medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
might it also not be simply undyed wool which is sometimes grey and
sometimes brown? and that grey and brown become distinctions later? i don't
mean to imply that medieval people don't make the distinction between brown
and grey, but rather on sheep, and with undyed wool, brown and grey often
merge and blend. so it might be region and what kind of sheep produce the
wool. undyed seems to be the important issue for medieval franscicans.
kit french
At 03:31 PM 2/21/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
>I would agree that the early Franciscans wore undyed wool (which is what the
>habit attributed to St. Francis at Assisi looks like to me. But I would
>demur that today brown is worn by whatever branch the Franciscan belongs to.
>Orders are very proud of their distinctive habits and branches perhaps more
>so (see Erasmus's amusing screed on this issue in The Praise of Folly).
>Conventuals still wear black, Capuchins brown , Observants a darker brown
>and so on and so on.
>jw
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Chris Laning
>Sent: Friday, February 21, 2003 6:27 PM
>To: John Wickstrom
>Subject: Re: Franciscan habit colour - grey or brown
>
>
>medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
>I can't cite sources at the moment, but my understanding is that the
>original habits were supposed to be "ash colored," which could be more
>grayish or more brownish depending on which shades (and in what proportions)
>of the natural colors of wool happened to be in the mix when it was spun and
>woven. St. Clare's mantle, pieces of which were used to patch one of St.
>Francis's cowls, is about halfway between light gray and brown (though of
>course it may have faded with time).
>
>After the split in the 16th century, and perhaps even before, I would
>suspect that depicting Francis in a decidedly gray or brown habit might well
>have spoken of the ideological affinities of the artist or patron :).
>
>I believe also that the Conventuals by this time were wearing black. And of
>course in the present day, brown has become so strongly linked with the
>Franciscans that I believe it's the commonest color now, regardless of which
>branch the wearer is from. (Apologies for off-the-top-of-my-head guesswork;
>I'm at work, my references, such as they are, are at home.)
>
>BTW, if anyone knows of works specifically about the clothing of medieval
>religious orders, I'd love to have citations. Desiree Koslin's PhD
>dissertation (which I have) is about the only one I know of.
>
>____________________________________________________________
>0 Chris Laning
>| <[log in to unmask]>
>+ Davis, California
>____________________________________________________________
>
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