Saturday 14 November 2020

PGC2019: Challenge Complete

The (extended) Persona Gubbins Challenge has come to a close. Final entries were accepted up until midnight on October 31st.  


Some statistics about the Challenge entries

Number of individual entrants:     9
Most popular culture of entries:    Norse
Most popular century of entries:   16th
Most popular category:                 Food and Drink
Most popular single entry:            Games box


Artisan Recognition

Every artisan who accepted the challenge and shared their work was awarded a special token at Golden flight 2020.   

A pile of red glass beads, with multicoloured glass decorations


Those who completed three projects (from at least two distinct categories) received a small period sewing kit in recognition of their endeavours.  

Contents of a small period sewing kit (felt tower with 3 fine steel needles, linen thread on a wood spool, leather thread puller, thimble, beeswax, 4 pairs of hooks and eyes, and a thread cutter) photographed in an ornate frame


 Artisans who completed five projects (again from at least two distinct categories) were given a period spice kit as an additional token.

A spice kit including sugar, salt, cinnamon, anise, a nutmeg, pepper, cloves, a small amount of poudre forte, and a small spoon.

Some of our local Southron Gaard Laurels had generously offered to award small prizes or tokens to the entry of their choice.


We hope that this challenge has inspired you to explore items of material culture related to your persona, so that you are able to 'use' your persona more easily at events.
 


Sunday 1 November 2020

PGC2019: THL Joana de Bairros's 1520s Portuguese silk dress

Category: With silken coats, and caps, and golden rings, with ruffs, and cuffs, and farthingales, and things.  A garment your persona may have worn.

Purpose:  

I bought some beautiful red silk/wool blend and, as there are many red Portuguese dresses in the pictures of the 1520s, I thought that this was a good plan to keep up with the fashions!  I also wanted to try something in keeping with the St Auta altarpiece dresses.  I did not want to make one specific dress but incorporate a number of the features seen in this painting.


Martyrdom of St Ursula and the 11,000 Virgins, Master of St Auta

 Materials used
:

  • 7m silk/wool blend
  • Under 1m of cotton/linen canvas and white cotton
  • Shot green/grey/gold silk
  • Lots of gold and wine coloured trim
  • 2 rolls of gold embroidered trim
  • Metal eyelets
  • Cotton tape for hemming
  • Red cord for lacing 

Method:

 

While my other Portuguese dress has a kirtle underneath I wanted this dress to be worn alone for my personal comfort.  While many of the St Auta dresses appeared to open at the front, for aesthetic reasons I preferred to have the openings at the side back which can be seen in extant Italian gowns, especially Eleanor of Toledo’s.  The Portuguese portrait of Queen Catherine as St Catherine is also clearly laced at the back and this dates from the late 1520s/early 1530s.

 

I used the pattern for my previous dress and cut out two front and back bodice pieces out of the cotton canvas as interlining. I then cut out the bodice in a piece of thin cotton batting.  I zigzaged these three pieces together to make an inner support layer. 

 

I cut out a bodice with seam allowance from the red silk and whip stitched this by hand over the canvas layer.  I then whip stitched the cotton lining in place.

 

Angus put the eyelets in for me but I then couched over them by hand so they blended into the silk and for extra reinforcement.

 

I sewed the trim around the neckline.  This trim placement can clearly be seen on the back of the beheaded lady in the red dress at the bottom of the St Auta altarpiece and on Queen Catherine’s dress.  The trim matched the colour of the silk perfectly and while I can’t say it is specifically Portuguese it looks fabulous. 

 

The skirt is four gored panels which are machine sewed together.  This is then box pleated (by hand) to the bodice which is consistent with the Queen Catherine dress. I hemmed the skirt by machining wide cotton bias tape to the bottom. I then folded this inside the skirt and machined in place.  I machined the trim on top of this on the outside of the skirt.  This was because I was running short on time and even as I write this I have had to check multiple times how it was put together so it is not obvious.

 

I wanted to do sleeves like those on one of the St Auta side panels

 


These are fairly full with the opening down the back of the arm secured with ties. It is then tied
on to the bodice.  I was fascinated that these sleeves and one in the centre of the 11000 Virgins painting appear to have a turned back cuff that has a wide fancy trim on it.  The sleeves also appear to be lined in a different colour to the rest of the dress.
 

I found a beautiful gold/grey/green silk in my stash which worked beautifully with the silk and trim so I lined the sleeves in that.  

On the turned back cuff I attached some wide gold-work style trim I found at Spotlight and attached the red/gold trim down the opening of the sleeves and used it on the bodice as loops to tie the sleeves to.
 

I cut a two inch strip out of the sleeve lining silk and then, by hand, whip stitched it closed.  I cut this into lengths and attached an aglet to each end of these lengths to make ties.  These I attached down the length of the sleeve opening when I attached the lining. I tied them together to make the sleeves.  I made some others as ties at the top of the sleeve so it could be attached to the bodice.
 

I made a sash out of the same shot silk and put some of the wide trim (from the sleeve cuff) on the ends of it and added gold fringing. 

