Hamburg

When we were finished in Lübeck, we went to Hamburg. When we arrived we looked up our hostel, and then we were off to meet Thorsten Stoye - bagpipe maker extraordinary. That's where I collected the King of Noise. We had tea and talked about bagpipes for a while, and then we went back to Hamburg to meet our dear friends of Elvelüut Hamborch. They booked a table at the Gröninger Privatbrauerei and I can dearly recommend food, drink, company and service. We ate about five kilos of meat, had a good few beers and nearly fell asleep.

Next day it was time for one of our main goals - the

Hamburger Kunsthalle
Web: http://www.hamburger-kunsthalle.de/
Rating: 5/5

At the Hamburger Kunsthalle you can see two magnificent altarpieces by Meister Bertram van Minden, who died about 1415 or so. He was a master of his trade and very well known; his will has even survived to our days. He worked at different places in middle- and northern Germany. His style is to a great extent naturalistic and he spares few details. His works are a goldmine for any late 14th century reenactor. There were also some other interesting pieces but I was tremendously impressed by Meister Bertram's sculptures and painting. We had no problems taking photos there, even with a tripod.




























Next stop was
Hamburg Museum
Web: http://www.hamburgmuseum.de/index2.html
Rating: 2/5

This museum is a good one in general, but the medieval section is way too small and poorly organized. Almost no datings exist, which means that you can never be certain if a certain artefact is interesting for you. I was a bit impressed by pretty cool weapons, and I liked the fact that we got to take photos - although without tripod - but otherwise I was disappointed.

Lübeck churches

And now - time for the Lübeck churches.

We started with Marienkirche - a huge brick church.

Marienkirche
Web:
Rating: 3/5

This church is awesome in its own respect. As a building it is magnificent, and we were breathtaken. There is absolutely no doubt about the might and importance of the Hansa cities - most Swedish churches are tiny in comparison. When it comes to late 14th century art, the church has little to offer however. The only thing we stumbled across was a tucked away effigy of Bruno von Warendorp. He died in 1369 after a battle in Helsingborg in south Sweden.































Lübeck Dom
Web:
Rating: 3/5

The Lübeck cathedral is packed with cool art. However this was a first premonition of what the trip was going to be like: we found oh so pretty altar pieces dated to the 1420's - too late for us but splendid in detail and technique. The church is worth a closer look just because it's so nice.
































There were loads of other churches. We visited a few, but generally they were of little interest for the late 14th century nerd. It also seemed one of our goals for the trip, Katharinenkirche, was closed. Too bad, but it gives us a reason to come back again.

May I present - The Lübeck Museums!

First of all, a bit of general info.

The trip lasted three whole days, and there is loads of stuff to mention about it, but I'll just mention the best stuff. Plus, I'll write a short review about each of the places we visited. And there will be pics!

We travelled like this:

Rostock > Lübeck > Hamburg > Wismar > Bad Doberan > Greifswald > Stralsund > Rostock. We travelled a bit further than necessary - we "missed out" Bad Doberan and Wismar on our way to Hamburg and went more or less the same way back - all because it was too early in the morning for anything to be open. We used that time to travel instead, and arrived in Lübeck in good time to have breakfast and to check out where the museums were situated.

And now - get ready for museums (close your mouths, you nerds!)!


Lübeck
Lübeck has, as far as I know, three museums of interest for the medieval reenactor, plus loads of churches, but let's begin with the museums.

Burgkloster Museum
Web: http://tinyurl.com/382dz8c
Rating: 5/5

This museum is one of the best museums I have ever been to. And I have been to many, believe me... I believe there is only one museum I visited that can match it. The collections were very nicely displayed, there were loads and loads of artifacts, well preserved and interesting. The pottery nerd will have his fill - they have an entire floor just packed with pottery of different types in near mint condition. All of us were stunned if not to say over-excited, and we left the museum exhausted but happy. The museum is situated in an old monastery with some wall paitings and sculptures, which are also very nice indeed. This is a must see!

























Holstentor Museum
Web: http://tinyurl.com/39doukt
Rating: 3/5

The Holstentor Museum is cool in its own respect, as it is in fact a gate house of the old city wall. The building is intriguing really. But then it's not so cool anymore, at least not if you are into the latter part of the 14th century. The only thing that saves the museum from a 2/5 rating is the gambeson on display. It's from the 1430-ies if I am not mistaken, but it can nevertheless teach us a lot about gambeson construction.





























Kunsthalle St Annen
Web: http://tinyurl.com/3767j5h
Rating: 4/5

This museum of art contains smashing examples of naturalistic, beautiful and very interesting art. I believe I have never seen a cooler altar piece, plus there is some very well preserved chests and some decent art in general. But the altarpiece is some work of art. The only problem is that it is dated to 1405, which puts it out of reach for us... The museum as a whole is very well worth a visit.

Independent

In Albrechts Bössor we have the ambition to use sources between 1364-1389. It is a rather exact time frame, but it has to do with the reign of the king - he sat on the throne between those years. It is also a nigh impossibility. It's not much more than 20 years, and when it comes to most sources they are not dated as exactly. Normally you will have to do with "latter part of the 14th century" or if you are lucky "the third quarter of the 14th century". To put it short: we use sources from the latter part of the 14th century, but aim for sources 1360-1390.

