Costume -- Great Britain -- History; Great Britain -- History; Great Britain -- History -- Pictorial works
A wide mantle, a characteristic feature of the costume of both men and
women, covered the upper part of the body, and a head-rail or hood
consisting of a piece of material adjusted over the head, was always
worn.
When making a journey, a large travelling cloak was also worn.
No illustration shows the complete arrangement of the hair, but, as the
women of Continental nations at this period wore it in long plaits, we
may conclude that the same fashion was followed here; but the hair was
always covered. A kirtle was also probably worn, corresponding in form
to the garment now known as a “princess petticoat.”
_Military Costume._
There was but little difference between the civil and military costume
of the men. In MSS., soldiers are often represented with no other
weapon than a shield or spear, or an axe or a bow with arrows, and
attired in ordinary costume. Occasionally, one is represented wearing
a kind of cuirass formed of scales, made of overlapping slices of horn
sewn upon coarse linen.
During the reigns of Edward the Confessor and Harold II., owing to
the constant intercourse between the English and the Norman Courts,
the English adopted many of the customs and much of the costume of
the Normans, so that, among the upper and military classes, at any
rate, when William of Normandy invaded England, the members of the two
opposing armies were armed and attired in a very similar manner.
[Illustration: PLATE 10.
(Fig. 1): A Saxon rustic, wearing only a solitary garment,
with a pointed cap which has a comb, and shoes. (Cott. MS.,
Claudius B. iv.) (Fig. 2): A Saxon lady, attired in (1) the
gunna, (2) the tunica, (3) the mantle, (4) the head-rail.
(Harl. MS., 2,908.) (Fig. 3): A Saxon, dressed in (1) the
tunica, (2) the mantle, (3) breeches, with cross-gartered
stockings, and shoes, and (4) a banded Phrygian cap. (After
Mrs. Ashdown.) (Fig. 4): Saxon, showing the bifid beard and
the arrangement of the hair. (Cott. MS., Claudius B. iv.)
(Fig. 5): An English Freeman, wearing a tunica, with short
stockings and shoes, and armed with sword, spear, helmet,
and shield. (From a MS.) (Fig. 6): A Saxon soldier, wearing
a tunica covered with a mantle, stockings, and shoes, with
spurs. (Note the manner in which the mantle is fastened on
the right shoulder.) He is armed with a spear, and has his
head covered with a conical helmet. As is pointed out above,
the military costume did not differ from the civil costume,
except as regards the helmet and the arms. (Figs. 7 to 12):
Saxon head-dresses. (Fig. 7): A form of the square helmet.
(Fig. 8): A Phrygian-shaped cap of leather, bound with metal;
the bifid beard is also shown again. (Fig. 9): Another form of
the square helmet, with a kind of crest or comb. (Fig. 10):
A pointed helmet of simple form. (Fig. 11): A pointed hat
serrated along the back like a cock’s comb. (Fig. 12): The
commonest form of helmet, a conical cap with a rim, probably
of metal.
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