Title: Normans-msg
Subject: Norman culture.
Author: Edited by Mark S. Harris
Last saved by: Mark S. Harris
Keywords: medieval, Norman, Anglo-Norman, cultures, England, Normandy

Normans-msg - 3/24/09

Norman culture, dress. References.

NOTE: See also the files: Norse-msg, Italy-msg, France-msg, England-msg, fd-Normans-msg, Bayeux-Tap-msg, 12C-Normans-bib.

************************************************************************
NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
************************************************************************

Actually, one of the more interesting pro-Norman arguments I've heard in
the SCA ran something like this:

Q: "Pfeh! By the 12th century, the Irish had distillation, brain
surgery, and representative government! What did the Normans have?"

A: "Ireland."

Adamantius

From: Elmar Vogt (8/6/93)
To: Mark Harris
RE>Anglo-Norman Garb Questi

/* You recently asked some good questions about 11th century Norman clothing.
/*
/* If you get any e-mail replies that aren't posted to the Rialto, could
/* you please send them my way?
/*
/* I am currently trying to improve my clothing. Although I am a
/* 12th century anglo-norman, what you get may be of great use.
/* For instance, I wasn't aware that any kind of pants was in common
/* use. There are times when some braes would sure beat my long
/* tunics.
/*
/*      Lord Stefan li Rous    Mark S. Harris    

Greetings, My Lord Stefan!

Alas, I have to say, my questions seem so good, that no-one was ready
to answer it!
Neither on the Rialto nor with private mail have I received any
answer, or at least attention, beside your kind letter. (So I was
already pondering whether my post had arrvied on the Rialto at all-
but at least I myself found it there...)

So I am as clueless as before. What I can tell you from my humble
knowledge is:

There were such things as pants- several of my textbooks state two
separate _Beinlinge_ for the legs, tied to a _Bruch_ around the
waist. (I can send you a scanned gif, if you please). They were used
throughout the middle ages until the advent of more flexible cloth,
which allowed for the tension, our modern day trousers exert on our
most valuable parts of anatomy when sitting.
A closer examination of the invaluable Bayeux tapestry shows, that
obviously the Normans also resorted to this method. People's legs are
usually shown in brown or greenish hues (Although we should not put
too much stress on the colors... after all they show green horses,
too.), but they take tone of pale grey or white, when they wade into
water or labor hard, improving fortifications. This is also the time
something like kneecaps can be seen, so I assume that at this time
they unleashed their _Beinlinge_.

Unfortunately I don't have good color copies of the complete
tapestry. So I'm not sure, whether you see several people running
around with something like a tight, simple cap, or if this is just
their usual haircut. I have found nothing that'd point to real hats,
although I've read (in general about the middle ages), straw hats
were common. (But can you imagine the Sherriff of Nottingham wearing
a _straw hat_?)

As for the waxing of cloth, I suppose linen would be best suited.
(A wax-soaken coat of wool must be pretty heavy!) But I'll experiment
on that hopefully during the next weeks and report the results to you.

I'll also put this question to alt.history.costume, but I doubt that
they have useful responses... the last time I asked the question
about _Beinlinge_ there, the only advice I got was to ask the
SCAdians... well.

I hope I could be of some use to you. If you come across something
new to me, or are objective to one of my statements above, don't
hesitate to improve my humble and limited knowledge on the subject.

The best of Greetings unto thee,

    Elmar, to-be Agilmar
/---------------------------------------------------------------\
|Elmar Vogt/Abt. Exp. Physik/University of Ulm/89069 Ulm/Germany|
|Elmar.Vogt at physik.uni-ulm.de|vogt at sunrise.e-technik.uni-ulm.de |
|Phone:[00]49+731-3026  ________________________________________|
|Fax:            -3036 |VIS VISCERIS, NON FERRO FERTUR (T. Doom)|
\---------------------------------------------------------------/

From: Elmar Vogt (8/28/93)
To: Mark Harris
RE>Anglo-Norman Garb Quest

... and Greetings to thee, Stefan!

/* Anyway, thanks for the picture. I'm not sure I have anything else that
/* shows hosen that well. But one of the most interesting details for me
/* was the sword belt and hanger. Right now, I have may scabbord hanging
/* like a dagger from a single loop. I had looked at more complex
/* arrangements, but they were all much later than 1150. So I think this
/* illustration may be just what I am looking for. I assume from the
/* picture that it is one belt looped around twice, rather than two
/* seperate belts. This would allow adjustment by the buckle on the top
/* section of the belt.

Not quite. One single belt looped twice would -considering a heavy
sword to be carried- result in a very tight upper loop and a low
hanging lower loop.
The great book by Liliane and Fred Funcken _Historische Waffen und
Ruestungen_ (Historical weapons and armours- highly recommended
reading if you can find an English issue!) shows several
arrangements. (I'll see whether I can scan one or two of them for
you.) Essentially they are all consisting of two belts, a upper one,
comparatively narrow, whose length is varied to accommodate your
waist. This one carries the weight of the assembly.
The lower one is broader and more richly embroidered. Its length is
adapted according to the length of the sword or the height of the
handle you wish, respectively.
Both are connected at one point at the left hip (provided you're
right-handed, as I am not...). This makes it look like-

    | belly|
    |      |
    o===X==|
    |\ \   |
    |  \X\ | at 
    |  | \ \ at 
    |  ||  \U
    |  ||  |U

"X" marks the two separate buckles, " at  at UU" marks the sword. "o" is
the link of the two belts.

Looking forward to hearing from you again, I remain your servant,

    Agilmar Martell von Sevelingen
/---------------------------------------------------------------\
|Elmar Vogt/Abt. Exp. Physik/University of Ulm/89069 Ulm/Germany|
|Elmar.Vogt at physik.uni-ulm.de|vogt at sunrise.e-technik.uni-ulm.de |
|Phone:[00]49+731-3026  ________________________________________|
|Fax:            -3036 |VIS VISCERIS, NON FERRO FERTUR (T. Doom)|
\---------------------------------------------------------------/

From: jkubenka at sun.cis.smu.EDU (Jennifer Kubenka)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: New book about Normans
Date: 11 Apr 1995 15:28:24 -0400

Good day, readers of the Rialto,

Today I ran across a new book (well, 1994) that might be of interest to 
many of you:

I Normanni : Popolo d'Europa, 1030-1200.  Venezia: Marsilio, c1994.  ISBN 
8831758551.

This monograph was published to accompany an exhibition held Jan. 29-Apr. 
30 at the Palazzo Venezia in Rome.  There are lots of pictures, close-ups 
of jewelry, artifacts, embroidery...

I can't vouch for the reliability of the text, as it is in Italian, and I 
don't have time to translate it in detail, but it looks interesting.  590 
pages worth of interesting...

Emher ni Maille
Barony of Elfsea
Kingdom of Ansteorra

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: dbullard at ivory.trentu.ca
Subject: Re: Norman Fighting Units
Organization: Trent University, Peterborough
Date: Mon, 2 Oct 1995 12:51:13 GMT

In article <44mjvk$fbf at newsbf02.news.aol.com>, allyekat at aol.com (Allye Kat) writes:
>I was watching "Ancient Warriors" on the Discovery channel this week and
>thet referred to a Norman fighting unit called, now here's my problem, a
>"Conoir"??
>I've been asking around but nobody seems to know the spelling. I'd had on
>suggestion that it maybe "Conroy". Does anyone have any information on 
>A) The correct spelling
>B) Where I can Find out more information on this
>
>  Alix de Beaumont
>  Calafia, Caid

The term is spelt conroy, or conrois.  According to Verbruggen, Warfare in
Western europe in the Middle Ages, North Holland Publishing House, 1979, the
strength of the conrois varied according to the power of the liege lord.  The
numbers seem tpo be between 12 and 24 knights.
Vladimir Blahuciak

From: 00mjstum at bsuvc.bsu.edu (10/13/95)
To: sca-www at andrew.cmu.edu, sca-middle at dnaco.net
Subject: Norman Invation WWW page

Thought some of you folks out there might be interested in this...

>Thank you for the mail. You can read my Invasion pages Secrets of the 
>Norman Invasion on "http://www.cablenet.net/pages/book/index.htm"
>I am looking for a USA mirror site and would be grateful if anyone 
>there is interested.
>
>Nick at cablenet.net
>Nick Austin

Gwydion

From: "Joe Pinegar" <pinegarj at swbell.net>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Early Normandy c912-960.
Date: 4 Jun 1997 12:48:03 GMT
Organization: Hoechst Marion Roussel

Dain <9608721p at student.gla.ac.uk> wrote:
> ek at zianet.com says...
> >Does anyone know where I can find info about early Normandy?

