What type of clothing can you have worn if you lived in Europe during the Dark ages? The treatment depends on your social standing. Find out more here.
The Middle Ages (also called the medieval period) would be a period of time that lasted in regards to a thousand years from the 5th to the 15th centuries. It is usually subdivided into three periods with the first being the Early Dark ages, the 2nd labeled as the High Middle Ages, and also the third and final known as the Late Dark ages.
A lot of people mistakenly call the center Ages the "Dark Ages," due to the insufficient written works that arose using this period. These people often declare that Europe was at the "dark" following the fall of the Roman Empire in 476, however Europe did not simply grind to a halt. Rather, Europeans continued to reside based on which class they were born into which may also figure out what type of clothing they'd wear.
Out of this example, we are able to figure out what historical clothing Europeans wore that was enforced by which social class they were born into. Let's move on with the clothing of peasants.
Peasants were typically limited in picking clothing simply because they was without much cash. In what they could afford, peasants would have only about one to two outfits to wear for many years. A whole lot worse, the nobility would limit what the peasants could wear; however, this didn't bother the peasants because they couldn't afford to purchase much anyway.
With what they might buy, peasants would often turn to wearing "tunics" which were often made from wool. Men and women would modify tunics by cutting slits for places such as the head, arms, and legs. Men would often allow the tunics fall just past their knees while women would let the tunics slip to their legs which can be regarded as dresses.
In terms of undergarments, it had not been before the 14th century that peasants began to wear "shifts." Shifts were not as baggy as tunics and would often be more than the tunics themselves. Consequently, shifts hugged the body more closely and provided more comfort from the abrasive feel of wool. As for underwear, it's thought that men wore loin cloths even though it is uncertain if women wore any type of underwear.
What exactly about headwear? Women usually wore a kind of linen veil that will often cover their hair and could be kept in place by a ribbon or perhaps a bow while men would wear various types of hats. These included straw hats to more elaborate such as leather coverings. Others might as also worn felt caps that will fasten around their necks.
In terms of footwear, many went without shoes in warmer seasons; however, the most popular footwear was leather shoes that have been end together by straps. These footwear may have also had wooden soles for support. Besides leather, felt might have been also used. To support footwear, it's also entirely possible that men dons hose due to their shorter tunics while women probably didn't wear hose as their tunics reached all the way down to their feet.
The next social class was the military members of European society known as knights. Knights are usually regarded as wearing a type of armor and fighting in combat on horse or by walking. Obviously, as warfare technology increased, also did a knight's armor need to advance as well. Essentially, a knight's armor experienced three stages: leather armor, chain mail armor, and lastly plate mail armor.
The very first stage is leather crampon mercurial armor. Knights could fasten leather as armor to protect most of their body ranging from their feet, legs, chest, arms, and even their head. Despite the fact that leather was with enough contentration to protect from bladed attacks, knights were still susceptible to attacks for example sword thrusts and arrows.
The following evolution was the adoption of chain mail. Like leather armor, chain mail might be assembled to any area of the body, however chain mail was often composes of many metallic rings which were assembled together to form a barrier. Even though it was better than leather armor, chain mail could only control slashing attacks while being weak to piercing attacks such as sword thrusts or arrows.
The final innovation was the adoption of plate mail. Plate mail consists of parts of metal that protect a certain region of the body. For example, a knight would wear head gear to safeguard their scalp, a breastplate to protect their chest, and grieves to protect their legs. In places that couldn't be protected (such as jointed areas or even the neck) knights would often wear chain mail. Finally, plate mail was able to control piercing attacks and would be a worthy accessory for a knight's protection when they can afford this expensive armor.
The next social class may be the religious which belonged towards the Roman Catholic Church. There have been four classes that were in a hierarchy and from highest to lowest include the bishops, the priests, and finally the monks and nuns. An individual was expected to wear a specific type of clothing with respect to the class they belonged to.
Bishops were often the leaders from the church and who were treated as nobility. Along with wearing probably the most luxurious garments available (for example silk and velvet), bishops would also wear a unique hat called a "miter." The miter would be pointed at the end and would often be decorated with expensive jewels that will signify the importance and power the bishop.
Next in line would be the priests who were responsible for a particular church. Unlike the bishops who have been ordained with lavish clothes, priests would often wear long black gowns. Like the priests, monks would also wear gowns which were brown and made out of wool. In addition, monks would also wear belts around their waists and would often have a cowl (hood) to cover their heads.
Lastly are the nuns, who would be separated in the monks and priests. Nuns would often wear black, white, or grey gowns which would reach to their feet. In addition, nuns wore belts to support their gowns and tunics. As well as the gown or tunic, the nuns would have a head opening known as a "scapular" that would fall the in-front and back of a gown or tunic. To cover their hair, nuns would wear "wimples" which were underneath the scapulars.
The nobility included various kinds of individuals for example lords who owned vessels of land and also the royalty of a kingdom which included individuals for example queens and kings. These people often had the most lavish clothing because they were fairly rich coupled with much power.
For lords and royalty, the clothing attire would include the most expensive and lavish items. For instance, many of the nobles often wore clothes made out of silk or velvet. A heavier cloth called "damask" seemed to be worn and fur was often used for the trimmings from the sleeves or even the trimmings of an outfit. The nobility would also wear bright colors as dyes were often expensive for produce and will be a sign of their high social ranking.
As time continued, many of the nobles started to wear superb such as jewels and diamonds. Additionally, fashion styles began to happen. For instance, it became fashionable for men to put on hose and pointed shoes chaussure de foot nike magista. They would also wear a surcoat combined with a costly tunic underneath. Women also had this sense when wearing a fur petticoat and fine linen undergarments underneath during the winter.
One interesting aspect of nobility dress is they would often form laws that would only allow certain individuals to wear certain clothing. For instance, only a particular kind of nobility could wear jewelry and also the nobility would also outlaw lavish clothing for lower classes in order to show their ability.