Fashion in Nürnberg

Medieval News February 2016 No.February 2

Fashion in Nürnberg... Last Stand on Vellum For more than a thousand years the laws of Britain have been recorded on vel- The lum - Telegraphagain orchestrating an assault on the plans of the House of Lords. According to . Earlier this week the plan was re , he has warned that if peers go vealed to abolish the practice. However, “constitutionalahead with the standplans tooff” abandon over the vellum issue stand-offJames Grey, between a conservative the Commons MP is planningand the despite the Commons vote there will be a to call for a back-bench debate creating a of constitutional and cultural vandalism. I thinkand continues: it may well “This cost is more an outrageous to use archival act House of Lords. abolish the tradition to record the Acts of ParliamentLast time, the on House vellum of was Lords in 1999 decided. How to - needpaper for because vellum.” you have to use properly controlled environments which you don’t an unlikely alliance of Conservatives and However, the fact remains that a 19th cen- ever, at that time plan was overturned by 121 votes to 53. Labour MP’s, who defeated the move by tury ruling presents the House of Lords the exclusive right to decide the matter. - - Once again disgruntled traditionalists Itish appears Parliament the matter for some has time been and of considthat are manning the last ditch in view of the erable interest for legislators in the Brit decision taken by the House of Lords to have future legislation printed on simple - the dispute – in itself – should be a prime archive paper. The change is calculated to candidate for being awarded the status of save £80.000 a year plus the lives of count “intangible Cultural Heritage” by UNESCO. However,less goats ledand by calves. James Grey, a conserva- senses! We must hope Westminster comes to its

Medievaltive MP, a group News of back-benchersMedieval are once Histories Inc © Photo (frontpage): - read about new exhibitions, Paradisstien 5 Dress of the four-year old Katha- books, research and much more DK2840 Holte Denmark - Editor-in-chief: Karen Schous- rina Gräfin zur Lippe, 1600 boe www.medievalhistories.com PhotosFrom Italy are ©to Detmold,the best of Lippis our ches Landesmuseum 2016: February, No. 2 [email protected] - +45 24 23 36 10 mission or under the CCA. ability either published by per 2 Fashion in Renaissance Nürnberg

In Nürnberg they have an amazing collection of dresses and other items of clothing, which is usually hidden away. Now for the first time in de- cades 50 costumes are shown as part of special exhibition, In Fashion.

The Germanisches Nationalmuseum fromThe exhibition international brings museums. together It rare shows origi (GNM) is for the first time presenting nal textiles and representative likenesses its internationally significant collection of clothing of the Early Modern Age in clothing and fashion in their diverse social toa large-scale 1650 are exhibited special exhibition. in the context Around of contexts and makes them decipherable as 50 costumes from the period from 1560 part of the material culture as well as in - works. In addition, the exhibition features terms of their social and image-specific contemporary paintings and graphic art symbolism. The historical items of cloth ing permit an up-close view of shapes, rare pieces of everyday clothing from the thematerials clothes and and styling. the way The they complementing were worn, 16th and 17th centuries, including the paintings illustrate the original effect of needles,finds – on scissors, show for thimbles the first and time clothes – from - brushes.a tailor’s workshop in Bremen, as well as whichdresses then, the questionas now, reveals of how a reliably person’s the place in society. The exhibition also ad

rarelypreserved survived items the of clothingcenturies bear unscathed. witnesses Clothes have always played a central role to the past, because the originals have 3 in self-expression and individual identity. served as individual tailored pieces and is a unique document of historic tailoring practice. - The pieces, some of which are unique across Europe, are currently being scientif- ically processed and restored in a research- project.tion. A corresponding collection dres den is also currently undergoing restora

- VISIT: tional collections, with loans from, for ex- The exhibition is supported by interna Germanisches New York, the Kunsthistorisches Museum Nationalmuseum Nürnberg inample, Vienna the or Metropolitan the Royal Armoury, Museum Stock of Art- in Kartäusergasse 1 - holm, which owns and has generously lent 90402 Nürnberg a doublet dating from 1610 which is pre 03.12.2015 – 06.03.16

