(A compendium of information from discussions on the 12th Century Garb Yahoo Group list)
Q: “What, dear cousins, shall a lady of the 12th C wear in the way of jewelry & where shall she look for reasonable, low cost [preferably] ware?”
~ Gwen
A: “It’s a dilema I haven’t managed to solve. I see no pictures of jewelry in period manuscripts.
“Dress Accessories I believe has some dug up jewelry, mostly of a slightly later period, but can probably be used for 12th century fine … seek it out in your local library.
“I’ve just been wearing strings of rounded beads so far. I found the article “Concerning Gemstones” in Cariadoc’s Miscellany moderately useful to work out what I could use in England. I’ve mostly been sticking to garnet so far, although I have a lovely new lapis lazuli necklace. I highly recommend using strong modern clasps(having just lost a beautiful garnet necklace with a hook and loop closure <sob>). The article has some lovely references, too.
“You might also like to look up various topics on the atlantian A&S page:
http://moas.atlantia.sca.org/topics.htm
~ Teffania/Tiffany Brown
Message #21, May 8, 2002
Q: What jewelry would have been worn in western Europe in the 12th century?
A: A great question–I hope some of the 12th century ‘mavens’ on this list will chime in with answers! I have often wondered this myself. Along with my 12th century gowns, I only wear a plain silver ring featuring a design similar to some of the ladies’ seals I’ve seen that date from this period, and sometimes a simple ring brooch. I am not at all sure if either is correct, as I have no documentation for either one.
I’ve been trying to improve my persona and authenticity-in-general, and have been doing a lot of reading lately. A couple of things I’ve run across:
— passages from letters written by Bernard of Clairvaux, disapprovingly describing the dress of Eleanor of Aquitaine and her ladies. He says that their “arms are loaded with bracelets; from their ears hang pendants, enshrining precious stones,” and that they “are not so much adorned as loaded down with ornaments of gold, silver, and precious stones.” These passages are as quoted by Alison Weir in ‘Eleanor of Aquitaine: a Life’, and I do not know how reliable this work is, or indeed in what context Bernard was seeing the ladies, or whether he was exaggerating to make a point, etc … but it was interesting.
— in ‘The Lady in Medieval England, 1100-1500’ a photograph of a seal belonging to one Idonia de Hurst, lady of Broomhill, Kent, dated to the late 12th century. The seal features what seems to be a representation of the lady herself, wearing a dress with long maunch sleeves, and what author Peter Coss describes as ‘a heart-shaped brooch’ at her throat. Given that the image on the seal is somewhat crude, who can say what that ‘brooch’ is. But, again, I found it interesting.
I really look forward to reading thoughts on the jewelry issue. I love jewelry…
~ Evelun/Kelly Rhodes
Message #83, July 16, 2002
“Well, I use an annular brooch to hold the keyhole of my gown neckline closed, a period style that I got from either Fettered Cock or Gaukler’s. I have two, actually; a small one and a large. Both have enameled dots that look vaguely like small gems from a distance; the smaller has two, of two different colors, and the larger has four that look uncannily like garnets. I also have a similar ring done in silver, with a narrow round loop for the finger and a small circular base with a garnet set in it; and I use veil pins with cast decorative heads, like a four-petalled flower. As well as a few pilgrim badges and charm hangers.”
~ Brangwayna Morgan
Message #85, July 16, 2002
Q: “I’ve been looking at pilgrim’s badges but haven’t gotten any because I can’t figure out how/where they were worn. Where do you pin yours? I wasn’t sure if it was ‘correct’ to just pin them on the front of the gown somewhere.”
A: “Most of them go on my big straw hat, actually…I have a scallop shell for Compostela, a Thomas a Becket, and a Saint Ermenburga permanently attached to the hat. (which reminds me, I need to restitch the scallop shell before War…). I also have one other which I have to check again, but I think it’s Our Lady of Walsingham. That one is currently loose in my jewelry box and occasionally gets pinned to my gown, but I’m thinking I may re-arrange the ones on the hat so that four fit symmetrically. They are very soft, so I don’t like to take them on and off much because I don’t want the pins to break off.