 

Verdict:

I love this dress and enjoyed wearing it to the Spring Feast at Gildenwick.  I think in the next version I will alter the cut of the sleeves slightly so the opening is more visible at the back of my arm and the cuff is more parallel to my wrist.  I am enjoying my forays into Portuguese clothing as it is pretty and comfy!  It worked well with my new Portuguese hat too!


 

Useful links: 

 

PGC2019: THL Joana de Bairros' Portuguese Hat

Category: With scarfs, and fans, and double change of bravery, With amber bracelets, beads, and all this knavery.  An accessory your persona may have owned, made, used, or gifted.

 


 Purpose:

There are many hats in the Portuguese paintings of the 1520s, in particular they are seen all over the St Auta Altarpiece where many of the female figures are wearing a relation of  a flat cap.  The hat I particularly liked was in Gregorio Lopes’s Visitation painting as it was well blinged up!  I had already made a version of the pink dress for the Baronial A&S Championship and made a version of the hat but it wasn’t quite right so I wanted to make one that was more in keeping with the portrait.  I spent a long time staring at the image to get a sense of what was happening with this hat and talked to Mistresses Isabel Maria and Cristia about it.  The consensus was that it was a kind of split brim arrangement that was sewed up on to the side of the hat.  Much paper was used to get a sense of how it worked.

 


Materials used:

  • A $2 shop pirate hat.  By taking the pirate fabric off it I was left with a ‘felt’ like base
  • Black velvet to cover the hat and make the folds on the hat.  I picked velvet as many of the St Auta hats look like they are made from velvet as does the one in the image above.  
  • Pearl and gold buttons - I managed to get the same design in two different sizes.  While there aren’t pearls on the hat in the image I like them and the buttons were the most appropriate looking ones I found
  • Pearl and gold bead aglets that I made myself using some oval shaped gold beads, plastic pearls and earring pins.  I decided to interpret the spiky bits on the hat as aglets as they are a common feature of 16th century hats.  Using the pearl and gold beads allowed me to match the buttons too!
  • A vintage filigree ‘gold’ and pearl brooch
  • A very small amount of gold silk to line the split brim
  • Black thread and a robust needle


Methods used:

  • I cut out a round of black velvet a little bigger than the hat base and ran a gathering stitch around the edges of the circle.
  • I pulled the gathering stitch so the material fitted over the round of the hat and hand sewed it to the inside of the hat.
  • I made a 10cm strip with black velvet on one side and the gold silk on the other.  I sewed this on the machine for ease of use.
  • I cut this strip into six panels that were long enough that when pressed flat against the hat reached the top of the brim and folded over the edge of the hat base.  These were sewed inside the hat all the way around the hat with cuts in the edge so they sat flat.
  • In the gap between each panel of velvet and silk I sewed three buttons with a big one in the middle and two smaller ones on either side.
  • I made the aglets out of earring wires and beads and used my pliers to create loops in the wire.
  • I sewed these aglets in fours on either side of the middle button  
  • I hand sewed the gold brooch it was on the front side of the hat like in the original image.




Verdict:

It is so pretty and much more in keeping with the portrait than my first attempt.  I didn’t count on there being so much bulk inside the hat with the edges of the panels sewing into it so it doesn’t fit quite as comfortably as I would prefer but it still works. 

 

Additional images

Saturday 31 October 2020

PGC2019: Meisterin Christian Baier's Pearl and Garnet Goldhaube

Category: An accessory your persona may have owned, made, used, or gifted. “With scarfs, and fans, and double change of bravery, With amber bracelets, beads, and all this knavery.

A gold silk goldhaub, decorated with small garnet and pearl beads

Persona period inspiration and use:
 

Goldhaubes were the coifs / "hairnets" worn by women of the 16th C Saxon court.  The dowry of Magdalene of Saxony lists a number of haubes, most with pearls and some with metal ornaments, or spangles. At least one of these haubes was noted as having been made by Magdalene’s mother, the Duchess, so this could be a project that a noble woman might make for herself or for a family member or friend.Christian is not fond of hats and headwear, but finds these haubes are generally the least annoying appropriate hair covering.  

This haube is intended to match an under-construction red velvet gown with guards of yellow and white silk brocade.



Design, Materials and Construction: 

These haubes were variously constructed, some appear to be made from embroidered or patterned fabric, some from cords knotted or constructed into a net; illustrations suggest that these were less likely to be made using more traditional hair-netting techniques like sprang, however men in this period wore “hairnets” which do seem to be made more often in those techniques.  Haubes were usually made of gold cords and/or narrow wares, or gold fabrics, often patterned in black; and were usually embellished with pearls, spangles and other ornaments.

Materials: gold metal-thread net fabric, lined with silk, pearls of two colours, garnets, metal thread, and gold cord. The haube is lined with fine bright yellow silk to both ensure the haube more closely tones with the brocade of the gown’s brocade, and to hide “fake” hair used to imitate haristyles of the period. 

Construction: the fabric was embellished with pearls, cords, and semiprecious stones; lined with silk, and attached to a decorative band also decorated with pearls and garnets.


