Optio asked: “Question if I may please? Does anyone know when scissors (roughly as we know them today) came into common use as opposed to shears (like the springy ones we always see in junk shops), were they in common use in 14-15C?”
We do see scissors and shears used for different tasks in the 14th […]

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The organizing committee for the 2012 Olympics in London introduced their mascots this week — Wenlock and Mandeville, who look like … well, like the mascot for design-by-committee, if you know what I mean.
Wenlock is named for an event that served as a forerunner to the modern Olympics, the Wenlock Olympian Society Annual Games. And […]

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Continuing on from last night’s post about 16th century tents, here’s a selection of images of tents and pavilions from the 15th century.

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Christopher asked, “Would a wall tent be accurate for a 16thC persona? … Karen, is there a page on your site with tent links that I haven’t found?”
Nope, sorry. Sven Skildbiter had a good Geocities page with images of tents broken down by the various centuries in which they were created – but I felt […]

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Jürgen sent over a question:
What’s the correct color to wear when mourning a dead duke in later period Burgundy? Black seems to be popular, but there I found a reference to purple, and red as well…. How do I de-conflict my various sources to a best of breed answer?

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