Wimples and Gorgets

The wimple and gorget were widely worn by women of good breeding throughout much of the Middle Ages. Eventually they were dropped for daily wear by the general populace but retained by nuns and older women. Women in Italy abandoned the veil considerably earlier than other parts of Europe and England in favour of elaborate braids and beading which might also utilise a small strip of gauzy veil around the ears. It was not uncommon, however, for a married woman to wear one if she chose. Effigies and paintings from the 13th century right through to the 15th century show women wearing wimples. Wimples were also usually worn by widows regardless of their age. The wimple encircles the entire head under the veil, whereas a gorget covers the neck alone and was usually draped upwards and tucked into either a head-dress or styled hair. The most modest way to wear a wimple was over the chin, not under it, as is generally supposed (see picture below). There were many ways to drape or pin cloth about the head, resulting in a wide variety of styles and fashions. As with veils, wimples and gorgets could be made from a variety of fabrics ranging from fine opaque linens to very fine silks. For the poorer woman, thick wool or linen was both a practical and warm option to provide protection from the elements, warmth in winter and protection from the sun in summer. Contemporary images and artifacts from the 14th century and earlier show that white was the overwhelmingly popular colour. One contempory writer, Robert Mannyng complained about saffron coloured kerchiefs and wimples, as they made it difficult for a man to tell if he was looking at a yellow wimple or yellowed skin, so it must be concluded that coloured veils and wimples were not entirely unknown. A law passed between 1162 and 1202, in the municipal statues of Arles, France, which forbade prostitutes to cover their hair with a veil lest they should be mistaken for a woman of good virtue and encouraged good women to snatch the veils from the heads of women of suspected ill-repute. Many Middle Eastern countries of the world today require that a woman's hair remain covered in public. Discussions with many liberated women in these Muslim countries show that they actively choose to continue to wear a veil as a show of modesty and decency and not as a symbol of oppression by the men of their society. It was only the Western society which discontinued the wearing of the veil and wimple. Thus, wearing a veil was seen as a sign of good breeding, no different than for our grandmothers who were firmly hatted, stockinged and gloved whenever they left the house.


1345 Madonna by Vitale de Bologna shows the gorget across the chin



Multiple styles of  wimples and gorgets (photo from Pinterest)

More about the coif

Today we use the word coif to mean a hairstyle. In the Middle Ages it was a bonnet. According to Rosalie Gilbert (http://rosaliegilbert.com),the coif was nearly universal, worn both during the day and at night,for both men and women. "The coif remained one of the few items of headwear which remained unchanged by virtue of its simple design. It is best described as a close-fitting linen bonnet or cap, usually tied under the chin. It was constantly used as a hair covering in bed, or under hats by the working classes and was the commonest daytime headwear worn by all classes of the community throughout Europe during the 13th century. Many early medieval illuminations show women wearing white coifs to hold their hear in place. Long after they were abandoned by women, men continued to wear the coif under other types of hat. Coifs were generally replaced by wimples and veils in the case of women. Coifs were made of fine or coarse linen, the only difference between those worn by the upper and lower classes was the material from which they were made. Upper classes naturally opted for luxury fabrics such as silk or finer linens. The finer examples were meant to be seen and not hidden under layers of other head dresses." Refer to the previous post picture of a musician with a coif.

Women's headdresses



For the most part, women in the Middle Ages did not let their hair go uncovered. Girls might let their long locks flow free, but that was considered too enticing to men for older girls and women. The nobility allowed the tresses to show for coronation and other ceremonies. Prostitutes were sometimes mandated to show their hair to distinguish them from modest, proper women. Most women braided long hair and covered the head with a coif. The coif, also worn by men, was a simple bowl-shaped piece of linen or cotton, often with strings to tie under the chin. It looked something like a baby bonnet. But, of course, the demands of beauty and fashion could not leave well enough alone. In Murder at the Leopard, we have a scene in which Ysabella and Angelica dress in their best clothes to impress Ferdinand. Angelica's long, dark hair is swept up on the back of her head and covered with a crispine. The crispine is a variation of a caul or coif. The crispine is a mesh net that slips over hair buns. These hairnets served dual purposes, holding hair back and dressing the hair up, as they were adorned with stone, pearls, precious gems or crystal beads. A somewhat later fashion divided the hair into two buns on each side of the head, Princess Leia like, and covered the buns with smaller hairnets called crispinettes. This was often accompanied by a band around the head holding a gauzy veil. More on other head coverings in the next post.

