ANST - Purple, Black, & History

Talen von Marienburg talen at microtutors.com
Fri Feb 27 15:22:03 PST 1998


Beware of over generalizations, however.  Black may have been a difficult
and thus expensive color in England & Eire, but in Germany (at least in the
1200-1300 period) sumptuary laws required peasants to wear only black or
gray clothing.  Perhaps all those black walnuts made it easier?

Anyway, too many people in the SCA (and elsewhere) over generalize based on
our SCA system - heraldic example: Color on Color is wrong! (been told
this).  Wrong for who, I ask?  Wrong for England in the 14th & 15th
Centuries, perhaps, but certainly not wrong for some places on the
continent.  And ask the French about orange as a heraldic color.  We don't
use it, so we tell all those little kids at demos that the only colors
medieval people used in heraldry were red, blue, green, black & purple.

And on the subject of purple, why is it that since it was "rare" in period
to see this on a shield that SCA heralds insist it's bad form and shouldn't
be used?  Considering how little has survived through history, I think that
even one or two period examples would indicate that at least someone used
it.  Barred faceplates on helms were used in Bohemia in the 14th century.
Doesn't that indicate that a 14th century Bohemian or neighboring culture
might use it?  I think a Norman fighter wearing one might be "non" period,
but a Tyrolian might be realistic.

Getting off the soapbox and trying to figure how to do functional finger
gauntlets since a 14th century Bavarian wouldn't wear clamshells - leave
that for the Italians.

Talen
talen at microtutors.com



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