> There is a good book called Living in the tenth 
> century, regarding the end of the Carolingians. 
> Provost Dain auf Schwarzhabichte

You might also try "Death and Life in the Tenth Century" by Eleanor Shipley
Duckett, and "The Normans in European History" by Charles Homer haskins. 
These are both probably a little dated, but are still pretty good.

Elina 

From: "Harold D Sherman" <HALFRED at prodigy.net>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Norman web page!
Date: 26 Aug 1997 02:24:05 GMT

M'lord may wish to contact the Milites Normannorum at:
http://cyclone.cs.clemson.edu/~traveler/Milites/milites.html

According to their material, they are a Norman reenactment group you may be
interested in.

Alfred Halfdane, obviously not a Norman :)

From: mittle at panix.com (Arval d'Espas Nord)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Norman Persona
Date: 11 May 1998 14:14:22 -0400
Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC

> Normans come from the coast of France, Normandy.  I don't think there were
> any Norman Sicilians.  

Sicily was conquered by Norman adventurers in the 11th century.  The
Britannica On-line says:

 Three Hauteville brothers-- William, Drogo, and Humphrey--were among the
 Norman knights who flocked to southern Italy in the early 11th century.
 The sons of a minor Norman lord, Tancred, the three settled in southern
 Italy and Sicily, which were at that time a patchwork of warring towns and
 principalities.  Serving at first as mercenaries, the brothers soon began
 to seize lands for themselves. They also recruited more knights for their
 wars and campaigns of plunder. In 1041 a Norman-Lombard force defeated a
 Byzantine army near Melfi. In a still greater challenge, Pope Leo IX led a
 combined force of local levies, Germans (Lombards), and others against the
 Normans at Civitate in 1053. The Normans again scored an impressive
 victory. A Hauteville, Robert Guiscard (c. 1015-85), a younger half
 brother of the earlier Hautevilles, distinguished himself and became a
 leader in the Norman conquests. Gradually but methodically, he drove the
 Byzantine forces from southern Italy.  He made peace with Pope Nicholas II
 in 1059.  Robert and his brother, Roger (1031-1101), then invaded
 Muslim-held Sicily.  Roger became Roger I, ruler of Sicily. The Norman
 conquests continued until, with the fall of Bari in 1071, the last
 Byzantine forces had been driven from the Italian boot. Palermo in Sicily,
 with its great port, fell in 1072. At one time the Normans attacked the
 Byzantine Empire itself but had to withdraw because of revolts in Italy.
 Still allies of the papacy, the Norman knights became crusaders in the
 closing years of the 11th century. Tancred (c.  1075-1112), a Hauteville,
 joined the First Crusade in 1096 and gained fame as a military leader. By
 1154 Roger II (1095-1154), the youngest living son of Roger I, had
 extended his kingdom throughout all of southern Italy and Sicily and into
 Greece, had taken control of part of North Africa, and had made his court
 at Palermo an important centre of learning and culture. Under later
 rulers, the Hauteville dynasty gradually faded. In 1194 King Henry VI of
 Germany invaded Sicily. Taking complete control of the Norman kingdom,
 Henry put German officials into key administrative posts.

   "Hauteville, HOUSE OF" Britannica Online. 
   <http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/262/22.html> 
   [Accessed 11 May 1998].
===========================================================================
Arval d'Espas Nord                                         mittle at panix.com

From: Andrew Tye <atye at efn.org>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Norman Persona
Date: Mon, 11 May 1998 14:59:43 -0700
Organization: Oregon Public Networking

On Mon, 11 May 1998, Larry Johnson wrote:
> Elijah Morning Star Elder wrote:
> 
> > I was thinking of trying a Norman Persona for a return to the Society.
> > Does anyone know anything about or any good sources for Sicilian Normans
> > Circa 1066?  I mainly am interested in naming practices and Normanized
> > Sicilian placenames.
> >
> > -ee
> 
>   Normans come from the coast of France, Normandy.  I don't think there were
> any Norman Sicilians.  Norman is a contraction of Norsemen, and are
(snippage)

Ivar here,

A reasonable jumping-off point for looking into the history of Norman
Sicily would be David Nicolle's short book entitled _The Normans_.  This
is #9 in Osprey Publications' Elite series.  (Note to Mr. Elder:  Check at
Eugene Toy & Hobby downtown on E. 11th.)

