Name That Segue

8/14/2019 Name That Segue

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/name-that-segue 1/3

Name that segue

Alex Conradie

Barbara Tuchman's historic account

of the calamitous 14th century, Adistant mirror , is a jewel within the

popular history genre. She describesin vivid detail, a world wherechivalry reigned supreme and courtlylove flourished against the backdropof enormous socio-economicupheavals like the Bubonic Plaque.Within an hour's drive from our home in Teesside, lie remnants of this world in Richmond & BarnardCastle. Walking through the ruins of great halls like Scolland Hall, one istransported to Tuchman's world where magic was believed omnipresent, superstitions gripped

both nobles & peasants alike and alchemy was the most popular applied science.

Tuchman's work particularly delves into thechaotic course of the Bubonic Plaque in WesternEurope, when Death's scythe swung wide killingarcs. The pale horsemen of St. John's apocalypticvision probably entered Yorkshire through the portof Hull in May 1349, the pestilence peaking inJune - August. A third of the known world died

between 1347-1350; but the death toll may have been even greater in Northern England. Today,naturally occurring infections of Yersinia Pestis arelittle more than an annoyance that may be treatedwith antibiotics and prevented via emergingvaccines. The world has certainly changed.

Built soon after the Norman conquest in the late11th century, the defensive positions of Richmondcastle & Barnard castle stimulated the growth of market towns on the lower slopes outside the castlewalls.



Medieval economic hubs were thus born that pandered to the needs of nobles like Alan de Ponthievre whofounded Richmond castle. As wewandered Barnard castle's inner keep, Anje commented on the cult of celebrity that must haveaccompanied the feudal socialstructure.

Indeed during the late Middle Ages,magnificence in clothing wasconsidered a prerogative of thenobles, who should be identifiable bymodes of dress forbidden to others.

Non-clerical men had abandoned the

gown in favour of divided legs cladin tights. Knights & courtiers hadadopted a fashion of excessively long

pointed shoes, often tied up aroundthe calf to enable any semblance of anormal gait. According to onechronicler, certain short tunic stylesrevealed the buttocks and "other

parts of the body that should behidden"; exciting the mockery of thecommon people. Noble women worecosmetics, dyed their hair, broadenedtheir foreheads and plucked their eyebrows.

Nothing was more resented by the nobles thanthe imitation of their clothing and manners byupstarts - peasants were required to wear black or

brown. Servants who imitated the long pointedshoes and hanging sleeves of their betters werefrowned upon. Henry Knighton wrote: "Therewas such pride amongst the common people invying with one another in dress & ornaments thatit was scarcely possible to distinguish the poor from the rich, the servant from the master, or a

priest from other men."

Eventually, sumptuary laws were passed toregulate dress and spending. Economic thinkingdid not embrace the idea of spending as astimulus to the economy. Exact gradation of fabric, colour, fur trimming, ornaments and

jewels were set forward for every rank andincome level.



Though foolish & unenforceable, as all illconceived forms of social engineering should

be, the driving force towards adornmentdefied prohibition.

I remember several years ago walking thestreets of Manhattan, peering into thedesigner shop windows; wondering, in thewords of Stephen Frears' Marquise deMerteuil, when we will finally accept thatvanity and happiness are quite incompatible.How far off can the death of demand truly

be? Then; the thousands of pounds spent onthe fashions of Stella McCartney & othersremind me of the wisdom of BarbaraTuchman thesis: "For man is ever the sameand nothing is lost out of nature, though

everything is altered".

Documents

Name That Segue