Reference:

  • 1526 Nürnberg wedding record:  H. Doege, "Das von Questzische Hochzeistbüchlein, 1526”, Waffen und Kostümkunde, 1922. 
  • Schulordnungen, schulbücher, und pädagogische miscellaneen aus den landen deutscher zunge: Im auftrage der Gesellschaft für deutsche erziehungs- und schulgeschichte, Band 34.  Translated here: https://jillwheezul.livejournal.com/tag/magdalena%20of%20saxony
  • Goldhaubes in Textiler Hausrat, Kleidung und Textilien von Nurnberg, 1500 – 1650 by Jutta Zander-Seidel, p.119-125.

PGC2019: Maestra Isabel Maria's Vasquina

 Category: With silken coats, and caps, and golden rings, with ruffs, and cuffs, and farthingales and things.  A garment your persona may have worn. 

Red linen vasquina

Inspiration:

Both versions of Juan de Alcega’s Libro de Geometria, Pratica, y Traca (1580 and 1589) contain several cutting diagrams for vasquinas, which I interpret to be a skirt that can be worn as an underlayer (ie a petticoat), or as an outer layer for non-court styles.

As I am refreshing my camping wardrobe, and want clothing that will be wearable at increasingly warm Canterbury Faires, I chose to make a linen version of this garment to complement my existing woolen skirts.

 

Pattern

Alcega has numerous cutting diagrams showing the most efficient way to cut this garment out of different widths of fabric, for example:


Construction

I adapted the pattern from Alecga and constructed it using machine sewing for the initial long construction seams, and hand sewing for finishing the seams, hem, waistband, and eyelets.


The back is pleated, using knife pleats, into the waistband, while the front is kept mostly flat, for a flattering line over the stomach.  To allow for maximum flexibility of use (and to fit pockets conveniently underneath), I chose to have dual side openings closed with a lace threaded through eyelets.

 

Red linen skirt side closure with a red cord threaded through 4 hand sewn eyelets, and tied in a bow

Verdict

It is lovely having another linen skirt to wear in warm weather.  Additionally, the dual openings allow access to multiple pockets, but also permit adjustment to suit both what I am wearing, and body fluctuations.

However, I do think it is a bit plain and intend to add multiple stripes of a different red fabric around the hem.

 

Resources

  • Tailor’s Pattern Book 1589” by Juan de Alcega, translated by Jean Pain and Cecilia Bainton
  • Daily Life in Spain in the Golden Age” by Marcelin Defourneaux
  • A. LaPorta, avocational historian and tailor https://www.facebook.com/alaportahistorian

 

 

PGC2019: Baronessa Isabel Maria's Manto

Isabel Maria shares her black linen voile manto, in the category "with scarfs and fans and double change of bravery With amber bracelets bead and all this knavery" as an example of an accessory her persona would have owned and used.

A photo of shiny black linen voile folded artistically, with narrow scalloped lace sewn along one edge.

"Both versions of Juan de Alcega’s Libro de Geometria, Pratica, y Traca (1580 and 1589) contain several cutting diagrams for a garment called a manto.  Alcega suggests that such a garment be made of anascote, seda or clarisea.  He also states that the appropriate length is from top of the head to the ankle.  This would appear to suggest it is some kind of all-encompassing veil or modesty wrap.  At this point I asked “how and when was this garment worn in period?”.

Marcelin Defourneaux, in Daily Life in Spain in the Golden Age, describes the wearing of the tapados (or veils) as “cloaks which completely covered them and which were pulled down over their faces, allowing only one eye to peep out.”  He later quotes the Council of Castille saying (during the reign of Philip II) “The custom of women to o veiled has become so excessive that it is now prejudicial to the best interest of the state, for, because of this fashion a father no longer recognises his daughter, not a husband  his wife...” and states that Philip II forbade its use, but without success.  Similarly, he quotes a contemporary writer railing against the practice of folding, and refolding the veil to hide all but the left eye describing it as “a lacivious thing”.

This sounds exactly like the kind of garment any fashionable lady simply must have in her wardrobe.

 

Pattern

Alcega has numerous cutting diagrams showing the most efficient way to cut this garment out of different types and widths of fabric, for example:

A pattern for a manto from Alcega's pattern book

Construction

Rather than piecing the garment as shown in Alcega, I was able to cut it out of one length, as my linen voile was sufficiently wide, unlike period fabrics.  I hand stitched a narrow rolled hem around the whole piece and then added a narrow black lace to the hem based on a 1590 image found on Indumentaria y Costumbres en Espana.  While the edging adds interest to the garment, it also makes it easier to control the fabric, as it is a simple matter to tell if you are gripping the edge you want, or something else.

Sadly, I haven't been able to get a picture of me wearing the manto, but here is an image of the finished item.

A half circle manto of black linen voile, edged with narrow scalloped lace, folded into a cone shape

Verdict

This is a pretty and thoroughly inconvenient garment to wear, but perhaps that will change with practice?

 

Resources

 

PGC2019: Christian Baier's Landsknecht Shirt

Category: A garment your persona may have worn. “With silken coats, and caps, and golden rings, with ruffs, and cuffs, and farthingales, and things.”