“I use the charm hangers to hold my Pennsic medallion at War, and occasionally other site tokens depending on the type. Site tokens on long strings get hung from the purse hanger on my belt (I need to get a bigger one to hang my almoner from; I misjudged the size of the drawstring cord and the drawstring won’t fit in this purse hanger).”
~ Brangwayna Morgan
Message #87, July 17, 2002
Q: “what’s a pilgrim’s badge? *feeling silly for asking*”
A: “Pilgrimage badges are small pewter brooches that one would buy on a pilgrimage to show that you had been there. There are lots of surviving examples and depictions of them. I’ve often seen them on the large floppy felt hats being used to pin up one side. I don’t see why a pious woman wouldn’t want wear the proof of that piety on her dress. (That being said there are some period badges that are quite naughty. I’m not sure of their context.)
“The different shapes indicate what shrine you had visited. I have some on my straw hat too. There’s one with a swan that’s from the event I travelled the furthest to and another from the Globe Theater in London.”
~ Slaine/Mary M. Haselbauer
Message #90, July 17, 2002
A#2: “Not a silly question at all. It’s one of those extremely interesting things that they don’t teach in school history classes 🙂
“You know how people nowadays get car stickers or T-shirts of all the places they’ve visited? Well, in the Middle Ages, when you went on pilgrimage, you could buy a cast metal badge to indicate which shrines you had been to. There have been a number of them found at archaeological sites. They are very specific, although one shrine may have several different designs (there’s about 6 for the shrine of Thomas a Becket at Canterbury). Some of the authenticity-related merchants have been reproducing them, and they are pretty cheap.
“Of course, there are also the other badges, also based on archaeological finds – the ones that nowadays are considered rude. I don’t feel up to describing them at the moment, other than to say that they involve anatomy rather directly. Anybody know if Fettered Cock has a website?”
~ Brangwayna Morgan
Message #91, July 17, 2002
Q: “Anybody know if Fettered Cock has a website?”
A: “http://www.fetteredcockpewters.com/
“I also quite like
http://www.billyandcharlie.com/
“And for those like me, on the ‘old’ shore of the Atlantic:
http://www.pewterreplicas.co.uk/
“Apart from the pilgrim’s and rude ones they have also have some heraldic ones, and some that are just plain bizarre. Can you tell this is one of my favorite window-shopping activities?”
~ Marianne Perdomo Machin / Leonor
Message #92, July 17, 2002
Royal Earring vs. Barbette!
“On Sunday, the Princess of Cynagua gave me an earring made with her very own hands. It was a token of appreciation for my playing harp music by her pavillion while she attended Vinhold’s fighter practice. Since my ears never show when I’m in garb (covered by the barbette), do any of you have brilliant ideas for enjoying Her Highness’ gift? It seems a shame to just toss it into my tangled snakepit of a jewelry box!
~ Joan the Harper
Message #131, August 20, 2002
“Could you wear it on a necklace, say as a pendent?”
~ Lydia / Linda M. Fine
Message #132, August 20, 2002
“It could also, maybe, be pinned to the barbette itself, or perhaps as a brooch?”
Mór ingen Cathail
Message #134, August 20, 2002
“If you are shy about wearing favors and awards (and some people only wear them to court or not at all etc.) you may want to consider what some of my friends have done. They attach their awards and favors from their banners. It would really depend on
you.”
~ Katherine
Message #135, August 20, 2002
“Or, could it safely be attached to your belt or pouch for a more subtle display? Or to a hat, or veil pin? Not sure about the authenticity of any of these, but it is the sCa, and when we haven’t got much hope of finding that detailed pictures of our period anyway…”
~ Teffania/Tiffany Brown
Message #142, August 21, 2002