Thousands of terms associated with apparel worn in the principal countries of Europe appear in this extensive and convenient reference. The alphabetically arranged items of clothing span nearly 2,000 years of fashion history — from the onset of the Christian era in the first century to the beginning of the reign of George III, c. 1760.
From abacot, hacketon, helm, jipocoat, and jump to xainture, ysgyn, zatayn, and zibelline, the sweeping scope of this volume encompasses a remarkable range of all-but-forgotten lore. Profusely illustrated with over 1,300 detailed line drawings, it offers a useful guide for fashion and cultural historians, writers, designers, movie and theatrical producers, and all others with an interest in the history of fashion.
Thousands of terms associated with apparel worn in the principal countries of Europe appear in this extensive and convenient reference. The alphabetically arranged items of clothing span nearly 2,000 years of fashion history — from the onset of the Christian era in the first century to the beginning of the reign of George III, c. 1760.
From abacot, hacketon, helm, jipocoat, and jump to xainture, ysgyn, zatayn, and zibelline, the sweeping scope of this volume encompasses a remarkable range of all-but-forgotten lore. Profusely illustrated with over 1,300 detailed line drawings, it offers a useful guide for fashion and cultural historians, writers, designers, movie and theatrical producers, and all others with an interest in the history of fashion.
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Thousands of terms associated with apparel worn in the principal countries of Europe appear in this extensive and convenient reference. The alphabetically arranged items of clothing span nearly 2,000 years of fashion history — from the onset of the Christian era in the first century to the beginning of the reign of George III, c. 1760.
From abacot, hacketon, helm, jipocoat, and jump to xainture, ysgyn, zatayn, and zibelline, the sweeping scope of this volume encompasses a remarkable range of all-but-forgotten lore. Profusely illustrated with over 1,300 detailed line drawings, it offers a useful guide for fashion and cultural historians, writers, designers, movie and theatrical producers, and all others with an interest in the history of fashion.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780486145334 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Dover Publications |
| Publication date: | 01/22/2013 |
| Series: | Dover Fashion and Costumes |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 592 |
| File size: | 45 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
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An Illustrated Dictionary of Historic Costume
From the First Century B.C. to C. 1760
By James Robinson Planché
Dover Publications, Inc.
Copyright © 2014 Dover Publications, Inc.All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-486-14533-4
CHAPTER 1
A
A BACOT, A BOCOCKE, ABOCOCKED, ABOCOCKET, BYCOCKET. (French, bicoquc.) A cap worn during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and commencement of the sixteenth century by royal and noble personages.
Spelman has, "Abacot. Pileus augustalis Regum Anglorum duabus coroniis insignatus. Vide Chronica, ann. 1463, Edw, IV. pag. 666, col. ii. lib. 27." He has been followed literally by Ducange, and without further explanation by the recent editors of the latter. Abacot is also inserted in Bailey's and other English dictionaries, the former erroneously describing it as "a royal cap of state made in the shape of two crowns, anciently worn by the kings of England." Insignatus signifies ensigned or distinguished, and in Hall's Chronicle we find the cap mentioned thus: "King Henry was this day the beste horseman of his company, for he fled so faste that no man could overtake hym, and he was so nere pursued that certain of his henxmen or followers were taken, their horses being trapped in blew velvet, whereof one of them had on his hed the said Kyng Henries healmet, some say his high cap of state, called Abococked, garnished with twoo riche crownes, which was presented to Kyng Edward at Yorke the fourth daie of May." (Union, sub reg. Edward IV. f. 2.)
Grafton and Holinshed have the same account, but the former spells the word Abococket, and the latter Abacot and Abococke. At the coronation of Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV and queen of Henry VII., A.D. 1487, we read that "the Earl of Derby, Constable of England, entered Westminster Hall, mounted on a courser richly trapped and enamed—that is to say, quarterly golde, in the first quarter a lion gowles, having a man's hede in a bycocket of silver, and in the ijde a lyon of sable. This trapper was right curiously wrought with the needell, for the mannes visage in the bycockett shewed veryly well favoured." (Leland's' 'Collectanea,' vol. iv. p. 225.)
Why the trappings of the Earl of Derby's horse should have been emblazoned with these charges or badges, was a question difficult to answer; such a device as a lion with a man's head in a by cocket not appearing to have been borne by the Stanleys. It is to be seen, however, in the standard of John Ratcliff, Baron Fitzwalter (Book of Standards, Coll. Arms; vide Plate I. fig. 11); and on referring to the notice of that nobleman in Dugdale, we find that on the 3rd of Henry VII. he was associated with Jasper, Duke of Bedford, and others, for exercising the office of High Steward of England at the coronation of the said Queen Elizabeth. It is therefore clear that it was Lord Fitzwalter as High Steward, and not the Earl of Derby as Constable, who rode the courser so "trapped and enamed."