White, long-sleeved, linen shirt displayed on a mannequin


Persona period inspiration and use:

Christian has an alter ego as the wife of a Landsknecht (German mercenary soldiers, late 15th and 16th-century).  The making of personal linens for the family was traditionally a task for the woman of the household. 


This shirt was undertaken as a project to while away lockdown.  The shirt needs to be suitable for camping at Canterbury Faire; e.g. a high neck to protect against the sun, and minimal embellishments (e.g. embroidery) in order to be easily and repeatedly laundered.



Design, Materials and Construction: 

There are no landsknecht extant shirts from this period, so the design, materials, construction, and fastening systems had to be extrapolated from extant German shirts from the late 15thC, a German child’s shirt from the early 16thC, and other men’s shirts from the early, mid, and late 16th C.

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of representations of landsknechts shirts in prints from the period.  These images show a variety of possible shirt styles and designs (in terms of cut, fastening, embellishments etc), and details can be filled in from extant garments and images of the shirts of elite men e.g. Matthaeus Schwarz.

The linen fabric of this shirt is coarser than the fine linen that would have been used for an elite shirt.  The shirt was hand sewn with linen thread; following the construction of some extent garments, the main construction seams were sewn in thicker linen thread and the finishing / detail work in finer thread.

Given lockdown resources, I had to use linen fabric ties for the neck and cuff fastenings, but these actually worked out better than expected.

 

Reference: 

  • Patterns of Fashion No. 4; The cut and construction of linen shirts, smocks, neckwear, headwear and accessories for men and women c. 1540 – 1660. Janet Arnold, 2008.
  • The First Book of Fashion; The Book of Clothes of Matthaeus and Veit Konrad Schwarz of Augsburg. Editor(s): Ulinka Rublack, Maria Hayward, Jenny Tiramani, 2015.
  • Textiler Hausrat, Kleidung und Textilien von Nurnberg, 1500 – 1650 by Jutta Zander-Seidel.

PGC2019: Isabel Maria's Alquerque Board

 Isabel Maria shares project for the category of "what revels are in hand? Is there no play, To ease the anguish of a torturing hour?" 

A wooden board, with the geometric design of an Alquerque board painted on it

Purpose

Despite having a good selection of SCA period games, I really wanted some more specifically Spanish games to add to my repertoire.  It became necessary to do some research to find quintessentially Spanish games.  Early on I learned about the different styles of playing cards, and eventually managed to acquire a modern set of them, but that was not enough.  So I asked “what board games were played in 16th Century Aragon, Catalan or even Portugal?”

These questions lead me to the game of Alquerque.  We have proof of it being played in the 13th Century, but things get rather more sparse thereon out.  However, it is generally accepted as having been introduced to the New World, where it was promptly adapted to suit the locals tastes, creating the game of kolowis awithlaknannai.  With that in mind, it seems reasonable that it would still be known in Spain during the waning years of the 16th Century. 

 

Construction & Shopping

Simple, solid pine board stained to make it look like more expensive wood, and mimic period board games.  The geometric design was carefully measured out before being drawn on in pencil and carved out. The carved design was then painted with gesso in preparation for painting.  In order to satisfy Isabel María’s preferences for surface ornamentation, additional decorations will be taken from a variety of 16th century game boards and combined before being added to the carved areas of the game board.

The game requires 12 counters for each player.  I play the game with 24 pewter jettons (12 portcullis side up and the other 12 with the jester up) until I find some better tokens.

 

Verdict

A fun wee game that can tax the brain after a hard days camping.  Goes well with a light Spanish wine and small quantities of consequence free gambling.

PGC2019: Meisterin Christian Baier's Apple and Raisin Pies

Category: An item of food or drink your persona may have grown, prepared, consumed, or known of.  Do you think because you are virtuous, that there shall be no more cakes and ale?

Persona period inspiration and use:

  • The Kochbuch of Sabina Welserin contains many recipes for fruit pies, and this seemed a good choice for sweet treat for a picnic lunch at an event.  I decided on an apple pie as it was too early in the season for most of the other fruits.  The book includes numerous apple pie recipes, and, looking for something a little different, I came across a description (but not recipe) for an apple and raisin pie from Philippine Welser that appealed.
  • Philippine Welser, wife of Archduke Ferdinand II of Further Austria, and a member of the same family as Sabina, edited and published her own recipe collection, De re coquinaria, in 1545.  This has not been published in English, but some recipes are included or described in Bach.



Design, Materials and Construction: 

Recipe: Sabina Welser has a recipe (number 14) in which apples are sliced, “floated” in fat until brown, layered in a pie with spices and raisins, and baked with a crust on top.  For the convenience of the picnic, I was making small individual pies, which made layering fiddly, so I choose a simpler recipe described by Bach as “chopped apples, precooked in fat with raisins, sugar, fat, and cinnamon”.  I chopped some apples and, along with some raisins, sautéed these gently in butter (my preferred choice of fat for a vegetarian friendly pie), and mixed in sugar and cinnamon to taste.  This was baked in a pie with a double (top and bottom) crust.

I completely forgot to take a photograph of these pies (although they did look just like the Genovese Tarts).  They were delicious.

