Rosalie's Medieval Woman- the Live Journal

The tent needed a good bleach to restore it to it's shiny, pristine whiteness. There really was no way around it as it has quite a bit of mould and mildew through it, so I carefully donned the rubber gloves, hung the walls over the line out of doors and started sponging. I called it a night about 6 hours and three sets of rubber gloves and went to bed feeling a bit woozy but generally pleased with the results.

In the morning, I awoke to vomiting and chemical burns on my thumb (about 5 layers of skin) and arm where the top of the glove rubbed the bleach (only one layer of skin) and a red, swollen arm under the burn which was quite hot to the touch. Feeling none too good I called in sick at work, had a bit more of a vomit and went back to sleep. I awoke later to a shiny white tent drying on the line and a beloved DooG who had come over delighted that I had taken a sickie only to find out that I was actually sick.

Fast forward to last night, where armed with paint, ruler, pencils and brushes I started on the actual painting. It took a little fiddling around to get the width of the bars correctly where I wanted them but I must say I can see how it's all going to come together now and it will be FANTASTIC!! A huge amount of work and an expensive exercise in paint, but well worth it. At least the extreme heat we are "enjoying" this summer (41C yesterday) will make for some good paint-drying weather!

I am very pleased to hear that fellow-members in Eslite d'Corp are assessing their own tents and planning to get their paintwork done too. We are just going to look so great together on the tourney field! Meanwhile, another friend (waves at kath_a) is designing her paintwork also and has come up with half a dozen really good designs. How she's going to narrow it down to just one is beyond me.

It's official! I am now the owner of a medieval pavillion!! A beautiful bell tent made by thebellman which I have camped in on more than one occasion.

Design stencilling and painting shall now commence.

I have total tent love.


This is the actual tent and the plan for the colour scheme. It's added very hastily and poorly over an existing photograph and the frieze is very poorly pasted in from a seperate image just so I could get a bit of an idea how it would look generally. You'll get the idea of the overall look at least. That's a whoooole lot of painting but it sure will be lovely when I'm finished.

So, then I bought the tent!!! Hopefully delivery and monies will be exchanged next week and then the painting may commence. Amid all the other projects. I am excited beyond words! Just look at all those exclaimation marks!!

I'm very excited that steps have been taken to procure my own medieval pavillion. There's one online (pictured at left) I'm looking at which can be made with decorative daggues and in any colours I like; which would be red and white for my family heraldry or plain white with red daggues.

There's also one octagonal pavillion which I'm very much hoping that a friend will sell me. I've used it a few times before and I know that since he made it himself the quality and structure is excellent. It has the added advantage that I also am familiar with the setting up proceedure and floorspace size. I'm hoping I can make him an offer he can't refuse! Of the two options, obviously I prefer the friend-made one, but he may not be quite ready to part with it yet. (no pressure)

I'm looking forward to decorating it with red and gold and making some banners to go with. Obviously my coat of arms on one banner, but really, isn't it time my family squirrel got out more? There will be a distinct acorny theme somehow involved also.

To follow that on my encampment wishlist is a chest or possibly two with gothic arches which can double as storage and seating and a table.. possibly chair as well. The table isn't too high on the list as a large, white cloth hides many sins in that department.

In an effort to at least make a start on the cylinder cauls for next year's tournament, I have made a rough prototype out of metal. I had read in a new book that the hennins of the 15th century wer all supported on silver frameworks and decided that was a good a place to start as any.

One thing I have decided, making the cylinders which go down the side of the head individually and adding them to the existing headband is definately not as structurally sturdy as making them all in the one piece, which is how I will approach this. I believe that by making the entire thing from a one-piece base and adding the bands at the bottom and silk and jewelled band at the top will make the finished piece a very strong piece of headware.

Here's the first prototype- which is NOT meant to be anything other than "will this frame idea work at all" fact-finding mission. And the answer to that is, "yes. with modification".

Spent the morning going through my re-enactment belongings and re-photographing items onto a white background so that I can re-edit them for the website since I've started a bit of a cut-out theme which I'm liking very much. It was also a good opportunity to photograph projects in progress, like the Manesse Codex tasselled pouch and the new jewelled headband which will take a while to complete.

In sewing news, I'm back to altering a brocaded cotehardie for a friend which required a substantial amound of unpicking of the neckline gold trim and the pearls sewn on before re-cutting could commence. I'm up to the re-sewing the neckline before the re-adding the braid and pearls. I'll be glad when it's done.

As per my quest to upgrade my personal re-enactment gear, I have purchased more pewter tableware, two items which arrived today along with a score of more decorative buttons. The tumblers are reproductions of a set of 5 which is currently housed in a museum in Prague and dated to the mid 14th century. The originals are constructed with several panels joined together, but I believe mine are cast in one piece. I am very pleased with the solid weightiness of them. I am often reluctant to buy pewter online as the quality varies dramatically and until the goods arrive, it's hard to tell exactly what you're getting.

