 |
| Author wearing the surcoat |
This surcoat is patterned after those found in use in England, and most areas of Europe during the 110th and 12th Centuries, in Tournaments and on Crusade.[1] The style allows the wearer to freely move their legs while fighting, but more importantly, it allows the wearer to sit astride a horse. This is the manner in which I use the surcoat - while riding and competing in SCA Equestrian events. The use of Heraldic display on the surcoat was very common and frequently documented in manuscripts of the middle and later period of the Middle Ages. But during the early period, the surcoat was most commonly depicted as a single solid color. These were made of linen, as well as other fabrics.
The Bayeux Tapestry includes numerous depictions of a
garment split for riding. In this early
period, the garment was more a tunic, with sleeves and trim. In time, the sleeves would be dropped, to
ease fitting over armor. Some surcoats
are depicted with trim, while others do not have any at all.
 |
| Bayeux Tapestry |
Prawer's, The World of the Crusaders, notes that
by "the early 12th Century, fabric
coverings for armor, in the form of surcoats, appear in Europe. The surcoat ‑
a long flowing, sleeveless gown worn over the mail shirt .... As with
most clothing styles of the Middle Ages, contemporary depictions in art provide
most if not all the evidence since the clothing itself has long ago rotted away
and vanished." [2]
Prawer continues, theorizing that surcoats originated in the
Middle East. He bases this on the fact
that surcoats of this type are not seen prior to the time of the First
Crusade. He believes that the Saracens
had a longer tradition of a need to protect their armor from the heat of the
sun's rays. Originally, surcoats were made of
light weight material and were loose flowing like most Middle Eastern
clothes, such as the aba, kaftan,
etc.
Adrian J Boas'
book, Crusader Archaeology: The Material Culture of the Latin East,
contains detailed information about the use of surcoats by Crusaders, as well
as other equipment used by these warriors.
He notes that over "the
hauberk the knight wore a cloth covering called a surcoat, mainly intended to shield the armour from the sun's rays
which would otherwise heat it and make it uncomfortable for the wearer." [3] Keen in his work, Medieval Warfare: A
History, cites the use of the surcoat for the same reason.[4]
The Maciejowski Bible contains numerous depictions of
surcoats in use over armor. This work, also known as the Morgan Bible (The
Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, Ms M. 638) is a medieval manuscript that was created around 1240-1250 C.E. Its illuminations provide the researcher with good information on clothing and equipment in use during this period. These surcoats are all shown as consisting of one basic
color without design. It is this type of
surcoat I decided to make for this project.
 |
| Surcoats in the Mac. Bible |
 |
| Surcoat from the Morgan Bible |
Another manuscript, the Manesse Codex, also has numerous depictions of this style
of surcoat. This illuminated manuscript is also known as the Codex Manesse, or Große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift, was completed in
1304 and contains miniatures or portraits of 140 Minnesingers (German poet-musicians), who were also rulers and
warriors. This manuscript also serves as a
valuable source for researchers into the period.) [5]
The next blog article details the construction of the surcoat.
Endnotes:
1. Wolfgang Bruhn and Max Tilke. A Pictorial History
of Costume from Ancient Times to the Nineteenth Century: With Over 1900
Illustrated Costumes, Including 1000 in Full Color, (Courier Dover
Publications, 2004) Available on GoogleBooks at
<http://books.google.com/books?id=m_r1PXTTkkYC>. 22 (cites figure showing
Crusaders 1100‑1300, surcoats).
2. Joshua Prawer. The World of the Crusaders. (Quadrangle
Books, 1972).129, 237, 238.
3. Adrian J. Boas. Crusader Archaeology: The
Material Culture of the Latin East (Routledge, 1999) available on GoogleBooks at
<http://books.google.com/books?id=IKsJ‑aVmc1EC>. 173.
4. Maurice Hugh Keen. Medieval Warfare: A History. (London:
Oxford University Press, 1999.) Available online at Googlebooks,<
http://books.google.com/books?id=Sqtj4rioa9UC>, accessed 16 Feb 09.
5. The full collection can be viewed on the Website
maintained by the Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts (AEMMA), accessed
March 2010,
<:http://www.aemma.org/onlineResources/manesse/contents_body.htm>
Sources:
Barber , Richard & Juliet
Barker. Tournaments: Jousts, Chivalry and Pageants in the Middle Ages,
Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2000.
Boas, Adrian J. Crusader Archaeology: The Material
Culture of the Latin East.(Routledge, 1999) available on GoogleBooks at <http://books.google.com/books?id=IKsJ‑aVmc1EC>.
Bruhn, Wolfgang, and Max Tilke. A Pictorial History of Costume from Ancient
Times to the Nineteenth Century: With Over 1900 Illustrated Costumes, Including
1000 in Full Color, Courier Dover Publications, 2004, Available on GoogleBooks
at http://books.google.com/books?id=m_r1PXTTkkYC
Eve, George W. Decorative Heraldry: A Practical Handbook of
Its Artistic Treatment ( G. Bell & Sons, 1908, Original from the University
of California. Digitized Nov 29, 2007 on
GoogleBooks , available at and viewed 18 Feb 2009,
http://books.google.com/books?id=6MBHAAAAIAAJ.)
LaCroix, Paul and Walter Clifford Meller. The Medieval
Warrior. NY: CL Press/Book Creation, LLC, 2002.
Keen, Maurice Hugh. Medieval
Warfare: A History. London: Oxford University Press, 1999.Available online at
Googlebooks, <http://books.google.com/books?id=Sqtj4rioa9UC>, accessed 16
Feb 09.
Newman, Paul B. Daily Life in
the Middle Ages. McFarland, 2001.
Available on GoogleBooks at
<http://books.google.com/books?id=O8GKt_PPjr8C>.
Prawer, Joshua. The World of the Crusaders.
Quadrangle Books, 1972. Available on GoogleBooks, Original from the University
of Michigan, Digitized Jun 9, 2008, <http://books.google.com/books?id=KslmAAAAMAAJ&q=crusader+surcoat&dq=crusader+surcoat&pgis=1>.
Racinet, Auguste. "Le
Costume Historique" and Racinet, Auguste Full‑Color Pictorial History of
Western Costume: With 92 Plates Showing Over 950 Authentic Costumes from the Middle
Ages to 1800. Available from amazon.com,
<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/048625464X/thecostumersmani>
Website maintained by the Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts (AEMMA), accessed March 2010, <:http://www.aemma.org/onlineResources/manesse/contents_body.htm>
Website: Archaeological Sewing techniques, 5 Feb 2010, <http://heatherrosejones.com/archaeologicalsewing/index.html>
Website: Atlantian MOAS site (links), Jan 2009, <http://moas.atlantia.sca.org/wsnlinks/index.php?action=displaycat&catid=56>
Website: "Clothing and Appearance of the Pagan Anglo‑Saxons," 24 Jan 2010, <http://mahan.wonkwang.ac.kr/link/med/england/anglo‑saxon/culture/dress.html>
Website: Maciejowski Bible, Jan 2010, <http://www.keesn.nl/mac/mac_en.htm>
Website: Period stitches, Jan 2009, March 2010, <http://jauncourt.i8.com/stitches.htm>
( referenced information on running stitch, back stitch, and over‑stitched or over‑sewn, as well as Hem treatments including running, whip stitch)
Website: Period stitches and extant examples, March 2010, http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc‑carlson/cloth/stitches.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment