14thCenturyGarments Acomparativestudyofextantgarmentsin North-WesternEurope By MaggieForest knownintheSCAasMariennaJensdatter 14thCenturyGarments MaggieForest Summary ThisdocumentisanattemptatsummarizingwhatgarmentsremaininexistencefromNorthern Europeinoraroundthe14thCentury,whatweknowaboutthem,andhowtheycomparetoeach otherincertainkeyareas.Alltheinformationcontainedhereinisavailableinvariouspublications, butmuchisinScandinavianlanguagesandsonotveryaccessible.Theinformationisalsospreadout overseveraldifferentpublications,somefairlyhardtogetholdof,andsobyplacinginformationon suchthingsasnecklinecutssidebysideIamhopingtomakeiteasiertoformconclusionsabout trendsandstyles. Inthemiddleofthe14thCenturytherewasabigshiftinfashion.Whileearliergarmentshadbeen looser,cutbasedonsimplegeometricalshapes,byabout1330thesilhouetteonthecontinenthad changedtoacloserfitted,morewastefulwayofcuttingthegarments.Thegarmentsknownas pourpoints,aketonsanddoubletsbelonginthiscategory.Thesleeveconstructionchangedfroma rectanglewiththeseamunderthesleeve,withoneortwogussetsforwidth,intoamorefittedsleeve withasleevecap.Theseamrotatedalmostahalf-turntogoupthebackofthearm,andwidthwas providedbyone(orinsomecasesmore)gussetsatthetop.Thearmholeinthegarmentwas correspondinglyroundedtoprovideamorecomfortablefit.Thisparticularchangealsogaveriseto the'grandeassiette'sleeve,whichseemstohavebeenusedbothforthenewlineofgarment(Charles deBlois'pourpoint)andolderstylekirtles(Margrete'sgown)althoughinthelattercaseIhavea theorythatmightexplainthecombinationofstyles–seebelow. Thisnewstyleofclothingmovedrelativelyslowlyacrossthecontinent,andseemstohavereached Denmarkby1360-70.TheHerjolfsnesgarmentsalsobelongtothistransitionalphase,althoughthey canbedatedtotheveryendofthe14thCandevenintothe15th.Wecanassumethattheystill belonginthisstudybasedontheslowspreadoffashions-itwouldhavetakenthatlongforthisnew linetoreachNorwayandthenGreenland. Termsusedinthisdocument Thegarmentsoftheperiodweremany,andthetermsareoftendifficulttoconnecttothegarments worninartworks.ThetermsoftenremaininuserightthroughtheSCAperiod,infact,butdenotea differentlookinggarmentatdifferenttimes,evenifthefunctionofthegarmentremainsmoreorless thesame.Forthepurposesofthisdocument,I’vechosentermsbasedonfunction.I'veused'kirtle' todenotethebasicgarment,wornontopoftheshirtorsmock,butbelowanythingelse.Thereare severaltypesofkirtles,thebasicones,thesplitkirtle(bladkyrtil),thetwo-colouredkirtle (halfskiptankyrtill–oftencalledmi-partiintheSCA)andthefittedkirtlefoundatHerjolfsnes. Outergarmentsaredescribedhereassurcotes.Theyareoftwotypes:open,orsleeveless,and closed,orsleeved-eithershortorlongsleeves.Oftenthesegarments,orsomeofthem,aredescribed asCotehardies.Inmyopinionacotehardieisaparticulartypeofsurcotethatisveryclosefitting, andseemstoalwaysbebuttonedorlaced."Hardie"inMedievalFrenchmeans'daring';(Charlesthe BoldisknowninFrenchasCharlesleHardi.)Thenamepointstotheclose-fittingnatureofthe garment,makingthebuttoning/lacingnecessarytogetintoit. Therearealsoanumberoftechnicaltermsusedinthisdocument.Afitchetisaslitusedtoreacha beltpouchorotheraccessoryhungfromabeltunderneaththeoutergarment.Consequently,the presenceoffitchetsonagarmenttendtoleadustobelieveitisanoutergarment,sincebeltswere