Ecclesiastical Garments of the 13th Century: The Dalmatic

The Dalmatic of Charlemagne-back

The Dalmatic, an over-sized super tunic,takes its name from Dalmatia. Dalmatia itself is s a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast.* The dalmatic was in use by the general population, by both men and women, of the area from an early period. The dalmatic is shorter than the alb, only reaching the knees, with shorter, wider sleeves and is worn over the alb but under the chasuble. It also has slits up its sides from the hem for quite  a ways. The photos to the right and below shows the front and back of an extant example. This dalmatic is said to have belonged to Charlemagne and is kept in the sacristy of St. Peter’s. It’s not only a great example of an early piece it is a marvelous piece of early needlework. Named because it was said to have been worn by Charlemagne at his coronation it was later proved that the garment is from the fourteenth century.

14th Century Iranian Dalmatic

There is another extant example in the V&A museum collections that also dates to the fourteenth century. The image to the left shows the great detail of the images on the silk dalmatic. What it does not show is the side slits which in this case extends up to the under arm. For a garment like this there would have to have been ties or buttons to keep it on properly.** This one is beautiful though a mixture of symbols. The pelicans depicted on the textile are more of an Italian embellishment where they were used as a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice. In opposition there is the flower scroll motif which is mostly associated with the Chinese influence of the time. Added to China and Italy the V&A experts have determined that the fabric from which the dalmatic is made must have been exported to Europe from Mongol-Iran from the structure of the cloth. I find it fascinating that three different cultures which were quite far apart all fell into this one piece. It’s astounding.

The Dalmatic of Charlemagne-front

*Wikipedia contributors. “Dalmatia.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 21
Jul. 2011. Web. 30 Jul. 2011.
**Mary G. Houston, Medieval Costume in England and France: The 13th, 14th and 15th Centuries (New York: Dover, 1996) 28.

Ecclesiastical Garments of the 13th Century: The Chasuble

This looks like it’s going to be a lengthy post so I apologize in advance bit this particular piece has a lot of history!
The chasuble  in it’s original form was perfectly round with a hole cut in the center for the head to go through. The name is said to be derived from the Latin word casula which means little house. A good translation in my opinion since I think of my circular cloak as a small tent. Moving on. There’s a mosiac of Pope Honorius who died in 638 A.D. in the Church od St. Agnese at Rome which depicts him vested in a chasuble that touches the ground all around him. This version of the garment effectively covers his entire figure. During the following centuries the garment became shorter and eventually it was clipped and altered so that there was a considerable diversity in the make of it. I’ve included a photo to the left of varying styles.

Embroidered Chasuble

Figure 29 in the photo (the one in the center) is a measured drawing from an extant extant example in the V&A museum.  (No. 8359 of 1863) I tried to find the image within the V&A collections but there was no image attached to the file. Boo. This particular model is seamed at the shoulders  to fit the pattern (it is made of a striped silk). The chausable in the figure was measured at 59 inches in length and 48 inches in width.* It has been deduced that the cut of the chasuble changed due to its weight. Some of them were heavily embroidered like the one to the right and so got quite heavy. Less material over the arms allowed movement and lightened the burden on the poor man wearing it!

*Mary G. Houston, Medieval Costume in England and France: The 13th, 14th and 15th Centuries (New York: Dover, 1996) 24.

Ecclesiastical Garments of the 13th Century: The Amice

Today is my attempt tog get ahead by a few posts as I will be camping with my in-laws in a couple of weeks and won’t have internet access. So please forgive what may be the next few erratic posts as I’m hyped up on sweet tea!

13th C. Amice Line Drawing

In this post I’m going to tackle the long forgotten amice. The amice was a simple rectangular piece of linen with strings attached to two corners on a long side. (see the picture at left) It was the first of the sacred vestments to be put on, first resting on the head and at the end of getting dressed, adjusted around the neck as a sort of cowl. It was presented to a sub-deacon upon his ordination and so I assume that no cleric below a sub deacon wore this particular piece.* The strings are fairly long having to go under the arms, cross in back and get tied in front. The amice has long fallen into disuse as the tailoring of the alb has improved over time, negating the purpose of the armice. The sole purpose of what I can only think of as a glorified and over sized handkerchief, was to protect the costly silk of the chasuble or dalmatic from touching the skin.

While the simple drawing I have made above is  rectangular there is proof that the measurements for this item varied. The armice supposedly belonging to St. Thomas of Canterbury is square with the apparel (or decoration) running the length of one side. An existing armice located at the V&A museum is more like my drawing to the left. I have included the picture of it from the V&A collections below. At the moment I have no idea what the red thing is. It is folded and you cannot see it well but it is rectangular in shape and has a much smaller apparel. The label reads as follows: “Armice, linen, with crimson silk apparel on which are sewn ornaments in silver and silver gilt. German, fifteenth century, 4 ft. 2 in. by 2 ft.” I have also found an image of an amice being worn with the direction that the right side was always to be worn crossed over the left. I’m not sure how accurate that is but neat to see a modern picture!

15th C. German Armice

Modern day armice

*Mary G. Houston, Medieval Costume in England and France: The 13th, 14th and 15th Centuries (New York: Dover, 1996) 23.
**Thurston, Herbert. “Amice.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 29 Jul. 2011 .
*** JPSONNEN. “The Roman amice: how to vest…” Orbis Catholicvs. Orbis Catholicvs. 28 July 2008. Web. 29 July 2011.

Ecclesiastical Garments of the 13th Century: The Alb

The overall shape of the alb has not changed in many years and, thanks to an alb

11th Century Alb

at the V & A Museum (No. 8710 of 1863 and labeled “Albe, white linen, with apparels of crimson silk, Sicilianfo urteenth century.”*), we can see how the garment was cut and created. The alb was the base garment for bishops, priests, deacons, sub-deacons, acolytes and choristers. The alb to the right is said to have belonged to St. Bernulf who died in 1056 but garment is dated to 12th century** and as such can be counted a the predecessor of the 13th century alb.  While the shape is almost exactly the same, is far more decorative than the extant 13th century alb. The alb that I am talking about was stripped of any superfluous decoration. I have included a simplistic line drawing below for reference. Please note that the under arm gores would have been the same color as the rest of the garment but OO.Draw wouldn’t let me color those sections in.

13th Century Alb Line Drawing

The “apparels” as the decorations were called, were located at the cuffs and at the center front just above the hem. These squares were worked in silk and gold and, at times, lace and measured anywhere from 20 inches by 9 inches to 9 inches by inches for the hem piece. The wrist pieces are said to have measured between 6 inches by 4 inches to 3 inches by 3 inches. The prevailing color was white though some may have been off white or natural and almost exclusively made of fine linen. The extant garment measures a surprising 94 inches wide by 65 inches tall and was made to be belted at the waist and held up from the ground by said belt.***

* Mary G. Houston, Medieval Costume in England and France: The 13th, 14th and 15th Centuries (New York: Dover, 1996) 22.
**”European Medieval, Alb of St. Bernulf.” Extant Orignals. Site created and designed by Martina a Martin Høibovi, 2006.
***Mary G. Houston, Medieval Costume in England and France: The 13th, 14th and 15th Centuries (New York: Dover, 1996) 23.