A surcoat or surcote is an outer garment that was commonly worn in the Middle Ages by soldiers. It was worn over armor to show insignia and help identify what side the soldier was on. In the battlefield the surcoat was also helpful with keeping the sun off the soldier and their armor which helped prevent heat stroke and heat exhaustion. The name derives from French meaning "over the coat", a long, loose, often sleeveless coat reaching down to the feet. [1]
From about the 12th century, knights wore long, flowing surcoats, frequently emblazoned with their personal arms, over their armor. These usually extended to about mid-calf, had slits in the bottom front and back, allowing the wearer to ride comfortably, and were either sleeved or sleeveless. Historians believe that the practice of wearing white surcoats was adopted during the Crusades, their main purpose being to reflect the direct sun, which overheated the armour (and the soldier inside) – although it may be argued that here its color would have been of little help, while in poor weather they helped keep rain and the muck of battle away from the easily corroded mail links. The surcoat displayed the device of the knight (origin of the term "coat of arms"), thereby identifying him, which in turn, combined with the increased use of the great helm (late 12th century, early 13th century), became an essential means of recognition. Indeed, some historians cite this as one of the reasons behind the spread of heraldry across medieval Europe. During the 13th century, knights began to add plates of armour to their surcoats, subsequently giving rise to the medieval coat of plates. In the early fourteenth century, the front of the knight's surcoat was shortened so that it was longer at the back and knee-length at the front, allowing greater freedom of movement and eliminating the danger of a rider getting his spurs caught in the garment. By the mid-fourteenth century, it was replaced with the "jupon" (or "gipon"), a much shorter item, often padded for supplementary protection. [2]
In the 15th century, once suits of plate armour became common, the surcoat was phased out of use. This period in the history of armour development, in which surcoats became increasingly rare, is referred to as the "surcoatless period" (1420-1485).
Women began wearing surcoats during the 13th century, both with and without sleeves. [3] A particular style, known as the sideless surcoat, developed as a fashion in the 14th century. This was a sleeveless, floor-length garment featuring exaggerated armholes, which at their most extreme were open from shoulder to hip, revealing the gown underneath. The narrow strip covering the torso, known as the plackard, [4] was usually no more than a foot wide. The style drew criticism from some moralists, who thought the garment drew an inappropriate amount of attention to the female body. [3] Despite this, sideless surcoats continued to be worn as ceremonial dress well into the 15th century, long after they had ceased to be fashionable. Some estimates place them being worn as state apparel as late as 1525. [4]
| Types | Conventional elements of coats of arms | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Topics | |||||||||||||
| Achievement | |||||||||||||
| Charges |
| ||||||||||||
| Tinctures |
| ||||||||||||
| Applications | |||||||||||||
| Related | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
A gambeson is a padded defensive jacket, worn as armour separately, or combined with mail or plate armour. Gambesons were produced with a sewing technique called quilting. They were usually constructed of linen or wool; the stuffing varied, and could be for example scrap cloth or horse hair. During the 14th century, illustrations usually show buttons or laces up the front.
An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French napron meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process called rebracketing. It may have several purposes, typically as a functional accessory that protects clothes and skin from stains and marks. However, other types of aprons may be worn as a decoration, for hygienic reasons, as part of a uniform, or as protection from certain dangers such as acid, allergens or excessive heat. It can also be used at work stations to hold extra tools and pieces or protect from dust and unwanted materials.
A tabard is a type of short coat that was commonly worn by men during the late Middle Ages and early modern period in Europe. Generally worn outdoors, the coat was either sleeveless or had short sleeves or shoulder pieces. In its more developed form it was open at the sides, and it could be worn with or without a belt. Though most were ordinary garments, often work clothes, tabards might be emblazoned on the front and back with a coat of arms (livery), and in this form they survive as the distinctive garment of officers of arms.
A cuirass is a piece of armour that is formed of a single or multiple pieces of metal or other rigid material which covers the torso. The word originates from the original material; leather, from the French cuirace and Latin word coriacea. The use of the term "cuirass" generally refers to both the chest plate and the back piece together. Whereas a chest plate only protects the front and a back plate only protects the back, a cuirass protects both the front and the back.
A hauberk or byrnie is a shirt of mail. The term is usually used to describe a shirt reaching at least to mid-thigh and including sleeves. Haubergeon generally refers to the quilted undergarment used with a hauberk, but the terms are sometimes used interchangeably.
A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body.
A coat typically is an outer garment for the upper body as worn by either gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front and closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, toggles, a belt, or a combination of some of these. Other possible features include collars, shoulder straps and hoods.
A bodice is an article of clothing for women and girls, covering the torso from the neck to the waist. The term typically refers to a specific type of upper garment common in Europe during the 16th to the 18th century, or to the upper portion of a modern dress to distinguish it from the skirt and sleeves. The name bodice comes from an older garment called a pair of bodies.