4 Green Silk Jacket c. 1580 - 1600 silk tafetta, which was quilted andThe slashed.green jacket It is islined made with of linengreen braids and buttons. and trimmed with passementerie BOOK REVIEW: Strange Fashions

different than today, and had different

meanings to people at that time than it has today. On a superficial level, we might for instance claim that the phenomena of wearing ripped jeans is not that different - from the widespread fashion in the 16th century to slash precious silk jackets in or Inder this to letcase the the inner reason lining is ofcreep course through. obvious. Jeans are the ultimate symbol on

the might of the workers. Hence the 80s witnessed a quiet rebellion among stock- traders to sport Friday-wear in the office,- consisting of jeans, polos and sweaters. Robbed of their class-symbol par excel lence, workers united began to slash their jeans, thus parading their “poverty”. In the 16th century, the slashing of silk had In Mode. Kleider und Bilder aus Renais- quite a different meaning. At that time it sance und Frühbarock. signified the ultimate luxury: to render the Ed. by Jutta Zander-Seidel most precious textile material even more Germanisches National Museum 2015 fragile, thus demonstrating the wearers ability to shun any real, corporal work. No wonder, the slashing of silk was repeatedly- ISBN: 978-936688-2 We all seem to know what fashion is: the tomforbidden in society. in laws, which tried to regulate the dressing of the people from top to bot

theinexorable fashion shifting industry of in patterns, a constantly forms recy and- colours of our material culture pushed by It is not an easy job to decipher all the many systems of signifiers and symbols, othercling of frontrunners. trends and inspiration It is also commonly pushed by which were at play in the 16th century and magazines, fashion shows, film stars and- we are still far from understanding the try” was invented in the 15th century to intricate meaning of the many tiny details, though that this idea of a “fashion indus which parade in front of our wondrous eyes when we look at sculptured, painted fashionspring into in the full 16th bloom century in the were 16th. quite or drawn representations of the costumes However, the parameters, which governed of that period. 6 However, the last twenty years have seen tory of the collection itself from its very a continued effort to unravel what fashion was all about at a time when it more than - tionearly about foundation the studies in 1859, of the when textiles, the first their item was acquired. Here we get informa anything meant the art of creating oneself as opposed to the art of just signalling the (stressful) use in pageants and fashion-- ability to shop for something “new”. One shows, their “publication” in magazines of the centres of this effort is Nürnberg, - and books etc. But it also details the his ellerywhere since Jutta 1995.Zander-Seidel has reigned as tory of such precious items as the female head of the department of textiles and jew gown, the slashed or knitted jackets, the trouser, capes, hats and collars. To this- stone in her work, the exhibition of the should be added the presentation of the collection2016 has witnessed of textiles aheld very by important the German mile- remains from an archaeologically exca invated the tailor16th century. shop in BremenFinally there plus chaptersis a sub- on the production and caring for textiles National Museum in Nürnberg, home to techniques, which have been used in the Inone connection of the most with important this exhibition assemblies she of stantial presentation of the restoration - preserved textiles from the 16th century. - demanding work to keep these fragile tex has also edited a very valuable catalogue,- tiles fit for the 21st century. - which in detail presents the different ex hibits – textiles, drawings, paintings, ar This book is a bonanza to any scholar in - chaeological finds and much more. ans.terested in the early modern period as - well as avid reenactors and living histori However, the catalogue holds so much more, not least the presentation of the his

7 Wide Gowns c. 1560 - 1590

The black velvet - tionsloose andgown bottons. was de- It corated with applica - tlewas made worn of on ivory top ofsilk an undergown or kir itemsand fitted form with a unique loose ensemblesleeves. Together, of a 16th the century elite dress from Germany. In the 16th century Anna of Sachsen together with her husband the Saxon elector, the Duke of Saxony, were among the staunch defenders of the protestant faith. As such she was also one of the important arbi- ters of what she and her contemporaries called “the German Fashion”. But what did it look like?

