Sideless Surcote, Cote& Headwear

Dame Claire TønnesdtrImperial Crown War 2008

The entry is a 13th to 14th century sideless surcote, a ladies “cote” or gown, and a silk veil, fillet and barbette

Queen Blanche of

Castille with her

attendants

Shows Cotte (gown) and

veil.

(Miniature, French 13th

C. Arsenal, Paris

MSA5B.L)

The Codex Manesse, Manesse Codex, or Große Heidelberger Liederhandschrift is an illuminated manuscript in codex form copied and illustrated between ca. 1304 when the main part was completed, and ca 1340 with the addenda; the codex was produced in Zürich at the request of the Manesse family.

Sideless SurcoteSideless Surcotes were a common garment of the 13th century, worn by both men and women. Sleeveless tunics or surcoats (from the French "sur le cote", i.e. over the cotehardie) were worn by both sexes as early as the 12th century, but with the return of crusaders from the Holy Land the style became very popular.  The armholes deepened to the waist, then (particularly on woman's surcoats) to the hip, earning the name "sideless surcoats"Those worn by women over very tight cotehardies, roused the ire of the church because their revealing cut was considered too seductive -the clergy dubbed these "the Gates of Hell". Also known as “pellotes” they were seen across Europe and made from a variety of fabrics, both luxurious and simple. The fabric I used for my Sideless Surcote is a heavy loosely woven cotton.

Cotton as a fabric source has been used for centuries. The Moors introduced cotton into Spain in the 10th Century and by the 13th Century cotton manufacturing was flourishing in Barcelona. The Venetians in 1125 were the first to send merchants and boats to parts of the Levant to start a trade in finished cotton cloths, with an eye to purchase raw cotton for production and sale in Italy to all parts of Europe.The variety of cotton called Gossypium herbaceum, was a bush-plant, needing replanting every year, and produced a long, superior cotton fiber. The fibers, on average were 0.5-2.5" in length, and could be spun very fine. The majority of cotton imported into Europe during the Medieval and Renaissance period was of Herbaceum variety. In Medieval times, cotton was often incorrectly identified as a type of wool by Europeans. It had been described by Theophrastus (306 B.C.), the disciple of Aristotle, as a wool-bearing tree with a pod the size of a spring apple, and leaves like those of the black mulberry. To further complicate matters, John Mandeville (pseudonym), in 1350, wrote an account of seeing Scythian Lambs: "There grew there India a wonderful tree which bore tiny lambs on the endes of its branches. Thesebranches were so pliable that they bent down to allow thelambs to feed when they are hungrie". They reasoned that the material was wool - a fabric they did know. Since wool came from sheep, the plant was some kind of animal/plant. They thought that the puffs of cotton were tiny sheep attached to the plant by their navel. It is said that the plant bent to let the sheep graze on the grass beneath it, and that when all the grass was gone; the sheep dropped from the plant and ran off, the tree dying. Late Medieval authors located the tree-lamb in the region of Tatary beyond the Volga (Mongolia). This book, originally written in French, was very popular and was translated into most European languages. The blending of these 2 "facts" was largely responsible for the medieval understanding of cotton.

The spread of cotton cloth consumption was rapid. Cotton was a relatively inexpensive fiber, and was incorporated into many weaves with other fibers to reduce the cost of the finished cloth. It was mixed with every conceivable fiber, flax, wool, silk, camel hair, and also with itself. There were several different grades of cotton, based on area of cultivation. The best was East Indian cotton, using only herbaceum cotton with

Woman in a barbette and fillet, sideless surcoat, gown and mantle.From the Sketchbook of Villard de Honnecourt (about 1230)

MS. 19093 French Collection, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (No. 1104 Library of Saint-Germain-des Prés until c.1800)

Medieval image of a “Scythian Lamb Bush by John Mandeville 1350:

very fine threads in premium weaves; Arab cotton, using both Herbaceum and Arboreum for both local and export trade; and Italian cotton, at first using Arboreum, making heavy cloths with thick weaves, and then with Herbaceum in Late Period..

The particular loose weave fabric I have chosen is very reminiscent of a hand-woven fabric.The horizontal frame loom, which appeared in Europe in the 13th century, has a stout, box-like frame that stretched the warp horizontally so that the weaver could work more easily. To this was added a treadle system that allowed the mechanization of lifting and lowering alternate warp threads. This allowed very plain cloth to be woven. The addition of heddles and treadles meant various combinations of warp threads could be lifted, giving rise to simple patterns, diamonds, twills and herring-bones.

