Henry VII.

The male costumes of Henry VII.’s reign were not brilliant, and Henry himself, on account of his miserly disposition, was very soberly dressed. His conduct in this respect naturally influenced the whole nation, though there were exquisites at this time, as there always will be, who dressed in a very extreme fashion. Strutt says that at the end of the fifteenth century “the dress of the English was exceedingly fantastical and absurd, insomuch that it was even difficult to distinguish one sex from another”; but this referred more particularly to the dress of the nobility and gentry.

The custom of “slashing” came into fashion at this time, and was probably due to the desire to show the rich lining or embroidered shirt underneath. The hood fell into disuse, and broad felt hats or caps and bonnets of velvet and fur with large, drooping plumes became general “among the great and gay.” A square cap peculiar to this period is still shown on the heads of the knaves on our playing cards.

A long gown, which was of varying proportions, girdled at the waist, having wide sleeves, a lining of darker cloth, and open at the upper part to display the inner vest, was a common and a dignified costume. (Pl. 42, Fig. 1.)

Embroidery was restricted to the under garments, the shirts being often decorated on the collars and wrists with needlework. The costumes of private gentlemen were plain and unobtrusive in their character. (Fig. 2.)

The pointed toes of the shoes gave place to very broad ones, termed sabbatons (Figs. 10 and 11), and the hair was worn long and flowing, though the face was still closely shaven, moustaches and beards being worn by soldiers and old men only.

Chausses, which had been generally worn up to this period, began to give place to the separate breeches and hose.

Henry VIII.

The costume of the gentry of the reign of Henry VIII. consisted of a full-skirted and girdled jacket or doublet, with large sleeves at the wrist, over which was worn a short, full coat or cloak with loose, hanging sleeves and a broad collar or cape of fur—a brimmed cap, jewelled and bordered with ostrich feathers—stockings, and square-toed shoes, with ruffles at the wrist. An embroidered stomacher or vest was sometimes worn over the shirt and under the doublet. The skirts of the latter reached sometimes to the knees, but were often made shorter.

On the whole, there were no great innovations of male costume made during the actual reign of Henry VIII., for the same fashions appear to have continued during its whole extent.

Henry passed sumptuary laws regulating the use of the rarer furs, velvets, satins, and damasks to certain classes of society, while the working classes were confined to the use of cloth of a certain price and lamb’s fur only, and were forbidden to wear ornaments of gold, silver, or gilt work. Stockings of silk are generally supposed to have been unknown in England before the middle of the sixteenth century, and Henry VIII. never wore any hose but such as were made of cloth.

The upper portion of the coverings for the legs, called trunk hose, were slashed, puffed, and embroidered, and were fastened by points or laces to the doublet (so called from being made of double stuff with padding between).

They were made of velvets, satins, silks, and golden and silver stuffs. The large sleeves and capes of the various garments were fastened to the body of the dress by means of points or by buttons, and were separate articles of apparel, and often of different colour from the remaining portion of the garment.

The waistcoat was first mentioned in this reign, and was worn under the doublet. Slashed shoes were also worn.

Henry VIII. gave orders for all his attendants and courtiers to wear the hair short, and that, of course, became the fashion for men throughout the land.

The pictures at Hampton Court representing episodes connected with the Field of the Cloth of Gold have been called “general pictorial encyclopÆdias” of the costume of this reign. The portrait of the Earl of Surrey at Hampton Court is a good illustration of the costume of the nobility during Henry’s reign. He is represented in a short doublet, open at the neck down to the waist, displaying an embroidered shirt. Round his waist is a girdle with a dagger in a richly gilt case fastened to it. His jerkin is made very broad at the shoulder (a characteristic of this reign) and wide at the sleeves, which are gathered, puffed, and slashed.

He also wears full trunk hose reaching to the knees, tight stockings, and a small, flat cap with feathers. His hair is cut short in the prevailing fashion.

It is interesting to note that breeches were often spoken of as “sloppes,” and a certain class of clothier’s shop is still known colloquially as a “slop-shop.”

It was the custom at this time for people in the lower and middle classes to bequeath their articles of dress in their wills.

The apprentices of London wore blue cloaks in summer, and in the winter gowns of the same colour. Their breeches and stockings were usually made of white broadcloth. Generally speaking, a person’s station in life was well indicated by his dress.

Edward VI. and Mary I.