A gauntlet is a variety of glove, particularly one having been constructed of hardened leather or metal plates which protected the hand and wrist of a combatant in Europe between the early fourteenth century and the Early Modern period. Today it can also refer to an extended cuff covering the forearm as part of a woman's garment.
A brigandine is a form of body armour from the Middle Ages. It is a garment typically made of heavy cloth, canvas, or leather, lined internally with small oblong steel plates riveted to the fabric, sometimes with a second layer of fabric on the inside.
A breastplate or chestplate is a device worn over the torso to protect it from injury, as an item of religious significance, or as an item of status. A breastplate is sometimes worn by mythological beings as a distinctive item of clothing. It is also a term for a piece of clothing used by drag queens and cross-dressing performers, which mimics a woman's cleavage or breasts.
A doublet is a man's snug-fitting jacket that is shaped and fitted to the man's body. The garment was worn in Spain, and spread to the rest of Western Europe, from the late Middle Ages up to the mid-17th century. The doublet was hip length or waist length and worn over the shirt or drawers. Until the end of the 15th century, the doublet was usually worn under another layer of clothing such as a gown, mantle, overtunic or jerkin when in public.
Byzantine dress changed considerably over the thousand years of the Empire, but was essentially conservative. Popularly, Byzantine dress remained attached to its classical Greek roots with most changes and different styles being evidenced in the upper strata of Byzantine society always with a touch of the Hellenic environment. The Byzantines liked colour and pattern, and made and exported very richly patterned cloth, especially Byzantine silk, woven and embroidered for the upper classes, and resist-dyed and printed for the lower. A different border or trimming round the edges was very common, and many single stripes down the body or around the upper arm are seen, often denoting class or rank. Taste for the middle and upper classes followed the latest fashions at the Imperial Court.
The Inverness cape is a form of weatherproof outer-coat. It is notable for being sleeveless, the arms emerging from armholes beneath a cape. It has become associated with the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.
Fashion in fourteenth-century Europe was marked by the beginning of a period of experimentation with different forms of clothing. Costume historian James Laver suggests that the mid-14th century marks the emergence of recognizable "fashion" in clothing, in which Fernand Braudel concurs. The draped garments and straight seams of previous centuries were replaced by curved seams and the beginnings of tailoring, which allowed clothing to more closely fit the human form. Also, the use of lacing and buttons allowed a more snug fit to clothing.
The European buff coat is an item of leather clothing that was primarily worn by cavalry and officers during the 17th century, but also worn by a small number of infantry. It was often worn under armour. The buff coat was derived from the simple leather jerkins employed by huntsmen and soldiers during the Tudor period, these in turn deriving from the arming doublet. The name of the jacket, as well as its characteristic tan or buff colour, derives from the buffalo or ox hide from which it was commonly made.
A coat of plates is a form of segmented torso armour consisting of overlapping metal plates riveted inside a cloth or leather garment. The coat of plates is considered part of the era of transitional armour and was normally worn as part of a full knightly harness. The coat saw its introduction in Europe among the warring elite in the 1180s or 1220s and was well established by the 1250s. It was in very common usage by the 1290s. By the 1350s it was universal among infantry militias as well. After about 1340, the plates covering the chest were combined to form an early breastplate, replacing the coat of plates. After 1370, the breastplate covered the entire torso. Different forms of the coat of plates, known as the brigandine and jack of plates, remained in use until the late 16th century.
Costume during the thirteenth century in Europe was very simple for both men and women, and quite uniform across the continent. Male and female clothing was relatively similar, and changed very slowly, if at all. Most clothing, especially outside the wealthier classes, remained little changed from three or four centuries earlier. The century saw great progress in the dyeing and working of wool, which was by far the most important material for outerwear. For the rich, colour and rare fabrics such as silk from the silkworm was very important. Blue was introduced and became very fashionable, being adopted by the Kings of France as their heraldic colour.
Twelfth century European fashion was simple and differed only in details from the clothing of the preceding centuries. Men wore knee-length tunics for most activities, and men of the upper classes wore long tunics, with hose and mantle or cloaks. Women wore long tunics or dresses. A close fit to the body, full skirts, and long flaring sleeves were characteristic of upper-class fashion for both men and women.
The Medieval period in England is usually classified as the time between the fall of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the Renaissance, roughly the years AD 410–1485. For various peoples living in England, the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Danes, Normans and Britons, clothing in the medieval era differed widely for men and women as well as for different classes in the social hierarchy. The general styles of Early medieval European dress were shared in England. In the later part of the period, men's clothing changed much more rapidly than women's styles. Clothes were very expensive and both the men and women of lower social classes continued also divided social classes by regulating the colors and styles these various ranks were permitted to wear. In the early Middle Ages, clothing was typically simple and, particularly in the case of lower-class peoples, served only basic utilitarian functions such as modesty and protection from the elements. As time went on the advent of more advanced textile techniques and increased international relations, clothing gradually got more and more intricate and elegant, even with those under the wealthy classes, up into the renaissance.