The construction of my sideless surcote was rather simple; the sides have two gores each (from the side cuts) which is a typical construction technique from this period and the front and back panels have been split and gores inserted. This type of treatment can be seen in extant clothing examples such as this one, below:

The Söderkoping Tunic

“This tunic was found in excavations in Söderköping. It has been dated to the time before 1242, and is sewn from a 2/1 twill which is now dark brown. It was originally red and blue. It has a shoulder seam, two gores front and back, and two on either side. “(Bockstensmannen och hans dräkt, Margareta Nockert)

My garment was machine sewn for the most part, using poly-cotton thread; however the facings around the side openings and neckline, as well as the hem were all done by hand using a hemstitch as shown below. Before hemming I hung the garment up so that the loose weave could hang out. Often a garment will “grow’ longer as its own weight creates pull on the weave. This was the case in this garment, but to what extent I was initially unaware, while wearing the garment for my knighting, the hem length continued to “grow” at the bottom of the gores. By the end of the day the garment was 8 inches longer than when I put it on. I had to take out the entire hem again, re-cut the line of the bottom on the garment and re-hem once more. I used a “herringbone” stitch for the bottom hem as this provides a bit of elasticity and movement, a desirable trait in a loose weave and a circular hem. The garment is lined with a polyester “poie de seau” (French for “skin of silk”) which is a substitution for a true silk lining. The garment is quite heavy; it probably weighs about 4 lbs.

Hemstitch of (double-turned edge)

Medieval: Linen shirt from 11th century. Hem on single layer: double fold the edge to the inside and sew with an overcast (hem) stitch. (Fentz 1998, Seam I)

Medieval: The hems (sleeve and bottom) have a small, double-folded edge with hem stitch. [Jones 2001, St. Louis shirt, France]

Herringbone stitch of (single fold)

Medieval: Wool, single fold with herringbone stitch. [Hägg 1984, Hedeby (northern Germany), (5)]

Linings and Facings Medieval: The garment (at least the upper part, if not the whole) was lined with linen, but the

details are not given and cannot entirely be retrieved from the photos. At the seam lines, the linen lining seems to be sewn to the main fabric (as well as the lining pieces being sewn to each other). At the edges, there appears to have been an additional linen tape facing, similar to #39. [Geijer et al. 1994]

Crowfoot, Elisabeth, Frances Pritchard & Kay Staniland. 1992. Textiles and Clothing c. 1150-1450. HMSO, London.

Linen Cote or GownThe word “cotte” itself derives from 'sur-cotte', i.e. 'above the cotte', which is the French word for the kirtle worn by both men and women. The linen cote is a very basic gown of rather simple construction, the sides have two gores each (from the side cuts) which is a typical construction technique from this period, a round neck andlong sleeves, tapered at the wrists. The cote was machine sewn, andpoly-cotton thread was used throughout. As this gown is always worn under an over gown of some kind, it has a machine hem

Linen of course is well known as being one of the most common Textiles used throughout the middle ages. Created from the flax pant, linen is a strong breathable fiber and can be woven into everything from a very fine lightweight fabric suitable for veils, to a heavy sturdy canvas. A flourishing linen industry arose in Europe. In Germany, this was to be found especially in Silesia, Westphalia, Alsace and Swabia.During the Middle Ages linen remained a clothing staple. Linen was often used for underclothes because it was light, cool, comfortable, and easier to wash than wool. Both men's and women's coats and cloaks were often woven of linen, and many women's dresses were made of linen woven at home on a loom.

Veil, Fillet & Barbette:

The picture is from the Konstanz-Weingartner LeiderhandschriftCirca 1265Shows gown and fitted sleeve