During the reign of Edward VI. the earnest desire to settle religious questions introduced through the Reformation, and the persecution and consequent national depression in the reign of Mary, are responsible for the fact that the costumes were not extreme in these reigns, being plain and serviceable, and the rank being generally indicated more by richness of material than by extravagance of style. In this reign was introduced the small, flat bonnet or cap, worn on one side of the head, preserved to this day in the caps of the boys of Christ’s Hospital (which they should wear but do not). Blue coats were the common habits of apprentices and serving men, and yellow stockings were very generally worn at this period. Their whole dress is, in fact, the prevailing costume of the grave citizens of London at the time of the foundation of the school in the reign of Edward VI.

The flat cap was known as “the city flat cap,” common to citizens, and it was also known as “the statute cap” because Elizabeth afterwards ordered that everyone should wear “one cap of wool knit, thickened, and dressed in England,” or be fined 3s. 4d. for each day’s transgression.

The broad-toed shoe was put out of fashion by proclamation in the reign of Mary.

The portrait of John Heywood, a citizen who was held in high esteem by Mary, is a good example of the costume of citizens and merchants of London in her reign. (Fig. 12.)

Elizabeth.

During this reign the change of costume, which had commenced in the reign of Henry VIII., was completed, and was of that fantastic character now known as “the Elizabethan costume.”

Elizabeth, by her strong individuality, would not be content “with the same garments her grandmother affected.” She was fond also of pleasure and display, and the richness of her costume and that of her ladies naturally brought about a corresponding richness in the costume of the men.

Before this time, the English had been largely indebted to foreign influences for their changes in dress, but now their costumes were largely developed in this country, and the many extravagances and the numerous changes caused considerable surprise to Continental nations.

The innovations in dress were as bold as those in literature and the drama, and corresponded to the daring and adventures of her soldiers and sailors in far-off seas.

The trunk hose were of various kinds, “the French hose being round and narrow and gathered into a series of puffs around the thighs. The Gally hose were made large and wide, reaching down to the knees only. The Venetian hose reached beneath the knee to the gartering place of the leg.”

The doublet had a long waist, and both it and the trunk hose were heavily slashed. A short cloak or mantle with a standing collar, a ruff, and a hat with band and feathers, were also worn. At first the doublet was worn tight-fitting, but later in her reign the “peascod-bellied” variety was introduced. It is seen in the body dress of our old friend Punch, “whose wardrobe of Italian origin dates as nearly as possible from this period.”

It fitted the body tightly, and was carried down to a long peak in front, whence it obtained the name “peascod,” and it was stuffed or “bombasted” to the required shape. Trunk hose were stuffed with wool, rags or bran, and were made very large.

Fig. 13 is a good example of the dress of a nobleman of this period.

The hats had high crowns and broad brims. Beards, which had been worn in the reign of Henry VIII., continued in the reign of Elizabeth.

FEMALE COSTUMES.

Henry VII.

The chief article of attire in female costume was the robe, which continued to be short waisted, and was worn with sleeves either of the variety now known as Bishop’s sleeves or wide and confined at intervals from the elbow to the wrist. The waist was small, and the neck was cut square. Stomachers, belts and buckles, or girdles with a long pendant in front were also worn. A warm cloth hood was worn folded back from the face over the head in thick pleats behind, the edges being embroidered (Fig. 1) with gold or coloured threads. Caps and cauls of gold net from beneath which, in the case of unmarried ladies, the hair hung loose down the back, and various other forms of head-dresses were generally in use. The horned head-dress and the steeple cap disappeared, but the most striking novelty for the head was the pediment or pyramidal-shaped hood worn perfectly white. (Fig. 4.) The stiffness of this article is a characteristic feature of the costumes worn by aged ladies, who frequently ended their lives in a convent, or, at any rate, frequently adopted the conventual form of dress in their widowhood. Very numerous examples of this head-dress exist in effigies and brasses, the bands being frequently edged with pearls and ornamented with precious stones. It continued in use for about fifty years.

Henry VIII.

No great changes took place in female costume during this reign, but there were considerable modifications in the forms of head-dresses. We have in existence the portraits (painted by Holbein) of the six wives of this fickle monarch, and they give us a good idea of the fashions of women of high degree during his reign of thirty-eight years.

The new articles worn were the habit-shirt or “partlet” and the waistcoat. The former sometimes had sleeves, and was made of rich materials. The waistcoat was similar to that of the men.

The gowns of noble ladies were magnificent, and were made open to the waist, showing the kirtle or petticoat, and had trains. Ladies’ sleeves were made wide and separate, like those of the men, and could be attached at will to either gown or waistcoat. They were of very rich material, very gorgeous in colour and elaborate in construction.

