The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-08-24
WOman's Work in the Middle Ages.
king Arthur's sword, Excahbur,
TTought by the lonely maiden OF the Lake,


could obey the dying commands of King
Arthur, and fling away so precious relic. The
lonely maidens industry has been equalled by
many OF her mortal sisters, sitting, not indeed
'upon the hidden bases of the hills" but in all
the varied human habitations built above them
since the days OF King Arthur.
The richness, beauty and skill displayed in
1he neede.work of the Middle Ages demonstrate
the perfection that art had attaued while
church inventories, wills, and costumes repre-.
scented in the miniatures OF illuminated manu-
scripts and elsewhere, amaze us by the quantity
As well the quality of this department Of
Woman's work. Though regal robes and heavy
church vestments were sometimes wrought by
monks, yet TO wOmans taste and skill the
greater share OF the result must be attributed,
the professional hands being those of nuns and
their pupils in convents.
The llte Of woman in those days was extremely
mOnotOnous. For the mass OF the people, there
hardly existed any means of locomouon, the
RWampy state OF the land in England ana on the
Continent allowing few roads to be made, ex
eept such as were trayersed by pacE-horses.
Ladies of rank who wished to journey were
borne on lltters carried upon mems shoulders,
and, until the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries,
lew representations OF carriages appear. Such
conveyance Is depicted in an Illustration OF
the Romance of the Rose, where Venus, attred
"
tury, is seated III a Ctdre, by courtesy chariot.
but in fact clumsy covered wagon without
springs. Six doves are perched upon the shafts,
and fastened by MEDIEVAL harness. The god
dess of course possessed superhuman powers for
guiding this extraordinary equipage, but to
mere MORALS it must have been a slow coach,
and horribly uncomfortable conveyance even
when horses were substituted for doves. An
ordinance Of Philip lie Bel, in 1894 forbids any
wheel carriages to be used by the wives of citi-
zeDs, as too great luxury. As the date Of the
coach which Venus guides is two hundred years
later, 1t is difficult to imagine what style of
equlpage belonged 30 those ladies over whom
Philip lie Bel tyrannized.
With so little means of going about, our
sisters of the Middle Ages were perforce do
mestic; no wonder they eXcelled in needlework.
TO women OF any culture it was almost the only
tangible form of creative art they could com
mand, and the love OF the beautiful implanted
in their souls must find some expression. The
great pattern-book OF nature, filled with grace
ful forms, In eVer-varied arrangement, and
illuminated by delicate tints or gorgeous hues,
suggested the beauty they endeavored to repre-
sent. Whether religious devotion, human
affection, or a taste for dress prompted them,
the needle was the instrument to effect their
purpose. The monogram of the blessed Mary's
name, intertWlned with pure white lilies on the
deep blue ground, was designed and embroideIe ed
with holy reverence, and laid on the altar of
the Lady chapel by the trembling hand of one
whose sorrows had there found solace, or by
another in token of gratitude for joys which
were heightened by conviction of celes-
tial sympathy. The pennon OF the knight
"a sllken streamer affixed to the top of the
lance-bore his crest, or an embematic allu-
sion to some event in his career, embroidered,
IL was supposed, by the hand of his lady-ove.
A yet more sacred gift was the scarf worn
across the shoulder. an Indispensable append
age 10 knight fully equipped The emotions
OF the human soul send an electric current
through the ages, and women who, during four
years OF war, toiled to aid our soldiers in the
great struggle Of the nineteenth century, felt
their hearts beat in unison with hers who
gave, with tears and prayers, pennon and scarf
to the knightly and beloved hero seven hundred
years ago.
Not only were the appointments of the war
riors adorned by needle-work, but the ladies
must have found ample scope for industry and
taste IN their own toilets. The Anglo-Saxon wo-
men as far back as the eighth century eXcelled
in neede-WOrk, although, judging from the
representations which have come down to u.s.
their dress was much less ornamented than that
of the gentlemen. During the eighth, ninth
and tenth centuries there were few changes in
fashion. A purple gown or robe, with long
yellow sleeves, and coverchief wrapped round
the head and neck, frequently appears, the
edges OF the long gown and sleeves being slightly
ornamented by the needle. How the ladies
dressed their hair in those days is more difficult
to decide, as the coverchiet conceals 1t. Crisp
ing. needles, to curl and plait the hair, and
golden haircauls, are mentioned in Saxon wri-
ungs, and give us reason to suppose that the
the eleventh century the embroidery upon the
long gowns becomes more elaborate, and other
changes ofthe mode appear.
From the report of an ancient Spanish ballad,
the art OF needle-work and taste in dress must
have attained great perfection in that country
while our Anglo-SaXon sisters were wearing
their plain long gowns. The fair Sybilla is
described as changing her dress seven times in
and victorious knight, Prince Baldwin. First,
she dazzles him in blue and silver, with rich
turban; then appears in purple satin, fringed
and looped with gold, with white feathers in
her hair; next, in green silk and emeralds;
anon, in pale straw-color, with tufts0f flowers;
next, in pink and silver, with varied plumes,
white, carnaton. and blue; then in bro Wn,
with splendid crescent. AS the fortunate
Prince beholds each transformation he is be-
wildered-as well he may be-to choose which
array becomes her best; but when
"Lastly in white she comes, and loosely
Down in ringlets floats her nair;
on exclaims the Prince, what beauty!
Meier was Princess half so falr.'"
Simplicity and natural grace carried the day
after all, as they generally do with men of true
taste. woman is fine for her own satisfaction
alone" says that nice observer OF human nature,
Jane Austen. "Man only knows mans insensi-
bility to a new goWn.n We hope, however, that
the dressmakers and trewomen of the fair
Sybllla, who had expended so much time and
invention, were handsomely rewarded by the
Prince, since they must have been most accom-
plished needle-women and handmaids to have
got up their young lady in so many costumes
and in such rapid succession.
A very odd fashion appears in the thirteenth
and fourteenth centuries, of embroidering
heraldlc devices on the long gowns OF the ladies
of rank. In one Of the illuminations of a famous
psalter, executed by Sir GeOtery Louterell, who
died in l345, that nobleman is represented
armed at all points receiving from the ladies OF
ms family his hitting helmet, shield and pdUOR
His coat-oi-arms is repeated on every part OF mis-
own dress, and is embroidered on that of his