Having hopefully squished the idea that palaces and places of worship in medieval times were only varying shades of brown and cream, I'm moving on now to the technicolour world of clothing and homes. This is part two of a series, if you haven't already, click along to part 1 so you know what I'm on about.
Luckily for us, there is plenty of evidence for the use of vibrant colour in medieval homes, mostly in those of the higher classes; nobility, gentry and merchants. They lived in moated castles, fortified homes, manor houses and town houses, some of which were decorated magnificently to show off their wealth and status to visitors, but also, as we do today, to surround ourselves in their favourite colours and patterns.
One of the great things about the medieval age is that wealthy residents were fond of creating inventories of their possessions. In 1474 the Henley-on-Thames lady Jane Stonor had one made of her house and chapel, recording beautiful fabrics of ‘purple velvet losenged with gold’, red and green hangings, ‘cushions covered with grey skins’ and others ‘covered with tapestry work.’ Painted chests were at the Norbury house of Elizabeth Fitzherbert and her husband Ralph, and she also walked through chambers decorated with green and white hangings, black netting and red bedcovers. There was also room for pretty ornaments, as Elizabeth bequeathed in her will ‘a nut harnessed with silver and gilt with a cover of silver and gilt’. Something similar exists in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and Elizabeth's much-loved ornament probably looked very much like this one. Other fabrics included those decorated with popinjays (parrots), owned by Anne Holland in 1447, while Cecily Neville Duchess of York (and mother to Edward IV and Richard III) owned a bed embroidered with gold threads and furnishings draped in blue satin. A playing card of 1475, Met Museum, Public Domain
A nineteenth-century visitor to the home of Joan and William Canynges in Bristol noted the traces of gilt that could be seen in the ceiling of their home. William was a mayor and wealthy merchant and hosted Edward IV in his home. It was under these decorative shows of splendour that Edward IV and William discussed local government, politics and trading in the year 1461.
Clothes were also not the muted browns and greys we see in documentaries and historical films, but brightly-coloured, perfect for drawing attention to yourself in the never-ending games of power. In 1474 Lady Elizabeth Andrews mentions in her will a blue gown edged with white fur, while Elizabeth Fitzherbert in 1490 owned at least two violet gowns, as well as another decorated with damask. Gowns were also often lined or edged with fur.
Elizabeth Fitzherbert and her Virgin Collar, V and A, London. Jo Romero.
Both men and women sparkled in jewellery, with favourites including gold, sapphire and ruby. Edward IV's Wardrobe Accounts show that he spent vast sums on different fabrics, jackets and gowns garnished with gold, red and blue, and ordered specially made silk buttons for them. He also purchased leather boots in various colours. We can see in portraits and on surviving effigies the care that people went to in wearing jewels and fine clothing, showing their patrons in the best light. The collar on Elizabeth Fitzherbert's effigy is intricately worked, with a large Virgin and Child pendant hanging from its centre. I really do think that as this is such an unusual item, and very carefully sculpted, that it may have been a piece that she owned during her life, rather than simply decorative.
So the next time you see a historical drama where everything's bare and monochrome roll your eyes a little bit and mentally add the colour yourself. Our medieval ancestors loved colour, and expressed it in their clothing, homes and in the jewels they wore.
This is Part Two of a Two-Part series. To read Part One, click here.
You might also like Where was the trial for the Southampton Conspiracy held?, Beatrix of Portugal, Countess of Arundel and The Kings of the Wars of the Roses.
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