Netherlands-msg - 4/27/99

Medieval Netherlands and Belgium.

NOTE: See also the files: France-msg, Gaul-art, Europe-msg, Angl-Saxons-msg.

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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 StefanÕs Florilegium.
These files are available on the Internet at:
http://lg_photo.home.texas.net/florilegium/index.html

I  have done  a limited amount  of  editing. Messages having to do  with
seperate 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
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credit to the orignator(s).

Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  Lord Stefan li Rous
    RSVE60@email.sps.mot.com              stefan@texas.net
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From: baronfum@netaxs.com (David K. Schreur)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: The Low Countries ?
Date: Mon, 07 Oct 1996 22:56:57 -0500

mvdamme@xs4all.nl (Maarten van Damme) wrote:
> Lately I have seen many SCA websites but none of them seems to deal
> with medieval history, weapons, battles, arts etc. in the Low
> Countries also known as The Netherlands (present day Belgium and The
> Netherlands). You can find naming practices in Germany, Britain and
> France and again skipping our part of the world. I know for a fact
> that we have had an interesting and varied history between 800 and
> 1400. We had battles, so we must have used weapons, but which ones?
> We were dressed but in what? Did we loan from our neighbours or did we
> have our own styles?
> 
> Maarten van Damme

Through most of the SCA period the "Low Countries" of Holland and Brabandt
were a part of the Holy Roman Empire.  They borrowed heavily on the areas
of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) for costume and armor.  In the later part
of the fourteenth and early part of the fifteenth century they were known
for seamanship and trade in the north sea, and Simon van Utrecht in his
ship, The Brindled Cow, cleared the Baltic of the pirates of the Vitalian
Brotherhood.  Brabandt was also influenced by the French to their west. 
Late in period these lands, mostly Hapsburg, became the property of the
Spanish through Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor and Spanish King.  At
the very end of period they revolted against the Spanish rule and
Challenged the Hanseatic and English for supremacy in the North Sea and
North Atlantic.  My own Personna is Hanseatic, but comes from Lower Saxony
very near the Low Countries and could probably have spit across the
border, but for merchantile reasons I have an office in Lubeck on the
Baltic.
-- 
David K. Schreur (Ritter Baron Meister Karl Aerdigwidder von Zauberberg)
Barony of Bhakail, East Kingdom


From: david_key@vnet.ibm.com (Dave Key)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: The Low Countries ?
Date: 8 Oct 1996 08:38:28 GMT
Organization: IBM UK Laboratories Ltd.

baronfum@netaxs.com (David K. Schreur) writes:

>Through most of the SCA period the "Low Countries" of Holland and Brabandt
>were a part of the Holy Roman Empire.  They borrowed heavily on the areas
>of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen) for costume and armor.  
< ... snip ...> 
>Late in period these lands, mostly Hapsburg, became the property of the
>Spanish through Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor and Spanish King.  

Surprising omission of the influence of the Burgundians.

During the c15th Flanders was a VERY important part of the Burgundian
'empire' of Philip & Charles the Bold. The conflicts between the trading
interests of England & Flanders playing a major role in the international
politics of the time (have a look at some of the Act of Chancery & the Paston
letters in the Labyrinth).

The peoples of Flanders were very independent & played a major role in the 
trade & culture of Europe ... Flemish woollen cloth being the finest in the 
c13th-c14th (using English wool) ... until Flemish immigrants helped raise the
English cloth export market to beat it in the c14th-c15th.  

As to their influence of clothing !!! Most of the finest (non-Italian) art of 
the fifteenth century comes from Flanders ... Jan Van Eyck etc. etc. and shows 
the major influence of Flanders ... the Burgundian (ie Flemish) court was the 
fashion leader of the period.

When John Donne was painted by Memlic c.1475 it was in the Flemish style not 
English & Edward IV bought gowns in the 'Dutch guise' on his return from
exile in 1470-1471. There is also an article by Margaret Scott on a Burgundian
visit to Scotland in c.1448 (in 'Costume' if you can get it) which hints at some 
of the difference between backward Scottish & fashionable Flemish dress. 

As for armour ... If I recall correctly Flemish-style armour (essentially a 
cross between the plain Italian & fluted German) was very popular in mid-15thC
England.

