Life has been pretty crazy of late. I was promoted in to a new role that is much busier than my previous role, and my personal life has also become a bit more complex of late. Due to this, my ability to allocate time to working through translations from the Philip the Good clothing project has shrunk significantly. I don't want the project to completely halt, so I tested using the fiverr.com  service that was recommended to me to employ qualified freelance translators. I tried using auto-translation tools; however, there is far too much detail and nuance to make them a viable resource. I am spectacularly pleased with the translation service I received from https://www.fiverr.com/nsohmofor I highly recommend them, and I will employ again in the future. Hopefully when life slows down a bit, I can get back to working through my own translations.

I hope you find this latest update informative and useful to understanding how furs were used in period

Hey everyone,

It's been almost two months since I've added new content to the site. I have been crazy busy both in the SCA running the reign of the current King and Queen as well as outside the SCA buying a new house, moving, starting a new job and vacation. I promise I won't be gone this long again.

I have added an awesome to new article by Tasha D. Kelly to the articles section of the website: The Tailoring of the Pourpoint of King Charles VI Revealed. While this garment is late 14th century, it provides incredibly valuable insight in to the construction and tailoring of garments from the 15th century as well. I found this to be incredibly valuable. I couldn't wait to share it

Check out the Articles section to read it

Thanks,

Chuck

No topic will polarize historical knitting enthusiasts quite like the topic of knitted hose pre-16th century. The vast majority of the people I have talked to in my past twenty-odd years in the SCA adamantly insist that knitted hose do not exist before the mid 16th century. After all, there are extant examples and various wardrobe accounts, including Elizabeth I's own inventory records and Eleanor of Toledo's extant stockings, that support this theory. There is little evidence that supports knitted hose preexisting this period, therefor hard lines are drawn. Even some of the more open-minded researchers become intractable on this topic.

I don't agree, and I never have. I likely never will...and that's OK. In my gut I believe that knitted stockings and hose existed. I certainly don't believe the majority of these garments were knitted, but I do think there was a subset - especially in the upper echelons of society that had access to knitted hosiery in the 15th century as luxury items.

Katherine Barich , author of Drei Schnittenbucher, has been working with me on several translation projects of French/Burgundian inventories of the 15th century for The Brazen Burgundian. In the process of researching, she found the following:

This is meaningful,  because this would be the first reference I have seen of knitted chauses/hosen in pre-16th century Europe. We know knitted stockings/socks existed in Egypt between the 11th and 14th century, but not in Europe.

. One possibility is that there was a miss in the translation, perhaps "chausses faites à l'esguille"

is not a reference to knitted hosen - it's definitely a possibility. It could also be referring to f naalbinding.

August Mortier maintains in Le Tricot et Le Industrie de la Bonneteerie that knitted caps could have existed this early and definitely existed by 1467, as there is an

extent hat dating from this period. So, suppositionally:  if hats, why not more?

Searching the term " chausses faites à l'esguille" yielded a surprising result for Ms. Barich from Gay's Glossaire Archeologique de moyen age et de la Renaissance vol 1.

Is this 100% proof positive that knitted hose existed? No, I don't think so; however, it does continue to support my thought that hosiery, especially those of the the wealthiest of the wealthy COULD have been knitted. I expect many will disagree, some won't...and that's OK, too. It's hard to prove your "gut" in these instances, especially when we have such a narrow lens to examine pre 16th century life.

C

Here is a link that shows more examples of extant knitted objects from the pre-1600 period: Medieval Knitting Notes

Historically I have not been much of a clothing process blogger; however, I am looking to change that in the future. I do however have a bunch of clothing galleries that you can peruse HERE

I decided that I wanted to completely overhaul  my personal website and turn it in to a resource for those, who like me, love to research 15th century Burgundy ...and by extension France. I am partnering with some great people to assist in translations and as well as compiling all the information I have on tutorials, research, articles, links, etc. I hope that it is well received.