Medieval Word of the Day

Blanchet: a very coarse woolen cloth.

Medieval Word of the Day

Wardrobe: A medieval wardrobe could be a free standing closet like this:

(courtesy of Early Oak Reproductions)

But in Dangerous Favor, "wardrobe" refers to a room or (for a king or great noble) a series of rooms in a castle that housed his robes, jewelry, and other personal valuables (including spices!), as well as cash and important documents; the King’s Wardrobe included his personal treasury

Medieval Word of the Day

Surcote: I previously defined the surcote here, but in addition, it was also a tunic worn over a knight’s armor, decorated with the heraldic device of his house 


You can see this kind of surcote in this beautiful painting, The Shadow, by Edmund Blair Leighton.

Living the History

Although this blog focuses mostly on book learnin' for conducting medieval research, there are, of course, other ways to "experience" the Middle Ages, after a sort. If you're a cook, then try making and sampling a medieval dish. Some books that contain medieval recipes include Fabulous Feasts: Medieval Cookery and Ceremony, by Madeleine Pelner Cosman; Pleyn Delit: Medieval Cookery for Modern Cooks, by Constance B. Hieatt and Sharon Butler; and The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy, by Odile Redon, Francoise Sabban & Silvano Serventi.

Alas, I hate to cook, but don't let that discourage you from doing so! Until I overcome my personal reluctance (I suppose "laziness" is closer to the truth!), I'll have to continue to rely on my overly active imagination and trust in my characters' palates. (Don't worry. As one of my favorite plaques says: "I live in my own little world, but it's okay. They know Me here!")

Music is another way to sample what life might have been like in the Middle Ages. Now music is something I can do! Or at least, I can happily listen to it. (I suppose I could happily eat medieval food that someone else cooked for me, too, if I could find someone else to do the cooking.) You have only to visit Amazon.com and type in the words "medieval music" into the Music category to come up with a plethora (I love that word...plethora!) of CDs that feature music from the Middle Ages. One of my favorite albums from clear back when it was an old fashioned LP (thankfully converted to CD and MP3 versions) is Music of the Crusades. And my very favorite musical selection on that album...actually, my all time favorite medieval selection of all!...is called Ja nus hons pris. This song is credited to Richard the Lionheart, supposedly composed by King Richard while imprisoned on his way home from the 3rd Crusade and held for ransom. You can listen to a snippet of Ja nus hons pris on Amazon (though I downloaded my copy from iTunes) and read an English translation of the words at These Vintage Years!

If you follow my JDP NEWS blog, you'll know that one of the highlights of my year is attending the Arizona Renaissance Festival. Renaissance and Medieval Festivals are, admittedly, fantasy versions of those time periods, but still, they're great places to "pretend" and soak in at least a little bit of historical atmosphere. And there are other "living history" experiences you can take part in, such as the Society for Creative Anachronism.

Whether researching in the comfort of your own home or at a public historical re-enactment, let's not underestimate the power of wearing an authentic medieval outfit to really get one in the spirit of the times!  Here are a few Medieval/Renaissance clothing websites that I've come across. They all carry Medieval, as well as Renaissance (and occasionally Tudor) costumes:

The Renaissance Store
RenaissanceModel.com
Pearson's Renaissance Shoppe

You can also find these links in the right hand sidebar of this blog under (appropriately enough) "Medieval, Renaissance, and Tudor Clothing"

To be totally upfront, The Renaissance Store is the only "store" I have personal experience with, and that was only to buy medieval jewelry, not clothes. But they're all very enjoyable websites to browse, and Pearson's Renaissance Shoppe has the added benefit of maintaining a companion blog.

Do you  have any favorite medieval recipes, medieval songs, medieval re-enactments, or medieval shopping places? If so, I'd love to have you share it in the comment section!

Medieval Word of the Day

Crespin: a decorative hair net worn by women

And while we're talking about medieval women, don't forget that my drawing for a copy of Medieval Women, by Eileen Power is still underway! Click here to see how you can enter to win a copy of this book.

Medieval Word of the Day

Tunic: a sleeved, loose fitting outer garment worn by both men and women; could be worn alone or under a surcote; for the man, could be knee or ankle length

Surcote: also known as the surcoat or super-tunic; a secondary tunic worn over an under tunic, usually more elaborately decorated.