If you have been reading books which play down the role of Flanders ...
you have been reading the wrong books.

Dave


From: tjordan001@aol.com (TJorDan001)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: The Low Countries ?
Date: 8 Oct 1996 21:19:33 -0400

Let us not forget the most notorious export of the Low Countries,
Mercenaries.  Flemish and Brabantine mercenaries found employment
throughout Europe.  Some authors go so far as to refer to "Brabantines"
when they are refering to 'mercenaries'.

            Jester of Anglesea


From: kellogg@rohan.sdsu.edu (kellogg)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Websites for the Low Countries (was: Re: The Low Countries ?)
Date: 8 Oct 1996 17:33:56 GMT
Organization: San Diego State University Computing Services

Maarten van Damme (mvdamme@xs4all.nl) wrote:
: Lately I have seen many SCA websites but none of them seems to deal
: with medieval history, weapons, battles, arts etc. in the Low
: Countries also known as The Netherlands (present day Belgium and The
: Netherlands). 

: Could some knowledgeable person tell me more about this or refer me to
: websites which might answer my many questions?

        There is an interesting-looking bibliography at <URL: http://
www.roughguides.com/RG_WWW/morebks/hol_bks.html>.

        The Tromso Museum has a website at <URL: http://beatles.imv.uit.no
/homepage_imv.uit.no.html>.  However, it is in Dutch, so I can't 
tell if it is of any use or not.

        Try the Museums in Netherlands page at <URL: http://www.xxLINK.nl/
tourism/museums/home.htm>.  Dozens of museums listed, bound to find
something useful there.  Also try the Museums in Amsterdam page at
<URL: http://www.channels.nl/m.html>.  Looks like lots of interesting
links there.

                Good luck, hope you find some interesting materials.
In fact, let us know what you find, I'm sure others can benefit from
your work.

                Avenel Kellough


From: ksp8305@osfmail.isc.rit.edu (K.S. Palmer)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: The Low Countries ?
Date: 17 Oct 1996 21:27:21 GMT

I accidentally found an excellent book for some background on
rennaissance Holland.  It's called "Daily Life in Holland in the Year
1566" by Rien Poortvliet.  It's actually in the art section of the
bookstore rather than history.  You could also look at "In My
Grandfather's House" by the same author.

Adelais
-- 
Karyn Palmer
KSP8305@rit.edu
http://www.rit.edu/~ksp8305


From: "g. koster" <g.koster@chem.leidenuniv.nl>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: The Low Countries ?
Date: 18 Oct 1996 09:19:56 GMT
Organization: Gorlaeus lab. Leiden University Holland

ksp8305@osfmail.isc.rit.edu (K.S. Palmer) wrote:
>I accidentally found an excellent book for some background on
>rennaissance Holland.  It's called "Daily Life in Holland in the Year
>1566" by Rien Poortvliet.  It's actually in the art section of the
>bookstore rather than history.  You could also look at "In My
>Grandfather's House" by the same author.
>
>Adelais

I should warn you that it is not supprising you did find this book in the art 
collection. Rien Poortvliet is primarely a painter. If it is only him who did 
write de book I should put to must value on it. Overhere he is best known for 
his animal drawings. If hy did write it with some one else that person is 
probably responseble for the historic accuracy. The strange thing I 
never hurd of this book of him, Although I hurd of vijf or so other books of 
him, All writen in dutch as was "In my Grandfather's House"

Douwe Johannus
-- 
Drs. G. Koster
Leiden University, Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Gorlaeus Laboratories.
Address:      Einsteinweg 55  
              P.O. Box 9502 
              2300 RA Leiden 
              The Netherlands.
TeleFax:      +31 71 5274537
Phone:        +31 71 5274513
Email:        koster_g@chem.leidenuniv.nl
home adres:   Drs. G. Koster         
              Lokhorst 69
              2352 KE Leiderdorp
              The Netherlands
home phone:   +31 71 5418563


From: brianscott@aol.com (BrianScott)
Newsgroups: alt.heraldry.sca
Subject: Re: Flemish resources
Date: 15 Jan 1997 22:55:25 GMT

Nicholas Bollaert asked:
Does anyone have any good reference sources for the low countries 
circa 13th and 14th centuries?

