Photos from the Medieval Week: Sunday to Tuesday.

 This was my first medival week on Gotland since 2016, when I was over for three days. My last whole medieval week was in 2010. I used to go (almost) every year between 1993 and 2010, and we always camped. And often brought our children. So this was a very different week: The first time I stayed at a B&B, The first time since 2003 (except for those three days in 2016) without children. They are now 30 and 21, so they have their own lives.

I had a marvellous time. I have not yet decided if I miss camping at Visby. I can camp at Double Wars, which doesn't require bringing a car and trailer on a ferry. There is also much less stuff to take care of afterwards. I have washed the linens, spot cleaned or hand washed the wool and silk gowns, cleaned the shoes and greased them. No big tent to dry,

Anyway: Photos!

Sunday: Arrival by plane, and getting to the B&B. Took a walk down to the market, where I met Hans Gunnar from Eikthyrnir , got a nice  beer, and bought some seriously pretty shoes. With a rubber sole attached so I won't slip on the cobblestones and die. Or at least hurt myself.

Wearing my 13th century wool cotte, that I made in 2004. And have worn at practically every camping event since then. 

Look at the pretty fringe that I sewed to the bottom of the new striped gown. And the sexy red shoes. The hose are my very patched linen hose from 2005. Also used A LOT. I might have to make new ones, because they are falling to pieces.

Early bed time, because I had fallen asleep at 1 am that morning, and woken up at 3 am.

Monday: Sara and I went to the market. Which is quite fabulous. Some not so period trinkets and fantasy clothing, but also awesome things like fabrics from Historiska Rum, The Historical Fabric Store, Medeltidsmode, and Korps/Ravencraft. The two former are all about reproduction fabrics, while the two latter are cheaper, and you can still find really good stuff. And reproduction pottery from Krohns Krukmakeri etc etc. There were sellers of plantdyed fabric and yarn, of armour, of musical instruments, of black smith work, and of many other things. And entertainment. This is Arkadia.

I wore the striped gown, and Sara took a photo of me in the botanical garden.

The bwlt is tied high, early 14th century Italian style, and the knitted cap is also Italian from this period. I made a post with both documentation for the style, and a knitting pattern. it is here.

Hollyhocks.

Then Sara and I went to watch what turned out to be one of the absolute highlights of the week: "Sveriges medeltida landskapslagar - the musical". Yes. It is a musical about the Swedish medieval county laws. Yes, it is fabulous. 

* Note: If you for some reason have a need to read the Nordic medieval laws, but don't read the Scandinavian languages, there is a quite new series of scholarly translations published by Routledge. You can probably access them through a university library, at least through ILL. My old supervisor Prof. Thomas Lindkvist did the one on the oldest Swedish one: The Västgöta law.

After dinner made by Sara she had a lie down, and I went swimming in the sea, and for an evening walk.

Tuesday: Tuesday meant mimosa breakfast at Hans Gunnar's market tent. There were lots of us, both from the SCA, and other people. A great time was had.

This was before the market opened, so we could have our orange juice and bubbly bottles on the table.

I wore my printed wool gown from the early 14th century.

And afterwards I bought three metres of striped wool from Historiska Rum (link above)  that I have lusted after for months. It might have been the mimosa, but I am happy anyway.

Then I went to a three hour workshop in high medieval music ( I sing, I don't play anything well enough for this) with dr Karin Lagergren and Gustav Näsman Olai , who also plays in the medieval ensemble "Medeltidsbandet Själ". It was so much fun. I really miss singing medieval and renaissance music. Of course the workshop was held in a medieval building.

Then we had dinner, and it was evening, and I went swimming and walking again. It was windy and fun waves.

Here I am wearing my handspun, handwoven cotton dress. It ought to be a half linen/half cotton weave, but I couldn't get both that and handspun and hand woven. It is an Italian style from c 1300, where half cottons was used a lot for lower class clothing. You can read about the dress here. Because, if you didn't know this already: I rarely make anything without documenting the shit out of it.

Wednesday and Thursday will be the next post.

A striped wool cotte

 As mentioned in my previous post I am making a wool outfit based on the obnoxiously striped ensembles in the Cocharelli treatise on vices.

I was initially planning to make both the cotte; the undertunic, with vertical stripes. But I changed my mind because horisontal stripes are much more common in the 13th and 14th centuries, which would make it much more versatile, since I could wear it on its own. And looking at the image source I noticed that the only thing you can see of the undergown (at least when not moving, since it's split at the sides, front and back) is the sleeves. I might regret this later, but I don't think so. 

