Time to uphold the hat portion of my mandate! This 2015 post by johankaell begins:
This time we will go slightly of focus for the blog but we just have to put some light on this rather extraordinary well preserved medieval hat.
In 1938 they found an old hat. Its was a ordinary felted hat of 18 cm height and a brim with a 46 cm circumference. The hat emerged when a bog was being diked out. The special conditions of bogs can keep textile, especially wool, in a very good condition for a long time. […] A small piece was cut from the edge of the brim and sent for C14 dating. The test showed that it was from between 1310 and 1440, with a probability peak of around 1400. This makes it one of the best preserved medieval hats in Sweden, Scandinavia and possibly even Europe.
Before we take a look at the hat, lets have a look on where it was found. The north part of the Scandinavian peninsula was at this time not part of any kingdom. Norway claimed some tax rights of the Sami people on the eastern sides. On the Baltic coast Swedish traders, so called birkarlar, where the only ones from Sweden allowed to trade with the Sami, a right they kept for a long time. Traders from Novgorod, the forerunners of the Russian empire, also came from the north to trade. The trade was almost exclusively with furs. Bisshunters (someone that hunts mainly for furs) and furtraders lived and traded here. The trade then moved over Stockholm, as this was a stapletown which all trade in the region had to go through. In Stockholm foreign traders would buy the goods and transport it out to the customers in Europe and the world. The area of Lappvattnet also had trade with the Norwegians, getting English goods from the Norwegian ports. This paints us a picture of a harsh pioneer frontier, but with connections to modern cities and fashion for those of means. The hat probably belonged to either a bisshunter or a furtrader. […]
The hat does not look like a hat most people think of as medieval. But if you imagine it worn a bit different, it suddenly pops out of the sources as not very uncommon at all. Especially around the turn of the century 1300-1400. Most broadbrimmed hats are shown with the brim turned up, sometimes decorated. While most are roundtopped, there are some that have a clear point. Especially Russians in western art are depicted in pointy hats. These hats are somewhat more pointy as a rule, but there are all manners between round and pointy.
The discussion and illustrations are extremely interesting, and as you will have noticed, there are a couple of words in the text that deserve special attention. The “birkarlar” are birkarls, “a small, unofficially organized group that controlled taxation and commerce in central Lappmarken in Sweden from the 13th to the 17th century”: “The name birkarl probably originates from an ancient Scandinavian word birk that has been used in reference to commerce in various contexts.” “Bisshunter” initially baffled me, but some googling got me this thread, which says “bisshunter – hunter of rabbits for fur,” and I eventually found the OED’s 1888 entry for byse (“Origin unknown: possibly French bis dark brown”):
Obsolete.
Some kind of (? brown) fur, much used in the 15th cent. for trimming gowns, etc.
c1280
Silk no sendale nis þer none no bise no no meniuer.
A Sarmun 11 in Early English Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 21407 Furrata cum Bys.
Will of John de Escryck de Selby (P.R.O.: PROB. 11/2) f. 1211422 A gown furred with Besshe.
in F. J. Furnivall, Fifty Earliest English Wills (1882) 501483 A double stole furryd with byse.
W. Caxton, translation of J. de Voragine, Golden Legende 50/31513 Byand byssely..beuir and bice.
G. Douglas in translation of Virgil, Æneid viii. Prologue 57
As for the hat, it’s nothing fancy, but it’s quite handsome; I’d wear one. Thanks, Bonnie!
In 1938 they found an old hat.
1938? That’s old hat by now.
This past Sunday at church we were read the vita of St. Theodoritus or Theodoret, Enlightener of the Lapps (+1571), although now I can’t find an icon online so see if there are any pointy hats.
Reminds me of Snufkin‘s hat, although that is a little more pointy.
update: the German wiki article on the aforementioned St. Theodoret has an interesting vintage manuscript illustration with some exotic headgear visible, but alas it is from the time when the saint took a break from enlightening the Lapps to carry out a diplomatic mission to Constantinople on behalf of the czar. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodoret_von_Kola
The material quoted from the blog post includes:
‘Its was a ordinary felted hat of 18 cm height and a brim with a 46 cm circumference.’
This didn’t quite make sense to me, as it equates to a brim width (= diameter) of just under 15 cm. The photo included with blog post doesn’t have a scale, but did not seem to match the numbers. However, later in the post, the author says:
‘The hat is extremely well preserved. As mentioned above it has a height of 18 cm and is slightly tapered to the top with a flat top. It gives a pointed look. Hat-maker and textile antiquarian Amica Sundström of the state historical museum thinks it was made on a stock, according to the surface of the hat. The brim is 46 cm wide.’
Ah, so the brim is actually 46 cm wide. All is fine.
The word “birk” is an old administrative division (a court circuit). So the term “birkarlar” is just another variation on hlaford.
Love the idea of a hat with a ‘probability peak’
On a whim I decided to look up “hobbit’s hats” on
Do Evil searchGoogle. Most of the hats that turned up were actually Gandalf hats, although a few hobbit hats also turned up (needless to say, they are modern creations inspired by The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings).> Traders from Novgorod, the forerunners of the Russian empire, also came from the north to trade.
Really minor point, but should this be to the north?? I’m looking at a map and as best as I can tell Novgorod in the 14th century was further south than Lappvattnet. Unless Novgorodian traders were coming around the peninsula via the White Sea/Barents Sea?