12th century England
Every time I start to think seriously about dress in 12th century England/British Isles I immediately get bogged down by what I don't know. I'm going to start writing it down so I can focus on what I feel I need to research.
Sources:
Evidence for research historical dress comes from three sources: literary evidence, artistic evidence, and archaeological evidence.
Problems:
1. Literary evidence. I'm having a hard time pinning down what was written in England between 1000-1200 that might contain reference to dress. Goddard's famous thesis was on "Women's Costume in French Texts of the 11th and 12th Centuries" I don't know know enough French (let alone Old French dialects) to separate out what was written in France proper (the northern area of modern France around Paris), what was written in Angevin and the south, and what was written in Norman-controlled areas. I kind of wish there was a "cheat sheet" but maybe I'm the only one who worries about things like this. It might make a difference where something was written, it might not. At this point I don't even know enough to form an articulate question.
England at this point was, of course, Norman-controlled. The Conquest happened 34 years before the close of the 11th century. Another thing I can't get a good handle on was how much in England was being written in Latin, how much in French and how much in English. I have a volume of Middle English Lyrics and in the preface there is a discussion about the difficulty presented by the myriad of English dialects in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. No mention of the 12th. Other things I have read imply the Old English/Anglo-Saxon basically died with the Conquest. So I've got 134 years here that seem like a mystery. Sometimes I feel like a might need a Rosetta Stone in England's three languages to adequately look at potentially clothing terms, if I knew where to look for them in the first place.
I have a feeling that wills might be my best best, but that romances (if any native to England exist) might provide clearer language. Owen-Crocker seems to refer to wills a lot in "Dress in Anglo-Saxon England". Did the Anglo tendency to detailed wills by both men and women continue into the 12th century? I don't know.
2. Artistic evidence. There is always the issue of style. Did the artists draw from life, or where they simply re-drawing from other books (older and/or foreign). I feel like I need to find a way to adequately address this question.
3. Archaeological evidence. It seems people are always finding Anglo-Saxon or Viking graves but that no body died or got buried in the 12th century. OK, that's over stating the case, but truly, it doesn't seem like there's been a lot of archaeological finds and/or investigations of 12th century England. Is 600 years ago too close? Does it seem like more grave-desecration if the graves are newer? Did people not loose things in ditches in the 12th century like they seem to in other English eras?
There is a tendency, I find, in discussions 12th century clothing to assume that everybody dressed the same across Europe. I find this idea somewhat hard to swallow and I want to be able to make a judgement as to how accurate the assumption is. I think even when it comes very high status court dress that it's probable that not every princess dressed like one of the Chartres jamb statues.
Sources:
Evidence for research historical dress comes from three sources: literary evidence, artistic evidence, and archaeological evidence.
Problems:
1. Literary evidence. I'm having a hard time pinning down what was written in England between 1000-1200 that might contain reference to dress. Goddard's famous thesis was on "Women's Costume in French Texts of the 11th and 12th Centuries" I don't know know enough French (let alone Old French dialects) to separate out what was written in France proper (the northern area of modern France around Paris), what was written in Angevin and the south, and what was written in Norman-controlled areas. I kind of wish there was a "cheat sheet" but maybe I'm the only one who worries about things like this. It might make a difference where something was written, it might not. At this point I don't even know enough to form an articulate question.
England at this point was, of course, Norman-controlled. The Conquest happened 34 years before the close of the 11th century. Another thing I can't get a good handle on was how much in England was being written in Latin, how much in French and how much in English. I have a volume of Middle English Lyrics and in the preface there is a discussion about the difficulty presented by the myriad of English dialects in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. No mention of the 12th. Other things I have read imply the Old English/Anglo-Saxon basically died with the Conquest. So I've got 134 years here that seem like a mystery. Sometimes I feel like a might need a Rosetta Stone in England's three languages to adequately look at potentially clothing terms, if I knew where to look for them in the first place.
I have a feeling that wills might be my best best, but that romances (if any native to England exist) might provide clearer language. Owen-Crocker seems to refer to wills a lot in "Dress in Anglo-Saxon England". Did the Anglo tendency to detailed wills by both men and women continue into the 12th century? I don't know.
2. Artistic evidence. There is always the issue of style. Did the artists draw from life, or where they simply re-drawing from other books (older and/or foreign). I feel like I need to find a way to adequately address this question.
3. Archaeological evidence. It seems people are always finding Anglo-Saxon or Viking graves but that no body died or got buried in the 12th century. OK, that's over stating the case, but truly, it doesn't seem like there's been a lot of archaeological finds and/or investigations of 12th century England. Is 600 years ago too close? Does it seem like more grave-desecration if the graves are newer? Did people not loose things in ditches in the 12th century like they seem to in other English eras?
There is a tendency, I find, in discussions 12th century clothing to assume that everybody dressed the same across Europe. I find this idea somewhat hard to swallow and I want to be able to make a judgement as to how accurate the assumption is. I think even when it comes very high status court dress that it's probable that not every princess dressed like one of the Chartres jamb statues.