Medieval Parchment Repairs

In what follows, however, I want to draw attention to a context where women had a role that was culturally and socially significant and where consequently some effort was made to police the relations that they formed with one another in terms that implicated the erotic. Anchorites were men or women who attempted to mimic the eremitic lifestyle of the desert fathers by dedicating themselves to a life of solitary confinement in a cell or “anchorhold,” usually under the spiritual direction of a bishop. While the reclusive life was adopted by individuals from the early Middle Ages until well into the sixteenth century, statistical surveys have shown that in England anchoritism reached its apogee in the thirteenth century and that, in this period, women adopting the lifestyle outnumbered men by a ratio of roughly four to one. Although, on the surface, the solitary nature of Journal of Medieval Religious Cultures the anchorite’s vocation seems to preclude the kinds of socially valued and politically potent relationships that characterize premodern discourses of male friendship, in England at least the centrality of anchorites to medieval communities is apparent. English anchoritism was a fundamentally social phenomenon, sustained by networks of patronage, material support, and verbal and textual interaction; the relationships forged among recluses, and with others beyond the confines of the cell, potentially possessed an importance beyond mere practical necessity. If, as Robert Hasenfratz has recently put it, “many anchorites withdrew from the world only to find themselves in the center of village life,” the anchorhold is best understood not simply as a space of physical isolation but also as a transactive site, a location within which bonds could be formed and networks sustained. Contemporary discourses of friendship may thus have exerted an influence on the lives of individuals who, on another level, remained dead to the world.

Robert Mills. “GENDER, SODOMY, FRIENDSHIP, AND THE MEDIEVAL ANCHORHOLD.” Journal of Medieval Religious Cultures 36, no. 1 (2010): 1–27. https://doi.org/10.5325/jmedirelicult.36.1.0001.

doing some studies of medieval helmets <3

St Michael by Carlo Crivelli, 1472

back in the day medieval times was so big it covered all of europe. now its so small it fits in some restaurants

Bodleian Library MS. Eng. poet. a. 1 f.126r https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/52f0a31a-1478-40e4-b05b-fddb1ad076ff/

Two monks having sex behind several scenes of the Virgin Mary

(I may have cited this image as part of my dissertation to prove queer monks existed in the middle ages)

it rules to be a transgender writer because writing trans themes is easy as fuck. it's easy as fuck dude. trans themes basically write themselves. change is the fundamental motor of storytelling. guess what else is all about change bitch

st. margaret emerging from the dragon that swallowed her

in the "breviary of jost von silenen", valais, c. 1493

source: Zurich, SNM, LM 4624.2, fol. 289r

[showing a medieval peasant radioactive by imagine dragons] so we have devices that can record sounds and music as if it were words upon a page

peasant: can we listen to something else

me [lying maliciously]: this is the only song we have.

it's funny although a little exasperating how artists designing "princess" or medieval-esque gowns really do not understand how those types of clothes are constructed. We're all so used to modern day garments that are like... all sewn together in one layer of cloth, nobody seems to realize all of the bits and pieces were actually attached in layers.

So like look at this mid-1400's fit:

to get the effect of that orange gown, you've got

chemise next to the skin like a slip (not visible here) (sometimes you let a bit of this show at the neckline) (the point is not to sweat into your nice clothes and ruin them)

kirtle, or undergown. (your basic dress, acceptable to be seen by other people) this is the puffing bits visible at the elbow, cleavage, and slashed sleeve. It's a whole ass dress in there. Square neckline usually. In the left picture it's probably the mustard yellow layer on the standing figure.

coat, or gown. This is the orange diamond pattern part. It's also the bit of darker color visible in the V of the neckline.

surcoat, or sleeveless overgown. THIS is the yellow tapestry print. In the left picture it's the long printed blue dress on the standing figure

if you want to get really fancy you can add basically a kerchief or netting over the bare neck/shoulders. It can be tucked into the neckline or it can sit on top. That's called a partlet.

the best I can tell you is that they were technically in a mini-ice-age during this era. Still looks hot as balls though.

Coats and surcoats are really more for rich people though, normal folks will be wearing this look:

tbh I have a trapeze dress from target that looks exactly like that pale blue one. ye olden t-shirt dress.

so now look here:

(this is a princess btw) both pieces are made of the same blue material so it looks as if it's all one dress, but it's not. The sleeves you're seeing are part of the gown/coat, and the ermine fur lined section on top is a sideless overgown/surcoat. You can tell she's rich as fuck because she's got MORE of that fur on the inside of the surcoat hem.

okay so now look at these guys.

Left image (that's Mary Magdelene by the way) you can see the white bottom layer peeking out at the neckline. That's a white chemise (you know, underwear). The black cloth you see behind her chest lacing is a triangular panel pinned there to Look Cool tm. We can call that bit the stomacher. Over the white underwear is the kirtle (undergown) in red patterned velvet, and over the kirtle is a gown in black. Right image is the same basic idea--you can see the base kirtle layer with a red gown laced over it. She may or may not have a stomacher behind her lacing, but I'm guessing not.

I've kind of lost the plot now and I'm just showing you images, sorry. IN CONCLUSION:

you can tell she's a queen because she's got bits I don't even know the NAMES of in this thing. Is that white bit a vest? Is she wearing a vest OVER her sideless surcoat? Girl you do not need this many layers!

hi I'm from your pseudo-medieval fantasy city. yeah. you forgot to put farms around us. we have very impressive walls and stuff but everyone here is starving. the hero showed up here as part of his quest and we killed and ate him