That the abacock or bycocket was not peculiarly "a royal cap of state" appears from an entry in a MS. of the close of the fifteenth century, in the College of Arms, marked L. 8, fol. 54b, entitled 'The Apparel for the Field of a Baron in his Sovereign's Company.' "Item, another pe. of hostynge harness [to] ryde daily with all, with abycocket and alle other apparell longynge thereto."
It is, I think, evident that the abocock or bycocket was the cap so frequently seen in illuminations of the fifteenth century, turned up behind, coming to a peak in front, varying and gradually decreasing in height, encircled with a crown when worn by regal personages (vide Plate I. fig. 4), and similar to, if not identical with, what is now called the knight's chapeau, first appearing in the reign of Edward III., and on which the crest is placed (Plate I. figs. 1, 3, and 8); as we may fairly conclude from the badge of Robert Fitzwalter, Earl of Sussex (temp. Queen Elizabeth), the descendant of John, Lord Fitzwalter, before mentioned, in which it is depicted with the two peaks worn behind as in achievements of the present day. (MS. College of Arms, Vincent, No. 172. Vide Plate I. fig. 12.)
In the list of articles ordered for the coronation of Richard III. "two hats of estate" are directed to be prepared, and worn "with the round rolls behind and the beeks before." (Book of Piers Courtenay, the King's Wardrober.) As these hats were provided for the two persons representing the Dukes of Normandy and Aquitaine, I take it that they were ordered to be so worn in accordance with some ancient fashion, as at this period and subsequently the knight's chapeau is always represented with the peaks or beaks behind. The two crowns that are said to have garnished the cap of Henry VI. might have betokened the kingdoms of France and England. M. Viollet le Duc, on the authority of an anonymous writer, gives examples of a closed helmet as a bicocquet. That it was not a helmet is perfectly clear from the contemporary documents I have quoted, with which M. Viollet le Duc was evidently not acquainted. The name, however, might have been capriciously applied to a steel head-piece, as it is at the present day to small dwelling-houses. (See BYCOCKET.)
ACTON, AKETON, HACKETON. (French, aqueton, haucton, hoqueton) A tunic or cassock made of buckram or buckskin, stuffed with cotton, and sometimes covered with silk and quilted with gold thread, worn under the hauberk or coat-of-mail, used occasionally as a defensive military garment without the hauberk. "Qui non habuerit actonem et basinetum habeat unum bonum haburgellium et unum capitium de ferro." (Statute of Robert I. of Scotland, cap. 27.) In a wardrobe account, dated 1212, twelve pence is entered as the price of a pound of cotton required for stuffing an aketon belonging to King John. (Harleian MS. 4573.)
"Si tu veuil un auqueton
Ne l'empli une de coton
Mais d'œuvres de miséricorde
Afin que diables ne te morde."
Roman du Riche et du Ladre.
"Le hacuton fut fort qui fut de bonquerant."
Chron. Bertrand du Guesclin.
"Sur l'auqueton qui d'or fu pointurez
Veste l'auberc qui fut fort et serrez."
Roman de Gaydon.
Chaucer, describing the dress of a knight, says:
"Next his sherte a haketon,
And over that a habergeon
For peireing of his heart,
And over that a fine hauberk
Was all ywrought of Jewe's work.
Full strong it was of plate."
Rhyme of Sir Topaz.
This passage has been a sad puzzle to commentators, but it is curiously illustrated by a miniature in a fine copy of Boccaccio's 'Livre des nobles Femmes' in the Royal Library, Paris. (See under HAUBERGEON.)