The book is a decent capsule history of the Normans beginning with their
establishment in Normandy; continuing through their conquest and/or
settlement into England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland; and spends the bulk
of its remainder describing their adventures in Italy, Sicily, and The
Levant.  (This is not too suprising as Dr. Nicolle is a Mediterranianist.)

According to the chapter on Italy and Sicily,  Norman mercenaries began
showing up in Italy in 1017 but it wasn't until 1041 that they began
conquering territory in their own right under Robert Guiscard.  By 1071,
Normans controlled most of the southern Italian peninsula and effectivly
ended Byzantine Greek rule there.
 
The Norman invasion of Sicily began in 1080 and was completed in 1091.
Norman Sicily was unified as a single state in 1127 and became a
recognized kingdom in 1030.  After this, the Mediterranian Norman States
began to take a more active part in affairs throughout the Med. and the
Middle East.

I hope this is of some help.  Dr. Nicolles provides a bibliography that
might lead you to more detailed information regarding Sicilian Norman
place names and naming practices.

Ivar Hakonarson
Adiantum, An Tir.

From: lebatarde at aol.com (LeBatarde)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Norman Persona
Date: 12 May 1998 11:40:37 GMT

mittle at panix.com (Arval d'Espas Nord) writes:
>> Normans come from the coast of France, Normandy.  I don't think there were
>> any Norman Sicilians.  
>
>Sicily was conquered by Norman adventurers in the 11th century.

If I may suggest, get a copy of The Other Conquest, by John Julius Norwich, 
Published by Harper & Row. 1967. Library of Congress Catalog Card #67-22506.

It was also published in England under the title The Normans in the South
1016-1130.

I think you will find this an excellent source, and a great place to start. 

  jehan

From: "Steven Maynard" <s.maynard at bigpond.com>
To: <stefan at texas.net>
Subject: The Normans
Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2000 20:31:59 +1000

Greetings my lord Stefan,

     I'm not sure but I think it was you
who replied to my request about information on the Normans to Rialto asking
that if I came across any to let you know well I found this great book all
about the history of the Normans in Sicily. It's called "The Normans in
Sicily" by John Julius Norwich. It's published in Peguin Paperback. ISBN
0-14-015212-1. It's a very coprehensive history of the Sicilian Kingdom and
gives a great insight into the Normans.

Wiulliam Castille
MKA Steve Maynard.

From: chimericalgirl at home.com (StrangeGirl)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Braid casings
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 19:48:59 GMT

"JE Anderson" <eirika at telusplanet.net> shouted over the general babble
in a vain attempt to be heard:

>Greetings,
>Not my area of expertise - but have you checked out extant statuary?
>Funerary statues and architectural staues (columns) of the time period. I'm
>pretty sure I recal seeing braid cases on ladies in that art type.  I could
>be wrong though - just a thought.

All the Norman ladies I have been able to find in statuary (and there
really are not that many extant ones, as most statuarey represented
men and some data comes from 200-year-old drawings of statuary that
has since been destroyed or otherwise lost and so have to be
considered tertiary sources) have one of the three following types of
headdress:

1} what appear to be ordinary three-strand braids, sometimes with an
apparent ribbon or ribbons braided in and then used to bind the ends.
Sometimes topped with a veil and/or crown.

2} What appears to be a two-strand hairdressing, which is bound into a
'braid' by the use of a ribbon, leaving largish portions (what would
be a range form about 2" to less than 1/2" graduated down the length
of the braid) of hair showing, in one of two methods. Sometimes topped
with a veil and/or crown.

       Possible method one: two ends of a ribbon which is presumably
       looped around the hair near the top and then woven around the two
       sections of hair alternately (technically a four-strand braid),
       and the loose ends more tightly bound off by wrapping both ends
       around the hair leaving no hair showing and tying somehow or
       sewing down.

       Possible method two: one end of a ribbon which is presumably
       passed through or around the head somehow and then woven around
       the two sections of hair alternately (technically a three-strand
       braid with a differing visible structure due to the different
       proportions of the various elements), and the loose ends more
       tightly bound off with no hair showing, using the single end of
       the ribbon and a method similar to modern hair wraps.

I have used both of these methods with some success to emulate the
appearance of the statues' 'two-strand' braids. It is possible that
these are depictions of ladies using false hair that is bound onto the
head with ribbons, but there is no way to be certian without building
a time-machine.

3} Loose or no visible deliberate hair arrangement (hidden except for
hairline at front of head), topped with a veil and/or crown.

