Our Legal Heritage, King AEthelbert, 596 to King George III, 1775Reilly, S. A.
History
Our Legal Heritage, King AEthelbert, 596 to King George III, 1775
Reilly, S. A.
Law -- England -- History
The Norman man was clean shaven on his face and around his ears
and at the nape of the neck. His hair was short. He wore a long-
sleeved under-tunic of linen or wool that reached to his ankles.
Over this the Norman noble wore a tunic without sleeves, open at
the sides, and fastened with a belt. Over one shoulder was his
cloak, which was fastened on the opposite shoulder by being drawn
through a ring brooch and knotted. He wore tight thick cloth
stockings to protect him from the mud and leather shoes. Common
men wore durable, but drab, wool tunics to the knee so as not to
impede them in their work. They could roll up their stockings when
working in the fields. A lady also wore a high-necked, long-
sleeved linen or wool tunic fitted at the waist and laced at the
side, but full in the skirt, which reached to her toes. She wore a
jeweled belt, passed twice around her waist and knotted in front.
Her hair was often in two long braids, and her head and ears
covered with a white round cloth held in place by a metal circlet
like a small crown. Its ends were wound around her neck. In
winter, she wore over her tunic a cloak edged or lined with fur
and fastened at the front with a cord. Clothes of both men and
ladies were brightly colored by dyes or embroidery. The Norman
knight wore an over-tunic of leather or heavy linen on which were
sewn flat rings of iron and a conical iron helmet with nose cover.
He wore a sword at his waist and a metal shield on his back, or he
wore his sword and his accompanying retainers carried spear and
shield.
Norman customs were adopted by the nation. As a whole, Anglo-Saxon
men shaved their beards and whiskers from their faces, but they
kept their custom of long hair flowing from their heads. But a few
kept their whiskers and beards in protest of the Normans. Everyone
had a permanent surname indicating parentage, place of birth, or
residence, such as Field, Pitt, Lane, Bridge, Ford, Stone, Burn,
Church, Hill, Brook, Green. Other names came from occupations such
as Shepherd, Carter, Parker, Fowler, Hunter, Forester, Smith.
Still other came from personal characteristics such as Black,
Brown, and White, Short, Round, and Long. Some took their names
from animals such as Wolf, Fox, Lamb, Bull, Hogg, Sparrow, Crow,
and Swan. Others were called after the men they served, such as
King, Bishop, Abbot, Prior, Knight. A man's surname was passed on
to his son.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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