Anna of Sachsen was obviously keen to

“Thus we pray once again and in a friendly manner that you will keep our- have her aunt dress properly and not in - ianusual dresses German with dress smooth with skirts the pleated and tiontheItalien is however and – whatas she the elsewhere German calledfashion it gowns and caps and not dress(Quoted in Ital really– naughty looked fashion like and of the how French. it differed The quesfrom from: Katrin keller: Kurfürstin Anna von the Italien (and French). And why this Sachsen.un-pleated 1532-1585. gowns” (1570) Verlag Friedrich Pustet 2010, p. 48 ff.) was a time, when trade-relations criss- question was of such importance? This -

(From a letter written by Anna of Sachsen crossed an ever expanding world, bring to her aunt, the Duchess Elisabeth von ing luxuries to every courtier and upstart trying to make a mark in his world; and where the fashioning of one self through Mecklenburg-Güstrow, who is invited to everyone.the wearing Furthermore, of immensely this costly was clothesat a time the wedding of one of Anna’s daughters). and accessories was high on the agenda of Women from Mecklenburg. The pleating of the dresses are very obvious. From: Kostüme und Sittenbilder des 16. Jahrhunderts aus West- und Osteuropa, Orient, der Neuen Welt und Afrika - BSB Cod.icon. 361, Augsburg ?, 4. Viertel 16. Jh

9 Hans Mielich: The Duchess Anna of Bayern 1556, Cranach the Younger: Anna of Denmark (Duchess Wien. Her kirtle and pregnncy is obviously of the of Saxony) After 1565. Notice her carefully pleated non-pleated (Italian) variety © Kunst- historisches gown. Art historical museum in Innsbruck. Source: Museum, Gemäldegalerie Wikipedia.

when a number of so-called “Costume German fashion demanded a well rounded -

Books” were published detailing the dif andPregnancies pleated skirt. wasferent a time,costumes when available new and throughout exotic fashions the known world (whether old or new). This - Anna. - came and went. But apparently not for However, looking at German or Scandina vian portraits from the period most wom- strateen look this more quite or clearly.less pregnant. Records of A comparison of paintings and pictures the size of their coveys seem to demon from some of the Costume Books from the period give us an inkling about what was years she bore 15 children, of which only 4 at stake. In the Italian fashion skirts got This was also the case for Anna. Inside 17 10 draped flat across a farthingale, while the - markable because one of the unique ex- The current exhibition in Nürnberg is re

hibits is the only gown preserved, which- turybelongs were to so this fond group of. of long, loose gowns, which pregnant women in the 16th cen

been constructed in the “Catholic Fash- However, this precious object might have

Annaion” - oflong Saxony. slim, and floating. We still lack a specimen of the pleated gowns, sported by Detail from Reformational Altar in Wittenberg by Lucas Cranach the Younger. Notice the pleated un- derskirts of the woman, covered in warm and luxu- rious capes, some of which are also pleated. Source: Wikipedia

Loose flowing undergown from the back; meant to be worn underneath the loose black gown

outlived her. Probably physically worn out, she died at the age of 53. Compared to this, the fate of Anna of Bayern was less horrid; of six children, five survived her. - bers of children with one of the central It seems obvious to link these huge num not destined to celibacy, but to marry and tenets of the new protestant fait. Man was both staunch Protestants and endeavoured toprocreate. live this Annanew life and to her the husband full. were

lookThus of we the get German these amusing fashion anddifferences the nar -be tween the pleated and obviously pregnant - row waistlines of the Spanish, Italian and French portraits, which advertised Catholi cism and the endless rules prohibiting sex when feasting, fasting or just in general practising celibacy. 11 For the apparel oft proclaims the man...

