Medieval Linen Veil

Description of the Product

This piece of cloth is made of linen fabric and features rolled hems. It can be tied as a so-called wimple or as a headscarf for medieval reenactment, but is also versatile in modern everyday life. It can be worn as a stylish hair band or a turban.

In the Middle Ages, married women were expected to wear a headdress (hence the German expression unter die Haube kommen, which literally translates to "coming under the bonnet" and is still a common idiom today for "getting married"). In medieval times, there were many different ways for women to cover their heads, for example with a plain or frilled/goffered veil (with or without gorget around the neck), a bonnet, a coif, a barbette and fillet, a schapel (a decorated, crown-like hoop/wreath often worn in combination with a veil), or a wimple.

There were various methods to tie a wimple, but it was generally bound around the forehead, the chin and the back of the head and always concealed the hair. Historical illustrations of wimples can for example be found in the Weltchronik - Der Stricker - Karl der Große , an illuminated parchment manuscript from around 1300, or in the Morgan Bible (also known as the Maciejowski Bible or Crusader Bible), a picture bible from the 13th century.

Linen textiles are one of the oldest fabrics mankind has used, maybe the oldest. Linen is textile made from flax plant. Wild flax was made into textiles already 36 000 years ago in Europe and the plant was domesticated and extensively grown and used in ancient Mesopotamia.  Linen was the most widely used fabric also in ancient Egypt. The use and cultivation of flax moved northward in Europe and linen clothing was available throughout Europe all the way to the cold north by late Bronze Age. Flax was grown locally in Scandinavia during the Viking Age and linen was an important commercial good. During the Middle Ages Germany was the main hub for growing flax and fabricating linen in almost an industrial scale.

This linen veil is thin and soft to the touch, and it drapes beautifully, but is still durable and breaths very well. Linen is naturally absorbent and dries faster than cotton. Baltic linen is grown in the Baltic and Nordic countries where long cold winters around the Baltic Sea make this plant and its fibers strong and durable. Properties that our ancestors appreciated.

These veils come in two variations, a smaller oval veil or a slightly larger semicircular veil. They can both be used by themselves, or combined with a St. Birgitta's Cap worn underneath (available -here-), as shown on the video below. The rectangular veil worn as a gorget on the video and in some pictures is available -here-. The veils can be attached with brass veil pins, available -here-.

• Made of 100% Baltic linen
• Can be used by itself, or together with a cap and other veils
• Available in two sizes
• Size of the oval veil is c.  78 cm x 66 cm
• Size of the semicircle veil is c. 90 cm along the straight edge, and 70 cm from top to bottom
• Made by: Karhunhammas - Beartooth