Reference:

PGC2019: Meisterin Christian Baier's Genovese Tart

Category: An item of food or drink your persona may have grown, prepared, consumed, or known of.  "Do you think because you are virtuous, that there shall be no more cakes and ale?"



Persona period inspiration and use: 

This recipe comes from Sabina Welserin’s cookbook, Das Kochbuch der Sabina Welserin (1553). The Welser were international mercantile bankers and venture capitalists, members, with the Fugger and the Hochstetter families, of the mercantile patriciate of Augsburg.  These recipes, compiled for a rich urban German household, seem suitable for a noble Saxon women like Christian, although she probably would not have baked them herself. The recipe collection was not originally intended for publication or circulation; it may have been possibly written by the Sabina herself, but was more probably written by her kitchen professionals on her behalf.

I made these pies to take for a picnic lunch at an event; they are ideal for this purpose as they taste good hot or cold, and (as the pies have a top crust) they travel well.  For picnics I tend to make small finger-food-sized pies for convenience, but when cooking a feast these pies work equally well as individual or ‘family’ sized pies.  They are a good protein dish for vegetarians, and also a useful pie for those who don’t eat eggs.



Design, Materials and Construction:
 

  • Recipe 30: To make Genovese tart.  Take eighteen ounces of chard or spinach, three ounces of grated cheese, two and one half ounces of olive oil and the fresh cheese from six ounces of curdled milk. And blanch the herbs and chop them small and stir it all together and make a good covered tart with it.
  • The Kochbuch has a number of recipes for pastry, or you could substitute your own recipe.  I tend to use less olive oil than the original recipe, to make a less-wet filling, which makes the pie more robust for travel and I prefer the taste.  The flavours of this tart will vary with the greens, or the types of cheeses, you choose (see Bach for a discussion of German cheeses). You can make fresh cheese yourself, or use any type of fresh cheese you prefer.   
  • I forgot to take a photograph on the day, so please forgive the tatty-looking leftover pie that made it into my lunch box several days later.


Reference:


Saturday 10 October 2020

PGC2019: Baronessa Isabel Maria's Spanish Hairstyle

Category: To refine gold to paint the lily To throw a perfume on the violet.   At your toilette: hairstyling, make up, beauty products, skincare, ointments, unguents, perfumes, etc



Purpose

Where choosing jewellery is the final touch to completing an ensemble, selecting the hairstyle is often the first decision I make after choosing my wardrobe for an event.  I like to take my time and use good tools to ensure a secure, period-plausible hairstyle.  It gives me a moment to get used to the clothing, and let things settle before adding the accessories and jewellery.

As I am also partial to experimenting with different tools, jewels, headwear and hairstyles, this is a long-term and ongoing pet project.  New hairsticks, combs, pomades, needles, and threads are regularly acquired and tested (sometimes to destruction) to recreate something I have seen in a period source.

 

Tools

  • Combs of varying coarseness (for detangling and cleaning hair as well as smoothing hairstyles)
  • Brush (for smoothing hairstyles)
  • Needles & threads & snips (for tying off plaits, sewing hair into place, and getting it loose again)
  • Pomade (for holding ends together, and flyaways in place)
  • Mirror
  • Gravoir (for cleanly parting hair and holding sections out of the way)
  • Hairsticks (for holding and enhancing hairdos)
  • Ribbons and jewels (for enhancing hairstyles)
  • Lambs wool (for adding volume without much additional mass)
  • Bump clips (for adding volume, in place of wool, or hair rats)

The above is a selection of my most commonly used hair related items.  As the box has limited space, the kit is contains is normally carefully curated to reflect the wardrobe packed for an event such as Canterbury Faire.

 

Methods

Please watch this YouTube video from the Known World Colegio de Iberia to see how the various tools above are used, and my new favourite Spanish hairstyle is constructed: https://youtu.be/qlCoVQYTZQU

 

Verdict

Using the tools is great for getting into the mindset before an event, or for preparing for the day while camping. (However, I really must sharpen snips for getting out of hairstyles more expediently.)

This hairstyle is secure and comfortable.  As the majority of the mass is centered over my neck, my head is not continuously pulled backwards, resulting in less fatigue and fewer headaches that my usual large, coiled plait.

 

Additional Resources

 

Tuesday 21 July 2020

PGC2019: Lady Eyja Gunnarsdottir's Games Box

Lady Eyja shares a box of period games, created as a gift of Largess.  She describes it in her own words:



"I have created a Games box featuring the game of Tablut. This is a version of the Tafl games played throughout the Norse world. On the other side of the lid is nine mens Morris, which was also known to be played in the same era.

This was created as a Largess gift, as I wanted to create something fun and useful for a Norse persona. The recipient's heraldry is yellow and red, and is reflected in the board and playing pieces. The box and playing pieces were purchased then hand painted.



I created a small linen bag for the playing pieces which has a fingerloop braided drawstring and the owners device embroidered onto it.



There is plenty of space in the box for more games to be added over time.

Something a bit different to what I usually do, but now I am keen to make my own games collection in the future."