How come nudity played such an important role in the visualization of Re- naissance man and woman? One reason was, it could be used to counterbalance the dressing up of people in the 16th century

- adiseIn the in 16th the centurynewly found people world were across deeply the oceans.engaged At in the trying same to timelocate they the were earthly busy Par

trying to fathom what happened if they viewed their world through the lens of the Old Testament. in the vernacular has often been seen as The possibility to read the New Testament

one of the important results of the early Clothes make the man. From: Hofkleiderbuch des reformation. This was the text, which John Herzogs Wilhelm IV. und Albrecht V. 1508-1551 - BSB Cgm 1951, München, 16. Jh, fol 460 Wiclyffe had translated, Tyndale (1494 – 1536) burned at the stake for, and Luther - translated while imprisoned at Wartburg. However, soon after, Martin Luther began inOne the result works was of theMassacio, widespread Dürer, preoc Cranach, - together with his friends - to translate cupation with the naked Adam and Eve the Old Testament into German he began to fulfil a task, which probably had even Holbein, Michelangelo, Henri Met de Bles,- more farreaching consequences and which Jan Brueghel the Elder, Hieronymus Bosch subsequently inspired Tyndale and other and countless others; another, the nu protestant reformers all over Europe. onmerous the exotic theological whereabouts commentaries of this earthly on the Paradise.Pentateuch and the geographical treatises To a certain extent people knew the stories in the New Testament through preaching,- popular art, woodcuts (Paupers Bible) etc. However, knowledge of the Old Testa AdamOne of and the Eveintriguing fell and facts entered of this the art earthly is its madement mustavailable have in been a German – to say translation the least – to preoccupation with the naked body before extremely patchy. In 1534, though, it was world. As is well known, God – according those, who could afford to buy a copy of andto Gen. clothed 3:21 them”– “Unto (KJV). Adam Nevertheless, also and to his the storywhole of Bible. Genesis At the and same its broader time a longmean - wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, list of prominent artists began to ponder - this part of the story remained virtually ing in a world, which located the earthly unpainted. Apparently it was more impor 12 Paradise in a tangible geographical setting. tant for the artists to paint Adam and Eve

Charity

(1537 - 1550) By Lucas Cranach the Elder-

Crannach explored the con cept of nakedness as the mothersprime symbol with theirof innocent chil- charity in his paintings of- dren. © The National Gal lery. Source: Wikipedia "That was my real figure from behind, because I had become fat and large." From the Klaidungsbüchlein, made for Matthäus Schwarz, refording his costumes 1520 - 1560. From: First Book of Fashion. The Book of Clothes of Matthaeus and Veit Konrad Schwarz of Augsburg. Ed . by Ulinka Rublack and Maria Hay- ward, Bloomsbury Academic Illustrations 2015

(when they were still naked). Sometimes before the fall and in the act of expulsion became the symbol par excellence of the - pre-fallen innocence, while dressing-up their private parts were covered with the necessay posturing of a man on his fig-leaves; sometimes not; (and some SOURCE:way to power and glory. times fig-leaves or pants were added at a

later and more prudish stage.) Whatever - Renaissance Clothing and the Materials the case, artists obviously went to great of Memory lengths to explore the nude state of inno - cence as opposed to its later fallen - and brass. ofclothed men and – version, women. which was rendered in By Ann Rosalind Jones and Peter Stally countless portraits depicting the costumes HistoryCambridge of Paradise.University The press Garden 2000 of Eden number of the “books of costumes” which in Myth and Tradition. This motive was curiously imported into a

ofwere the either role of published clothes and during how thisthey period were By Jena Delumeau. or produced for the private contemplation University of Illinois Press 2000 14 designed to “make the man”. Nakedness The First Book of Fashion

- of portraits by illuminists over 60 years, which have been comprehensively repro duced in full color for the first time. These exquisite illustrations are accompanied - by the Schwarzes’ fashion-focussed yet at- times deeply personal captions, which ren der the pair the world’s first fashion blog gers and pioneers of everyday portraiture.

