Osprey - General Military - Knight - The Warrior and ... - Brego-weard

was uncovered at first, with a cap being seen in
the 12th century, often brimless and forward
pointing in the Phrygian style of classical
Greece. During the 13th century coifs also
came into fashion as a head covering. Over-
tunics or gowns, cloaks and hoods were also
worn. During the 14th century things changed
quite dramatically. A hip-length, tight-fitting
jacket replaced the under-tunic, appearing in
various forms under a variety ol names —
doublet, jupon, cotehardie, pourpoint - to which
the chausses now attached by cords called
points. The gown similarly became tight fitting
and after around 1340 it might be dispensed
with, in which case the tight-fitting tunic
became the outer garment. During the late
14th and 15th centuries the doublet become
increasingly short, being barely waist-length by
the end of the 15th centuiy, and the chausses
increased in length to compensate, the separate
legs eventually joining in order to cover the
buttocks and groin. Gowns took on a fuller
lashion again, in the very late 14th centuiy
BEYOND THE BATTLEFIELD: THE KNIGHT IN MEDIEVAL SOCIETY -•
being loose fitting with long, excessively full sleeves and known as the houpelonde, and
then developing into something more akin to a modern coat, albeit with a pleated skirt.
Headgear also developed in this century. Alongside various forms of cap, the hood, an
ubiquitous covering in the 14th century, got smaller and more tight-fitting until, no
longer able to fit over the head of the wearer it was wrapped around it as a kind of hat,
known as a chaperon.
Fashion, such as it was in medieval times, is normally marked in the narrative
sources by opposition, taking the form of complaints about lewdness and
impropriety, or vanity and opulence. Thus Orderic Vitalis tells how the courtiers of
William Rufus, William the Conqueror's son and heir to the English throne, were not
the men their fathers had been - 'On these days the old customs have almost wholly
given way to new fads.' He writes:
Our wanton youth is sunk in effeminacy, and courtiers, fawning, seek the favours of
women with every kind of lewdness. They add excrescences like serpents' tales [sic] to
Ladies and their servants in
the dress of the mid-14th
century. It was the short
doublets, long shoes and
chaperons that caused
complaint about the new
fashions. (The Art Archive)
195