Hello, do you have any references for 1250-1350 Irish Garb? I have trouble getting through the English propaganda and later romanticism. Thanks.

Without knowing gender, I’ll keep this pretty vague.

I’ve also got a request out to the Facebook Group, SCA Garb, for more resources. They can be really helpful folk.

Clothing culture, 1350-1650
Author:Catherine Richardson
Publisher:Aldershot, Hampshire, England ; Burlington, VT : Ashgate, ©2004.
Series:History of retailing and consumption.
Summary:From Russia to Rome, Ireland to France, this volume contains a wealth of examples of the numerous ways clothing was shaped by, and helped to shape, medieval and early modern European society.

Dress in Ireland
Author:Mairead Dunlevy
Publisher:New York : Holmes & Meier, 1989.

Encyclopedia of dress and textiles in the British Isles c. 450-1450
Author:Gale R Owen-Crocker; Elizabeth Coatsworth; Maria Hayward
Publisher:Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2012.

Sources for Irish Re-enactors, from the Reconstructing History blog – includes a bibliography

Good luck, and have fun!

Late Period Cossacks

A message from @innodi​:

Greetings! I’m doing research into 15-16th century Cossacks for use in the SCA, do you have any reference recommendations to turn me towards, especially any involving garb? Thank you!

Wikipedia makes a point to mention that by the mid-15th century, Cossacks in historical records have either Russian or Ukrainian names, so would their garb be very different from other Russian garb? (I don’t know. It’s a research question!)

BOOKS

Historical Dictionary of Medieval Russia. [Worldcat]Author:
Lawrence N Langer

Publisher:
Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield Pub. Group, 2001.

Medieval Russia, 980-1584 [WorldCat]

Author:
Janet Martin

Publisher:
Cambridge : Cambridge Univ. Press, 1995.

The Cossack hero in Russian literature : a study in cultural mythology [WorldCat]Author:
Judith Deutsch Kornblatt
Publisher:
Madison, Wisc. : University of Wisconsin Press, ©1992.

Cossack rebellions : social turmoil in the sixteenth-century Ukraine [WorldCat]Author:
Linda Gordon

Publisher:
Albany : State University of New York Press, ©1983.

Cossack : warrior riders of the steppes


Author:
Mike Groushko

Publisher:
New York : Sterling Pub. Co., 1992.

The Cossacks : an illustrated history [WorldCat]Author:
John Ure

Publisher:
Woodstock : Overlook Press, 2002.

RANDOM RESEARCH TIP

WorldCat is a database of library records, and since the organization behind it (Online Computer Library Center, or OCLC) is where the majority of libraries (at least in the US) get the majority of their records from. It also helps facilitate Inter-library loan, which is why you can see what libraries near you have a particular item.

But because it’s also where libraries copy records from for their own catalogs, it has SUBJECT HEADINGS. These are links in the records that pull up every other item that also has that heading.

Like, Cossacks – History. [Link]

WEBSITES (SCADIAN AND OTHERWISE)

Dress the Part: Clothing Styles of Medieval Russia [Link]This is a website for an academic course, so check out the reference list!

All Things Russian: Scadian Webligography [Link]

Sofya la Rus: 13th-14th Century Medieval Russian Life
No mention of Cossacks, but still potentially useful: [Link]

Tzarvik – SCA Blog, Cossack Persona [Link]

victoriansword:

This is way beyond the usual scope of my blog, but I couldn’t not share this!

A rare and important Mamluk steel sword, Egypt or Syria, 13th-15th centurythe straight double-edged steel blade with engraved inscription on both sides, the hilt with rounded, ridged pommel, oval-shaped wood reserved in the centre, with a wrist-strap ring above and pierced quillon tips
106cm.

