(A compendium of information from discussions on the 12th Century Garb Yahoo Group list)
Question:
“My family and I are just joining the SCA and are planning persona’s in the late 12th century. We are Scandinavian with one Irish boy (four boys altogether). I need some examples of or ideas on what we would be wearing. It seems that most cultures of Western/Northern Europe were wearing bliants (sp?) on women, but is this true of Scandinavian peoples? What did men and children wear and what were the Irish wearing at this time-boys particularly. And finally what would I make for my 12th century stickjock?
“I am sorry for the barrage of questions….I am desperately trying to get our garb started so that we can start attending some events. Thank you in advance for all of your help.”
~ Yngvildr / Heather Peters
Message #259, October 4, 2002
Answer:
“Hi Heather,
“I have uploaded 4 12th century Scandinavian Images into the file “Katrine’s Scandinavian Sources.” It was an interesting little project.
“My favorite image is the Swedish Madonna of Mosjoe. Using Madonnas as documentation can be tricky because sometimes they are stylistically shown in what the artist thought people from a long time would of worn, or copied drapery from classical images. Not much chance of classical references in Scandinavia really. They are just emerging from the tribal Viking period, and while continental images can be quite refined, you still detect the ‘not quite civilized’ feel in the art (look at her eyes). It seems that the infant is missing from the statue, but to our benefit. Her neckline is very 12th century, seen all over Europe, but especially in England. I can’t really tell if the gown has long cuffs, or is cut to have hanging sleeves, but either is seen elsewhere. I love the shoulder cape – charming – and I haven’t really seen it on another image quite like this. It’s hard to say if she is wearing a crown or a cap, but the knotwork on it echoes the persistence of older forms of decoration seen in other Scandinavian 12th century art. The neckline, belt and bottom border are all of a contrasting color to the gown. The statue is at Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm, and it is dated the second half of the 12th Century. (And my mother used to loop up my braids like this when I was a kid!)
“The Danish Madonna from the Golden Altar (Gyldne Altre) of Lisbjerg, about 1140, in the Nationalmuseet, Copenhagen yields some interesting details. Although it is difficult to see her sleeve from the image I have, you can make out that she has the square neck decoration that we see on some of the Chartres statues. You might also be able to distinguish the details of the decorative banding on the bottom part of the gown, and the fine pattern on the infant’s clothing suggests the diaper patterns we see on royal clothing in some of the book illuminations.
“The Swedish Baptismal font image is from Tryde Church in Scania, which was a part of Denmark in the 12th century. The figures embracing are speculated to be Christ and Ecclesia. I noted with interest the horizontal bands at the waist, which suggested to me the side lacings of the continental fashion, along with what appears to be much greater volume in the skirts versus the torso area, and they are shown puddling on the ground too. The sleeves seemed to be scrunched up on the arm similar to what we seen in other areas as well. Ecclesia wears a pillbox shape hat similar in scale to the Swedish Madonna’s headgear. The detailing on the cloak is quite defined.
“The Swedish Nativity image is blurry because it is overmagnified (copious apologies). From top left, clockwise, are shown – the annunciation, the nativity, the Madonna and child in Majesty, and the Three Wise Men. I included it only because you can see shorter tunics on the Kings – but not too much more detail. It would be worthwhile getting a closer look at this. It is the Altar from Broddetorp Church, in Vestergoetland, Sweden, and is currently in Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm.
“Although I didn’t scan these, both altars show decoration that is a transitional form from Viking gripping beasties to the more scroll like forms we see in France (when they aren’t geometric!)”
“So my conclusion, based on a pretty quick limited survey, and thus certainly subject to more study and elaboration, is that at least the Danish and Swedish peoples were wearing clothes most similar to the English and a general pan-European style. The art books I consulted state that the Scandianvians were influenced by first English, and then German art. It stands to reason that clothing influences were also similar. However, as is also seen in the art, regional differences remain, with a viking-like feel.
“Now a bit more about how to expand on this information for those wondering. Those library fluent can turn off my rant now. I wish someone would have told me up front, (in the days before the internet) about how to proceed with inter-library loan. Who knew that you could get books out of the Library of Congress? What I suggest is calling the library and setting up an appointment with the reference librarian. That person is a very useful ally! Our library system subscribes to WorldCat – which is a huge on-line database of most big city and university libraries that you can generally order in through your library for a minor charge (mine is $3.50) It opened a new world for me. You may be quite surprised at what you can do sitting at home on your computer once you hook up with a library that has ‘the goods’.
“Heather, I suggest that you take some time to look at books on Romanesque art to start with. This will give you a feel for the general period and will cover lots of ground – statuary, ivories, jewels, book illumination, architecture etc.) You might want to see if there are some museum catalogs from the National Museums in Copenhagen and Sweden through your library, even if they are in Danish/Swedish. (There are on-line translation bots that can help you figure out what is written in almost any foreign language – they’re not perfect, but real interest in a persona generally means having to develop some familiarity with their language. Even the English need to fiddle about with medieval English, which can be challenging too.) After you have figured out some key words in Scandinavian, you can try google searches with foreign words, which sometimes can be a most rewarding endeavor. The word Dragter, for example, which most often means regional folk clothing, but may also mean clothing in general, can bring up some interesting sites. I would like to personally do more work on
finding archaeological digs dating to the 12th century. So far, it seems, I haven’t been able to master the ‘how-to’ of finding articles in journals that might interest me. I’m gonna work on that.
Here’s a couple of books to start with, which might be fairly easy to come by –
Romanesque Art, Universe History of Art by George Zarnecki
Art of the Early Middle Ages – Francois Souchal
Romanesque Architecture – Sculpture – Painting – ediated by Rolf Toman
Best of luck, Heather!
~ Katrine de Saint Brieuc, aka Katherine Knudsen Barich – ya sure, ya betchya
Message #262, October 6, 2002