And we SHOULD use sources from Scandinavia or Germany only. It is hard and sometimes frustrating work. Until a couple of years ago I mainly used French sources for a lot of things. You guys on the continent may well frown and ask yourselves "Why French sources? It is totally wrong!". You are right there. My big problem has been that my German hasn't been good enough to work with German sources (don't ask me how I could find French ones - I have absolutely no idea what so ever how I managed as I don't speak a word French).

Now a days I can manage pretty well, as I used my German to find out stuff and as I made new friends in Germany. And that means that a whole new world has opened up for me, especially when it comes to historical recordings, as for instance Urkundenbücher - books that describes this and that from various areas or cities. I estimate that about 70% of medieval German is so similar to Swedish that I can read it without any greater efforts. Sometimes I miss out on details, but most of the time it's not a big deal.

So far so good. Here come the next problem. We also have an aim to use two or more sources that are independent from each other (unless we are making exact copies - that is rare). That means that it doesn't count to use the same altar piece or manuscript (for example) twice when you are reconstructing something. You can't have two pictures of a similar jacket from the same manuscript and say that they are two sources. It is one and the same.

It is also a question of how meticulous you should be - is it two different sources if you find two sculptures on different geographical locations, where one is made in the 1370's and the other made circa 1380 - by the same sculptor? I am not entirely sure - all it tells us really is a single person's interpretation of the same object. It is really a git.

To summarize:

- Use two sources independent from each other.
- Use sources only from Scandinavia and Germany.
- Use sources from between the years 1364-1389.

In practice I don't believe that anyone in the group has really managed to complete an outfit within these boundaries, but never the less - that is the ambition.

However. Our German trip was part of an elaborate scheme. Me and the new guy Kristofer decided that we were going to be the first to do it. Better still - we aimed for a time frame of 1370-1380 and a geographic limitation of cities in the vicinity of the Baltic sea. And we really thought we were able to succeed.

We started out with Internet research. I asked around on forums and we browsed thousands of pictures in for example www.bildindex.de to get a grip of which cities could have the most interesting churches and museums. I searched the part west and northwest of Lübeck. Kristofer searched the area to the east of Lübeck. We limited ourselves to go no further south than Hamburg. My parts seemed to be of little interest in comparison, so we chose the Meckleburg-Vorpommern area.

Before long we had found enough places to put together a crazy research trip that was planned by the minute - eat, sleep, travel, visits. And by the look of it, we should have enough sources from 1370-1380 to succeed! We set out with great hopes, Thursday the 1st of April, and drove our car on to the ferry 22:45. We rolled onto German soil in Rostock 06:30 in the morning the 2nd, and set out for our first goal - Lübeck.

Why so German?

First of all I would like to explain why I have been going on outings to Denmark and Germany. After all, I do reenact Swedish 14th century, not German and Danish. Yeah, that's right.

But. Swedish 14th century reenactors (really most Swedish reenactors that reenact anything else than the 18th century and onwards) are having a bit of trouble.


- The Royal library burned down in the late 17th century (1698). The oldest (i.e. the medieval) accounts were stored in the back, and weren't saved. Almost all medieval archives went up in flames that horrid night.

- The reformation was particularly ruthless up here. It was backed up by the sly and hard nosed king Gustav Wasa and loads of accounts were destroyed along with monasteries, churches and church art.

- During the Black plague (that reached Sweden in 1350) about 1/3 of the population died. And in a country the size of Sweden with about 1 million inhabitants, the blow was fearsome. There was hardly anyone left to build churches or to decorate them. And after the plague came the agrarian crisis...

- Sweden was a bit backwater by the time. For instance, we had very few knights, and the concept of effigies was little known. We had few mighty cities and as we were situated far in the north, influences from mainland Europe took time to establish themselves. What is left of church art during the 14th century is for the most part kind of crude and poorly kept.

These are some of the reasons for my fascination in German and Danish sources. We simply don't have enough Swedish sources to work with when it comes to art and litterature (I can think of one single manuscript from 14th century Sweden that is adorned with miniatures).

Another reason is that we had lot of contact with both Danes and Germans. Particulary German merchants were abound in Swedish cities - it is even stated in laws from the time that a city can have no more than three German mayors - if there were more, the Germans would have too much influence. Also, in the mountain regions lots of German miners came to lead and develop mining. During the latter half of the 14th century even more Germans came. Sweden had seen German nobles before, but during this time I would estimate that the German nobles were nearly as many as the Swedish - they followed King Albrecht from his homelands in Mecklenburg to be in his service and to receive estates and wealth. Some names of these are Vicke von Vitzen, Rawen von Barnekow, Heyne and Gerhard Snakenborg and Heinrich Parow (the last mentioned is a bloody traitor, but that is a different story :-)).

A third reason is that the guys in Albrechts Bössor reenact so called "Garpar". A Garp is a word with the meaning "a person that is a real pain in the ass". It also means "German person" or "Person of German ancestry". In other words - we reenact German or Swedish/German mercenaries serving the German elite in Sweden, including King Albrecht, who was a duke of Schwerin (and Rostock, I believe).

There you have it. This is why I am so German. I will tell you more about the circumstances under which I try to do research some time in the near future.

Look here Isis!

I got something for you!



The noble woman Floria Sukow, 1385, Kloster zum Heiligen Kreuz, Rostock. I would say that is pretty much northern Germany...

