Clothing In The Middle Ages

"One of the most celebrated painters of the eighteenth century, Jan van Huysum (Dutch, 1682-1749) gained immense fame and fortune for his meticulously rendered bouquets of flowers and fruit. With their precise botanical depictions, brilliant colors, and technical virtuosity, Van Huysums's elegant compositions were avidly collected by the elite connoisseurs throughout Europe."-- Publisher description.

Describes the making and wearing of clothing in the Middle Ages.

From the costly velvets and furs worn by kings to the undyed wools and rough linens of the peasantry, the clothing worn by the various classes in the Middle Ages played an integral role in medieval society. In addition to providing clues to status, profession, and/or geographic origin, textiles were a crucial element in the economies of many countries and cities. Much of what is known about medieval fashion is gleaned from the pages of manuscripts, which serve as a rich source of imagery. This volume provides a detailed look at both the actual fabrics and composition of medieval clothing as well as the period’s attitude toward fashion through an exploration of illuminated manuscripts in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum. The last portion of the book is dedicated to the depiction of clothing in biblical times and the ancient world as seen through a medieval lens. Throughout, excerpts from literary sources of the period help shed light on the perceived role and function of fashion in daily life.

Examines the role of clothing in medieval society and discusses trends in clothing styles and the characteristic dress of different classes of people.

A survey of medieval clothing, offering an understanding of the cultural and social conditions of western Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries. It draws on paintings and sculpture, documents and literature, surviving clothing, textiles, jewellery and armour.

The best new research on medieval clothing and textiles, drawing from a range of disciplines. Topics in this volume range widely throughout the European middle ages. Three contributions concern terminology for dress. Two deal with multicultural medieval Apulia: an examination of clothing terms in surviving marriage contracts from the tenth to the fourteenth century, and a close focus on an illuminated document made for a prestigious wedding. Turning to Scandinavia, there is an analysis of clothing materials from Norway and Sweden according to gender and social distribution. Further papers consider the economic uses of cloth and clothing: wool production and the dress of the Cistercian community at Beaulieu Abbey based on its 1269-1270 account book, and the use of clothing as pledge or payment in medieval Ireland. In addition, there is a consideration of the history of dagged clothing and its negative significance to moralists, and of the painted hangings that were common in homes of all classes in the sixteenth century. ROBIN NETHERTON is a professional editor and a researcher/lecturer on the interpretation of medieval European dress; GALE R. OWEN-CROCKER is Emerita Professor of Anglo-Saxon Culture at the University of Manchester. Contributors: Antonietta Amati, Eva I. Andersson, John Block Friedman, Susan James, John Oldland, Lucia Sinisi, Mark Zumbuhl

A clear and accessibly written guide to the medieval cloth-making trade in England.