Rezümékötet 2008. - vmtdk

H U M Á N T U D O M Á N Y O K
COSTUME IN MIDDLE-AGE SERBIA
Author: Sarolta KARTAG 4 th year student
Supervisor: Prof. Péter ROKAY PhD
Institution: University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Humanities, Department of History, Novi Sad
College of Higher Education for Hungarians in Vojvodina
The paper attempts to present the history of costume of 10 th –15 th century Serbia, namely the clothing of its population.
It gives an insight to the materials used for clothes (e.g. leather, fur, fabrics woven from nettle or wool), the people
who were engaged in sewing, the differences between the clothes worn in rural areas and towns, what the serfs wore
as opposed to the noblemen, and what was the apparel of the ruler. Was it the common law, legal regulations or
the ruler’s orders that regulated this area of life? Did they lay down what and of what kind was to be worn by the members
of different social standing?
Clothing is one of the means of non-verbal communication that has, although to different extents but in all historical
periods, been undoubtedly used. (This can be proved by the fact that in the language of all nations there are numerous
sayings, proverbs and idioms relating to clothes, e.g. „Clothes make the man.”) Clothing, to some degree,
always speaks about the person who wears it: it tells about their economic and social standing, marital status, ethnic affiliation,
as well as trade. This role of the costume is richly covered by written documents, drawings and paintings, but
there are also a small number of garments, objects and material relics as witnesses of times past.
Accordingly, it can be concluded that the basic types of garments in every-day clothing are similar in all social
ranks except that there are obvious differences in the kind and quality of textile and materials – and therefore in their
value, as well as in the quantity and richness of decorations.
Keywords: clothing, textile, noblemen’s attire, social status
N Y O S D I Á K K Ö R I K O N F E R E N C I A
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