Tuesday 19 May 2020

PGC2019: Lady Melisande de Massard's Mittens & Socks

Lady Melisande enters a cozy pair of mittens and a snugly pair of socks in the category "With silken coats, and caps, and golden rings, with ruffs, and cuffs, and farthingales and things". 



"When camping I find it most convenient to clothe myself in Norse garb - comfortable, easy to work in and easily laundered!

Some of the members of the Heorot household were planning a household event where we would spend the weekend camping in a living history style. Originally planned for an Easter weekend I thought to myself 'this could be a little chilly - what I need are some mittens and socks!!'. 

I purchased some pre-spun, natural wool, and with a wooden needle and the kind assistance of Lady Katherine (who showed me the Coptic stitch and how to get started), I first tried my hand at a pair of mittens. The first mitten is a little mis-shapen but I was a lot happier with the second which is much more evenly shaped. I was surprised at how quickly they made up and, encouraged by how the mittens turned, out I purchased more wool and got started on a pair of socks.

Looking at images of extant finds, and reproductions (and again with help from Lady Katherine when it came to the heel!) I gave it a go. Sir Callum had given me the gift of a beautiful new needle made of antler - such a different experience using that over the wooden one! I love it! I would like to have used a contrasting coloured wool for the last few rows around the ankle (as per some of the extant finds) but not having any suitable wool at the time I shall leave that for another pair. The socks are so comfortable and the mittens lovely and warm. 

We had to postpone the camping weekend but I'll be ready to go when we set another date - I just hope it's not in mid-summer!"

Monday 4 May 2020

PGC2019 Baronessa Isabel Maria’s Practical Hairdressing Class

When I am forgotten as I shall be and sleep in dull cold marble … Say I taught thee.  Baronessa Isabel Maria recounts a class she taught earlier this year:

"At Canterbury Faire I reprised a class on practical period hairdressing for women, that Meisterin Christian and I had previously taught at the 2016 Southron Gaard Collegium.


With a view to making period hairstyling more accessible to people, the class touches on different styles seen in period, along with the techniques and tools to recreate them.  Plausibly period techniques are explored and compared to modern methods for suitability, ease of use, and security of the hairstyle.  The class culminates with a demonstration of hair sewing, on a volunteer.

Meistern Christian and I maintain the class notes on the Hous Amberherthe webpage, in addition to a pinterest board devoted to pre-1600 hair maintenance."

Wednesday 29 April 2020

PGC2019: Mistress katherine kerr's collection of documents

Mistress katherine kerr submits the following for the recently added category:

"Sweet are the uses of adversity", for research in or practice of an art, craft or past-time that your persona might have undertaken whilst whiling away a siege (or plague)...

 

...or a long sea voyage and incarceration, being a collection of documents covering the fateful Voyage of the Baskin-Kerrs in an Alternative Timeline.


http://webcentre.co.nz/kk/RatLettersVoyage.htm



Thursday 23 April 2020

PGC2019: Lady Eyja Gunnarsdottir's Nalbound Mitts

Lady Eyja submits the first entry in the new 'Sweet are the uses of adversity' category.  She writes the following to describe her fingerless gloves:





"I decided to use my 'plague time' to learn the Nalebinding Oslo stitch. This may have been a skill my persona learnt around the fire as a young girl, and taken up again when time rich but resource poor as it only requires wool.

I have used a bone needle, 100% wool, and a youtube video - https://youtu.be/UEJywXIluhk 

Initially I found it tricky to get a nice tension without tearing the wool, but it was relatively easygoing once that was sorted. The fingerless gloves were made in the round, not following any specific pattern other than trying it on as I went.



The result is soft, warm, and stretchy with a neat pattern. The wool itself felts well at the joints but is rather fragile, so in future I would use something sturdier for a hard wearing piece such as mittens.

In service,
Eyja Gunnarsdottir."

PGC2019: THL Joana de Bairros’ Moorish Chicken

Joana de Bairros enters a delicious chicken dish in the category Do you think because you are virtuous, that there shall be no more cakes and ale?

 

"There is one Portuguese cookbook from period called Um tratado da cozinha portuguesa do século XV or Livro de cozinha da Infanta D. Maria de Portugal which can be found, with an English translation at http://www.medievalcookery.com/notes/tratado.html. This collection of recipes was written in the late 15th century and then taken to Italy with Maria, the grand daughter of Manuel I of Portugal, when she married Alessandro Farnese. It ended up in Naples. (See reference to this in At the First Table:Food and Social Identity in Early Modern Spain by Jodi Campbell).

I was having a friend of over for dinner so decided to cook the Moorish Chicken recipe from this book as I have tried it before and it is delicious.

Outra receita de galinha mourisca
Façam em pedaçosuma galinha bem gorda, e levem-na ao fogo brando, com duas colheres de sopa degordura, algumas fatias de toucinho, bastante coentro, um punhadinho de salsa,umas folhinhas de hortelã, sal e uma cebola bem grande. Abafem-na e deixem-na dourar, mexendo-a devez em quando. Em seguida cubram essagalinha com água, e assim que levante fervura acabem de temperá-la com sal,vinagre, cravo-da-índia, açafrão, pimenta-do-reino e gengibre. Logo que agalinha esteja cozida, derramem dentro 4 gemas batidas. Tomem uma travessa funda, forrada com fatiasde pão e derramem por cima a galinha.