On both sides:  
‘This is a waqf of the Emir of Yalbugha, in the year 862 AH(?)’ (1457-58 AD)

Although the reading of the date is uncertain, it coincides with the style of its inscription and presumed period of manufacture. The date furthermore corresponds to those relating to the Emir Sayf al-Din Yalbugha b. ‘Abd Allah al-Baha’i al-Zahiri Barquq, who was named to the post of governor of Alexandria on 29 December 1438, a position he held for less than a year, passing away on 22 October 1439 (L. Kalus, ‘Donations pieuses d’épées médiévales à l’arsenal d’Alexandrie’, in Revue des Etudes Islamiques, t.L., Paris, 1982). A number of similar swords were donated by Yalbugha to the Arsenal of Alexandria confirming the suggested attribution of this sword (see Kalus 1982, pp.80-86, and Mohamed 2007, p.43, no.12).

Swords from the early Islamic period such as this example are extremely rare and characterised by their straight and double-sided blades. Swords belonging to the Mamluks and early Ottoman Emirs and Sultans are today mainly dispersed between the Topkapi Saray and the Military Museum, Istanbul. The swords in the Military Museum are said to be “[…] a series of extremely unusual swords that were brought back to Istanbul by the Ottomans after the conquest of Egypt as spoils of war and placed in the Arsenal” (ibid, p.124, no.83), explaining the presence of so many Mamluk examples in Turkish collections.

Of the very few extant examples of early Islamic swords, there are two reputed to have belonged to the Prophet and others said to have belonged to the early Caliphs and Companions, taken as booty from the Mamluks by the Ottomans after the battle of 1517. These survive in the Has Oda of the Topkapi Saray and are known as the ‘Blessed Swords’ or Suyuf al Mubarake. The Military Museum, Istanbul features similar examples to our sword with resembling mounts and blades and although they are identified as Mamluk and dated to the fourteenth century, they must have derived from the Ayyubid style of the Saif Badawi or the ‘Bedouin Sword’ (Yucel 2001, pl.80-83).

One sword of the twelfth century, belonging to Najm al-Din Ayyub, the father of Saladin, the conqueror of Jerusalem, made by Salim Ibn ‘Ali for Najm al Din (inv.no. 2355) has a quillon whose socket and guard is akin to that of our sword (Yucel 1988, p.77, cat.no.34). A related quillon can be found on a blade with Abbasid or Umayyad provenance (ibid, p.76, pl.33). For two other examples of comparable pommels and quillons found on fourteenth-century blades and identified as Mamluk, see Mohamed 2007, p.112, nos.11-12. A handful of blades related to ours in the Military Museum, Istanbul are on display (four in the galleries, with a similar number in the reserve collection but not in good condition) of identical size, temper, weight and quality of steel.

The early Mamluk Sultans were Turks from the Kipchak territories, and preferred the use of the sabre, a slightly curved slashing weapon, more suitable for mounted warfare than the Saif Badawi. There is evidence that Mamluks carried and used both types; however the Saif Badawi was reserved for investiture and enthronement ceremonies of the Emir, in honour of The Prophet, who had several straight, named blades (See Elgood 1979, p.203). This Arab tradition of the Saif Badawi was continued in Saudi Arabia, Zanzibar and Oman until the nineteenth century (Mohamed 2007, p.79, cat.43).

bodleianlibs:

MARCH. The traditional labour of the month is trimming trees. You can either do this delicately with a billhook, like the gentleman on the left, or DECISIVELY with an axe, like the gentleman on the right.

You can view the original of this image for free online!

xiao3la4jiao1:

 Reconstructions of various Tang dynasty hairstyles, found on baidu (link) but true source unknown.

This is from:

Hair Fashions of Tang Dynasty Women, by He, Jian’guo.何建國.

You can see the Library of Congress record here: https://lccn.loc.gov/88123343

But you can’t check it out from them right now, because I have their copy sitting on my desk. c.c

Anglo-Saxon Cat Comb

scarletbibliofeline:

Walrus ivory comb, double-edged, fine teeth on one side, coarse on the other. Carved with pair of cat-like animals and a serpent. Late Anglo-Saxon, 10th/11th century. British Museum Registration number: 1957,1002.1

Decorated wtih cats, that is.  I don’t think anyone actually used this on their cats.  Good luck with that.