Detail of crispinette from rre-enactment costume

The crispinette with veil

Food that wiggles

If you haven't guessed by now, my attention to things medieval tends to wander across many facets of daily life. Here is another one: eels. I happened to see a nature show about eels the other day and immediately linked it to medieval food and the wide variety of seafood in Sicily. Eels are both salt and fresh water fish, with more than 800 species. Some are migratory, being born in the ocean and traveling inland in rivers and streams. These particular eels do not breed in fresh water so are often caught in mass quantity as they head back to the ocean using eels traps made of netting or wire. Eels are predators that eat other small fish and crustaceans. The European eel, now critically endangered, is a species that has been recorded at nearly 10 feet long and 350 pounds, although the modern version is smaller. They can live more than 80 years. Medieval castles, monasteries, and farms often raised their own eels in eel ponds as they did their own vegetables, flowers, and other animals. Eels are a tremendous source of protein and Vitamins A and E. They were served fresh, salted or smoked. During the later Middle Ages, eels somehow became associated with the spread of plague, and consumption dropped off. Current Italian cuisine especially favors eels from Valli di Comacchio, a swampy area along the Adriatic coast. Due to the decline in eel populations, present day eel meet is expensive. Some Maine fishermen are becoming millionaires by farming eels, sending the young ones to China's feed lots, and being sold at unheard of prices in Japan.


Moray eel




Medieval eeler



Conger eel, European eel

Louis XIV's shoes - a link

https://www.google.com/search?q=Louis+XIV+wardrobe+pictures&rls=com.microsoft:en-US:IE-Address&rlz=1I7MXGB_enUS583&tbm=isch&imgil=bjtwLIGBCDaWoM%253A%253Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fencrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com%252Fimages%253Fq%253Dtbn%253AANd9GcS2jCcAEp2T8qfxIXo6etZMDdtURUpT1Jvth8-AubhPoY-pxmcJ%253B1072%253B844%253BzuHakGNFrfrbzM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fbellathewestie.blogspot.com%25252F2010_07_01_archive.html&source=iu&usg=__NLgoMsNOpy5UX74DEKJ89Zq1jF0%3D&sa=X&ei=nSLEU9z6G8rlsATmsICoBw&ved=0CCsQ9QEwBQ&biw=1105&bih=605


I have no idea why this link is so long, but here's where I was ogling Louis' shoes - and other fabulous wardrobe accessories.

Louis XIV and his clothes - especially shoes!!

Now this is just a sidebar here but when I read the post of my co-author regarding Louis XIV's buttons and the incredible amount of money he spent just on buttons, well, I had to google Louis XIV's wardrobe.


As soon as it came up I forgot about his buttons - do definitely check out his shoes!  I would give anything to be walking around in some of those pumps, although they really don't go with mountain living, chainsawing, or the like ...

Drinking Water in the Middle Ages - Another Myth Exploded

From buttons to water - here's another interesting link exploding a common belief people have about the Middle Ages - that they didn't drink water! What about all those references to "watered wine" because few people drank straight wine. But also, cool water in the summertime? Especially in Sicily, where it's not only hot, but two hundred years of Arab occupation produced scores of irrigation and fountains. And let's not forget the need for water because of all the public baths. Yes, people, bathing in the areas that have known Roman occupation was frequent and every town of a fair size had a public bath. Palermo had many. Anyway, check out this terrific article on water at http://www.medievalists.net/2014/07/09/people-drink-water-middle-ages/