Another recipe for moorish chicken - literal translation
Cut a very fat chicken into pieces, and cook it over low heat, with two soup spoons of fat, a few slices of bacon, lots of cilantro, a bit of parsley, a few mint leaves, salt and a very large onion. Cover it (abafar means smother) and let it brown, stirring once in a while. Next cover that chicken in water, and as soon as it reaches a boil finish seasoning it with salt, vinegar, cloves, saffron, black pepper and ginger. When the chicken is cooked, add 4 beaten egg yolks. Take a deep serving tray, lined with bread slices and put the chicken over top.

My redaction to feed 4   


500gm chicken breast
1T olive oil
100gm bacon
¼ cup of coriander
2T parsley
1T mint
Pinch of salt
2 cups of chicken stock
1T white wine vinegar
1 t salt
1t each of cloves, pepper and ginger
A pinch of saffron
4 egg yolks
1 loaf of bread.


  1. Cut chicken and bacon in to chunks (I used chicken breasts as I wanted it to cook quickly) '
  2. Roughly cut the herbs and dice the onion. (I didn’t add coriander the first time as my guest did not like it so included more parsley. I did up it in in a later attempt at this recipe and it added a nice flavor)
  3. Heat up the oil in a thick based casserole dish on the stove top
  4. Brown chicken and bacon
  5. Add in herbs, salt and onion
  6. Put the lid on the casserole dish and cook at medium heat for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to stop the chicken from sticking.
  7. Add in the stock (I used stock rather than just water as I was using breast meat which doesn’t have the flavor of chicken drums)
  8. When the stock boils add in the vinegar, salt and spices. Leave to cook for 5 minutes
  9. Separate the egg yolks and whisk together
  10. Pour the egg yolks into the casserole and mix up the sauce thoroughly. If you do not the egg will cook in lumps rather than being spread through sauce.
  11. Slice a loaf of good bread up. Either serve the chicken in a deep dish with bread underneath or serve the chicken to the table in a pot with a loaf of bread so guests can assemble their own. The bread is very delicious when soaked in the sauce!"

PGC2019: THL Joana de Bairros’ Article on Names

The Honorable Lady Joana de Bairros submits an article published in From the Tower in the category "When I am forgotten, as I shall be, and sleep in dull cold marble, … Say, I taught thee."

This article can also be found on her blog: https://joanadebairros.blogspot.com/

"Creating and Registering an SCA Name

THL Elisabetta Foscari/Joana de Bairros (Tour d’Or Herald)

As you can see from the length of the name above I have recently made some changes. I decided I wanted to create an alternate 16th century Portuguese persona and then use the Persona Gubbins challenge to develop this. I first, however, needed a Portuguese name to attach to my Portuguese work. I felt that writing this article, showing my progression from thinking about a name to formally registering it with the College of Heralds, would be useful for those who are also considering their Society name.

But why Portuguese?

The first step in the creation of an SCA persona is deciding on time and place. For those of you who have known me as a serious Italophile for the past 19 years, you may be wondering what brought this Portuguese fever on? For me this is using the SCA to explore my mundane heritage as my great-great grandfather was from Portugal. Unfortunately he was very keen to Anglicise himself when he moved to New Zealand so we have very little information about him except that he changed his surname to
Thomas and came from the Azores. Your own heritage may be a factor that plays a part in your choice of culture, as may personal interest, which was why I originally chose Italy.

There are a broad range of time periods you can explore in the SCA, up to around 1600. Taking account of your areas of interest may help narrow the field. For me, the 16th century was an easy decision as there are pretty clothes, buf for you, an interest in martial pursuits or a particular type of cuisine may shape your decision as to time. Often people want a name that works across a broad period of time, which is entirely possible, but as you will see below that it is easier to get your registration paperwork done if you focus on a particular century.

Looking for a name

My go to place for name research is the Academy of St Gabriel who have a superb medieval names database organised by culture. This is where making a decision as to culture and time becomes useful. The database links to a wide variety of SCA articles where people have analysed primary source material to find name construction and usual names. I find this is a good place to start looking for a name. I even used it when looking for baby names! Another good resource is the SCA Heraldry name page which is again divided by culture.

If, however, you are looking for something more specific then there are a number of books that will help you. A good place to look for these is the College of Heralds list of books that do not require photocopied evidence for name registration found here. If you want to go back to basics then look for primary sources that include lists of names. These could be tax rolls, census data, funerary monuments, parliamentary records, court documents, parish registers or customs logs, to provide a few examples. Often the articles from St Gabriel are a compilation of evidence from these primary sources which is very helpful to those who do not have the time or access to do so themselves.

Resources for my name

I was lucky when choosing my name that there were two 16th century Portuguese name articles. One was ‘Portuguese Names from the 16th century’ by Juliana de Luna which used letters from the Court of the Portuguese King John (Joao) III. There were few female names listed in this source however, although it did make some interesting points about name construction in that there was no mention of middle names and only 15% had two parts to the surname.

