Books for 14th century stuff...

[ladyilsebet]

So we got more than one Amazon gift card for Christmas. Figure we should spend at least SOME of that on SCA stuff. While my garb is likely to be all over the place, for the rest of our game, we're settling on 14th century. I already do have a copy of the Medieval Tailors' Assistant, and bought him the big armour book I can't remember the acronym for (TOMAR?) a few years ago. What else should we look at buying that's available on Amazon? Stuff about clothing, woodworking, other material goods is what I have in mind. Cookbooks wouldn't be amiss either

[Harry Marinakis]

Dress in the Middle Ages
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/030008 ... UTF8&psc=1

Archeology of Weapons
http://www.amazon.com/The-Archaeology-W ... =oakeshott

Dress Accessories
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/184383 ... UTF8&psc=1


Eh?

[Cian of Storvik]

Fashion in the Age of the Black Prince.
And
The Peel Affinity
They are both must-haves for 14th century western Europe.

I like most of the Osprey books that are based on the 14th century; English Longbowman 1330-1515, English Medieval Knight 1300-1400, Armies of Crecy and Poitiers, Poitiers 1356, French Armies of the Hundred Years War, German Medieval Armies 1300-1500. <-these are mostly informative about the wars going on and types of soldiers and tactics.

Rather than Amazon, I tend to get books like Osprey off of ABE books (american book exchange) or from people selling here on the Archive.

The Peel Affinity is chock full of living history photographs. They are something to aspire to as a 14th century fan, and a gold mine of images for daily use items, as well as clothing and armor.
-Cian

[losthelm]

I usually cross reference from oxbow books.
janet Arnold is fairly well recognized.
if your looking for details on particular items these titles are useful.
hooked eyes and clasps
purses and pieces
swords and scabbards

[Karen Larsdatter]

• Fashion in the Age of the Black Prince
• From the Museum of London series: Dress Accessories, Textiles and Clothing, and The Medieval Household
• Medieval Garments Reconstructed: Norse Clothing Patterns
• Woven into the Earth: Textile finds in Norse Greenland
• The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century
• The Goodman of Paris (Le Menagier de Paris)
• How about some literature? I like Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris, you might too. Pretty good translation: Famous Women. (Most of the other 14th century lit that I like is online anyway.)
• Interested in cooking? Maybe The Viandier of Taillevent, Pleyn Delit, and/or Curye on Inglysch

[joleicia]

I use the Black Prince and Dress Accesssories ALOT and also recomend them.
If you have used up the Amazon card but want to shop more, you may think to contact THL Evan - he is book merchant in Ealdormere. Not super close to you, but out at many of the major Ealdormere events. He is Graham A Yeates on FB

[jester]

Karen, I've got to dispute the Time Traveler's Guide. I own it, I've read it twice, and I'm reading it again right now. (Sort of, it's my I'm awake with the baby at 3am, still, book.) It's got some errors/generalizations in it that make me question the rest of the material. I would far rather recommend Daily Life in Chaucer's England to someone.

[Caius705]

I really enjoyed "The Last Duel" by Eric Jaeger.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Duel-Sca ... 888&sr=1-1


It's an account of the last judicial duel in France, held in 1386. Interesting to see the social background of the time and gives a good account of armored combat. Seems well documented and reviewed.

[James B.]

• Fashion in the Age of the Black Prince
• From the Museum of London series: Dress Accessories, Textiles and Clothing, and The Medieval Household
• Medieval Garments Reconstructed: Norse Clothing Patterns
• Woven into the Earth: Textile finds in Norse Greenland

Frankly those are must haves for anyone interested in clothing of that era. To it I might add:

[*]Knives and Scabbards If you are intersted in those sort of accessories.
[*]Purses in Pieces For an in depth look at medieval purses
[*]Stepping Through Time many more shoe options

Frankly the Medieval Tailor's Assistant is not a bad book to have if you can make pattern on your own. I modify details for my need but its not a bad place to start:

[*]Medieval Tailor's Assistant: Making Common Garments 1200-1500 many more shoe options


If you have an interest in medieval chests:

[*]Die gotischen Truhen der Luneburger Heidekloster: Entstehung, Konstruktion, Gestaltung. In German but has lots of photos and diagrams of how chests are built. Its hard to find online; I had a German friend order it for me a while back.


The Peel Affinity was mentioned; it was done by La Belle and its a story line centered around a fictional knights household spanning all aspects of life including military service and is full of photos.

I was also a fan of the Last Duel but be aware is a histroical fiction, the facts are based on medieval accounts of the duel but its written as a fictional retelling.

[earnest carruthers]

Barbara Hanawalt's:

The ties that Bound, peasant life in the middle ages - a must have, superbly written and descriptive using coroners' reports amongst other documents to paint a picture of rural life form cradle to the grav.

Growing up in medieval London
Again, a must have, all about childhood to adult life in the city, gems include forced marriages, apprentices duped of their training, one young apprentice was bereft when his master decided to change trade leaving the apprentice without a master.

Barbara Tuchmann - A distant mirror

A cheap copy of 'Styr it well' a late fifteenth century cookbook, printed as a facsimile on the left and modern transcription on the right, excellent for food ideas and medical treatments for humans and hawks, a useful book in itself.

[Hrolfr]

Barbara Hanawalt's The ties that Bound,

^^^^^THIS^^^^^ (we have it, I'll post the ISBN #

I'll ask the better half for more titles

[earnest carruthers]

You lucky man, an amazing resource, I refer to it a lot, same for the growing up in Medieval London.

[EnglishSteel]

On a side note there is a new edition of the Medieval Tailors Assistant coming out soon, so it might be best to hold off for a bit if anyone wants to pick up a copy.


Edit: Soon being Autumn 2014 http://www.sarahthursfield.com/

[Belemrys]

Are there any books specifically for Spanish 14th century stuff?