Frilled veils, 14th century, Northern Germany

This one's for you, Isis!























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Hamburg, 1379
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Halberstad, 1376-1400
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Havelberg, ca 1400
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Mühlhausen, 14thC - OK, not really northern Germany, but somewhere in the middle.
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Mühlhausen, 14thC - OK, not really northern Germany, but somewhere in the middle.
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What happens in Denmark...

(This post might be a bit boring, as I am mainly listing different sites we visited. bear with me, please...)

In October, me Simon, Malin and Kristofer went to Denmark. I had planned a trip for a long time, and now it was finally time to make it. I put together a series of places I wanted to visit - churches and museums throughout the distant parts of Denmark, where you never really put your foot; normally us Swedes go to Copenhagen or just pass through Denmark to get to Germany. But now I felt it was time to really open my eyes to our neighbors and what they have to offer.

We started out at early evening and went across the bridge to Copenhagen, and just went on driving. We arrived at Louise and Mikkel about ten or so in the evening, and we were offered splendid food and as splendid drink. I guess you know by now, that I have been working as a chef, but I was truly impressed with Mikkels cooking. After dinner we sat doing stuff reenactors usually do when they meet; we were discussing crafts, showing of craft, telling stories and drinking beer. It was regular hygge and we really enjoyed ourselves.

It was so nice to finally meet Louise and Mikkel (and Simon); we've been reading each others blogs, chatting on Facebook and so on, but we have never met. It was truly a grand gesture of the, taking us in and letting us stay in their wonderful home. It's one of the things I appreciate the most with medievalism; people are hospitable and friendly to a great extent. You can always count on your fellow nerds! We haven't got around to it, but there is a simple gift for our hosts, to show our appreciation. Just you wait, guys! ;)

Next morning we started out early. We had a tight schedule. We were to visit the museum of Randers, the Cathedral of Århus, the museum and Cathedral of Odense, the church of Sorø abbey, the church in Højby, the church in Skamstrup, the Cathedral and museum of Roskilde and the National Museum in Copenhagen. This, plus travel time, was to be covered in two days.

We arrived in Randers, just to discover we were nearly two hours early - the museum wasn't open yet. We took a stroll in a nice town before we went to check on the exhibitions. The museum was really good, with quite a lot of artefacts. Some months have passed, so I can't really recall any favourites, but I remember I enjoyed it.

Before we left Randers we had lunch, and Simon thought it would be a good idea to put a sharp eating knife in my butt. I am not kidding you. My best trousers were pierced and it hurt like hell. It was of course meant as a joke, but I became really pissed off. We finished our meal, and I decided not to be grumpy - it was a silly thing to do, but it wouldn't help to be sour about it. So I cheered up and we went for Århus to visit a nice cathedral, but with no vivid signs of the 14th century (which makes it a dull spot :-))...

Next stop was Odense. We visited a newly opened medieval part of the city museum, but I must say that I was not impressed. They had a grand exhibition on iron age and viking age, but the medieval bit was really pitiful. Too bad. The cathedral wasn't very impressing either - at least not from a 14th century point of view - but it was chilling to se the remains of the murdered S:t Knud, which are on display in the crypt. At the same spot you can also admire the beautiful Ørnetæppet, a form of tapestry from the 11th century. On our way to the car we passed a bakers shop where we bought honningkage - honey cake (OK - this one says "merry christmas" but I couldn't find a better pic)




















We left Odense, before agreeing that we wouldn't stay in the hostel there, and pressed on for Sorø. We were in luck, as it seemed the hostel wasn't really open this time of the year, but they had some kind of a party going on, which meant we could get accommodation anyway. We took the car to Sorø town center and bought a couple of bottles of Danish porter, which was excellent! And then we went to a restaurant, where I wasn't knifed, but instead had a great meal - a kind of Danish speciality called Stjerneskud (Shooting star). It's a fish dish, and I really enjoyed it. We had a quiet and nice time in Sorø that evening. We returned to the hostel to have some porter and some honningkage for dessert. After that it wasn't long until we fell fast asleep. I didn't sleep very well - it was kind of hot and stuffed in the room.

In the morning we went to Sorø again. We had a quick breakfast (on top of the car) with coffee and rolls with cheese, plus some yoghurt, while waiting in the morning mist for the church to open. We managed to get into the church, just 15 minutes before mass. We had a quick run through the magnificent church and took loads of photos of an effigy from our period, before we had to evacuate to leave room for the church goers. The effigy is kind of famous, as it shows a king and a queen, and the queen has a frilled veil, which is really cool.

Then we departed for Skamstrup and Højby. Louise had made arrangements with the caretakers of both churches, so we were welcome as soon as mass was finished. Both churches were amazing in their own respects. Perfectly good murals and frescoes from 1350-1380. It was pure joy to see. I will try to post pictures when I have time. I would say this was the best part of the trip. The pictures show male fashion and armour in great detail, and as such images from our cultural sphere is very rare, it was like manna from heaven for us! The colours and the people depicted seemed so vibrant and alive. I was quite taken by it; it really made my day, in spite of an annoying headache.

Next stop was Roskilde. It turned out that we couldn't get access to the cathedral as tourists, so we skipped it for a later date, and went to Roskilde city museum instead. I for my part, have visited the cathedral before, so I wasn't very concerned. Also, Roskilde is not very far from Malmö, so it gives us possibility to go back another day.