Here is a woman wearing a green tunic, with a sleeveless reddish surcote layered over it.

Here is a man wearing a long tunic, with a shorter, decorated surcote over it. 

Medieval Word of the Day

Smock: A loose, blouselike undergarment  

The woman in this picture is wearing a smock

Medieval Word of the Day

Girdle: a belt worn around the waist

See the belt with its dangling tassels around this woman's waist? This was called a "girdle". Men also wore them with long robes like this.

(This picture is courtesy of:

http://www.claytonemery.com/CalthropCostume.html

Medieval Word of the Day

Chemise: a woman's loose undergarment

Check out today's blog review of Illuminations of the Heart , along with an interview by the author (that would be me :-) ) at TWO locations today: Random-Ish by Nichole and LDS Writers Blogck. Leave a comment on EACH blog and be entered TWICE for a chance to win one of four prizes, including an autographed copy of Illuminations!

Medieval Word of the Day

Lawn: a very fine fabric made of linen

No, not that kind of lawn!

Check out today's review of Illuminations of the Heart at Write Bravely. Leave a comment for a chance to win one of four prizes! Deadline: September 18.

Dressing your characters

The Earl of Gunthar stood while his squire, Julian Parr, turned back the cuffs of his dull yellow tunic to expose the ornamental embroidery worked along the narrow wrists. Gunthar had selected the undergarment for the roomy cut of its sleeve, to relieve his bandaged arm of unnecessary discomfort.

When Julian finished, two younger servants pulled forward a heavy, elaborately carved chair from the corner. Gunthar sank onto its crimson cushion and extended a well-turned foot towards a kneeling pageboy. It was unlikely that anyone would have a chance to admire his pale green hose, destined as they were all evening to be concealed beneath the ankle-length folds of his costly silk tunic. But, he mused, an appreciative audience might be found for his handsome red shoes, cunningly embellished with row upon row of tiny gold rings.

The above is an excerpt from my medieval novel, Loyalty’s Web, describing the hero as he prepares to attend a banquet in his honor given by the heroine’s father.

What sources did I use to help create the excerpt above? What sources can you turn to, to create an “authentic” costume for the characters of your medieval fiction?

There are a great many source books available on the subject of historical dress and costumes, but most seem to fall into two general categories: those that “show” and those that “tell”. Those that “tell” are heavy on verbal description, with some accompanying pictures from medieval manuscripts, etc. Those that “show” rely more heavily on “reproductions” via drawings, with accompanying description directing your attention to specific elements of those drawings.

Since I am a highly visual person myself, I prefer “showing” to “telling”, especially when I’d rather be using my limited time to create a written image of my own (as above), rather than spending hours and hours researching through text-heavy, image-light costume books. (Especially those devoted to telling me how to cut and sew my own medieval costume, when I can barely even thread a needle!)

First, allow me to share a cautionary tale about research. Always, ALways, ALWAYS write down, at minimum, the title and author of any books you copy or photocopy information from in libraries, bookstores, or other sources only temporarily in your possession. You’d think that advice would be obvious, but to some of us, it wasn’t. During my inexperienced years of writing “on the side” while studying at the University of Arizona, I found a treasure-trove of medieval information in the U of A main library. (This was well before the advent of the internet, remember.) Being inexperienced, as I said, in research methods, I photocopied pages of the most wonderful historical costume sketches (with accompanying descriptions) from a book I found in the library, but I never made a note of the source. I photocopied information for the 12th and 13th centuries, but when I found myself in later years longing for similar information on the 11th century, all I could do is kick myself for the negligence that made refinding the original book all but impossible. That was in the late 1970s. It was not until the early 2000s that, to my utter amazement and eternal gratitude, I stumbled across the very same book (this time for sale), in the gift store of the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City, UT. (Thank goodness I have a sister who lives in Salt Lake City, who decided to take me to the festival one summer during a visit!) Needless to say, I bought the book right up. But there remain other pages from other books that I photocopied and still refer to, but can never refer them anyone else, because to this day, I still don’t have the titles or authors to pass on.

So, with that hard-learned lesson out of the way, let me now share with you three of my favorite source books for “dressing” my medieval characters.