The First Book of Fashion demonstrates how dress – seemingly both ephemeral and trivial – is a potent tool in the right hands. Beyond this, it colorfully recaptures the experience of Renaissance life and - riod.reveals the importance of clothing to the aesthetics and every day culture of the pe

First Book of Fashion. The Book of - Clothes of Matthaeus and Veit Konrad Historians Ulinka Rublack’s and Maria Schwarz of Augsburg Hayward’s insightful commentaries cre ate an unparalleled portrait of sixteenth- century dress that is both strikingly - Ed . by Ulinka Rublack and Maria Hayward, modern and thorough. This first English - Bloomsbury Academic Illustrations 2015 translation also includes a bespoke pat ABSTRACT:ISBN: 9780857857682 fromtern by which TONY readers award-winning can recreate costume one of de signer and dress historian Jenny Tiramani,

Schwarz’s most elaborate and politically This captivating book arguably reproduces Tablesignificant of Contents:outfits. the most extraordinary primary source documents in fashion history. Providing a they chronicle how style-conscious ac- • revealing window onto the Renaissance, • - Preface by Jochen Luckhardt countant Matthäus Schwarz and his son clothes, and climbed the social ladder • Introduction I: The First Book of Fash- Veit Konrad experienced life through ion by Ulinka Rublack - wardIntroduction II: The Clothing of Mat through fastidious management of self- • thäus and Veit Schwarz by Maria Hay - theimage. sixteenth These century:bourgeois one dandies’ has to agendadress to ies resonates as powerfully today as it did in • The Book of Clothes with Commentar - impress, and dress to impress they did. Reconstructing a Schwarz Outfit by The Schwarzes recorded their sartorial tri Jenny Tiramani 15 umphs as well as failures in life in a series

BOOK REVIEW: Dressing Up local elders, who had sent a letter address-

ing him as “our spiritual teacher Martin Luther, our brother in Christ”.

Luther was flaming mad. He could only see this as a gross attack on his superior scholarly authority as a doctor of theology. demandedAs the burghers the horses proceeded to be withhitched their to lackthe of reverence, Luther threw a tantrum and -

wagon. In the end he was somewhat molli- fied, but resisted in taking off his doctor’s beret, which was flaming red – same co lour as the traditional beret of the pope.

showsLuther himwas habituallynever painted dressed with in a ared black beret, and later paintings by Cranach actually

wasberet. shown That redwith mattered a white shirt to him, with however, black is apparent from the fact that he habitually In the end this is how he and his “visual Dressing Up. Cultural identity in Re- edges, a red vest or jacket and a black coat. naissance Europe should look. Dressed in black as the rest of thedesigner”, reformers Cranach and withthe Elder, a black decided beret, hebut

By Ulinka Rublack Oxford University Press always with a slight purple tinge around ISBN: 9780199645183 his neck, signifying that although Luther was not pope, he was definitely on par. smallIn August town 1524 of Orlamünde, Luther had where a livid Karl row- stadt,with local his former artisans friend and burghers and comrade in the in Such is how we envision him: Preaching to- his congregation or celebrating baptism, communion and penitence; and thus craft arms had set up shop. Karlstadt, who was ing the new church, materialized through of noble origin, was highly egalitarian in - the people showing of their sense of moral his leanings plus harboured iconoclastic theindignity, local council, honour in and their reliability homes, throughin the bo - and other extreme views, which Luther re their comportment - be it as members of garded as heretical. church. to sort out some of the views held by the som of their families,while gardening or in On that particular morning Luther arrived 17 - tory and history can be about clothes. It Dressing Up shows why clothes made his-

wore,imagines how the this Renaissance made them afresh move, by what con im- sidering people´s appearances: what they

ages they created, and how all this made people feel about themselves. - Using an astonishing array of sources, - Ulinka Rublack argues that an apprecia - tion of people´s relationship to appear timeances - andand imagesever since. is essential We read to about an under the headstanding accountant of what ofit meanta sixteenth-century to live at this -

merchant firm who commissioned 136 im motherages of himselfabout which elaborately clothes dressed they could across Martin Luther with a red band around his neck. a lifetime; students arguing with their School of Lucas Cranch. Source: Wikipedia

have; or Nuremberg women wearing false- braids dyed red or green. This brilliantly The beautiful small vignette about Luther illustrated book draws on a range of in howin Orlamünde cultural identity is brought in Renaissance to us in a recent Eu- sights across the disciplines and allows- book about “dressing up”, which tells us us to see an entire period in new ways. In new obsession with clothes, their colours theintegrating Reformation, its findings German into history, larger andargu the rope was formed through a spectacular ments about consumption, visual culture,-