The other article ‘Portuguese Names from Lisbon, 1565’ by Aryanhwy merch Catmael was the most useful article as it had an extensive list of female given names and surnames to choose from. This article is based on a 16th century tax roll. Although I am planning to focus on 1530s Portugal rather than 1560s this is as close as I can get and names that were used in 1565 would have been around in 1535.

Name structure

It is important to consider name construction when creating your name. Some cultures put surnames first, other cultures expect patronymics to be used and others use feminine or masculine word endings for names. The evidence on Portuguese names in both sources was that ‘overwhelmingly’ people had a given name and a surname. There were some examples of two part surnames but these were rare. There appear to be no recorded two part given names. I wanted to keep my name simple so I chose to go with what appears to be the standard practice of a given and a surname.

Given name

When choosing an SCA first name I think it is important to pick a name you feel is you and you are actually going to answer to. When I chose Elisabetta it was because Elizabeth is my middle name and that was an Italian version of it. It is also an idea to run it past a friend and get their opinion on it. Try it out for a while to see if it works for you by saying it and writing it down. Other important considerations are who else in the group has that name or a version of it.

The Lisbon article had a long list of female names to consider. The most popular were Isabel and Maria of which there were 139 examples of each. As I spend a large amount of time with Mistress Isabel Maria I felt that neither of these were suitable choices. Caterina was the next most popular and there are many of those in the Crescent Isles. Inez I liked but it is the Portuguese version of Agnes and I didn’t think it would be a good idea considering how much time I spend with Baroness Agnes. I emailed my short list of names to Baroness Agnes and she commented that Madalena was a bit quieter than me!

In the end I kept going back to Joana so I knew it was the right one. It has a nice correlation in sound to my mundane name of Josie so it should make it easy to recognise. Joana was the thirteenth most popular name on the tax roll with 36 instances of it.

Surname

The information from the tax roll suggests that there were three types of surnames in Lisbon in 1565. One was a patronymic (English examples of these are Robinson, Thompson) which in Portuguese are names like Diaz, Guomez, Mendez. The second is locative (a place name) such as Braga, Estremoz or Lamego which are all towns in Portugal. Many of these are preceded by a de or d’vowel. This indicates that a person is from a place i.e. de Braga is from Braga. The third type are descriptors such as Moreno which is dark skinned, Pinto which is freckled or Veloso which is wooly or shaggy.

As I was unsure what my original Portuguese family surname was, I decided to look for a name that worked with the Joana. I jokingly said to Agnes some time ago that I could document a Portguese name that loosely translated to Joanna Lopez from the Block which was Joanna Lopes de Bairros. The more I thought about this, the more I liked the sound of the de Bairros part . A bairro is a Portuguese word that means neighbourhood or quarter. There is also a town called Bairros between Oporto and Lamego in Portugal. There were 6 instances of varying spellings of de Bairros on the
tax roll, 3 of these were spelt de Bairros.

Most of all I liked the meaning behind de Bairros in terms of developing my persona. When I picked my Italian name I chose Foscari as they are all well known aristocratic Venetian family with one famous 15th century doge, Francesco Foscari, as a member. I wanted to link my Joana persona to my love of being in the kitchen. Elisabetta Foscari would be far too aristocratic to be working in a kitchen but Joana de Bairros certainly would not be. I imagine Joana to be a bit like J.Lo in the Jenny from the Block song, working her way up from a family of fairly humble origins to become the Honourable Lady Joana.

Joana de Bairros it is!

Registering a name

I found deciding on a name more difficult than the registration of it. If you are new to the SCA or would like some reassurance this would be the time I would suggest talking to a herald about how to get your name registered. All registrations do need to go through the Southron Gaard herald so you will need to talk to them about what you want at some point in the process.

The first step towards registration is to see if your name is available as you will not be allowed to register a name that is either too similar to someone else in the Society or of a famous person in period. The place to look at this is the SCA Armorial search engine. You are better to use the Name Pattern Search as this is less sensitive than the Name Search form so will give a better coverage of entries. Luckily there is only one other Joana, a Joana Alvarez registered in 2012 in Gleann Abhann. There are no de Bairros registered so hopefully I am safe.

Your herald will then need to fill in the Name Submission form which can be found in electronic copy on the Lochac herald page. This does need to include evidence of your name. If you are using certain sources you can just mention them by name or provide a page number in a book (see the list above). Name registration services are free in Lochac!

Final Thoughts

There is a sense of achievement in getting your name passed by the College of Heralds and it does make it feel much more like it is yours. Personally I most enjoyed finding a name that I am confident was appropriate to the place and period in time I wanted to be in. Name registration does not have to be frightening if you are prepared to shop around for what feels right for you and it can even be fun."

Useful links

https://www.s-gabriel.org/
https://www.s-gabriel.org/names/index.shtml
https://heraldry.sca.org/names.html
https://heraldry.sca.org/admin.html#APPENDIXH
http://oanda.sca.org/

https://herald.lochac.sca.org/forms/submissions/