That the colour of the aketon was generally white appears from the old French proverb, "Plus blanc qu'un auketon." "But this was not invariably the case," remarks Sir S. R. Meyrick, "for Matthew de Couci in his' History of Charles VII.' says, 'Portoient auctons r ouges recoupez dessous sans croix.'" (Archaeologia, vol. xix.); and in the 'Romance of Sir Carline' we have, "His acton it was all of black." (Halliwell's 'Dictionary of Archaic Words, 'in voce.) I infer, therefore, it was usually coloured when intended to be worn, as in these instances, without or in lieu of the hauberk. In an inventory of John Fitz Marmaduke, Lord of Horden, we find mention of an aketon covered with green samite, and a red aketon with sleeves of whalebone, "cum manicis de balyn." (Vide Glossary to Meyrick's 'Critical Inquiry' under "Gaynepayne," vol. iii. 2nd ed.) Camden describes it, however, as "a jacket without sleeves, called a haketon."(Remaines, p. 196, ed. 1657.) In process of time the word was applied to a defence of plate. In a letter of the year 1478, quoted by Sir S. R. Meyrick, we read of a silver aketon, "Lequel Perrin bailla à celui mace ung coup de la fourche en la poitrine, dont il le navra, et l'eust tué n'eust este son hauqueton d'argent." (Archæologia, ut supra.) And a writer of the reign of Elizabeth says, "Haketon is a sleeveless jackett of plate for the warre covered with any other stuffe; at this day also called a jackett of plate." (Animadversions on Chaucer, by Francis Thynne, 1598. His note is only valuable as an authority for his own time.) The "haketon" of Chaucer was not of plate. M. le Duc actually represents the heraldic tabard as a hoqueton!
The etymology of the word is much disputed. Perizonius derives the French word hoqueton from the Greek [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] Sir S. R. Meyrick from the German hauen, to hew, and Quittung, a quittance. "Hence," he observes, "it would imply an obstacle to wounds." This, I think, is rather farfetched. After all, it may be simply a corruption of the French à coton or au coton the material with which the garment was stuffed, or of the original Arabic word alkoton, from which the Italians derived their cotone, the French coton, the English "cotton," and the Spaniards, retaining the article, algodon. The "auqueton qui d'or fu pointurez" is well displayed in the figure on p. 2, from Royal MS. xiv. E. 5, where a knight is depicted as being wounded while he is putting on or taking off the hauberk which was worn over it.
AGGRAPES. (French, agrafe.) A clasp or buckle. Also, hooks and eyes.
AGLET, ANGLET, AIGLET, AIGUILLETTE. (French, aiguillette.) The metal tag to a lace, or point, as it was called; sometimes used to signify the lace or point itself, as in the military costume of the present day. Also the ornament of a cap or bonnet of the sixteenth century.
"A doblet of white tylsent cut upon cloth of gold embraudered, with hose to the same and clasps and anglets of golde, delivered to the Duke of Buckingham." (Harleian MS. No. 2284: Wardrobe Inventory, 8th Henry VIII. 1517.) "Item, a millen bonnet dressed with agletts, 11s." (Roll of Provisions for the Marriage of the daughter of Sir John Nevil, temp. Henry VIII.: Archaeol. vol. xxvii. p. 87.) "Aglet of a lace or point fer." (Palsgrave, 'Eclaircissements.') "Aglet, Aygulet: a little plate of any metal was called an aglet."—Halliwell in voce. "A spangle: the gold or silver tinsel ornamenting the dress of a showman or rope dancer." (Hartshorne, Salop. Antiq., p. 300.)
Aygulet.
"Which all above besprinkled was throughout
With golden aygulets that glistend bright."
Spenser's Faery Queen, ii. 3, 16.
Aglottes.
"Two dozen poyntys of cheverelle
The aglottes of sylver fyne."
Council of the Jews—Coventry Mysteries, p. 241.
The aglets or tags were sometimes cut into the shape of little images, whence the term "aglet-baby" is applied to a very diminutive person by Shakespeare: 'Taming of the Shrew,' act i. s. 2.
Aiguillette. A lace, strap, thong, or point, used during the Middle Ages for fastening pieces of plate armour, and also for connecting various portions of the civil dress, such as sleeves, hose, doublets, &c. "Pour six livres de SCE de plusieurs couleurs pour faire les tissus et aiguillettes ausdits harnois." (Account of Etienne de la Fontaine, Argentier du Roi, fait en 1352.) "Item. Store of dozen of armynge poyntes, sum wt. gylt naighletts," i.e. aglets or tags. (The Apparel for the Field, MS. Coll. Arms, L. 8, p. 86b.)