My first buckle and chape set also arrived today from the same maker and again I am very pleased with the weight and sturdiness of them.

My new business cards arrived in the mail today. They have the cutout of the medieval dress from the main page of the website, both email addresses, mobile phone and website. I'm very pleased with the design. Simple, but easily readable font and most importantly, the new email address for the website. I chose the image for the reason that most medieval re-enactors really don't recognise each other out of their garb and this will provide a visual reminder of who I am. I really didn't want anything fussy or unnecessary. Just the bare bones and an instantly recognisable image.

I've also updated the style of the journal to match the website and decided to make the focus of the journal more on what I'm working on and less of everything else.

In spite of the coif being a widely depicted item of clothing for men in the medieval period, it is absolutely amazing how many men are reluctant to wear them in re-enactment circles today. Yes, less well off men wore them, but so did academics and most other men under their other hat and caps. Certainly they were almost de rigeur for the bedchamber and casual wear.

I'm currently hand-stiching a two-piece, white, linen coif at the moment. It's a very small project and a good way to feel like something has been finished and achieved in between the major projects.

"The Trotula" an English translation of the 11th century Latin medieval compendium of Women's medicine has arrived! This is a long-anticipated text and will hopefully answer the last remaining questions I have on medieval feminine hygiene. It appears to be quite explicit in some areas. Hooray for 12th century healthcare!

I'll post the good bits.

On very short notice I filled in for Sir Justyn (who was needed at his Lady's side for her confinement of their impending twin boys) for a talk at the Abbey Museum. The our group gracious in not showing their disappointment at the lack of a Knight and his replacement of a Lady. So armed with a suitcase full of reproduction artifacts and clothing and a half a page of hastily-scribbled notes We soujurned through the Middle Ages, dispelling myths and dressing up in a variety of hats and hoods. A good time had by all, I must say, and it has strengthened my resolve to polish my lecture for Ladies since I have almost conquered the heady topics of "What kind of sanitary device did they use?" and "Um, chastity belts? Did they really?" and other questions of this ilk.

I have a clothing workshop booked for next June pre-tournament and am preparing the accessories and props required for that along with written notes and wool samples.

A new look website! I've retained the same colour scheme but added some little borders and a new banner at the top of all the pages. I plan to make other similar to add throughout the site themed with the pages topic- sewing banner for clothing, my pewter tablewear banner etc. The picture I'm currently using is one from a home corner for children that the Guild of the Lily ran way back in 2002 at the Abbey Tournament.


http://rosaliegilbert.com

Also added is a page for "chastity belts" on the clothing page although they were not my time period as commonly believed. There's a world of misconceptions attached to them so I will be adding them to that page in the near future. The page is empty now, so don't rush right off to see it.

I've also added a new sitemap which gives all the 50 pages and their subdirectories on the one page for easy navigation. The photo galleries have been removed as they were taking up valuable room. A few of the pages scattered here and there are still under construction but as I have a huge amount of sewing of the way at the moment, I need to balance web with work.

- Black velvet robes with patterned green silk sleeves set with garnets for Michael. (still to do: hem, stitch waistband, stitch lining, add 30 pewter bottons set with garnets, sew 30 buttonholes, add fur, finish sewing garnets to sleeves)

- Black velvet chaperon lined with burgundy silk for Michael. (still to do: stitch the pieces together, stuff roll, stitch silver owl in place)

- Burgundy silk sideless surcote with white fur for Edith. (still to do: stitch lining, add fur, finish construction of jewelled bottons)

- Silver and black silk cotehardie for Beloved DooG (still to do: all of it, plus buttons and buttonholes)

- Cut and sew both our cloaks

- Burgundy cotehardie for me. (still to do: finish hand stitching, add 40 buttons, add 40 buttonholes, add gold embroidery, pearls and garnets around neckline)

- Red velvet garters for me. (still to do: aquire buckles, add embroidered motto)

- Blue and white silk surcote for me. (still to do: finish stitching outer. Stitch inner, sew together and decorate)

- Jewelled headband- green patterned silk with pearls and garnets. (rather stuinning already! Still to do: finsh beading)

- Gold and jewelled cylinder cauls. (bought the stuff. still to do: put it altogether!)

and other stuff.

How do I love thee? Let me count thy ways:

6m silver-grey 100% dupion silk
6m black 100% dupion silk
12.5m white 100% dupion silk
6m scarlet 100% dupion silk
6m red wool
6m black wool
3m 100% silk gorgette
+ monies for misc dress accessories, including 80 pewter buttons set with garnets.