The dresses of women of the middle classes were sober in this reign. They wore close hoods, and wore partly over their faces a muffle—an article that became very fashionable and remained in use among elderly women until the reign of Charles I. (Fig. 3.)

The coif or cap, familiarly known as the Mary Queen of Scots’ cap, came into use in this reign. (Fig. 12.)

Edward VI. and Mary.

Female costumes were the same as in the previous reign. The ordinary dresses of the commonalty were plain; a hood or cloth cap and apron with close collar and tight sleeves with a small puff at the shoulders were worn. (Fig. 6.)

Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was inordinately fond of dress and display, and from the portraits of her in existence we see very clearly the height of the fashions of her reign.

At the commencement the costumes passed through a transition period. Ladies copied men’s fashions by having doublets and jerkins as the men had, buttoned up at the breast with a small ruff about the neck. The skirts at this time were only padded to a slight extent at the hips.

Unmarried women wore low-necked dresses even out of doors at this time.

About the middle of Elizabeth’s reign the great change took place which gave female costume of the sixteenth century its remarkable character. Elizabeth herself was long waisted and narrow chested, and in this costume the body was imprisoned in whalebone to the hips, while an enormous ruff was worn, rising gradually from the front of the shoulders to nearly the height of the head behind. From the bosom, partly bare, descended the long stomacher on each side of which jutted out horizontally the enormous “fardingale” or farthingale, a construction of hoops similar to the crinoline of more recent times. It projected more at the sides than in front or at the back, and had a dwarfing effect on the height of the figure. (Fig. 10.)

The cap or coif was occasionally exchanged for a round bonnet like that of the men, or the hair was dressed with many curls and adorned with ropes and stars of jewels or feathers. About the middle of her reign, Elizabeth herself wore false hair, and this fashion was taken up by the ladies of her court, so that it was made possible to build the hair up to a great height. As Elizabeth’s hair was yellow it was very fashionable to dye the hair the same colour as the Queen’s.

The ruff, which was so important a feature of the costume of the period, made its appearance in England during Elizabeth’s reign, and it reached its greatest size about 1580 A.D. After the end of the century it began to decrease in size.

Ruffs were now made of lawn and cambric, but originally they had been made of holland. The employment of these lighter materials necessitated the use of starch for stiffening. But as there was no one in England who could starch or stiffen them, the Queen sent to Holland for some women to come over as “starchers of ruffs.” One Dutch woman who came over taught the art of starching at a fee of £4 to £5 for each pupil, and 20s. in addition for teaching them how to make the starch.

One of the writers of the time complains loudly of the practice of starching, saying: “The devil hath learned them to wash and dive their ruffs, which being dry will then stand stiff and inflexible about their necks.”

The starch was made of different colours—white, red, blue, and purple. In order that the enormous ruffs might remain in their original position, they were supported by frameworks of wire called “supportasses,” covered with gold thread, silver, or silk. (Fig. 7.)

In 1579 Elizabeth issued orders that long cloaks should not be worn, “nor such great excessive ruffles.” It was in this reign that William Lee, M.A., a Fellow of St. John’s College, Cambridge, invented a stocking frame, and worked with it at Calverton, a village near Nottingham. There was considerable opposition to him and his machine from the other hosiery manufacturers, and he left this country to take up his abode in Rouen.

Stockings were worn of “silk, jarnsey, cruel, or the finest yarns, thread, or cloth that could be had, and they were of all colours.”

Ladies’ shoes were of many colours and of many fashions. “Some of black velvet, some of white, some of green, and some of yellow; some of Spanish leather, some of English, stitched with silk and embroidered with gold and silver all over the foot.”

When riding abroad, ladies wore masks and visors of velvet with holes for the eyes.

They wore much jewellery, and perfumed gloves embroidered with gold and silver, and they carried looking-glasses about with them wherever they went.

PLATE ARMOUR.

(About 1500 A.D. to about 1600 A.D.)

4th Period, about 1500 A.D. to about 1526 A.D.—Armour had now reached a great pitch of perfection. How perfect it was may be judged from the fact that in many of the battles very few knights were slain.

Their greatest danger lay in being unhorsed and ridden over, and of being slain while lying helpless on the ground. After a battle, the camp followers and servants of the victors flocked about the men-at-arms who had been overthrown, and slew most of them by breaking open the “vizards” of their head-pieces and then cleaving their heads.

At the beginning of the sixteenth century the pointed sollerets gave place to the broad-toed sabbatons (Fig. 1), cut off square or rounded at the toes, following as in former times the fashion of the shoes in civil costume. The breastplate was globular in form and narrow at the waist. A regular skirt of chain mail was added now to the knightly costume, reaching half-way down the thigh below the lowest part of the tuilles.

