This summer Carlisle Castle has hosted a different royal couple each weekend – and on the 8/9th of August it was our turn :-)We were hired by History’s Maid to provide interpretation as Edward I and Margaret of France.
The period was familiar to us, though not in great details, so it was an excellent opportunity to do some more research and learn more about the social and military aspect of the late 13th and early 14th century- as well as study the lives of the two monarchs in more detail. Here Lucas had a more complex task – at the date we chose to base our visit to Carlisle ( 1307, the second Scottish Campaign) Edward was at the end of a long, rich life – so a lot to learn about! As Margaret was 40 years younger, I had a much simpler task…
It was a very interesting research – and it was great to be able to pass it on to the visitors as well – most of them arrived knowing that Edward, or Longshanks as he was called, is the king who had Mel Gibson, sorry, William Wallace, 🙂 killed – hopefully they left with a bit more knowledge!
As far as the costume bits were concerned, we didn’t have a lot of time to prepare, as the booking came in when I was already booked with commissions till October, but managed to free 2 days for working on our kit.
Lucas already had his fur lined mantle, hose and chemise he uses for earlier periods – but he needed a tunic and a surcoat. As it was hot at the time, we opted for linen in rich midnight blue for the tunic – decorated with bands of gold metallic silk, and a silk for surcoat – with metallic braid used for decoration.
Hair was a bit of an issue – we needed a graying blonde… A wig was bought at a local shop – I trimmed it, styled it and it did the job!
original wig
styling – just before steaming it
result!
A crown was borrowed from the English Heritage staff , the sword came from Black Knight Historical, and the bling from Gemmeus – and voila, we have a king!
and the king in question on his lunch break 🙂
As far as Margaret attire goes, I already had a cloak, chemise, shoes and a dress in wool – but there was just enough time to make a surcoat and a silk dress, and an alternative headgear.
There are very few images of Margaret, so I based the cut on the Codex Manesse garments – and recreated the headdress from one of the statues of her. Margaret wasn’t crowned – but she still wore a crown, and her seal shows her doing just that! – for the original images for both Edward and Margaret, as well as clothing of the era, there is a modes board on pinterest
The hair was interesting – the image shows curls, and probably coiled plaits which were jut becoming fashionable at the time – so it was a hairpieces time for me!
I plaited my own hair, attached plaited extensions, coiled and securely pinned, and then pinned my own meager plaits around them
2 sets of plaits, work in progress…
then I added clip on curls – and pinned them around too.
The barbette and veils were next – and a crown on top. Or the alternative look, based on the original image, a linen headdress with a frill and a veil on top of it…
a medieval selfie
and the other look –
and the whole picture
The weekend passed quickly – we were at the gate doing the meet and greet, and priming the visitors for the royal audience when they could ask us questions. The audiences were inside the castle and they were great fun – lots of questions, followed by some more in depth discussions as there were a few history teachers visiting too – fascinating! The kids learnt about what a person their age could expect in the royal service, what skills and arts they would have been taught and what duties they would have had. Adults inquired about the manners, armour, tactics, food, clothing, day to day life of a royal and their retinue. Battles tactics were discussed, pilgrimages and wars were talked about, languages and marital strives were elaborated on – lots of interesting questions.
The days finished with a Walk with Longshanks – a stroll on the battlements, talking about the castle, the defence mechanisms and the area around. We even had a chance to practice our French as there were quite a few visitors from Canada, France and Belgium 🙂
And at the end of the day we were given leave to take some photos –
It was a bit windy…. 🙂
On the second day we took photos of Gemmeus jewellery and I changed the hair for a wig, to get thea ‘ Codex Manesse’ look 🙂
silk dress with a stylised bridal belt from Gemmeus
In short – the whole event was both enjoyable and educative – the best kind, well worth the long drive there:-) – many thanks to all who made it possible – greatly appreciated:-)
and the credits
A Damsel in This Dress 