This is corroborated by everything I have been able to find in
manuscript illustrations, wall paintings, tapestry and other textile
depictions. Braid casings would probably have been made, if they
existed, of a decorative fabric that would have been happily depicted
as such in bright or symbolic colours by the various visual artists. I
have not yet seen any in my researches into the dress of the period.
Also, I have begun to read up on romantic poetry of the era and have
not found any written references to such accoutrements of dress in the
translations I  have read (not reading Norman French at all and Latin
very little).

Wish I could say I /had/ found something, buyt I haven't :(

False hair seems to be the way to go.

Margery La A
-*-*- Stepford Goth & Rare Human Squeaky Toy -*-*-
"Just imagine setting them on fire and watching them
running around screaming. That's what keeps me going."
           {*reply to the from address*}

From: chimericalgirl at home.com (StrangeGirl)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Braid casings
Organization: The Corner of my Desk
Date: Tue, 22 May 2001 17:30:58 GMT

marianneperdomo at netscape.net (Marianne Perdomo  Leonor) shouted over
the general babble in a vain attempt to be heard:

>It's not my area of expertise at all but I wonder if someone got 
>confused with later styles that did use cases and the re-drawn books 
>just perpetuated the myth. Certainly braid casings are used in 15th
>c. Spain (and Italy, too, I think). They are usually white with 
>contrasting ribbons.
 
Sounds quite likely. Norris liked to conflate things. Or depend
heavily on someone else's conflations (Voillet-le-duc...), even when
they were contrary to all logic.

>Nice summary of 12th c. hairdo's, BTW! :) Thanks!

You are welcome! It doesn't cover the three or four main styles of
veil-wearing, but I imagine you are pretty familiar with those. Here
are my main sources for the photographs I studied:

Statuary examples:

Chartres Cathedral, Robert Branner, editor. 
(Norton Critical Studies in Art History)ISBN 0 393 09851 6
Out of print, my copy was purchased used. Probably available in larger
libraries.
note: This is primarily  focused on Chartres, but does cover some of
the other churches in this style for the purpose of comparison. Since
it looks at /all/ of the works in Chartres, it covers the 12th through
14th centuries.

Sculptors of the West Portals of Chartres Cathedral, Whitney S.
Stoddard. (also published by Norton) ISBN 0-393-30043-9
Again, out of print, my copy purchased used. 
Note: This focuses on the sculptural style and era of the West Portals
of Chartres and has plates of numerous related carvings, including
Monfaucon's drawings of statuary that is now lost of badly damaged.
Since it is an attempt to track the work of the various scupltors in
this era by their styles, it has one of the best combinations of text
and plates for the purpose of costume research using these works. Some
comparisons between statuary and illumination styles are made and
illustrated with examples, which is helpful to us in trying to
interpret what's /really/ going on in both.

Illumination, textile, and other visual art examples:

Dress in the Middle Ages, Franciose Pipponnier and Perrine Mane.
(Yale University Press) hardcover ed, ISBN 0-300-06906-5
Note: This is included because it's the onlybook I have ever seen a
photo of the Chelles Reliquary (p 10, fig 3), apparently originally
not a religious item, as the subject amtter isn't religious in any
way. It shows a scene of a knight and a lady in a garden(?) he with a
hawk and she with a small dog or cat on a leash. The embrodery is
crude, but it does show the lady's braids, which seem to have been
carefully stitched to depict wrappings. The text is also fascinating,
but really doesn't seem to have much to offer us in this period.

The Pictorial Arts of the West 800-1200, C.R. Dodwell. 
(Yale University Press) ISBN 0-300-06493-4
Note: A fantastic resource for those of us who work in this period.
Organized by place, with dates given where known. All kinds of sources
not easily available elsewhere, reproduced beautifully. The only gripe
I have is that I wish there was some way to have fullsized, color
images of all the textiles given, which includes two gorgeous,
embroidered cloaks. 

Also, hunt around on museum and university websites. Sometimes there
are treasures to be found, like student photoessays of Chartres.