(1) English Costume: from the Early Middle Ages Through the Sixteenth Century, by Iris Brooke. This is the book I “lost” when I graduated from the U of A, and rediscovered in Cedar City only a few years ago. This book is divided into sections on “English Costume of the Early Middle Ages (10th-13th centuries)”; “English Costume of the Later Middle Ages (14th-15th centuries)”; and “English Costume of the Age of Elizabeth (16th century)”.

Each section is further divided into individual centuries. For the 1100-1200s (the time setting for Loyalty’s Web) I found the following description:

“The length of the sleeves on the supertunic [i.e., outer tunic] might be merely a few inches in length and finished with a broad band of embroidery, with the contrasting and tightly-fitting sleeve of the tunic beneath reaching to the wrist, or they might be quite full but fitting to the wrist with a cuff of some contrasting material or embroidery.”

From this information came the following description in my novel:

The Earl of Gunthar stood while his squire, Julian Parr, turned back the cuffs of his dull yellow tunic to expose the ornamental embroidery worked along the narrow wrists. Gunthar had selected the undergarment for the roomy cut of its sleeve, to relieve his bandaged arm of unnecessary discomfort.

Across from each descriptive page, is a facing page of drawings of medieval people wearing the clothing or hair styles mentioned on the preceding page.

Furthermore, there are descriptive pages and sketches devoted to footwear, headwear, and as I said, even hairstyles. Here is a description of footwear from the 12th century:

“The extensive use of rings as a means of fastening garments at this time even extended to the footwear… The shoe itself was not often embroidered and separate bands of embroidery were sewn on. Another means of ornamentation was to sew small rings of gold and silver, sometimes even on to the toe and heel of the shoe…”

This became the inspiration for:
But, he mused, an appreciative audience might be found for his handsome red shoes, cunningly embellished with row upon row of tiny gold rings

(2) 900 Years of English Costume, by Nancy Bradfield. Actually, this title is no longer available, except as a very expensive used book. However, the exact same book is available for a reasonable price under a new title: Historical Costumes of England 1066-1968.

This book is divided by the reigns of the kings and queens of England, and further divided by “Men’s Fashions” and “Women’s Fashions”. Again, on one page are sketches of people dressed in medieval clothing. In this instance, the figures are each assigned a number. On the facing page, again there are descriptions, this time coordinating the “figure number” with the opposite sketches. An additional advantage of this book is that there are marginal notations to speed you along to that portion of clothing you may be particularly interested in reading about. For example, under Henry II-Richard I (1154-99), the following marginal notes appear: tunic, sleeves, scarlet cloth, hose, shoes, cloaks, hoods and hats, hair, gloves and purse, colours.

Under tunics, I find the following: “The skirts were long to the ankle.” Under hose, it reads: “The hose remained the same as in the previous reign, fitting the leg to above the knee and fastened to the girdle of the breeches (Figure 5)”…which directs my attention to a sample sketch labeled "5" on the preceding page. Since the sentence on “hose” directs me to the “previous reign”, I flip back a few pages, where I read: “From 1150 the hose were made long, fitting the leg well, to above the knee.” Returning to my original page, I read under “colours”, “Colours are on p. 17; no new ones are mentioned,” so again I flip backwards, to page 17, where under “colours”, I find, “Light blue, red, and greens were fashionable; black, yellow, red-browns, and grey were also worn.”

Hence, from all this information, I am able to write:

It was unlikely that anyone would have a chance to admire his pale green hose, destined as they were all evening to be concealed beneath the ankle-length folds of his costly silk tunic.

(3) Medieval Fashions, by Tom Tierney (A Dover Coloring Book). Never underestimate the value of a good, historical coloring book! They are excellent for further illustrations of historical clothing and how people wore them. Among other examples, this title includes several pages filled with sketches of common head-dresses worn by both men and women in various centuries of the Middle Ages, along, of course, with the accompanying hair styles.

These titles are simply three of my favorites, because of their “quick reference” nature.

Please be aware that there are many, many other excellent books on historical costume available, many of which include additional information not available in the above resources. One such example is Medieval Costume and Fashion, by Herbert Norris, which among other things, will provide you with a wonderful chart of “Names of Colors in Use During the Middle Ages” (aurnola = orange; jaune = bright yellow; pers = dark blue; verdulet = bright green, bluish in color; etc), but books such as this will make you work harder to uncover the treasures of knowledge within.

For purchasing information at Amazon.com regarding books cited in these blogs, click on "So you'd like to...Write Medieval Fiction" under LINKS to the right.