In the 'History of Charles VI.,' by Jean le Fevre, Seigneur de St. Remy, the English men-at-arms are described preparing for the battle of Agincourt by replacing their "aiguillettes"; and in a note on that passage by Sir S. R. Meyrick, he says, "In the time of Henry V. the fronts of the shoulders, a wound received in which renders a man hors de combat, were protected by circular plates called 'palettes,' and these were attached by straps or points as they were called, with tags or aiguillettes at the end. The word here implies the whole fastening. The elbows were sometimes similarly protected. An illumination in Lydgate's 'Pilgrim' (Harleian MS., Brit. Mus., No. 4826) exhibits the Earl of Salisbury with palettes in which the aiguillettes are very conspicuous."(Nicolas, 'Hist. of the Battle of Agincourt,' notes, p. 114. See Plate II. fig. 4 of this work for the example alluded to, and fig. 3 for a specimen of the fastening of the elbow-pieces, from a curious painting of the fifteenth century at Hampton Court; see also under AILETTES.) The accompanying woodcut, from a print, 1650, exhibits their application in the civil costume of that period. The term aiguillette is also applied to a shoulder-knot worn during the last two centuries by soldiers and livery servants. In the English army an aiguillette is the distinction of field-marshals, aides-de-camp to the sovereign, and the officers of the Life Guards and Royal Horse Guards, Blue. It is of gold and worn on the right shoulder under the epaulette. Non-commissioned officers of the Household Brigade of Cavalry wear an aiguillette on the left shoulder, not by regulation order, but by permission of Gold Stick.
AILETTES, ALETES. (French, ailettes.) Defensive ornaments of various shapes and materials, worn by armed knights on their shoulders (whence their names, ailettes, little wings), and. introduced towards the close of the thirteenth century. They continued in fashion till about the middle of the reign of Edward III. They were generally emblazoned with the armorial bearings of the wearer, or simply with the cross of St. George, and therefore sometimes called gonfanons, from their resemblance to a small flag or banner. They are to be seen square, round, pentagonal, and shield shaped, and in one instance they appear as small crosses patée. (See Plate II. fig. 8.) Their use appears to have been the protection of the neck, like the later pass-guard; and in the specimens presented to us in paintings and sculptures, "We see them," remarks Sir S. R. Meyrick, "placed sometimes in front of the shoulders, sometimes behind, and others on the sides; whether, therefore, they were fixed in these positions or made to traverse I cannot pretend to determine, though from one appearing in front while the other is worn behind, in the pair worn by the knight in the 'Liber Astronomiae,' a MS, in the Sloane Library, marked No. 3983, I am inclined to the latter opinion. (Archæologia, vol. xix.)
"Autre divers garnementz des armes le dit pieres avesc les alettes garniz et freitez de perles."—(Inventory of the effects of Piers de Gaveston, taken A.D. 1313: Rymer's Foedera, vol. ii. p. 31.) "iii paire de Alettes des armes le Comte de Hereford." (Inventory of the Effects of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, A.D. 1319: Duchy of Lancaster Office.)
In a roll of purchases made for a tournament at Windsor, 6th of Edward I., A.D. 1278, we find "I. par Alett," and "XXXVIII. par Alettañ." (Archaeologia, vol. xvii. p. 217.) These were formed of leather lined and covered with cloth, called carda, and attached to the shoulders by laces of silk. Mr. T. H. Turner, who alludes to this in the eighth number of the 'Archaeological Journal of the Institute,' seems to have overlooked the fact that the whole of the armour for this tournament was made of gilt leather, being a mere May game, and, therefore, no authority for the ailettes worn with real armour. It is unfortunate that the Inventory of the Earl of Hereford's effects, quoted above, has not supplied us with the desired information. While left to conjecture, it appears to me most probable that the ailettes worn in battle were made either of steel plates, the intermixture of which with mail was then commencing, or of cuir bouilli, that celebrated preparation of leather so variously used in the composition of defensive armour. An effigy of one of the Pembridge family, in Clehongre Church, Herefordshire, presents us with ailettes fastened by arming points. (See Plate II. figs. 1 and 2.) The means by which they were generally affixed to the shoulders cannot be ascertained from the other examples.
ALAMODE. (French, à la mode.) A silk resembling lutestring, mentioned in the fourth year of the reign of Philip and Mary. (Act for the Better Encouragement of the Silk Trade in England. Ruffhead, vol. ii. p. 567.)
(Continues...)
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Table of Contents
Thousands of terms associated with apparel worn in the principal countries of Europe appear in this extensive and convenient reference. The alphabetically arranged items of clothing span nearly 2,000 years of fashion history—from the onset of the Christian era in the first century to the beginning of the reign of George III, c. 1760.
From abacot, hacketon, helm, jipocoat, and jump to xainture, ysgyn, zatayn, and zibelline, the sweeping scope of this volume encompasses a remarkable range of all-but-forgotten lore. Profusely illustrated with over 1,300 detailed line drawings, it offers a useful guide for fashion and cultural historians, writers, designers, movie and theatrical producers, and all others with an interest in the history of fashion.
Dover (2003) unabridged republication of A Cyclopaedia of Costume or Dictionary of Dress, originally published by Chatto and Windus, London, 1876.