And now I've got a new, pretty dress for the Medieval week on Gotland, which starts this Saturday. This is my first visit since 2016, where I went for three days and stayed with my friend Renike, who lives there. This year I am going for a whole week, and staying in a hostel with my friend Sara,

I will make a proper page for the outfit when the whole is finished later this autumn. I will even have fixed my hair for photos then ;) Though it isn't that uncommon to see women with loose hair udner veils in the 1330s.

Another Cocharelli inspired insanity

 This a leaf from the Cocharelli treaties of Vices, an illumination from  1330-1340 Genoa, which has brought me inspiration at least since 2018. It is now in the Cleveland Museum of Art.

In fact, I have written more than a couple of blog posts about it, you find them through the tag cocharelli project. I have also made two outfits inspired by the image, and I want to make them all.

Striped brocade outfit

Post about the blue outfit.

In that post, from 2022,  I stated that the white outfit was next on my list. Unless I found the perfect brocades.

Well, I haven't found it, and I haven't solved the problem of the bleeding gold trim (and I might have used up the cotton muslin that I had in mind when I wrote that). So I am going a little sideways, by making a dress more inspired, than a reproduction. It is also from a thin wool, whch suits the Swedish climate well.

But the stripes are obnoxious enough.

I will, of course, start with the cotte, which won't have the seam over the bust.

A Venetian gown from the middle of the 16th century

 I made this to wear to the Barony of Gotvik's investiture (SCA) in March, when my friends Alfhild and Mattis stepped up as baroness and baron. She is mostly doing 16th century, and I wanted to match. 

 Due to unforseen circumstances I ended up working in the kitchen instead, so I never got to wear it.

And then things happened, and Double Wars, and more things, so I never took any photos of it. 

But today hubby and I went out to the yard outside our block of flats and snapped some. 

My inspiration was images like this from the middle of the 16th century Venice.

There may even be a page about it later, when I am out of the madness of grading that always comes with the end of the semester.

The Tale of the Mantle - finished!

 Yes!

My one year (or five, depending on if you count the four years when I didn't work on it) project of making first a cloak inspired by a description in the 13th century Möttuls saga, a translation of the French romance Le cort mantel, and then a matching kirtle and surcoat, is finished!

Read all about it here, on its long and detailed page.!

Image sources for matching tunic, surcoat and cloak

 While I have written about the written sources for matching sets of cloting (see previous post) I haven't relly shown any period art showing them.

Marching tunic/cotte/kirtle and surcoat are easy to find, especially in Italian 13th and early 14th century sources, but with a matching cloak too is a little more complicated. One reason for this is that it became less common to depict people wearing cloaks as teh 14th century progressed. While written sources show that they were still in use, in art they more and more became shown as ceremonial garments.In other cases you just don't see if the woman is wearing both a cotte and a surcoat.

In some of these you have to really look closely to see the cloak, since it appears to fastened at the edge of the shoulders.

This is not a reasearch post, just a few pictures that I have. When the whole set is finished there will be proper documentation.

Giotto di Bondone: Scrovegni Chapel 1304-1306

Pietro Lorenzetto: St. Catherine and St. Agatha c 1315. Only St. Catherine has the full combination, but St. Agatha has some rather impressive buttons.

Simone Martini: St. Elisabeth and St. Margaret 1318

Simone Martini: Maestà 1315-16

St. Ursula's companions in the church of San Orsola, Vigo de Cadore 

A couple of Virtues, by Taddeo Gaddi 1328-30

And a Madonna, by Taddeo Gaddi, from 1334. Here the Madonna has pulled her cloak over her head, something that might have been done in real life, especially when it rained, but above all was a convention in depictions of the Madonna.

Bernardo Daddi: St. Margaret and St. Agnes ca 1337-39

Bernardo Daddi: St Catherine.

Bernardo Daddi: St Catherine 1345-50

Ambrogio Lorenzetti: Maestà 1335-38. Note the fichets (pocket slits) on the surcoat.

Maso di Banco. Coronation of the Virgin 1335-40

Antother Coronation of the Virgin by Maso di Banco

Italian Painter c. 1365

Spinello Aretino: St Catherine, frescoes in the Bagno a Ripoli, second half of the 14th century

Another Italian late 13th-early 14th century gown

I found this blue wool at a charity shop this winter. It hibernated a while in my wool cupboard, before I could make up my mind about what to make from it. 

But in the end: who doesn't need another (very) high waisted Italian gown from c. 1300? (Read more about them here)

This is a very simple one, with no decorations. It is all hand sewn, and due to fabric limitations it also has some interesting pieceing in the bodice and one sleeve. Haven't worn it for an event yet, but maybe this wekeend, for St. Egon's Feast.