Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Carvings and illustrations also show the
clothing worn by people during this period.
The nobles, the rich and other important
people were all, no doubt, clothed in silk and
wool. For warmth, everyone wore wool. But
for lighter wear and undergarments, the rich
might have silk, but the clothing of the hoi
polloi was likely made of hemp or flax.
In the lexicon of textiles,
drap
in French
refers to woollen cloth (cf. the
villes dra-
pantes de Flandre
) and
toile fine
('fine cloth')
refers to flax cloth (linen). In the absence of
'fine', there is little to indicate the nature
of the fibre used in the manufacture of
the cloth.
Hemp was primarily the fibre of cordage,
rather than textiles. But there are many excep-
tions. Northern Italy produced very fine hemp
fabrics from crops grown at maximum density.
Italian 'germplasm' (genetic varieties) later
became the foundation of Hungarian hemp
breeding from which textile-grade hemp devel-
oped. Despite these and other exceptions,
hemp was destined most often for rope, not
tablecloths.
There are many early allusions to hemp,
including that shown in Fig. 2.1, and others
from the papacy and poets.
A pontifical letter dated 14 January 1245
(the reign of Saint Louis), which now resides in
the French National Library,
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deals with the
dark story of the Senechal de Beaucaire, who
was accused of taking merchandise from a
number of Genoese merchants on their way
to Lagny. Responding to these merchants'
entreaties, the Pope wrote to the King of
France, requesting that their goods be
returned. The letter is entitled 'Pontifical letter
on hemp yarn'. Its author goes so far as to
explain what a
bullée
of hemp yarn is: 'a
vulgar piece of string'. This pejorative is
apparently a temporary one (in a rough draft
or the summary of the negotiated settlement),
however, for later letters also speak of
bullées
of silk thread.
As for our poets:
. . . Car il était étroit avec son matelas peu épais
Et couvert d'un gros drap de chanvre Lancelot
tout désarmé gisait . . .
Fig. 2.1.
Hildegarde von Bingen (1098-1179)
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and her confessor. The 12th century Benedictine nun left
us another glimpse of hemp in medieval daily life. As a doctor, she recommended hemp for the dressing
of wounds: 'When the swelling of the dragon (dracaena) appears on the leg, it is to be soaked in a juice of
nettles and covered by a
Chardon de Marie
(leaved stem), before then enveloping it in hemp cloth. The
swelling will not develop further'.
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