p-cstume-prty-msg - 1/15/08
Period/medieval costume parties.
NOTE: See also the files: Holiday-Celeb-lnks, Autmn-Holidys-art, p-toasting-msg, sports-msg, fireworks-lnks, Medievl-Feasts-art, fst-entertain-msg.
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Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 10:43:25 -0700
From: James Prescott <prescotj at telusplanet.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Flaming Nobles was Re: Flaming Subtleties
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
At 06:56 -0500 2005-03-15, Daniel Phelps wrote:
>> Since people are lighting and heating their homes with open flame, I'm not
>> sure that they would worry TOO much about a flaming dish. Also, I have
>> learned the hard way that a single spark often is not enough to burn
>> charcloth (especially made for burning), so I expect it would take a bit of
>> doing to set your average table setting/table cloth on fire.
>
> I've not been following this thread but has anyone mentioned that famous
> incident in the French court where in three, or was it four, high ranking
> nobles were "accidentally" burned to death when their "wildmen of the
> woods" costumes caught fire?
>
> Daniel
1393. At the famous 'Bal des Ardents' the King and five others
were dressed as wild men, their costumes caught fire, and four of
the King's companions were horribly burned to death.
Thorvald
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 14:22:24 -0500
From: "Martin G. Diehl" <mdiehl at nac.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Flaming Nobles was Re: Flaming Subtleties
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Amateur thespians + amateur costumes + real flame
= recipe for a real disaster
Your use of the phrase, "wildmen of the woods" made it
easy to find this account,
A masquerade ball (or masque) is an event which
the participants attend in costume, usually
including a mask.
King Charles VI of France and five of his courtiers
were dressed as woodwoses and chained together for
a mascarade at the tragic Bal des Sauvages at the
Queen Mother's Paris hotel, January 28, 1393.
In the midst of the festivities, a stray spark
from a torch set their hairy costumes ablaze,
burning several courtiers alive; the king's own
life was saved through quick action by his aunt,
the duchesse de Berry, who smothered the flames
in her cloak.
Quoted from "Encyclopedia: Woodwose";
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Woodwose
Vincenzo
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 11:41:59 -0800 (PST)
From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Flaming Nobles was Re: Flaming Subtleties
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
--- James Prescott <prescotj at telusplanet.net> wrote:
> 1393. At the famous 'Bal des Ardents' the King and five others
> were dressed as wild men, their costumes caught fire, and four of
> the King's companions were horribly burned to death.
>
> Thorvald
http://www.bnf.fr/enluminures/images/jpeg/i3_0087.jpg
Huette
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 11:53:07 -0800
From: "Laura C. Minnick" <lcm at jeffnet.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Flaming Nobles was Re: Flaming Subtleties
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
> --- James Prescott <prescotj at telusplanet.net> wrote:
>> 1393. At the famous 'Bal des Ardents' the King and five others
>> were dressed as wild men, their costumes caught fire, and four of
>> the King's companions were horribly burned to death.
>>
>> Thorvald
>
> http://www.bnf.fr/enluminures/images/jpeg/i3_0087.jpg
Just to note- the incident was made worse by the fact that the 'wild men'
were chained together- once one was aflame, the others couldn't escape.
Also, this particular illumination was done nearly 100 years after the
incident. Geek that I am, I'd like to point out the cool light fixtures,
the *very* short doublets, and get a load of those hennins! w00t!
'Lainie
Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 17:12:35 -0600
From: Robert Downie <rdownie at mb.sympatico.ca>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Flaming Nobles was Re: Flaming Subtleties
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Here is another version of the tale (maybe it's a different one, it
doesn't mention anything about being chained together):
A Mummery of Wild Men 1394 condensed from Charlemagne's Tablecloth p35
At a feast to celebrate a wedding between one of the King's knights and
one of the Queen's gentlewomen, the King asked Hugonon de Guisay, one of
his squires, to 'make some pastime'. He staged a mummery of wild men
for the King and some of his friends to enact. Wild men (or wodewoses /
woodhouses) were a popular diversion. Completely disguised by hairy
coverings, the wild men would arrive, dance or gambol with the company,
and often leave without anyone knowing who they were or where they came
from. Six costumes were made out of linen covered with pitch embedded
with flax to look like hair. The King and five knights secretly dressed
up in these costumes. All went according to plan, the ladies being
suitably intrigued, particularly the Duchess of Berry who drew the
disguised King away from his companions and insisted he should not
escape until she found out who he was. Unfortunately, the Duke of
Orleans, who had arrived late and not heard the instruction to keep the
torchbearers out of the way, grabbed one of the torches to get a better
look and accidentally set the pitch alight. One Knight, Nantoullet,
remembered there was a butchery nearby where they rinsed pans; he rushed
out and threw himself into the water, saving his life. The King was
saved by his flirtatious Duchess, who threw the train of her gown over
him to protect him from the fire and then discovered who she had saved.
The other four, including Hugenon de Guisay, died from their burns.
There is also another illumination (by an anonymous painter from
Bruges, c. 1470 in the Chronicles of Froissart) in the same book
Faerisa
<the end>
