Medieval Times: Painting a Backdrop

The Middle Ages, (adjectival form Medieval), was a period of European history spanning from the collapse of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the Renaissance. The Renaissance is roughly interpreted as having begun anywhere from the 14^th to 17^th centuries, depending on location.

My aim for this first post was to ‘Paint a Backdrop’, which I've chosen to do by touching on a couple of ordinary aspects of medieval times, namely food and clothing, because I thought it would be interesting to attempt to conjure an image in the reader’s mind of what a piece of personal life was like for some of the individuals whose names will appear in this blog.

I will be drawing inspiration from the man who invented the printing press in Germany in the mid-1400s, Johannes Gutenberg. The son of a patrician of Mainz in Germany, Gutenberg, as well as being an inventor, was a goldsmith and therefore one of the most highly regarded craftsmen in the medieval world. Because of this, I will be basing my research around what life was like for aristocrats during this period.

FOOD

Rich and poor alike ate a dish called ‘pottage’, a thick soup containing meat, vegetables and bran, however the more luxurious pottage was called ‘mortrews’ or ‘mortreux’ which can either be prepared as a stew or as thick as a pâté. The following recipe, from the medieval manuscript ‘Forme of Cury’ (‘cury’ being an obsolete word for ‘cooked food’) tells you to ‘loke that it be stondyng’ which indicates that this version is closer to a pâté. (“Forme of Cury” was written by King Richard II’s master cooks in the late 14^th century).

"Maken mortreux, and wel bake a pye” – 
The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1343-1400)

"Take hennes and pork and seeth hem

togyder. Take the lyre of hennes

and of the pork and hewe it small, and 

grynde it al to doust; take brede

ygrated and do therto, and temper it

with the self broth, and alye it

with yolkes of ayren; and 

cast theron powdour fort. Boyle

it and do therin powdour of gynger, 

sugur, safroun and salt, and loke 

that it be stondying; and 

flour it with powdour gynger"

Search the Rylands Medieval Collection website for "Forme of Cury" to find over a hundred digitised pages. Then head over to the Gode Cookery website for transcriptions of recipes from this medieval cookbook and more, as well as explanations and translations into modern language.

CLOTHING 

The clothing of the wealthy was similar to that of the poor in general cut, but differed in material, detailing and decoration. Aristocrats could afford higher quality versions of wool and linen, and also silk and fur to edge or line their garments. Their clothes tended to be brightly coloured with superior dyes, which were re-dyed as they faded. The wealthy displayed their status by wearing accessories such as rings, brooches, decorative belts and gloves. 

Jan de Leeuw

Portraits like this one tell us about the social standing of goldsmiths in the 1400s. This image of Jan de Leeuw, Dean of the Goldsmiths' Guild in Bruges, portrays a dignified, intelligent man dressed in elegant clothing complete with a fur collar, and holding a ring as a sign of his profession.

Image located here.

Johann Gutenberg

Portraits of Johannes Gutenberg were all done posthumously, therefore we cannot be completely sure of his appearance. Many images of Johannes Gutenberg portray him as wearing lots of fur and maybe some silk.

Portrait of a Goldsmith by Gerard David

Image from here.
















Another portrait of a goldsmith, by Gerard David. As you can see he is also wearing fur, a gold ring and a very brightly coloured shirt which are all signs of wealth.


 Image originally located here.










  



RESEARCH PROCESS/STRATEGIES

I generally start all my research on Google or Wikipedia because I find the layout a lot more user friendly, I can navigate around these pages faster because they're familiar. I know, as everybody does, that anyone can contribute to Wikipedia and edit pages and therefore it is far from authoritative, but I think generally the information leads you in the right direction, and it’s therefore a fine place to start, before proceeding to find reliable information from a more reputable source. It's also useful to obtain images of artwork etc from Wikipedia, when you know the details of said images without doubt.

I've been using Britannica Online, which was great to begin with, but as I tried to look for more involved or specific subjects, less relevant results started showing up. I found a lot of great, informative websites with reputable writers or contributors, but I don't know if they're all authoritative.

My struggles have been that I find too many things interesting, and it leads to information overload. The internet is such an easy place to get lost in - links here there and everywhere, to everything. Another issue I've always had, is that I write too much. My grade 6 teacher said I wrote War and Peace, so I guess I haven't grown out of it.

CITATION
Encyclopedia Britannica Online 2012, Middle ages, viewed 27 April 2012, <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/380873/middle-ages>
Link


Encyclopedia Britannica Online 2012, Johannes Gutenberg, viewed 27 April 2012, <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/249878/Johannes-Gutenberg>
Link 


BBC 2009, Richard II porpoise recipe online, viewed 27 April 2012, <http://www.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8108213.stm>
Link


Matterer, JL 2000, A boke of gode cookery : mortrews, viewed 27 April 2012 <www.godecookery.com/goderec/grec35.htm>
Link


Encyclopedia Britannica Online 2012, Chaucer, Geoffrey [photograph], viewed 28 April 2012, <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/media/376836/Chaucer-portrait-miniature-painted-after-the-poets-death>
Link

The John Rylands University Library 2008, Rylands medieval collection, viewed 27 April 2012, <http://enriqueta.man.ac.uk:8180/luna/servlet/Man4Medieval>
Link

Singman, JL 1999, Daily life in medieval Europe, EBL EBook Library, viewed 27 April 2012.

Central European University, Medieval jewelry : fashion and status, viewed 27 April 2012, <http://web.ceu.hu/medstud/manual/sem/artisans.htm>
Link

Library of Congress, Head-and-shoulders portraits of Johann Gutenberg, Martin Luther, Peter Schoffer, Melanchton, Johann Fust and Lucas Cranach, [photograph], viewed 28 April 2012 <http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/91734301/>
Link

Wikipaintings, portrait of a goldsmith, [photograph], viewed 28 April 2012, <www.wikipaintings.org/en/gerard-david/portrait-of-a-goldsmith>
Link