The city museum was a good museum with a decent collection of medieval stuff. I especially remember a cistern, a really cool one! Me and Kristofer had a handful of photos, but Malin was having a severe headache, and hence she and Simon went looking for painkillers, which I happily accepted when we got back to the car.

The trip was all but finished at the National Museum in Copenhagen, where we had a proper look (for the 10th time or so) and had loads of pics taken. We arrived in Malmö about 18:00, and that was the end of it. I had a pleasant time and got to know Kristofer a lot better, and I also had the chance to meet some of our Danish colleagues. Next time I will find new ways and new places to visit. Just you wait!

The green markings on the map show how far we really travelled. Louise and Mikkel live in a village south of Århus, and that's where we stopped before continuing to Randers. The orange markings show our route the second day, whereas the yellow markings show the third day's route.

Danish trip

I just got back from a weekend research trip in Denmark. I have had a smashing time, and I got loads of pictures. I'll tell you all about it when I get around to it.

Varberg - recipes

A sauce for noble men
- Cloves
- Nutmeg
- Cardamom
- Peppers
- Ginger
- Cinnamon
- Roasted bread crumbs
- Salt
- Vinegar

How to:
- Mix it all. Finished.

Chicken boiled with sage and smoked pork
- A chicken
- Salted/smoked pork
- Sage
- Salt
- A little vinegar

How to:
- Chop the pork in small dice
- Chop the sage
- Put it together with the chicken in a pot, and boil for about an hour

Grön sås (Green Sauce - a sauce made from vinegar with different herbs)
- Parsley
- Sage
- Thyme
- A pinch of cinnamon
- Vinegar

How to:
- Grind the herbs
- Add the cinnamon
- Add the vinegar

Simple chicken
- A chicken
- Lard or butter
- Wine
- Black pepper
- Water
- Salt

How to:
- Boil the chicken for about an hour
- Pick the meat of the bones. Fry the meat
- Add some wine, salt and pepper
- Let it boil for a short time

Kaliis
- Diced bread
- Egg yolks
- Fatty milk

How to:
- Mix egg yolks and milk
- Pour eggs/milk over the bread
- Fry slowly until thick enough to cut

Späckad mjölk
- Lots of eggs
- Fatty milk
- Smoked pork
- Saffron

How to:
- Chop the pork in small dice
- Beat eggs and milk
- Mix it with the pork
- Boil the mixture, and let simmer until it resembles wet scrambled eggs
- Let it cool
- Put in a cloth and a sieve, and strain the water over night
- Cut it into slices
- Fry it in butter

There (*pant*). I'll never do this again. It was a bit tedious...

Varberg - menu

Friday evening:

Meats:
- Fried sausages
- Bread
- Butter
- Sauerkraut

Veg:
- Eggs
- Olive oil
- Salt

Preparations:
- Making of En sås för herremän - a sauce for noble men
- Frying meat
- Pickling the above meat in the above sauce

Saturday morning:

- Porridge
- Honey
- Milk
- Butter
- Bread

Preparations:
- Soaking peas in water

Saturday lunch:

Meats:
- Späckhöns (chicken boiled with sage and smoked pork)
- Grön sås (a sauce made from vinegar with different herbs)
- Bread
- Butter

Veg:
- Frumenty
- Boiled carrots

Preparations:
- Reducing the stock left from the chicken

Saturday evening:

Meats:
- Enkla hönor (simple chicken)
- Bread
- Butter

Veg:
- Peasoup

Preparations:
- Späckad mjölk (a dish consisting of eggs and milk heated up, then mixed with pork and put in pressure over night)

Sunday morning:

Meats:
- Kaliis (a dish made from dried bread and eggs)
- Bread
- Cheese
- Butter

Veg:
- Kaliis made with water instead of milk

Sunday lunch:

Meats:
- Pickled meat, prepared almost 48 hours before (and yes - it kept fresh in spite of the heat!)
- Späckad mjölk

Veg:
- Boiled and then fried root vegetables
- Fried eggs

Preparations:
- Saving the stock from the boiled root vegetables
- Saving four eggs

Sunday evening:

Meats:
- Assorted cheese
- Ham
- Sausages
- Apples
- Pears
- Raisins
- Nuts

Veg:
- Stock saved from lunch
- Eggs
- Bread
- Apples
- Pears
- Nuts
- Raisins

There you go. A menu. Next step - the recipes (yeah - I know this is bull shit boring. I'll try not to do it anymore, OK?).

Varberg

We had a great time in Varberg, at the west coast of southern Sweden. The event was hosted at Varberg Castle - which also houses a museum where the Bocksten finds are on display. We had two different kinds of display - fighting and a fashion show. The fashion show was not as good as Johan wanted it, but it gave us some ideas for the future. The public was really interested to check out our clothes and how they were made; stitches seem to be really cool :-)

The fighting wasn't bad either. Me and Morgan made a very good show when it came to wrestling. Johan followed up with dagger techniques, and I displayed the longsword. The display ended with Johan and Thomas beating each other to bloody pulp in a full contact clash. The audience was struck with awe, as the monster-fight-extravaganza took place.

For some reason, we didn't get a lot of photos from the event, but the few we have can be viewed here.