generallyusedonthekirtle,notthesurcote(withtheexceptionofswordbelts). Twillandtabbyareweavingterms.Atabbyfabriciswovenwiththeweftthreadgoingoverone warpthreadandunderthenext.A2/2twillgoesovertwo,undertwo.A2/1twillgoesovertwo, underone.Asheetisusuallywovenasatabby,denimfabricasa2/2twill(whichgivesadistinct diagonallineinthefabric). Fullingisaprocessusedtomakewovenfabricthickerandstronger.Afteritiswoven,itiswashed, beatenandthenstretchedontenterhooks.Thismakesitfeltupalittle,andhelpsstoptheedges fraying.Atwillthathasbeenfulledismuchthickerthanitwasontheloom,isverywarmandalmost waterproof.Thesurfacecanthenbeshorn,orleftfuzzy. AcomparativestudyofextantgarmentsinNorth-WesternEurope Pagenumber 2 14thCenturyGarments MaggieForest What’sthereandwhy? Herjolfsnes ThecemeteryfoundatHerjolfsnesinGreenlandwasaveritablegoldmineofgarments.Infactitwas anamazinglyluckyco-incidencewhentheywerefoundintheearly1920’s–thecemetery,builtin permafrostconditions,wasthawingoutandwithintwoyearsthematerialtherewasdestroyed. AnotherluckycircumstancewasthattheGreenlandfindwasexcavatedbytheDanishNational Museum;alreadyinpossessionoflargetextilefinds,theywereattheforefrontoftextile conservation.Today,themethodscanbeseentobeterriblyflawed,butcomparedtomaterialthat wasnotpreservedatthetime,thetextileshavefaredreasonablywell. Theyrangefromlatethe14thto15thcentury,andbelongtoatransitionalphasewherethecutting strategiesofearliertimes,usingaslittleclothaspossiblewithaminimumamountoffit,gavewayto adesiretotailorthegarmentsatleastsomewhat,acceptingsomelossofmaterial.However,theydo notrepresentthestyleofgarmentmostoftenwantedbySCApeople,niceclothingofthenobility, butrathertheeverydayclothingofpeoplelivingattheveryedgeofcivilization. OtherNordicmaterial InadditiontotheHerjolfsnesgarments,thereisanumberofgarmentsremainingfromtherestofthe Nordiccountries;Denmarkinparticular.Mostarebogfinds;alongwithIreland,Denmarkhasthe highestincidenceofbogbodies.Severalarebasic,earlystylegarmentssuchastheBocksten,the KragelundandSkjoldehamnkirtles,eventhoughtheyrangeinagefromthe(recentlyre-dated)12th CenturyMoselundkirtletothelate14thCenturyBockstengarments.Thistellsusthatthe‘early’ stylecuttingstrategyremainedinuseandpopularthroughoutwhatwecall‘theMiddleAges’,even parallelwiththelaterstylesofclose-fittingclothing. Therearealsosomeveryhigh-statusandhigh-qualitygarmentsinthismaterial.There’ssome‘mid- level’garmentsthatactuallyfittheSCAscopeverywell,suchastheRonbjergandtheSoderkoping kirtles.AndtheBirgitta‘cloak’,whilesimilartotheHerjolfsnesgarmentsincuttingstyle,wasmade fromaveryhigh-quality,expensivewoolconsistentwithBirgitta’sstatusasoneoftheleading membersoftheSwedishnobility,andafounderofareligiousmovementthatsweptEuropeevenin herlifetime. ThepinnacleoftheScandinavianmaterialpresentisthe“Margrethe”gown.Madefroman incrediblyexpensiveItaliangoldbrocade,itssimplecutmirrorsthemodernpracticeofnotmessing withafinefabric–buttheskilfulpiecingtogetherofnarrowpiecesofclothtoenablethegowntobe cutsodeceptivelysimplyshowsthelevelofcraftsmanshipavailableatthetime. TheNationalMuseumofDenmark,whichhousesmostoftheDanishandGreenlandfinds,is currentlyundertakingastudyoftheirtextilematerial,includingC14datingsofpreviouslyundated