fashionable dress.

80. 81. 82. It is a linen bonnet (caul), tied under chin with straps from the same material. It was a popular head dress through the 12th and 13th centuries. In the first half of the 14th century its popularity definitely disappeared and in the second half of that century it is met occasionally. It appears here and there, such as on the sleeping figures, clergy or officials. Definitely it does not appear where a fashionable person is concerned, and is not associated with a chic head dress as e.g. chaperon. Generally I would advise against wearing it, or if ever – occasionally.

83. 84. Straw Both lords and working class wore straw hats in summer. Sometimes they had lining: King Jagiełło had a hat with silk velvet lining.

85. 86. 87. Universal and very useful, are mentioned in numerous bills of the era. Coats were mainly protective dresses, worn while traveling or during bad weather. They were sewn from the half or three third, or from a whole circle. For the purpose of protection from cold – woollen coats were ordered, and for elegant occasions – more expensive material such as silk was used. Lining was different – depending on purpose. So wool was used as lining (wool on wool) and of course all kinds of fur. If the coat was made of a more durable material (e.g. woollen cloth) sometimes it was left without lining. The coat from Bocksten [il.92] shows that the coats were sewn from many fragments if a wide enough material was unavailable. Depending on the area we meet different lengths of coats, in our climate however the knee length and longer coats are met. Short waist long are characteristic for Italian art of the 14th century. The coat was clasped in many ways: with a brooch, straps, cords, chains and others. It was very popular to button coats with buttons arranged in a row [il.93]. It is interesting that such an arrangement was used only be men. It also seems that sometimes coats were sewn and simply slipped over the head. Sometimes coats have low, round collars. [il.89].

88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. Coherence of clothing At the end - a little bit about composing of a dress. Determination of whom you want to play is the most important moment in the reconstruction of all aspects of material culture. It is good to consider whom you represent, and then accordingly adjust parts of your equipment to it all. So if you want to be a moderately wealthy knight, you’d obtain a fashionable dress, probably a tight fashioned one, suitable shoes, a rich belt, etc. If you want to wear loose chausses from the 13th century you will not wear houppelande lined with silk, nor a chaperon, but the tunic, etc. You have to consider it thoroughly before starting sewing. Also consider whether you want to have a simple everyday dress or a “Sunday best”. For example, an average earning merchant will certainly have at least two sets of costumes. One official and more fashionable – made of silk, and the other - everyday and simple, but not unfashionable one. Careful planning will allow us to avoid problems in future.

Michał Zambrzycki