The main thing about the Varberg event was, however, one of my biggest challenges as a camp cook. I'd like to point out that it is something that is important to me, although I am a bit afraid you guys don't feel the same way. Please bear with me.

I put together two menues (one for the vegetarians and one for the regular omnivores), three meals a day for two days and one evening. Almost all of the recipes were from the book En sås av ringa värde, written by Daniel Serra and Hanna Tunberg, based on a Danish cookbook from around 1300. It was a serious piece of planning to be able to fix everything together. I planned to use the same broth several times, but I didn't have the means to store it, so I had to plan the different dishes with my mind set on that. Plus - I didn't want to serve similar meals in a row, and a lot of the food could turn bad in the extremely hot weather - I would say it were the hottest days this summer - over 30 degrees celsius! The meat and the chicken had to be cooked as soon as possible, and some of the dishes prepared more than one day ahead.

All in all everything went really well, except for the späckad mjölk - I'll present the recipe further down, but first I'll list the menu for the weekend, along with my working schedule. In the next post.

New skillet

Some time ago Anders, one of the company members, and I had a chat about skillets. I wanted to buy one from a caster, but he (the maker) told me that it would cost about 5000 euros just to make the mold, as I wanted a special skillet from Sweden. I wanted a cast one, and had finally decided that a Mary Rose model was looking similar enough to a 14th century one. It wouldn't be very expensive, as the maker already had a mold for it. At this time I spoke to Anders. Earlier I had found pictures of forged skillets, but I had the notion they were rare in comparison to forged ones. Anders talked me into abandoning the idea of a cast skillet, and I started looking for forged ones.

It was slow work. There are not many skillets in pictures from the time, and not many findings either. However, at one point I hade found enough pictures to order a reproduction. One of these pictures was a picture of a skillet from Vreta Kloster in Östergötland, a province in Sweden. The skillet is dated too 1100-1500 - a broad time frame really, but it shares aspects with late 14th- and early 15th century ones, like these below. They are all from French manuscripts from the end of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th. The original skillet is quite small, but as we are becoming quite a few members in the company, I asked Anders to make it bigger. And he did. We have been using it during the season, and I am very happy with it.

Anders have been posting a description, including pictures, of his work at his blog, which can be found here. Check it out!

It's finished!

After years of sporadic, hate filled work, the panzar is finished. It has left me with a feeling of emptiness, but more important - a will to make a new, better one. This one isn't perfect from a cosmetic poin of view, and it doesn't fit as good as it could. It is in part based on an Italian fresco (this was a long time before I decided not to use Italian sources), but I have made a lot of changes (i.e. mistakes), because I am simply not a craftsman. This picture of the original is scanned from my copy of Medieval Military Costume by Gerry Embleton - a must have for the military reenactor. I am certain I have a photo of the same fresco somewhere, but I can't seem to find it.

I really liked the type of panzar pictured here - the "bags" to fit the elbows are really vivid, plus the quilting is unusual in recreations. That's why I immediately decided to give it a try, about four years ago.

This is how I went about. The top of the shoulders are heavily padded to reduce chafing from my plata (coat-of-plate), as are the outside of the arms and the chest (four layers of woolen blanket). The waistline and the lower arms have very little padding (2 layers or less), whilst the inside of the arms plus the armpits have no padding at all. This is to allow easy movement.

So far so good. You veteran readers have certainly read about my "button making industry" earlier (check earlier posts under the topic "arms and armour" for example). I made 70 buttons - 15 for each arm and 40 for the chest. It was a tedious work, but it came out alright. The help to give the armour a tight, nice fit. Plus it looks gorgeous.

If only it was true. Let's look at how it really turned out. I look more or less like a stuffed crab in it. When this picture was taken, in Morimondo this year, I was just about finished with it. I very soon realized that I had to remove tons of padding from the elbow joint, as I couldn't bend my arms. To look a bit normal I also needed to remove padding from under the arm. You can have a closer look on how this turned out at the picture labelled "4" below. The patches and the extra, tacky seams are clearly visible. And by the way - the "elbow bags" are nowhere to be seen...

Next error: The damned patching. My opinion is that a panzar was made by a professional, and that would mean that beginners mistakes like mine would be absent in a finished panzar. My biggest mistake was to forget that the outermost layer have to be bigger than the ones closer to the body. This mistake cost me lots of extra work, as I had to patch every edge keeping the armour together. The patching can be seen at the pictures labelled 1 (the side), 2 (back) and 3 (front) below. As the quilting form a quite special pattern, the patches form really distinct contrasts. And it looks ugly.

Next, we have the chest (labelled 3). It is also patched (it's hard to see in the picture, but I marked the seams with yellow), but the big thing is that I was forced to abandon buttoning; the edge was simply to stiff (and the panzar itself too tight) to allow buttoning. I tried at first, but it took me about 5 minutes to button two of them, so I decided to skip the buttons and go for lacing instead. 70 buttons in the bin, and another step away from the main plan...

I also needed to remove quite a lot of padding from the cuffs, as my gauntlets couldn't fit over them.

All in all, it's crap. And I have already started to buy new materials for the next one. Hopefully I won't be making all those mistakes again.

My cold weather coat

I have made a coat for cold watches during summer nights, or frosty autumn marches. The coat is based on two of the Herjolfsnes finds - the no. 45 and the no. 63, plus numerous representations of clothing with paired buttons. It is made from coarse, thick woolen cloth and lined with softer woolen cloth.

