The Codpiece: Life and Times
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ESSAY The Codpiece: Life and Times PETER GARLAND OU’VE ALL SEEN THEM—that pommel in cally refers to a supposed book titled On the Dignity of Cod- the dress of Henry VIII and others—promi- pieces. nent, like something to rest your hand on, de- While Edward III, the king of England from 1327-1377, was pendable, serviceable: the codpiece. Where fighting the Hundred Years War, he ordered a monstrous cod- did it come from and where did it go? There piece for his armor as a way both to enhance his genitals and to are various opinions; here are some of them. intimidate the enemy. At his command the nobility fighting with YThe French called the codpiece a braguette and we are told him followed suit. In France, on October 22, 1398, Charles VI that that is one of the few words current in their language that (called both “Beloved” and “Mad”), addressed to the Provost derives directly from the Celts who ruled Europe before the Ro- of Paris a letter of permission to the hosiers of the capital to sell mans and Germans did. The Italians called it a sacco, the Ger- hose decorated with thongs that later served to affix the mans a Hosenbeutel. Germanic soldiers, or the Landsknecht, braguette or codpiece. clearly show codpieces around 1530. The Swiss had the Plun- In many suits of armor, codpieces are visible. Was this for derhose, or devil’s pants, which were similar in appearance to protection, for display, or to disguise disease? The codpiece in the Hosenbeutel. On the island of Crete in the Mediterranean, King Henry VIII’s suit of armor displayed in the Tower of Lon- codpieces have been found on small Minoan figures. However, don is extremely prominent. Portraits of other potentates of the this article will follow the history of the item beginning in more time, such as those of Francis I of France and Emperor Charles modern times, with the Middle Ages, glancing at its history not V of Spain, include codpieces. only in the English-speaking world but also in France and else- The sexually liberated Renaissance world looked to Italy for where in Europe. new fashion concepts and with the rise of the merchant class, In the Middle Ages (400-1400), men wore robes, with the fashion led to the codpieces for non-soldiers. Here, in the late exception of the peasants who could have a bit of drawers, long 15th century, with the use of the newly popular button, garments or short, of linen or leather, called braiel or no longer needed to be cut to fit over one’s breeches, attached to the waist by a belt. Men quickly discovered head and new fashion leaned away from These leggings were tubes of animal skins that the size and long tunics and breeches to closely fitted held on by strips of leather and connected to- prominence of their vests, short doublets, and hose to reveal the gether at the top. The crotch was most often men’s shapely legs. People across Europe left almost completely open, for ease of ac- endowment could be admired Henry VIII for the curves of his cess. One was protected from exposure by enhanced under the guise legs, his calves especially. Clothing for the tunics, which reached at least to the knees. of this new fashion. poor remained unglamorous, of course, but One road to the creation of the codpiece for the wealthy man, changing one’s style was military. By the end of the Hundred Years War (1337-1453), became a way of displaying wealth, and masculinity. Men’s Western Europe was saturated with men-at-arms. Knights pa- hems rose to mid-thigh. This was shocking, considering that raded on their palfreys and fought for fame, while foot soldiers their hose were still individual, one for each leg. When a man attacked the enemy face-to-face for coins and booty. Foot sol- sat, or mounted a horse, one might have quite a revealing view diers had to be free in their movements; they could not be ham- of his private parts. All strata of society followed the new fash- pered in the tunics worn over the peasant breeches. So the tunics ion, but the clergy (those who were not themselves following climbed above the buttocks, leaving at the same time the the fashion), as well as other guardians of public morals, were braiel/breeches (which went only from the belt to the knees) soon up in arms. visible. Suddenly the genitals found themselves vulnerable. It An example of their objections is found early on in the ser- was necessary to invent a shell to protect the soldier’s virility mon of the Parson with which Chaucer concludes the 14th- and his modesty. Warriors begin to wear a braguette/codpiece, century Canterbury Tales. In modern translation (original made of iron, that jutted out below the waist from the cuirass or appears below): breastplate. French satirist François Rabelais joked in 1532 in the Third Book (Chapter 8) of The Histories of Gargantua and On the other hand, to speak of the horribly immoderate scant- Pantagruel that the braguette/codpiece constituted “the first iness of clothing, there are these short cut coats or short jack- piece of armor among men of war.” In the foreword he comi- ets that for their brevity, and with wicked intent, don’t cover men’s shameful members. Alas! some in their tight pants show Peter Garland is a historian, Navy analyst, and retired high school their protruding shape, their horrible swollen members, till teacher. He has written for Navy Mech magazine, Irish America mag- you’d think they had a hernia. And their buttocks look like the azine, Writer’s World, Bay Area Reporter, and other publications. hind end of a she-ape at full moon. Moreover, the wretched March–April 2015 13.