garmentssuchastheMoselundkirtle.Thiswillresultinnewdocumentationwhichshouldprove gratifying. AcomparativestudyofextantgarmentsinNorth-WesternEurope Pagenumber 3 14thCenturyGarments MaggieForest Others ThereisacorpusofextantgarmentsfromtherestofEurope.EdwardtheBlackPrince’sarmingcote fromEngland,CharlesIV’sarmingcoteandCharlesdeBlois’‘pourpoint’havesurvivedbecauseof theirassociationwithimportantnationalfigures.Therearealsogarmentsofasimilartypefoundin gravevaultsinSpainandItaly,althoughtheyarenotincludedherebecauseIhaven’tfoundmuch informationonthemyet.TheothergarmentincludedfromtheBritishIslesistheMoygown.Itis unique,becauseitisprobablytheclosestthingtoanactualwoman’scotehardieintheextantmaterial (althoughI’dhesitatetocallit‘typical’).Itisputtogetherwithgreatingenuitytocreateawell-fitted garment,andthesleevesarereminiscentofthegrandeassietteofCharlesdeBlois’pourpointand Margrethe’sgown. ItisstrangethatIrelandandBritaindon’thavealargerrepresentation–alongsideDenmark,we knowtheyhavealargenumberofbogbodies.However,thesegarmentshavenotbeenwrittenupto nearlythesameextentastheDanishmaterialhas–whathasbeenwrittenhasoftenbeenbyre- enactorsandSCApeople!Astimepasses,wecanhopethattherewillbemoreinformationavailable. WeknowthatPenelopeWaltonisstudyingthefindatHullcemetery,sowe’llhavetowaitandsee whathappens.WithabitofluckitwillbeasthoroughastheHMSObooksontheLondonfinds, fromwhichI’veincludedsomeinformationandpicturesonseamsetc. Photographicillustrationsinthisdocumenthavebeenliftedmostlyfrom‘Bockstensmannenoch hansdräkt’.Linedrawingsofpatternsareminebasedonthevariouspublicationslisted,bothgraphic andtextualevidence,withtheexceptionsoftheCharlesdeBloispourpointandtheMoygown.Any inaccuraciesaremyown. AcomparativestudyofextantgarmentsinNorth-WesternEurope Pagenumber 4 14thCenturyGarments MaggieForest Thegarments BasicKirtles(earlystylecut) Bocksten,Sweden:Late14thCentury BockstenManworeatunic,amantle,woolenhose,leathershoes, carriedtwoleatherbeltsandtwoknives.Hishoodwasfound nearby.Thegarmentisnowyellow-brownontheoutside,red- brownontheinside.Itisa2/1twill,originallyfulled.Thesleeves hada1cmhem. Thetunicwascutfromfabricthatmayhavebeen55cmwide(one selvedgeispreserved).Thetotallengthofthefabricpieceis estimatedto4.5m.Wholebodylength230cm.Widtharoundhem 250cm.Neckcircumference82cm.Sleevelengthright61cm,left59.5cm.Widtharoundwristright 23cm,left22cm. Kragelund,Denmark:12th–13th Century TheKragelundManworeakirtleofcoarsewoolencloth,thelegs werebarebutonhisfeethehadshortleatherboots,lacedover theinstep.Thebootsarenotpreserved.Becauseoftheboots,the findhasbeendatedtothe12thor13thCentury,butitmaywell belater. Thegarmenthastwo goresinthefront,two intheback,andtwo oneitherside,allof themgatheredintothepoints.Theneckisunusual, pointedinfrontandbackandhasa7cmlongslitinthe front.Thesleevesarealsointerestingintheirconstruction. AcomparativestudyofextantgarmentsinNorth-WesternEurope Pagenumber 5 14thCenturyGarments MaggieForest Skjoldehamn,Norway:13th–15thCentury? TheSkjoldehamntunicisanotherbogfind,thistimefromNorthernNorway. ItiskeptinTromsömuseum.IthasbeendatedtothelateMiddleAges,no earlierthanthemid-15thCentury,becausethe'shirt'thatwasfoundwithit