Medieval Clothing and Textiles

The fifth volume of this annual series features several articles examining the interaction of medieval romance with textiles and clothing. French Gothic ivory carvings illustrating courtly romances reveal details of fashionable dress; the distinct languages of narrative poetry and Parisian tax records offer contrasting views of medieval embroiderers; and scenes from the Tristan legend provide clues to the original form of the earliest surviving decorative quilt. Other papers look at ecclesiastical attempts to restrict extravagance in secular women's dress, the use of clothing references to signal impending conflict in Icelandic sagas, the development and possible construction of the Tudor-era court headdress called the French hood, and the way Cesare Vecellio drew on both existing artwork and the Venetian image to present historical dress in his sixteenth-century treatise on costume. Also included are reviews of recent books on clothing and textiles. ROBIN NETHERTON is a professional editor and a researcher/lecturer on the interpretation of medieval European dress; GALE R. OWEN-CROCKER is Professor of Anglo-Saxon Culture at the University of Manchester. Contributors: KATE D'ETTORE, SARAH-GRACE HELLER, THOMAS M. IZBICKI, PAULA MAE CARNS, SARAH RANDLES, MELANIE SCHUESSLER, TAWNY SHERRILL