th 10

Century Europe
The Dark Age

10th Century Europe

The 10th century is the period from 901 to 1000 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Common Era. The 10th century is usually regarded as a low point in European history Europe's history now became a maze of alliances, treacheries, claims and acquisitions. Historians usually consider the 10th century almost as dark and barbarous as the 7th, but this is only from the political and written word viewpoint. 10th century art was as splendid and technically skilful as that of any other age.

COSTUMES
clothes were probably home-made, usually from cloth made at a village level, and very simply cut. The elite imported silk cloth from the Byzantine, and later Moslem, worlds, and also probably cotton. They also could afford bleached linen and dyed and simply patterned wool woven in Europe itself. But embroidered decoration was probably very widespread, though not usually detectable in art. Most people probably wore only wool or linen, usually undyed, and leather or fur from locally hunted animals.

Mens Costume
The primary garment was the dress -- generally a long fabric panel, folded over with a neck-hole cut into the fold, and sleeves attached. It was typical for the wealthy to display their affluence with a longer tunic made of finer and more colourful cloth, even silk or silk-trimmed. The tunic was usually belted, with either a leather or strong fabric belt. Depending on climate, trousers were tailored either loose or tight (or not worn at all if the weather was warm). The most basic leggings were strips of cloth wound round the leg, and held in place by long laces, presumably of leather, which is called cross-gartering. This may have been done with loose-fitting trousers also. Tighter-fitting hose were also worn. Over this a sleeved tunic was worn, which for the upper classes gradually became longer towards the end of the period. For peasants and warriors it was always at the knee or above. For winter, outside or formal dress, a cloak or mantle completed the outfit. The Franks had a characteristic short cape called a "saie", which barely came to the waist. This was fastened on the left shoulder (so as not to impede sword strokes) by a brooch, typically a fibula

Womens Costume
The basic female clothing for all classes over the period was a simple sleeved tunic dress, with a vertical slit, usually laced, at the bodice, at least for women of an age to breast-feed. The borders and hems might be decorated with embroidery, very richly so for the upper classes. Hose were apparently often worn underneath, their length presumably depending on the weather, as the dress came near to the ankle throughout the period. An under-tunic might also be worn, and cloaks and mantles for winter or outside wear. With the coming of Christianity, married women were expected to cover their hair, at least in public, with a loose shoulder cape, mantle or kerchief. It appears that fur was mostly worn out of sight, as a lining, or perhaps like the fur waistcoats (probably worn lining outermost) known from the later Middle Ages.

Headdress
During medieval times it was difficult to imagine a person without headwear. Excluding the children, it was compulsory to wear head pieces whether they were men or women belonging to all ages. At that time headwears were not only decorative pieces but also played a part in defining people's etiquettes and elegancy, moreover it was a part of social standing of people in society. We can say that the war for piece of land and supremacy had led to the emergency of headwears. Some coverings were used to protect the head from serious injuries which gradually enter into civilization. Since the beginning of medieval period, as medieval costumes headwears too were essential part of attire. Throughout the medieval history with the development in tailoring skill of people and technology, head covers too had gone through a great degree of changes.

Hair Styles

Footwears