The garment is really based on the Herjolfsnes 45, above left of this text. I borrowed the pic (and the pic representing the Herjolfsnes 63) from this page:

http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~Marc-Carlson/cloth/tunics.html

It really is a tremendous page. If you haven't visited it, now is your chance. And if the owner of the page gets mad at me for using these pics, I would be happy if he told me, so that I can remove them.

Now. Back to the no. 45. The construction, including the pocket slits, is more or less exactly like the no. 45. I chose to make long arms, though. I made the fake gores (seams sewn in the middle of other gores to make the impression that there is actually more gores than there really is), but I can't say that it made much difference, as it is barely visible. Never the less.

From the no. 63 (to the left) I borrowed the collar. I have never made a garment with a collar, so I thought it might make a nice change. However it became a bit too small - it nearly chokes me when I have it buttoned. Hopefully it will give way in time.

That is really the main problem - the coat is a bit too small. Because I was going to have a lot of gores and seams, I used 25 centimetres of seam allowance, because I wanted the coat to be roomy. When it was finished, I could barely button it though. But I hope that it will stretch as I use it, plus I could lose some weight :-)

Below are some pics of me in my spanking new coat and shoes. The hood isn't that new, although I made it last year.

Here is a closeup at one of the pocket slits. They are quite handy when you want your purse, or if you would like to grab your dagger quickly for some reason :-)














Closeup of the choke-collar. Note the colour of my face - it is starting to turn a bit blueish.







Close up of paired buttons upon a belly that grows fatter by each day in the office... Luckily, I've started excercising.
















And lastly - here is me, with my shiny shoes, my hood, my spanking new coat and a spear, to ward of the wolves in the Kivik forests.

Needle case and a freaking oud

One of my friends contacted me the other day. We usually chat on the msn or on the phone, and give each other advice on stuff medieval. He is a goldsmith by trade (he made my wedding ring, among other things), and he knows a lot about crafting, so I sometimes ask him when I need to know. As I stated - I am not a craftsman. I am a reading man. And that is why my friend contacted me. I can't help out much, but what I can do is get 14th century manuscript pictures of most stuff imaginable. So he told me:
"I've got a challenge for you! I bet you can't come up with a picture of an oud."
"What the...?"
"Yeah. It's like a lute used in islamic cultures. They used it in southern Europe as well during the 14th century."

I smiled. I smiled because I recently saw a picture of the instrument he was after in a French manuscript. So I promptly sent it to him by mail. Just to show him.
"Check your inbox." I told him. His msn was still. No messages in sight. He paused. I waited. Finally:
"OK. Thanks. Splendid work! Talk to you later!"
And that was that. I felt good. Challenge-Schmallenge!

Some day later he phoned me, and said:
"Hey. You know you always get me sources on everything?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, me and Stefan really appreciate it, and we would like to do something for you in return."
"No need, but thanks." He ignored me.
"I heard someone lost his needle case last summer." I frowned.
"It was actually my wife..."
"Blame whoever you wish. Still it's gone, right?"
"True."
"We'll make you one. Get me a source on a nice one, and you'll have it in your hand before spring."

I was deeply touched. I really was. And then I started to look for sources. And you know what? Despite of all my bragging, I still haven't found a good source...

If you have a good source on an extant needle case in metal, preferrably from Scandinavia or northern Germany - please tell me!

I am a wrongdoer

- Strawberrys doesn't come to Europe until the 18th century, which mean you can't use them in medieval recipes
- Currants should in this case probably be interpreted as raisins

Let this be a lesson to you! Check up on your sources!

Sweets

This weekend I tested out a handful of 14th century recipes for sweets. It came down to a pie, two kinds of deep fried pastries, an early form of gingerbread biscuits, Lebkuchen, a warm drink called Caudel (I'm not sure this one is 14th century though...) and two kinds of hypocras. It took the better part of the day to fix it all.

Thanks to Astrid and Daniel Serra, I had access to grains of paradise (oh, sweet, rare grains!), and some tips on how to make the best of the hypocras. A lesson learnt is that the original recipes certainly must be divided into three or four - to use all that spice makes a porridge out of it all, and it is mortally expensive. Although I noticed this from the beginning and divided the amounts, it was still too much, and as the cinnamon powder started to react with the alochol, it became slimy like I don't know what. Hence, it was nigh impossible to sieve. Therefore: Second lesson learned is to not use powdered spice, but rather to grind the spice yourself, and make it kind of coarse. Earlier experiences tell me the same, but I guess I looked into the recipes a little bit to anxiously. As a cook, I should have trusted my instincts... Well. Better luck next time, I suppose.

If you don't know what Hypocras is, it is sweetened wine, spiced with a lot of different spices. I used a recipe from Le Menagier de Paris and a recipe from Curye on Inglish, a French and an English cook book from the latter 14th century. The recipe contains, among other things, cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cloves, ginger, long pepper and so on. These recipes can easily be found online. Just google Le menagier de Paris hypocras (or click this link. When looking through the book, note that hypocras is spelled hippocras), or click this link to download the Forme of Curye, which is a part of the Curye on Inglish, if I'm not mistaken. Watch out for strange interpretations though. Try to use the original recipe if possible, though weights and volumes might differ quite a lot from our modern ones.