and form. In the book the author, Ulinka relationship of European and global his Rublack presents us with a cornucopia of tory, it promises to re-shape the field. - 156 fascinating illustrations and countless stories about Renaissance people, and to- commended.The book, which won the Roland H. Bain what extent they regarded their clothes as ton Prize for History 2011, is highly re- markers of not only social, but also per sonal,Dancing national in Augsburg and c. religious1500. Source: identity. Wikipedia

18 The Dream of Lancelot.

From the Castle in Siedlęcin. Ludwig Schneider / Wikimedia. Exterior of castle in Siedlęcin. Photo by © Krzysztof Góralski The Castle in Siedlęcin

The ducal tower in Siedlęcin near Jelenia Góra (Lower Silesia, Poland) is one of the most impressive and important medieval monuments in Po- land.

Archaeology In the first half of the fourteenth century, the Duchy of Jawor and Świdnica was one of the richest regions in Central Europe. It theAn archaeologicaltower house itself project, but alsostarted the inform 2008, was strongly influenced by the royal court have provided information about not only- in Prague. The keep in Siedlęcin was one of tions related to the tower house in both more than fifty castles built by Bolko I and and use of other buildings and construc his descendants. The ducal tower house- in Siedlęcin is one of the most important the medieval and more modern periods. medieval residences of this type in Cen tral Europe. It’s very exceptional because - The keep is one of the largest (22,2 x 14,35 of the huge dimensions of both the Great - m) and best-preserved examples of such - thenticityHall, the existing of the entire fourteenth monument. century paint sionedbuildings its inconstruction Central Europe. in 1313 Henry or 1314. I, Duke ings found within, and the high level of au of Jawor, and third son of Bolko I commis 20 He was born around 1290 and assumed control of the duchy in 1312. He and his on the south wall of the Great Hall cover - The completed polychrome paintings

wife, Agnes of Bohemia, also commis more than 32 square meters; they were sioned the medieval mural paintings in the ofmade the usingnineteenth the al century,secco technique. they were After sub - great hall on the second floor around 1345 the paintings were discovered at the end – 1346. - jected to a restoration in 1936. Research in Unquestionably this is the most impres - the 1990’s resulted in the first monograph sive part of the tower. The great hall in describing the paintings. Not only the real Siedlęcin tower house was obviously de - meaning of the paintings (some scenes ration.signed Architecturalfor ceremonial research purposes: shows it was that changed during improper restoration) but high up and it had this rich interior deco also the reasons of the misinterpretations divided into three rooms, but some of the andwas 2007.recovered. The latest restoration work interiorthe floor walls containing were demolished the hall was in originally the sev- on the paintings was undertaken in 2006 enteenth century when the tower was be-

The paintings were obviously planned and Theing used Murals as a granary. financed by Duke Henry I and his wife in 1345-1346. Art historians suggested that the artist probably came from the north One of the unique features of the castle - east of Switzerland, since the murals show and well worth a detour - are the murals - the influence of the Swiss Waltensburg JaworMaster in (‘Waltensburger the retinue of the Meister’). wife of DukeOne the preserved in the great hall. ory is that the artist came to Świdnica and Full series of paintings in the great hall in the Castle at Siedlęcin. Source Wikipedia/ InnaIna

