14239 w25T

'Longinus and the Virgin Mary’ on a wall-painting in the church of Santa Maria inter Angelus, Spoleto, c. 1300. (Inv. 1924.20, Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts; author’s photograph)

introduced lambskin, though only the poor wore I sheepskin, as it was prone to smelling bad. I

pagne ancl Engh woollen and linen dotli. This is turn led to a fashion for ‘covered’ fnrs, with an external layer |

without sleeves. Finally there wcre overcoats such i as the inanlclluin, pełłeś, par pellium and chimys, |

often with a cappulium (hood) attached. These could be bnckled on the right shoulder or madę I of iwo pieces, and joined on both shoulders. The | wealthy indulged themselves with imported silk, lined fabrics and fnrs, while the poor put up with I pilurica (‘hairy’ garments) of rongh wool. ! Increased trade with Rnssia and the steppes

Rednced trade with the Islamie world led to fewer silks while mass-production of fabric in Flanders, I Champagne and England rednced the cost of* of decorated fabric.

There was a gradnal move away from the ₍ flowing robes of earlier years to wliat bas been I called ‘scnlptnral simplicity’, involving the nse of heavier fabrics. The wealthy began to spend so much on ostentations ontdoor costnme that gov-ernments became worried. In fact a real ‘Age of Lnxnry’ dawned in the second qnarter of the 14th centnrv. Perhaps the most significant new garment was a short, tight-Fitting, paddecl ttmic based opon a form of soft-armonr which, according to Italian chroniclers, First appeared in Florence, Romę and Milan in 1302. It was cer-tainly worn in Naples in the 1330s and having been adopted by wealthy yonng men, spread across the whole of western Europę to be worn by all classes and ages, except the very poorest.

This phenomenon paralleled a militarisation of Western society and was another aspect of the celebration of violence which characterised western Europę for centnries. Małe fashions generally became very tight-Fitting, emphasising masenlinity First by showing the whole leg in skin-tight hose and eventnally by padding the genital area. In fact the 14th centnry saw the total separation of małe and female costnme, which remains typical of Western society even today. It was also an assertion of małe domination and a rejection of any association with neighbooring Byzantine and Islamie civilisations.

Militia regolations did not deal with ordinary dress, but they did of conrse specify military eqoipment in detail. In Bologna in 1252 this con-sisted of an assortment of staff-weapons from spears and javelins to specialised staff-weapons, such as the penato, which was like an early roncone with a hook on the side, and a long-hafted axe called a bordone. Sonie of these fearsome infantry staff-weapons were weighted with lead to inerease their striking power. A Bolognese law of 1288 speciFied the armour required of militia infantrymen: panceńa or caschetto, corsetto and manica di ferro gauntlets, collare or gorgiem, gambiera and ceruelliera of mail,

ciroteca body armour of iron and a good quality tabulaccio or bracciaiuolo