Thus does my beloved DooG love me. It is indeed a very generous gift.

He is the awesome of awesome.

http://www.abbeymuseum.asn.au/vi_honour_board.htm

Oh, I am totally on the honour board! I have only just discovered it even though I was put there last year! I'm a bit chuffed!

Prague, The Crown Of Bohemia 1347 - 1437
edited by Barbara Boehm & Jiri Fajt.
Met. Museum of Art, NY
Yale University Press, New Haven & London. 2005

This large, hardcover was issued in conjunction with the exhibit held at the Met Museum September 2005 to January 2006 which then exhibited at Prague Castle until May 2006. It's full colour and contains a lot of very high quality images of artifacts. It also includes chapters of:

- Maps & Geneaology, including a timeline of monarchs in major countries and major nobles and historical figures and a very nice map of the 26 14th Century churches in Prague.
- Prague in Europe
- The Realm of Faith
- Wenceslas IV
- Called to Create: Luxury Artists in Prague, which has amazing jewellery including claw settings and jewels pinned down or raised on spiked settings (like the jewels are beads and not set into settings proper, jasper vessels and the Astronomical Clock with painted figures in the Old Town Hall.
- Hussite Revolution and Sacred Art

Many of the sculptures show women with veils with decorative edges- decorative stitching, gold, pearls, frills, both in art and sculpture. Including what appears to be fluted veils on women attending the nativity birth. The wide-spread depictions seem to indicate that a fluted veil was both not unusual nor restricted to wealthy women. Interesting.

My beloved DooG is in the market for some thigh high black leather 14th century reproduction boots. Excuse me while I indulge in a bout of girly swooning.

swoon

New at the Scriptoriam today is the very lovely:

Renaissance Secrets, Recipes & Formulas
by Jo Wheeler
published by the V&A Museum, 2009

This new hardcover includes chapters of interest including Glass and Ceramics, Cosmetics, Soaps & Perfumes, Painting & Drawing, Textile & Clothing and much more. Each chapter discusses the secret recipes and formulas for making suck things as scarlet dyes, soaps, perfumes, proper artists brushes and, inthe cookery section, biscuits to excite Venus. These biscuits are aimed at prcreasing sperm production for those desirous of child-bearing and do not harm the body we are assured. Many of the recipes and artifacts in this book are not also renaissance, but late medieval.

A really great read even if you're not a re-enactor and a really awesome one if you are..

Taken without permission to share withyou from one of the highlighted communities which I can't remember. I'll credit them when I get the link again.

My goodness, I see now how I must come across to some poeple. The Big Bang Theory has an episode tonight about Ren Faires and one of the characters kept pointing out disdainfully all the historical inaccuracies there. I laughed, because those are the exact same things that shit me at them also! I particularly liked the bit about costuming when Leonard says he is wearing normal underwear and the Sheldon says he is wearing linen. Leonard is impressed that the Sheldon went out and got linen until it is revealed that he just cut up Leonard's pillowcase.

Okay, so no-one's laughing but me, but I'm REALLY laughing.

Today saw the purchase of many, many metres of black velvet for the formal gown for our Museum Director. It will be a long, sombre robe with folds at the front and wide sleeves which may be folded back. I anticipate the lining to be a cream linen to allow breathability in the Queensland climate and for contrast since the fur trim will be mid to dark brown. Definately more elegant and will look excellent with a gold chain of office, which I also need to make.

Also purchased today is the lining for our CEO's new burgendy silk sideless surcote which will also be cream. Her fur will be off pure white and there will be gold trimmings- perhaps with pearls and semi-precious stones. Since her cotehardie is pale green with pale gold brocade, it will be striking. I need to refit her cotehardie also but that can wait a few months.

Over the next two nights I hope to have both pinned and cut with a view to some internal seams. I really want to get these as close to completion as I can as early as I can so that more of my own time and energy can be spent on my Masterpiece piece and own silk sideless surcote.

I'm a Calender Girl!

The new Abbey Medieval Tournament 21st Anniversay Calender for 2010 has me in it. I'm July! It's that picture again of me serving people at the banquet a year or two ago all lit with candles and looking lovely. The thing I'm really enjoying about the calender is that friends are in it- knightly Sir Justyn Webb, the beautiful M.selle Christine, all round scarey guy Jason Armfield and international jouster Luke Binks.

I'm not usually much for calenders, but I love this one!

Eslite d'Corp had a delightful Sunday amid the shrubbery in the botanical gardens at Redcliffe for the "What's Cooking In The Gardens?" annual food festival. It was a beautiful day! The sky sunny and crisp, the food plentiful and the company fantastic! We set up two tents and the list where we displayed the foods and table customs of the High Middle Ages and some of the leisuretime pursuits: archery, swordplay and Slap Cock. All were received with enthusiasm fromthe crowds which wantered among the gardens and stopped by to ask questions and observe.