21 Knights fighting. From the murals from Siedlęcin. © Przemysław Nocuń Chrétien de Troyes Henrys’ nephew, Agnes von Habsburg (1315-1392). Agnes was the daughter of- voy,the Duke which of meant Austria, she Leopold had close I, from ties withthe The French poet, Chrétien de Troyes is House of Habsburg, and Catherine of Sa known as the author of five Arthurian - romances: Erec; Cligès; Lancelot, ou Le Switzerland. Chevalier à la charrette; Yvain, ou Le Che seems that after the death of Henry the I valier au lion; and Perceval, ou Le Conte du The paintings were never finished. It Eustace,Graal. The may non-Arthurian also have been tale written Guillaume by (after 1368 or 1369, when the castle was Chrétien.d’Angleterre, based on the legend of St. sold),in 1346 the the new work owners was suspendedof the tower, and the later His tales, written in the vernacular, followed the work with the assistance of one of the noble family of Redern, hoped to continue this seems not to have come to fruition. the appearance in France of Wace’s Roman Swiss master’s students. Unfortunately de Brut (1155), a translation of Geoffrey - of Monmouth’s Historia regum Britanniae, The paintings in Siedlęcin are exceptional: which introduced Britain and the Arthurian their topic is principally profane, some - legend to continental Europe. manticthing very story rare of toone survive of the frommost thisfamous period. workedLittle is knownat the court of Chrétien’s of Eleanor life. of However, Aquita- The main subject of the murals is the ro some time in 1181, Chrétien de Troyes,

legendary knights of the Middle Ages; Chevalierine’s eldest de daughter, la charrette. Marie We of know Champagne that their motive is now recognized as that of (1145-1197). Here he completed his Le 22 the legend of Sir Lancelot of the Lake as told by Chrétien de Troyes. -

ownChrétien words, was ‘the the material first to develop and the thetreat char- resentations of Lancelot sleeping beneath acter of Lancelot. If we are to believe his an apple tree and Sir Lionel sleeping on guard, the duel between Lancelot and Sir ment of it Le Chevalier de la charrette matterTarquin is and sacred Lancelot rather with than Sir secular, Kay. There the were ‘given and furnished to him by the - are other images as well, but their subject Countess’. Afterwards Lancelot’s fame spread to the most distant parts of Medi central and largest figure being the one of eval Europe. This resulted in an impressive St. Christopher, patron saint of travellers, series of translations and rewritings in SOURCES:pilgrims and knights”, she concludes. whichdifferent he languages,was the initiator as the romance continued to develop as a narrative form, of Sir Lancelot of Siedlęcin

In Chrétien’s romances Lancelot features by Katarzyna Ogrodnik Fujcik as an exaggerated parody of the lover, Medieval Ducal Tower in Siedlecin

overlordwho is servile Arthur. to the god of love and to his imperious mistress Guinevere, wife of his by Przemysław Nocuń VISIT:

“The Siedlęcin murals are based on the Medieval Ducal Tower in Siedlecin, Po- Vulgate Lancelot, depicting, among others, land (official site) the court of Arthur’s queen, Guinevere, her- abduction by the wicked knight, Meleagant- visitors every day. and her freeing by Lancelot”, writes Katar The ducal tower in Siedlęcin is open to zyna Ogrodnik Fujcik. “There are also rep Camelot © Marek Budzyń

23 READ MORE: Courtly Culture: Literature and Society in the High Middle Ages

By Joachim Bumke University of California Press 1991 ISBN-10: 0520066340 ABSTRACT:ISBN-13: 978-0520066342

Every aspect of “courtly culture” comes Ato renowned life in Joachim medievalist Bumke’s with extraordinarily an encyclo- rich and well-documented presentation.

nopedic detail, knowledge from the of material original realitiessources andof aristocratica passion for society--the history, Bumke castles overlooks and cloth -

drink, and table etiquette--to the behavior ing, weapons and transportation, food,

prescribed and practiced at tournaments, knighting ceremonies, and great princely feasts. The courtly knight and courtly lady,- - ebratedand the transformingthem, and we idealearn of how courtly literacy love, are seen through the literature that cel The book by Bumke was originally pub - lished in German under the title: Höfische- Kultur. Literatur und Gesellschaft im ho basisamong of an a cultural aristocratic revolution. laity spread from France through Germany and became the hen Mittelalter 1 - 2. Deutsche Taschenbu ch-Verlag, München 1986 Perceval or Le Conte du Graal, Roman written between 1181-1185. From a manuscrit copied in Paris 1330 © BnF, Manuscrits, Français 12577 fol. 18v.

