![]() In decline over the post-Roman period, urban centers once again became the hubs of production and trade after the feudal period. 1254-1324) wrote of his adventures as a trader in a book that helped to encourage commerce with the Far East. ![]() While the Crusades increased trade and communication with the Middle East, European traders were rekindling trade with the Far East as well. At the same time, civilian dress incorporated elements of military dress. The crusaders, who continued their warfare for almost 200 years, brought back new fabrics, design motifs, and clothing styles that were adapted for European dress. Their reasons for joining the Crusades ranged from genuine religious fervor to opportunities for looting and pillaging. When the pope called on the many feudal lords and their soldiers to liberate the Holy Lands from the Muslims, who had taken control of that region, thousands responded. Such centers provided a stage for the display of status, which was often expressed through dress.Īs the European economy prospered and courts expanded, the Christian church served as a unifying force with its central authority, the pope, in Rome and local bishops in important cities and towns. These lords or kings built castles where large numbers of people lived and worked. This empire did not long survive Charlemagne.Ī feudal society developed in which local lords granted land (fiefs) to subjects who, in turn, provided loyalty, payment, and military support to the lord. Charlemagne (768-814), one of the kings of a Germanic tribe called the Franks, came to exercise significant power over much of Western Europe and was crowned emperor by the pope in Rome in 800 C.E. After the Roman government of Europe broke down, local rulers administered smaller or larger areas. Art shows both solid and figured fabrics, although solid colors predominate.īy the twelfth century, artistic and literary evidence indicates that significant changes in political, economic, technological, and social life had begun to affect clothing. The under tunic often was of a contrasting color or fabric and showed at the hem, the neckline, and the end of the sleeves. Men of higher status who did not need to be physically active wore longer tunics. For important occasions, royalty might wear silk. ![]() Outer garments for both men and women consisted of an under tunic and an outer tunic. A woman wore a loose-fitting undergarment called a chemise. Next to his body a man typically wore braies, an undergarment similar to underpants, and a shirt. The basics of dress remained fairly constant in the eleventh and twelfth centuries of the Middle Ages for both men and women. Among royalty and the upper classes, Byzantine influences were most evident in the use of silk fabrics, manufactured in Byzantium and imported, and in ornamental bands that trimmed sleeves, necklines, hemlines, and other areas of tunics. Married women covered their hair with a veil. Women wore an under tunic and an outer tunic covered by a cape, or mantle. Men wore long or short tunics with a sort of trousers that were gaitered (wrapped close to the leg) with strips of cloth or leather. Apparently dress in Europe combined Roman forms with those of the barbarians. As the name implies, the picture of cultural developments over this period is somewhat obscure. in Western Europe is known as the Dark Ages.
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