And look! Pictures!


Food, glorious food!
 
Complete with medieval weird animal pottery jug.













Maynarding in the Garden.

Some of our boys uphold a tradition of fanciful posing. We had to show the newbies how to do it but they caught on rather quickly.

45 degree head twist, stare at middle distance, chest thrust out, hips forward, and legs astride!









 Fun with Longbows!

Rubber tipped for the safety of our botanicles.















And children will be children no matter where they are.

M.selle Christine samples the table.














Still embroidering that Manesse Codex purse.

Really.

No, it won't be finished today, but thanks for asking, my optimistic friend.











 
The Baron Christiansen with tart in hand.

Nothing new about that, really.
 
Feel free to admire his dagger if you dare. He'll let you touch the handle if you ask nicely. Saaay.. doesn't that look like a..? What, no, nothing.











 
Slap Cock, anyone?

The men kindly entertained the ladies with a rousing display of Cock slapping which was much admired by the public. You wouldn't believe how quickly it draws a crowd the minute one of the boys asks if we ladies would be interested in watching if the bring out a cock and be skillful with it.

There's no net but it's the forerunner to shuttlecock. The cock makes a resounding thwack as it hits the wooden paddles and let me tell you, it can be a lively sport, even for spectators who may need haste in avoiding a wayward cock. The aim of the game is to hit it to the other player and keep it from hitting the ground, not to place it where your opponant can't get it.

No word of a lie.



 
Swordplay.

Mitchell faces Sir Justyn Webb while Andrew look on.













 
More of the spread.

This included: ham, roasted chicken, walnuts, almonds, two types of gingerbread, almond biscuits, blackberry & cinnamon tarts, two cheeses, mixed fruit and spice pies, figs, dried apricots, breads and much more!

It was a really wonderful day, made better for seeing friends from the museum and draquin  who kindly gave me a lift home and lingered for tea and conversation.

Now, how to convince her that she'd like to join up and hang out more doing this...

My new bone-handled eating knife and pricker set arrived and I must say it's just beautiful. The leather scabbard is also very nicely made and will have my coat of arms painted onto it when I get time.

The Vintage Clothing Fair was a bit of a disappointment. $10 to get in to what was essentially ten stalls with goods of varying degrees of quality. However, I did score a very nice white rabbit fur collar for $10 which will find a home on my wool cloak for those cold, cold tournament mornings. Also, a ring which is small enough for the second joint of my little finger of an almost identical style to the ruby ring from the Gaukler Collection which will be worn on my middle finger.

(edit: it appears I originally found but one hall of which there were four, packed to the rafters of vintagey goodness. This was discovered on a return trip. Your ticket in is valid the entire weekend!)

Now if you'll excuse me, I have blackberry and cinnamon tarts to cook for the Redcliffe Food Festival "What's Cooking In The Gardens" where Eslite d'Corp will be picnicing at table with games of leisure to entertain and inform the public on the dietary habits and table customs of the High Middle Ages. Hopefully there will be a rousing game of Slap Cock to entertain us Ladies. Last year we had musicians also and much merriment was had by all. Gates open at 10am if you're in this neck of the woods.

Extreme shiny! The first of my online shopping orders arrived! Two beautiful pewter 14th century candlesticks with 4 hand dipped candles. 60 awesome pewter buttons with garnets. A really gorgous pewter needlecase and pilgrim mirror.

I'm spending energy with a major clean up and tidy and throwing myself into many of the medieval projects I still have to complete on my To Do list. I have commissions from the CEO of the Abbey Museum for new outfits for both her and our Director. I have shopped online and purchased new things from my medieval household. I have bought very nice medieval reproduction jewellery- including a sapphire square set ring and a ruby ring from Gaukler Medieval Wares which is being custom made for me.

Because I just can't help myself, yet another photo of the Silk Cotehardie of Awesome, only just recently completed.

Oh look!

It's me again.

Sitting!

In a chair!



 

Rosalie's Medieval Woman, located at http://rosaliegilbert.com, has been updated with new photo gallery for 2009, a few things added to the "My Sewing" photo gallery, updates to "My Garb", "My Accessories" and "My Stuff". I've also added a new page "Suppliers" with recommendations on where to get your nice things.

I've only added people and online stores I have personally dealt with and even then, I have mentioned exactly what goods I have purchased from them. Many places sell goods I don't recommend, not having seen the quality of them. Pewter buttons and pilgrim badges especially vary in quality, so please shop carefully.

As I am dilligently working on several new projects (or to be more accurate, completeing projects) you may expect to see more there in the next six months.