24 ever translation of the whole of the rich

- and compelling body of tales contained in Chrétien’s poem and its four Continu ations, which are finally attracting the - ymousscholarly First attention Continuation they deserve. (translated Besides here inChrétien’s its fullest original version), text, the there Second are Continuathe anon- tion attributed to Wauchier de Denain, and -

the intriguing Third and Fourth Continu -ations by Manessier - probably and written Gerbert simultaneously, de Montreuil. with no knowledge of each other’s work - - Two other poets were drawn to create pre ludes explaining the background to Chré tien’s story, and translated here also are their works: The Elucidation Prologue and Bliocadran. -

narrativeOnly in this, skill The and Story invention of the ofGrail’s the medi complete form, can the reader appreciate the

The Complete Story of the Grail eval poets and their surprising responses Chrétien de Troyes’ Perceval and its to Chrétien’s theme - not least their crucial- continuations focus on the knight as a crusader. Equally, moreChrétien’s of the original Continuations, poem was so almostthis transla al - ways copied in conjunction with one or By Nigel Bryant - Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2015 ers would have encountered it. tion represents how most medieval read ABSTRACT:ISBN: 9781843844006 Medieval French include Perlesvaus - the Nigel Bryant’s previous translations from - The mysterious and haunting Grail makes High Book of the Grail, Robert de Boron’s- its first appearance in literature in Chré- trilogy Merlin and the Grail, the Medieval tien de Troyes’ Perceval at the end of the Romance of Alexander, The True Chroni twelfth century. But Chrétien never fin cles of Jean le Bel and Perceforest. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Grail.ished Ithis was, poem, however, leaving far an too unresolved attractive an story and an incomplete picture of the

idea to leave. Not only did it inspire quite - Nigel Bryant has worked as a producer for separate works; his own unfinished poem fewer than four other writers. BBC Radio 3 and as head of drama at Marl was continued and finally completed by no hus numerous translations and commen- boroughtaries to medievalCollege. He romances. is very well known for

25 The Complete Story of the Grail is the first Medieval romance narratives glitter with the material objects that were valued and exchanged in late-medieval society: lovers' rings and warriors' swords, holy relics and- desirable or corrupted bodies. Romance, however, is also a genre in which such ob jects make meaning on numerous levels, - and not always in predictable ways. These culture,new essays but examinealso show from how diverse romance perspec as a tives how romances respond to material culture. genre helps to constitute and transmit that - ain and Ireland between the twelfth and Focusing on romances circulating in Brit address such questions as the relation- sixteenth centuries, individual chapters

ship between objects and protagonists in romance narrative; the materiality of male and female bodies; the interaction between visual and verbal representations of romance; poetic form and manuscript Medieval Romance and Material Cul- textuality; and how a nineteenth-century

ture edition of medieval romances provoked

Nicholasartists to Perkinshomage is and Associate satire. Professor By Nicholas Perkins (Ed) Boydell & Brewer 2015 ISBN: 9781843843900 and Tutor in English at St Hugh's College, University of Oxford.

The Romance of the Middle Ages

- The amazing variety of medieval romance continues to feed our imagination. In 2012 the Bodleian Library in Ox ford organised a major exhibition, which revealed how its- compelling stories have inspired writers and artists across the centuries from the early modern period through me dievalism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to Thecontemporary website continues versions and to be adaptations. an important resource

26 Arthurian Romances (Penguin Classics)

By Chrétien de Troyes (Author), William W. Kibler (Translator), Carleton W. Carroll (Translator) Publisher: Penguin Classics; Revised edition 2004 ISBN-10: 0140445218 ISBN-13: 978-0140445213

Lancelot: The Knight of the Cart (Chretien de Troyes Romances) - lator) by Chretien de Troyes (Author), Burton Raffel (Trans

Yale University Press; New edition 1997 ISBN-10: 0300071205 ISBN-13: 978-0300071207

The Complete Romances of Chretien de Troyes

By David Staines (Translator, Foreword) Indiana University Press; Reprint edition 1991 ISBN-10: 0253207878 ISBN-13: 978-0253207876