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I was thinking of the same episodes in Margery Kempe's book and wonder what might be the distinction between the ritual wearing of white as a sign of consecrated virginity and the practice of a nun's ritual "wedding" upon taking final vows. Anyone up on the latter practice? Tom Long At 06:06 PM 6/7/99 -0500, you wrote: >This isn't quite about white *weddings,* but might it be relevant to >remember the kind of emphasis Margery Kempe places on white clothes? In >book 1, chapter 15, for example, she asks the bishop of Lincoln to "give >[her] the mantle and the ring and clothe [her] all in white clothes," and >after some thought he declines to do so, saying that she hasn't yet "proved >herself". The implication seems to be that this kind of garb would be >both distinctive and symbolic of some special claim to holiness or sexual >purity. The notes in Barry Windeatt's translation say that the mantle and >ring were signs that one had actually taken a formal vow of chastity. On >the white clothes themselves, see also the end of ch. 33, where she has >adopted the custom of wearing white clothes and people are complaining that >she doesn't deserve them, and ch. 52, where the Archbishop of York asks her >whether she's a virgin [meaning presumably a consecrated virgin?] since >she's dressed in white. > >Sherry Reames (English Dept., U. Wisconsin, Madison) > > >>Dear Sarah, >> >>In looking at hundreds of depositions in marital litigation from >>15th-century diocese of London (from 1460s to c. 1500), I have never yet >>found a bride wearing white--at least not that I remember off the top of my >>head. There is plenty of evidence of what the woman, the man, and the >>witnesses were wearing when they contracted marriage (the clothes of the >>parties are frequently described, especially their colour, as a >>corroborating detail in the testimony), although in most cases the evidence >>relates to the crucial first exchange of consent rather than the church >>solemnization, which usually occurred later. In that evidence, whether in a >>home or church, women wear many different colours, although rarely (never? >>one hates to say never) white--one gathers that they probably wore their >>best dress, but there was no particular custom in England at that time to >>wear any other particular colour. They wear the usual tawny, russet, blue, >>sometimes green, murrey, etc. (and the men wear the same). I think the lack >>of white simply stems from there being relatively little white >>cloth--although I'm no expert on textiles. The social station of those >>involved in these cases ranges from relatively low to gentry (although >>relatively few of the latter). There *are* references to clothes being >>specifically prepared for the nuptials (i.e. the church solemnization), but >>I don't think off the top of my head I have any specific references to what >>they looked like or what colour they were (preparation of the clothing was >>seen as evidence that someone had the intention to marry, which is why it >>would come into the case). If you're interested, let me know, and I'll look >>out for it when I have time to go through my notes. >> >>I believe, although this is very fuzzy, that the modern western tradition of >>wearing white is a Victorian development. But there I'm happy to be >>contradicted since I'm unsure. >> >>I'd also be very happy to hear about any other evidence regarding wedding >>clothes in the Middle Ages. >> >>Shannon McSheffrey >>History, Concordia U. >>Montreal, QC >> >>----- Original Message ----- >>From: Sarah Salih <[log in to unmask]> >>To: medieval-religion <[log in to unmask]> >>Sent: Monday, June 07, 1999 8:05 AM >>Subject: White Weddings >> >> >>> Dear All, >>> In the final stages of my thesis, I'm trying to sort out all those nagging >>little loopholes which >>> seem to have crept in; though this is not strictly a religious question, I >>wonder if the collective >>> expertise of the list might be able to help out? What I need to know is >>whether it was normal >>> for brides in later medieval England to wear white. I know that white is >>generally associated >>> with purity, brideship etc and so would be appropriate, but not whether >>this translated into >>> actual practice, and I'm a little dubious about this, as a white dress >>would surely be such a >>> heavily symbolic garment that it would be difficult to wear more than >>once - which seems >>> wasteful. I know that Katherine of Aragon wore a white wedding dress, but >>this is late, and >>> high society. Our library here is not well-stocked with histories of >>costume; of those I've >>> found, some say that white has always been the colour of brides, some that >>the custom is >>> c19. So I'd be very grateful for references to a reliable general guide, >>or to medieval brides >>> wearing - or not wearing - white. >>> Sarah Salih >>> >>> >> >> > Thomas L. Long [log in to unmask] http://users.visi.net/~longt %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%