When it came to Lebkuchen (which is from first quarter of the 15th century), I learned that I probably should boil the honey a bit longer, to make the cookies a bit stiffer. Furthermore, I should have ground the dried bread a little bit better. Last but not least, I shall be a little bit more careful with the white pepper. It is quite easy to make - boil honey for five or ten minutes (don't let it burn), skim it, and let it cool just a bit. Then mix in breadcrumbs enough to make the mixture stiff, saffron and ground white pepper. Grease up a baking plate with butter, pour the thick, hardly running mixture on to it, and let it cool in a dry place. Before it is completely settled, though, cut lines in it, so that you can easily divide it in cookie-sized portions.

When making Caudel (a hot drink), remember this: You must NOT let it boil. If you do, you are left with sweet, scrambled eggs... Caudel is made with sweet wine or sweet beer, depending on who you ask. I used a recipe that looks like this:

5 egg yolks
1,5 decilitres of sweet beer (I used Boddington this time - it was good enough)
Enough sugar
Enough saffron
An optional pinch of salt

I whipped the beer and the yolks together, put in the saffron and sugar, and started to heat it up. I was not paying attention when making the Caudel, and it started to boil. The result was a very runny batch of scrambled eggs. The mixture is supposed to thicken and get warm. It is not supposed to boil.

It was easy enough to make Crispels. Take pastry dough and go at it with a rolling pin. Deep fry it. Dip it in boiling honey (watch your fingers). Done.

Next one - tourteletes in fryture - wasn't hard, but craved some work. Chop up figs, 5-6 of them would make about ten tourteletes. Mix with saffron and powder forte (a medieval blend of spice, consisting of "hot" spice like ginger, black pepper and cloves - google it, and make up your own mind about what you like). Cut two circles of pastry dough (use a drinking glass as measure) per tourtelete, put the fig-mixture in the centre of one of the dough circles, and use the other circle to cover it up. Make a small package out of it, and make sure it is well closed - otherwise the filling will not stay put. Deep fry the packages, and when they are finished, swab them with molten honey.

The last one - Leche Frys in Lentoun - is a fruit pie made from almond milk (almond milk is roughly 1 part finely ground almonds and two parts of water boiled together for maybe five minutes).

Chop up apples and pears, along with dates, prunes and currants (I couldn't find currants, so I used strawberrys with good result). Mix it with enough sugar, with powder forte, with cinnamon, mace and cloves. Add the almond milk and perhaps some olive oil and a pinch of salt. Mix it all well together, and put it in a prebaked pie-shell. Bake until ready (it should be golden brown at the top, and not runny). Keep the oven kind of hot.

All together I was happy with the results, not least because I learned a lot from them. As I write this, it is not even two weeks left until the Feast of Saint Stefanus, an annual celebration held by Albrechts Bössor. You have probably already made out that I am supposed to make the sweets for that party...

Knappast

Igår sydde jag på den sista knappen på livstycket till panzaret. 31 stycken, en mer än jag räknat med. Sakta men säkert börjar det ta form! Det känns tillfredställande att det äntligen börjar se ut som ett plagg och inte bara en massa tygstycken, men samtidigt känns det lite hånfullt - det är först nu - när jag gjort alla misstag - som jag kan påbörja mitt "riktiga" panzar. Och redan står det mig upp i halsen... Jag får nog jobba på lite andra grejer först, innan jag kan ta tag i det.

Jag läste häromdagen om ett panzar från Edward IIIs inventarier som skulle vara gjort i grön canvas. Allt jag vet om linne och hampa (och därmed om canvas) är att det är väldigt svårt att färga med någon reda, så att det inte bara bleknar. Hoppas att Maria har några färgaress i klänningsärmen - jag vill ha ett grönt canvaspanzar!

Annars funderar man ju på varför de panzar som avbildas alltid är så färgglada - jag menar; det är inte bara riddare som springer runt i grälla panzar, utan även soldater, så silke är det väl rimligen inte, i alla fall inte alla gånger. Och växtfärgad linne/hampa är som bekant notoriskt bleknande i väder och vind. Återstår bomull (men jag vet inte hur det beter sig i färgningen), läder eller ylle. Ingenstans talas det om att det yttre lagret är gjort av ylle. Det finns tveksamma belägg för att läder skulle använts i panzar/jacks, men frågan är om det användes ytterst. Och i så fall, om bomull beter sig bättre i växtfärgningssammanhang, borde det vara det som är ytterst, även om det fortfarande måste anses som ganska dyrt.

Så här säger

Armourers company of london, 1322:

"it was ordeyned for ye comon proffyt and assented that from henceforth all Armour made in ye Cytie to sell be good and concenable after ye forme that henceforth That is to saie that an Akton and Gambezon covered with sendall or of cloth of Silke be stuffed with new clothe of cotten and of cadar and of olde sendall and not otherwise. And that ye wyite acketonnes be stuffed of olde lynnen and of cottone and of new clothe wth in and wth out. It is ordeyned that all ye crafte of ye citie of London be truely ruled and governed every person in his nature in due maner so that no falsehood ne false workemanshipp nor Deceipt be founde in no maner wise in any of ye foresaid crafte for ye worship of ye good folke of all ye same crafte and for the common proffytt of ye people".