I have a study of 13th c. names from Kortrijk and another of names from
some of the records of the town of Ieper between 1250 and 1400, both in
Dutch.  The former is one of many such works by F. Debrabandere; the
latter is by Wilfried Beele.

Talan Gwynek
Do Not Use: brianscott@aol.com
Always Use: scott@math.csuohio.edu


From: mittle@panix.com (Arval d'Espas Nord)
Newsgroups: alt.heraldry.sca
Subject: Re: Flemish resources
Date: 16 Jan 1997 14:17:17 -0500
Organization: PANIX Public Access Internet and Unix, NYC

Nicholas Bollaert wrote:
> Does anyone have any good reference sources for the low countries 
> circa 13th and 14th centuries?

There are some articles on Dutch and Flemish names at my names web page,
http://www.panix.com/~mittle/names/.  There is one article on Flemish
armory in the Academy of St. Gabriel libary at
http://www.us.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/docs/, but it was drawn from
16th century sources.

If you need more, you might direct your question to the Academy at 
http://www.us.itd.umich.edu/~ximenez/s.gabriel/gabemail.html.  We have a
specialist in Dutch and Flemish names and armory.
===========================================================================
Arval d'Espas Nord                                         mittle@panix.com


From: dalton@ea.net (Nancy Dalton)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Flemish resources
Date: Thu, 16 Jan 1997 13:23:16 GMT

Greetings,
Medieval Flanders, by David Nicholas, ISBN 0 582 01679 7 CSD, 1992.
It covers Flanders politics, economics, arts, and trades from 600 to
1477.  The only thing it does not have is pictures :)

Nancy Dalton
ska Earnwynn van Zwaluwenburg


From: djheydt@uclink.berkeley.edu (Dorothy J Heydt)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Hoerning grave (Danish ca 1000)
Date: 22 Jan 1997 16:20:44 GMT
Organization: University of California at Berkeley

Maggie Mulvaney <mulvanem@fp.co.nz> wrote:
>...According to the source it was a woman buried on
>a cart, in an early Christian burial. The interesting thing is the
>remains of her garment. All that remains is a rather wide band of
>silverworked tabletwoven braid, which lies loose on her left side and
>is wrapped around her right arm. ....

Based on what I've read, I suspect the woman was wearing a common
Germanic early-period  garment sometimes called a "tube dress" or
"Haengerock."  This resembled (to some extent) a Greek peplos,
and consisted of a tube of fabric (apparently fabric could be
woven in a continuous tube on a warp-weighted loom, don't ask
*me* how they did it), say four feet in length and maybe four
or five feet in circumference.  Weaving one on a warp-weighted loom
began with weaving a band of tablet-woven braid, into which a
pair of warps were inserted at every turn of the tablets.  You
wound up with a length of braid with a very long fringe dangling
from it; these became the warps of the woven fabric.  When it was
all done, you had a length (or in this case tube) of fabric with
a tablet-woven band neatly finishing off one end of it,  You
could then sew a second tablet-woven band onto the other edge.

To put the dress on, you stepped into the tube and pinned it
with brooches above each shoulder, so that the top edge (where
the braid was) ran from the left-hand brooch, across the front to
the right-hand brooch, under your right armpit, up to the brooch
again, across your back to the left-hand brooch, under your left
armpit, up to the brooch again.  I'd like to see a drawing of
just how the braid was found in situ, and just what the excavators
meant by "wrapped around the arm."  But if it only went around
the arm once, that is, from the top of the shoulder under the
armpit to the top of the shoulder again, then it would fit.

Dorothea of Caer-Myrddin                          Dorothy J. Heydt
Mists/Mists/West                                Albany, California
PRO DEO ET REGE                                     djheydt@uclink


From: mulvanem@fp.co.nz (Maggie Mulvaney)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Hoerning grave (Danish ca 1000)
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 1997 23:52:01 GMT

djheydt@uclink.berkeley.edu (Dorothy J Heydt) wrote:

<suggestion of hangerock snipped>

Yes, she was possibly wearing one of those, there are other bits of
braid that fit that rather well. But the very wide braid that I was
talking about does not, really.