Women hunting rabbits with a ferret" from the Queen Mary PsalterYear 1316-1321

The wimple and veil of the twelfth century (still seen on nuns today) was still worn in the 13 th century, although mainly by older women and widows. Only ladies of nobility would have worn silk veils such as this. The veil is oval cut of silk gauze with a hand-stitched rolled hem. I used silk thread for the hemming. It can be worn width or length wise, on top of the head, or folded in half and worn under the chin. I wear it with a “fillet and barbette” as shown below. I have both a linen set of fillet and barbette as well as a silk one. Both of these sets are machine sewn using polyester thread. I prefer to wear the linen set to the silk set as the silk set “rustles” when you wear it making it a bit difficult to hear while wearing itThe fabric used in some extant veils is described as being in a balanced tabby weave (a simple over-one under-one weave with a similar number of threads per inch in the warp as in the weft),lightweight with a very open, transparent look. The threads are heavily twisted in the same direction for both warp and weft (Z-twist or clockwise), giving a light crepe (crinkled) effect. As appropriate for a veil of this type, I used a narrow rolled hem. The hem indicated in Crowfoot, Pritchard, and Staniland. Textiles and Clothing c. 1150 - 1450. - was described as less than 1mm deep and with 5-6 stitches per cm. My hem is approx. 2mm deep, but does have 5-6 stitches per cm.

"Textiles Cordage & raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate" By Penelope WaltonPublished by the York Archaeology Trust says:Types of seams are mentioned in "Medieval Textiles from the excavations in the old town of Oslo" Anne Kjellberg and yet another seam in "The Analyses of the Textiles from Evebo Eide,Gloppen Norway" by Inger Raknes Petersen.

HEMS The hem is the seam at the edge of a piece of cloth; how you sew the hem depends on how thick the cloth is. The rolled seam in figure 5 is only suitable for fabrics such as silk or very fine linen.

Bibliography:

From the Museum of London's "Medieval Finds From Excavations in London" series. Crowfoot, Pritchard, and Staniland. Textiles and Clothing c. 1150 - 1450. Norwich, UK: HMSO, 1992 says: Another form of hem particularly suited to fine silks is the rolled hem. This is less conspicuous than the double hem but demands more skill and manual dexterity as it cannot easily be pinned in place before sewing. The left hand rolls the raw edge and holds this in place whilst it is stitched by the right hand (Crowfoot, p. 158).

The Murthly Hours13th centuryFolio 162National Museum of ScotlandShows chin “barbette” and forehead “fillet”

Head of Adelheid c. 1260 Meissen Cathedral,Shows veil, barbette and fillet

Laver, James Costume & Fashion; A Concise History 1969 Thames & Hudson Publishers ISBN: 0-500-20190-0

Mazzaoui, Maureen Fennell The Italian Cotton Industry in the Later Middle Ages 1100-1600 Cambridge, Cambridge University Press (c) 1981 ISBN: 0521230950

Wescher, H. Cotton and Cotton Trade in the Middle Ages Ciba Review, No.6, Feb 1948, pp 2321-2360 (Now known as Ciba-Geigy) Basle, Switzerland. CIBA Limited. ISSN: 0578-2481

Lee, Henry The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary; A Curious Fable of the Cotton Plant. to Which is added A Sketch of the History of Cotton and the Cotton Trade.Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, London, 1887, p.11Original from the University of California

Folkard, Richard Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics: Embracing the Myths, Traditions, Superstitions, and Folk-lore of the Plant KingdomPublished by S. Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, 1884Original from Harvard University

Kohler, Carl. A History of Costume 1963 Dover Publications ISBN: 0-486-21030-8

Henshall, Audrey S. "Early Textiles Found in Scotland.  Pt. 1 - Locally Made." Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (86) 1951-2., p. 21

Payne, Blanche History of Costume 1965 Harper & Row

E. M. Carus-Wilson, Cloth and Clothing in Medieval Europe: Essays in Memory of Professor E. M. Carus-Wilson (Pasold Studies in Textile History, 2) Ashgate Publishing Company; (February 1984)

Crowfoot, Elizabeth; Pritchard, Francis; Staniland, KayMedieval Finds from Excavations in London, c. 1150-1450: Textiles & Clothing. HMSO, London, 1996

Egan, Geoff; Pritchard, FrancisMedieval Finds from Excavations in London, c. 1150-1450: Dress Accessories. HMSO, London, 1998

Walton, Penelope Textiles Cordage & raw fibre from 16-22 Coppergate" Published by the York Archaeology Trust London, 1989

Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th edition, vol 26 pp694 et. sq, Article by Alan Summerly Cole, C.B..

Bockstensmannen och hans dräkt, Margareta Nockert m.fl. Hallands länsmuseer, Halmstad och Varberg, 1997. Unam Tunicam Halwskipftan. Margareta Nockert. S:t Ragnhilds Gille. Årsbok. 1992.

Die Textilfunde aus dem Hafen von Haithabu. Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster. Hägg, Inga. 1984.

Regia Anglorium; Anglo Saxon, website, http://www.regia.org/textile1.htm