[Regia-NA] Sumptuary Laws

[Hazel Uzzell]

Hello Jan,
Just come to this discussion. A few of my own thoughts follow:
'Poor colour' means a colour that a person of lower rank would have had
access to. There were no sumptuary laws, just laws of likelyhood. We go by
colours that have been detected in textiles found in archaeological sites,
i.e madder, weld, dyers greenweed and woad (and a unidentified red!) and
small amounts of kermes.
Of these, weld and dyers greenweed would probably have been available to
anyone who had the ability to dye fleece or yarn, that is, a suitable
container and...most importantly, the time. Woad has traditionally been
considered a higher ranking colour in Regia, because of the long process
involved in the period method of use. Madder was probably grown in the south
of England but was also widely imported, which again puts it beyond the
reach of the ordinary person.
There are, of course, wild plants which give colours, but very few of these
are fast colours, especially in a situation where the person wearing the
clothes would spend a lot of time out doors. Even 200 years ago, clothes
used by farmers etc had to be re dyed every year, usually with a
progressively darker colour.
'Dog whelks' have been found around the coasts of Ireland, but my personal
theory is that they were used for making ink rather than dye, simply because
of the phenomenal number that you need to dye a small amount of cloth.
Gale is still the best (and only) source for clothing, but with recent
archaeological discoveries, even her book has become dated. We just do the
best we can!
As for the library of books that may have been read by an A.S woman, what
rank are we talking here? Most 'ordinary' women would never have read a book
in their lives. We do have wills extant in which women leave books as
bequests, so there is no doubt that some women of wealth were literate (e.g
King Alfreds mother?) but I don't think that it was a general thing.
There are a few good books that will teach you Old English if you want to be
VERY dedicated, but you will definately be in a minority (and much envied)
in Regia if you do learn!
Cheers,
Hazel (Textile co-ordinator for Regia)
PS by all means wear linen next to your skin...I do!