Author Archives: Ruth

The “Black Death”

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Ruth

There’s no special reason why the plague that began in 1347 is called the Black Death. It wasn’t called so at the time; the nickname seems to have begun several centuries later, perhaps as a mistranslation. When survivors looked back … Continue reading →

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The unique disease: Plague

Posted on July 16, 2013 by Ruth

Plagues were different from other infectious diseases. A plague was an epidemic of a new lethal disease to which nobody had any immunity. The rate of transmission was rapid enough that people who did not have symptoms yet carried it … Continue reading →

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Normal medieval sickness

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Ruth

We tend to imagine that plague was constantly ravaging medieval Europe, perhaps due to clever parodies like “Bring out your dead!” in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. But most of the time, sickness followed predictable patterns and wasn’t out … Continue reading →

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Sickness in the Middle Ages

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Ruth

I’m going to start another series, this one on how the plague changed Europe. I’ll start by talking about ordinary sickness and medicine, then introduce how the plague was different. Then I’ll look at aspects of society before and after … Continue reading →

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Clothing at the end of the Middle Ages

Posted on July 6, 2013 by Ruth

There’s no firm line for where the Middle Ages end and the Renaissance – Early Modern begins. The conventional date is 1453, when the Turks conquered Constantinople. I’ve argued at times for the Black Death, a full century earlier, as … Continue reading →

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New fabrics: cotton, indigo and velvet

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Ruth

Cotton is native to India. When Muslims conquered northern India, they found cotton fields and production into cloth, which they sent back to Damascus. Egypt and Spain were growing cotton by the 10th century. Europeans at first used cotton only … Continue reading →

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14th century: short and long

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Ruth

Men’s fashion in the 1300s ran to extremes. Shoes often had extremely long points in the front, such that “pattens,” the wooden strap-on platforms used to keep leather feet out of rain and snow puddles, required long extensions to support … Continue reading →

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14th century: evolution of the single-layer gown

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Ruth

Until about 1350, getting dressed meant putting on something colorful over a white linen gown. The design of the outer garment changed, but the basic idea was always the same, until the outer garment became more or less vestigial. The … Continue reading →

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The importance of heraldry

Posted on June 22, 2013 by Ruth

People have a tendency to emphasize and celebrate things once they have ceased to be important in an urgent, primitive way, because it’s only then that these things can become socially important. For example, when the railroads were first built, … Continue reading →

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13th and 14th centuries: men’s hats

Posted on June 17, 2013 by Ruth

Men’s hats in the 14th century flourished, with some rather odd quirks that persisted into the next century. Men still wore the linen coif, the close-fitting cap that now most resembles a traditional baby’s cap. (Of course the baby’s cap … Continue reading →

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