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. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 10:43:25 -0700 From: James Prescott Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Flaming Nobles was Re: Flaming Subtleties To: Cooks within the SCA 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" Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Flaming Nobles was Re: Flaming Subtleties To: Cooks within the SCA 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 Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Flaming Nobles was Re: Flaming Subtleties To: Cooks within the SCA --- James Prescott 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" Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Flaming Nobles was Re: Flaming Subtleties To: Cooks within the SCA > --- James Prescott 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 Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Flaming Nobles was Re: Flaming Subtleties To: Cooks within the SCA 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 Edited by Mark S. Harris p-cstume-prty-msg 1 of 3