Probably more than you wanted to know :)

MArgery La A.
-*-*- Stepford Goth & Rare Human Squeaky Toy -*-*-
"Just imagine setting them on fire and watching them
running around screaming. That's what keeps me going."
           {*reply to the from address*}

Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2002 13:40:38 -0500
From: rmhowe <MMagnusM at bellsouth.net>
To: - Atlantia <atlantia at atlantia.sca.org>,
   - Authenticity List <authenticity at yahoogroups.com>,
   - Regia Anglorum - North America <list-regia-us at netword.com>,
   "- SCA-ARTS at listsvr.pca.net" <sca-arts at listsvr.pca.net>
Subject: Medieval Sculpture Book

This is a particularly magnificent book on medieval sculpture.
Kilpeck church is primarily English Norman Romanesque with lots of
animal heads, etc. One of the most beautifully detailed churches
in England. The book contains more than just Kilpeck though.
Very useful for details on all sorts of items.

The Herefordshire School of Sculpture and Kilpeck Church
F C Morgan, Illustrated by Photos (lots of them).

I got my copy through http://www.abebooks.com/
Ran me less than $15. Well worth it.
Or try http://www.bookfinder.com/
It's a fairly current book and should be in print.

Magnus

Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2004 10:19:40 -0500 (EST)
From: <jenne at fiedlerfamily.net>
Subject: [SCA-AS] Re: [SCALibrarians] Normans in Southern Europe (fwd)
To: Isabel Ximenez de Gauicin <KayeAdair at aol.com>
Cc: Arts and Sciences in the SCA <artssciences at lists.gallowglass.org>,
	EK_AnS at yahoogroups.com

Thought these sources might be useful to you all

-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2004 10:09:28 EST
From: SNSpies at aol.com
To: SCALibrarians at topica.com
Subject: Re: [SCALibrarians] Normans in Southern Europe

There are three sources that will give you information about what was being
worn in the Mediterranean basin during the Middle Ages:

Broadhurst, Roland.  "The Travels of Ibn Jubayr".  New Delhi: Goodword Books,
2001.
This is a first-hand account of a Spanish Muslim's 12th-century pilgrimage to
the Holy Cities of Islam; on the way, he spent some time in Sicily.  Of
interest to those looking for information on garb at that time is this statement:
"The Christian women of this city [Palermo] follow the fashion of Muslim
women, are fluent of speech, wrap their cloaks about them, and are veiled.  They to forth on this Feast Day [Christmas] dressed in robes of gold-embroidered
silk, wrapped in elegant cloaks, concealed by coloured veils, and shod in gilt
slippers. Thus they parade to their churches, or (rather) their dens ..., bearing all the adornments of Muslim women, including jewellery, henna on the
fingers, and perfumes."  pp. 349-350

Goitein, S.D.  "A Mediterranean Society".  Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1978.
This is an amazing 6-volume set of books that gives a vivid picture of the
Jewish communities (and hence, all the communities) of the Arab world in the
Mediterranean basin fromthe 9th to the 13th century based on documents found in
the Cairo Geniza.  Of particular note is Volume IV: Daily Life which has
massive details about clothing, jewellery, home furnishings, and food.  These six volumes are inexpensively available through on-line book sellers like Scholar's Bookshelf.

"Petrus de Ebulo: Liber ad honorem Augusti sive de rebus Siculis".
Sigmaringen: Jan Thorbecke Verlag, 1994.
This is the heavily-illuminated manuscript done at the end of the 12th
century in the royal scriptorium in Palermo.

Nancy

Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2006 06:44:47 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Oratio de Utensilibus was 12th century
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

> Now, speaking of the 12th century (1100-1200): has anybody seen 'De  
> utensilibus ad domum regendam pertinentibus' of Adam du Petit Pont/  
> Adam Parvipontanus?
> Serafina

There's a full title
	The Oratio de Utensilibus ad Domum Regendam Pertinentibus by Adam of
Balsham
Author(s): 	
	Patrizia Lendinara (/Lendinara, Patrizia/
Series Volume: 	
	Periodical: 	
	Anglo-Norman Studies 15
Pages: 	161-176
Publication Date: 1992

Johnnae

From: "willowdewisp at juno.com" <willowdewisp at juno.com>
Date: June 20, 2007 3:51:49 PM CDT
To: ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Ansteorra] persona Anglo-Saxon embroidery

Early period people did a lot of embroidery especially the Anglo Saxons. I read somewhere that the Normans really showed off the tunics they got from England and many of them desired Anglo-Saxon wives because of their skills with the needle.

This site give lots of info on embroidery, patterns and stitches.
http://needleprayse.webcon.net.au/research/anglo_saxon_handout.html

willow

<the end>

Edited by Mark S. Harris	Normans-msg	Page  of