"Olde lynnen och olde cottone" står i motsats till "new clothe, wht in and wth out", så det skulle kunna vara så att man har gammalt bomullstyg/linnetyg som stoppning och nytt på utsidan och insidan - och kanske skulle det kunna vara så att det är enklare att färga än hampa och linne. Vad beträffar "wyite acketonnes" så känns det inte som om det är särskilt vanligt - av alla de bilder på tygrustningar jag sett från 1300-talet finns max fem bilder som avbildar vita dylika. Så många var nog färgade.

Jag borde använda någon annan stoppning i mitt kommande panzar - det finns mig veterligen inga belägg för att ylletyger i flera lager använts som stoppning. Jag får helt enkelt skaffa mig råbomull eller linblånor som jag får lägga i lager, eftersom jag mer är ute efter en vaddering än ett fullgott skydd a'la jack (med en massa, massa linnelager). Det verkar vid första anblicken bra mycket mer komplicerat att använda än lager av tyg, men kanske inte. Om man kardar det till stora sjok och lägger sjok på sjok, kan man på ett mycket enkelt sätt justera tjockleken på stoppningen på olika ställen, till exempel under armarna och i armvecken. Det är hur som helst värt att undersöka! Jag har förresten hört två olika saker om stoppningen i Svarte Prinsens panzar, och det ena är att den är stoppad med ull och det andra är att den är stoppad med råbomull. Undrar just vad det egentligen är...

Men. Canvas ytterst och ull (urk så varmt) som stoppning. Linne innerst. Då är man nog jävligt svensk... Och jävligt varm. Men kanske inte mycket varmare än om man stoppar panzaret med filtar. Linblånor! Där har vi det! Om fem år kommer ni att få se resultatet här. Stay tuned!

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English summary:

This is solely a discussion with myself on how to dye and construct a gambeson... What to stuff it with, which colors could be used, what the outer layer is made of, as the gambesons often are depicted in bright colors that are hard to get when dyeing linen and hemp (silk, wool, linen, hemp, cotton, leather?). Any suggestions?

Panzarknappar och Sigmund Ringeck

Kvällarna här i den nya, och väldigt temporära, lägenheten fylls av studier av Johannes Lichtenauers manuskript, med Sigmund Ringecks dito som tolkningshjälp. Bägge två är översatta till engelska, annars hade man varit rätt rökt; min medeltidstyska är lite krattig, trots mitt snokande i Preussischer Urkundenbuch. Oavsett vilket är den gode Lichtenauer lite svår att tolka då och då - "Hier ist ain andere styk" blir inte mer begripligt på engelska, eller för den delen på svenska - "Detta är en annan teknik". Och så inget mer. O-K. Det är minsann inte det lättaste att lära sig fäktas ur en bok, än mindre när författaren bara skriver att det rör sig om en annan teknik, utan att ens nämna något om den i övrigt. Då är Sigmund Ringeck bra att ha. Han beskriver saker och ting lite mer utförligt, men ändå inte så detaljerat som man skulle vilja - det är så gott som alltid ganska stort utrymme för tolkningar, och det innebär att det kan bli ganska galet i slutändan.

Nå. Det är hur som helst ganska vilsamt att sitta där och grunna, och det är ärligt talat inte mycket mer att ta sig för i en liten studentcell utan möbler. Utom att sitta och sy tygknappar till sitt hägrande panzar. Nu när knapparna är färdiga, så när som på fyra stycken, börjar det slutligen slå över mot "halvfärdigt" snarare än "näppeligen påbörjat". Igår sydde jag 16 stycken i ett grovt, repande linne/bomullstyg. Fingrarna förlamas av allt slitande, ryggen böjs i krum av min dåliga arbetsställning och jag har tusen andra saker att stå i, hellre än att sitta där med skiten. Men nu har jag 4 knappar kvar av de 70 jag ska sy. Det känns skönt. Nu ska jag bara konstruera ärmarna och klippa ut dem, kvilta dem och sy knapphål. Och sy fast knapparna. Och sy knapphål för livstycket. Och sy fast de knapparna. Och ordna fållarna överallt. Det är nog bara nån veckas arbetstid kvar på den, förutsatt att jag då jobbar 8 timmar om dan med skräpet. Och så vet jag redan nu att jag inte kommer att bli 100% nöjd med den, trots att Maria ska hjälpa mig med ärmkonstruktionen i Seeth-Ekholt.

Till skillnad från mina tidigare fungerar den att ha på sig. Den är inte för tung, och den passar mig. Däremot gjorde jag det klassiska misstaget - jag gjorde alla stycken lika stora, vilket innebär att det yttersta lagret är för litet. Således måste jag sy på remsor längs sidorna och längs ryggen för att inte stoppningen ska synas. Det känns inte riktigt bra, eller rättare sagt: Det irriterar mig som bara den. Och just därför måste jag sy mig en ny, men det är tamejfanken ett senare projekt. Just nu spyr jag nästan på skiten. Hoppas att någon kan ha glädje av den i alla fall - kanske för testhuggning, eller som bränsle :-)

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English summary

This post is about my gambeson, and how much I hate working on it, as I know even now it will not be as I planned. So I will make a new one, based on a German effigy. Furthermore I write about Sigmund Ringeck and Johannes Lichtenauer - manuscript fencing. But mostly it is about the never ending work with the gambeson.