They were probably found more convenient to horsemen than solid plates of overlapping steel (Fig. 1). Armour generally became more massive, and the enrichment and ornamentation were very elaborate.

During the reign of Henry VIII. the helmets took the form of the head, and had flexible, overlapping plates of steel covering and protecting the neck. They were called Armets, and were worn with and without face-pieces. As in earlier times, we find in pictures of the period a great variety of fashion and great divergence both of arms, and armour brought together in the same troop of warriors. The halberd, first mentioned in the reign of Edward IV., was now a weapon in common use with the infantry (Fig. 5). The hand gun or cannon was also first generally known in England during the reign of Edward IV. It was now improved by the addition of a lock, and was called an arc-a-bousa, corrupted into arquebus, and was familiarised to the English by Henry VII.

5th Period, about 1525 A.D. to about 1600 A.D.—During this period “all the rich and fanciful fertility of invention which distinguished the artists of the sixteenth century was lavished on the enrichment and ornamentation of armour,” while as actual protective covering its value began to decline. It must be remembered that “armour used on the battlefield was much lighter and less complete than that used in the tournament, where protection to the wearer was more considered than his ability to hurt his opponent.” In the Tower of London there is, among others, a suit of armour given to Henry VIII. by the Emperor Maximilian as a wedding present on the occasion of his marriage to Katherine of Arragon, which is considered to be one of the finest in existence. The badges (roses, pomegranates, portcullis, etc.) of Henry and of Katherine, with their initials united by a true-lovers’ knot, are engraved on it, and it is also elaborately ornamented and covered with engravings from the Lives of the Saints.

The greatest innovation in the armour of this period was the introduction of the lamboy (Fig. 7) or outstanding steel skirt, which took the place of taces and tuilles, and covered the body from the waist to the knees in fluted folds ribbed vertically, giving it much the appearance of an inflated petticoat. It was sloped away before and behind to allow the wearer to sit with more ease in the saddle. The pauldrons or shoulder-pieces were made very large, and the shield was also elaborately shaped and curved to form an outer armour for the protection of all the left side of the body. Instead of the shield, however, an additional piece of armour called the grande-garde was sometimes screwed to the breastplate to protect the left side and shoulder, while the great spear had also a piece of armour fixed in front of the grasp, which not only protected the hand, but was large enough to make a kind of shield for the left arm and breast. The tilting helmet disappeared altogether about this period, and the head-piece was adorned with streaming plumes. The armour generally, by its being fluted and laminated and puffed, imitated the costume of the time.

But all over the continent of Europe, as well as in England, leaders of experience were finding out that armour was useless and cumbersome; in fact, it was becoming a questionable kind of protection. It was said that many soldiers at thirty years of age were practically deformed or broken down in health through the habit of constantly wearing armour. Presently the troopers took the matter in their own hands by not commencing to put on their armour until the moment of battle, and then, not having time to arm themselves, they went into battle with their buff leather or padded jackets as their only protection.

In the reign of Elizabeth, when long-waisted doublets and short trunk hose became the fashion, the armour was considerably modified. The cuirass or breastplate was made long waisted, copying the doublet, ridged and brought to a peak in front known as the “peascod.” The front of the thigh was protected by laminated thigh pieces, which passed under the trunk hose, while the lower part of the leg was protected by knee-caps and jambarts or shin-pieces.

Buckled to the rim of the cuirass, and hanging down over the trunk hose, were two large tassets, the most characteristic feature of Elizabethan armour. They consisted of a number of hinged plates fastened to one another; they are usually rounded off at the knees and fastened to the breeches by leather straps.

The pauldrons upon the shoulders were also large, but there were no ridges or guards, and they consisted of several plates riveted together. They were generally lined with leather. The helm was a close Armet, but very frequently the Morion (Fig. 3), which was a variety of the salade, was worn.

The foot soldiers of the period were armed with a breast and back plate, and with tassets reaching to the knees. The swords of the time commonly had guarded or basket hilts. The pike was introduced into this country in the reign of Henry VIII., and became the common weapon for infantry up to the time of William III.

In the reign of Elizabeth, the armour seldom came lower than just below the hip, and complete suits were used only for the tournament.

The brass of Humphrey Brewster illustrates well the armour of the Elizabethan Period described above. (Fig. 10.)

PERPENDICULAR ARCHITECTURE.

The Transition from Decorated to Perpendicular architecture is not so apparent at first sight as between the other styles; but it may be traced quite clearly. The change was seen in the choir and transepts of Gloucester Cathedral before the middle of the fourteenth century.