I would have thought it was a cloak, rather than a dress. As has been
pointed out already the word dragt can be translated as 'costume'
rather than 'dress' per se. What contradicted this was the fact that
it was the author himself who had translated it into the English
summary (not that that rules out a mistranslation!). He also uses the
word 'dress' in the captions of the pictures, but here he talks about
'the silverworked dress', so I guess that further points to a
mistranslation.

The precise wording (my translation) is 'the dead was wearing a
*garment* edged with a silverworked, tabletwoven braid. One of these
was a ca. 5 cm wide and 2.5 m long braid with a rhomboid pattern, that
from the brow ran down both sides of the body. The garment must have
been hanging loose down the left side of the body, while on the other
side it was wrapped around the right lower arm. In addition there are
some 2-2.5 cm wide braid, also with silverworked patterns, that were
placed by the shoulders, by the wrists and along the thigh bone.'

There is also a picture of how the grave looked, and the braid she
mentions looks to me like it went around the arm at the shoulders.
There is also a piece by the thigh bone, as stated, which is wrapped
around itself at the top (halfway down the thigh, and reaches to the
knee.

Interesting, no? 

Muireann ingen Eoghain
**********************************************************
* MMY             *                    mulvanem@fp.co.nz * 
* Maggie Mulvaney * http://www.nmia.com/~entropy/maggie/ *
**********************************************************


From: mulvanem@fp.co.nz (Maggie Mulvaney)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Hoerning grave (Danish ca 1000)
Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1997 01:59:17 GMT

On Thu, 23 Jan 1997 23:52:01 GMT, mulvanem@fp.co.nz (Maggie Mulvaney)
wrote:
>There is also a picture of how the grave looked, and the braid she
>mentions looks to me like it went around the arm at the shoulders.
>There is also a piece by the thigh bone, as stated, which is wrapped
>around itself at the top (halfway down the thigh, and reaches to the
>knee.

Doh. By 'the braid *he* mentions' I mean the narrower braid...
Apologies.

Muireann
**********************************************************
* MMY             *                    mulvanem@fp.co.nz * 
* Maggie Mulvaney * http://www.nmia.com/~entropy/maggie/ *
**********************************************************


Date: Sun, 4 Apr 1999 14:15:05 EDT
From: <EalasaidS@aol.com>
To: sca-arts@raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Flemish dress?

> A friend of mine needs help in finding pictures of flemish dress for the
> late 14th, early 15th century any tips would be of help :-)

> Anna de Byxe

Tell your friend to go to a library or good book store and look for books on
Rogier van der Weyden.  He's a 14th century Flemish painter.  He did lots of
portraits and gave a lot of loving detail to the clothes his subjects were
wearing.

Jan van Eyck is also a good source, but I can't remember at the moment if he
is the right time period.

I've lent my Flemish art books out at the moment, so can't be more specific.
But there were lots of Flemish painters in the 14-15th centuries, so she
shouldn't have any problems find great pictures.

Ealasaid nic Shuibne


Date: Sun, 04 Apr 1999 22:01:26 -0400
From: Carol Thomas <scbooks@neca.com>
To: sca-arts@raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Flemish dress?

Painters in the 14th & 15th in Flanders: the names with asterisks should be
easier to find/less obscure than the others.

The following comes from an old book with lots of plates: _Flemish Painting
from the van Eycks to Metsys_ by Leo van Peyvelde, McGraw Hill, 1968, SBN
07-050980-8.  It predates ISBN.

Melchior Broederlam, circa 1395
Peter of Brussels - mentioned as just before the van Eyck's
*Hubert van Eyck, early 15th, did some paintings jointly with Jan van Eyck.
 Hubert seems to have been painting at least 1404-1432; Jan at least
1432-1439.
The Master of Flemalle - a contemporary of the van Eyck's.
*Roger van der Weyden - survived Jan vE by 20 years.
Petrust Christus started painting circa 1440, apparently.
Dieric Bouts painted 1458-1475.
Hugo van der Goes 1467 on.
Josse van Wassenhove - around the same time.
*Jan Memlic, about 1473 on.
Gerard David, about 1484 to 1623.

Lady Carllein

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris        Netherlands-msg