This Transition begins the decline of Gothic architecture from the perfect and symmetrical Decorated to the style which showed more elaborate and richer work, but was wanting in the elegant effect for which the Decorated Period stands unequalled. The Perpendicular Period is very much the longest in point of time, extending, as it did, over 170 years.

The name is both descriptive and appropriate to the style, and the chief instrument by which this effect is produced is the straight-sided, shallow, sunk panelling. In previous times the panel had been used but sparingly, but now the whole surface, inside and outside, was covered with it. The beautiful flowing tracery of the Decorated Period was supplanted by the mullions, running, as a rule, straight up from the sill to the window top. The spaces between were frequently divided and subdivided by similar perpendicular lines, so that perpendicularity is most distinctly the characteristic of these windows. In fact, by this subdivision the windows became simply an arrangement of panels, pierced to let in the light. As the tendency of the Perpendicular style is to employ the vertical line at the expense of the horizontal, a general squareness spread from the characteristic tracing and panelling to the other features and details.

In the later examples of this period the arches of the windows and doorways became flattened, and the four-centred Tudor arch, so called because it was formed of curves described from four centres (Pl. 45, Fig. 4), began to be extensively used, until all beauty and proportion were lost, and stiffness and squareness became the striking characteristics of this style. The later windows had frequently great width in proportion to their height, and they were placed so near together that the wall space was reduced and the strength of the building entirely depended upon the buttresses.

The windows were originally filled with painted glass, and the panel form of the subdivision lent itself admirably to this decoration.

Square-headed Windows (Pl. 45, Fig. 6) are frequent in this style, and the doorways were generally set in a square frame (Fig. 4), though many of the later doorways are frequently very rich in the decoration over them.

The foliage employed in this style, by reason of its squareness, is much less beautiful than that of the Decorated Period. It has neither the vigour and beauty of the Early English nor the imitative skill of the Decorated. It is angular, shallow, and often wooden in appearance.

An ornament used very extensively during this period was the so-called “Tudor ornament.” (Pl. 45, Fig. 7, and Pl. 46, Fig. 7.) It is founded on the fleur-de-lis alternate with a trefoil or ball, but although poor in invention, has frequently a very rich effect, as in Henry VII.’s chapel at Westminster.

Perpendicular mouldings differ much from those of the preceding styles, and show a marked falling off. They are, in general, shallower, having more breadth and less depth. In arches they are often carried down to the ground without any capitals or columns. In country churches the mouldings are often feeble or coarse and clumsy.

The Capitals of the columns are either circular or octagonal. The bell portion is mostly plain, but is sometimes curved, with foliage of a shallow and formal character, twisted horizontally round it. Particularly in the churches of Devonshire this foliage is found, and it is often spoken of, consequently, as “Devonshire foliage.”

The Buttresses are similar to those of the preceding style, but are frequently panelled and project more from the wall.

Many churches were built in the Perpendicular style, and the majority of early churches were either enlarged or rebuilt during this period, so that it is the prevailing characteristic English style, and there are comparatively few churches which do not display some features belonging to it.

The redeeming features of the Perpendicular style are its towers, its elaborate stone vaultings, and its timbered roofs.

The towers are often extremely rich, and are ornamented very elaborately, having four or five storeys of large windows with rich canopies and pinnacles, double buttresses at the bottom, and rich parapets with crocketed turrets at the corners. One of the most beautiful is that of Magdalen College, Oxford.

Parapets with square battlements become an important feature. They are often panelled or pierced with tracery, which frequently contains shields with armorial bearings and heraldic devices. A very rich form of vaulting was frequently used, composed of inverted, curved semi-cones covered with foliated panel work. When seen from below, these present a fan-like appearance, and the work received the name of “fan-tracery.” (Pl. 46, Fig. 1.) One of the richest examples of it is Henry VII.’s Chapel at Westminster Abbey, where an almost incredible point was reached in the lightness and delicacy of its lace-like stonework.

During the fourteenth century carpentry had been brought to a high pitch of perfection. Timber roofs reached their highest development in what is known as the Hammer-beam roof. (Pl. 46, Figs. 5, 6.)

In this, a bracket called the Hammer-beam (Pl. 46, Fig. 5 H) rests on the top of the wall and projects into the building, to strengthen the latter and to diminish the lateral pressure that falls on the walls. This form of roof lends itself to a highly decorative treatment, the finest example being that of Westminster Hall (in the Houses of Parliament), erected in the reign of Richard II.