The Mummer’s Play by guest author Jenna Jaxon plus an excerpt

by Guest Author Jenna Jaxon

The Mummer’s Play

The Mummer’s Play

The Middle Ages were a time of religious conviction in all facets of daily life. This included the theatre of the period, that was, at least in the early days, unhappy with theatrical performances. Once the Church discovered the teaching ability of theatre, however, they began to use dramatic performances to educate a mostly illiterate populace.

By the Late Medieval period, however, entertainers had strayed from the strictly religious performances, and troupes of entertainers, mummers as they were often called, traveled throughout Europe giving performances in town squares and noble households. These plays were often taken not only from Bible stories, but from legends and tales of heroes. One particular set of plays they undertook were called “guises” because the actors were disguised in often outlandish costumes. One play in particular, “St. George and the Dragon,” was immensely popular. (That is why I included it in Seduction at the Christmas Court.)

The costumes, as I noted above, could be very strange and fantastical. Men dressed as women and in some case animals. St. George traditionally wore “silver armor, helmet, sword and shield with St. George and the Dragon” on it. His adversary, the Turkish Knight, dressed in “red trousers, blue loose jacket, turban, sword, and a shield with crescent.” And the Doctor, the Prince of Quacks, is styled in a “black swallow-tail coat and knee breeches, white waistcoat, perruque [wig], long nose.”

The texts of the plays were mostly rhymes and could include songs and dances.

TURKISH KNIGHT

Here comes I, the Turkish knight

Just come from Turkey-land to fight

I’ll fight thee, St. George-St. George, though man of courage bold,

If thy blood be too hot, I’ll quickly fetch it cold.

TURKISH KNIGHT

Wo ho! my little fellow, thou talkest very bold,

Just like the little Turks, as I have been told;

Therefore, thou Turkish knight,    {Threatening him}

Pull out thy sword, and fight;

Pull out thy purse and pay;

I’ll have satisfaction ere thou goest away.

The major actors/entertainers were the hero (St. George, Robin Hood, or in Scotland Galoshin) and a quack doctor who miraculously brings the slain villains back to life by means of a magic potion. The plays were performed exclusively by men, who played the female roles as well. These entertainers needed to additional skills in entertaining, such as acrobatics, juggling, singing, and mimicry.

Christmas time was a great time for merriment, and the mummer’s play was a fun way to pass the long winter’s evening in rhyme, song, dance, and merriment.

Christmas tidings of comfort, joy, and temptation

BLURB:

Alyse and Geoffrey, Lord and Lady Longford, have journeyed to the glittering Christmas Court of King Edward III in the year 1349 to wait upon the king and take part in some Yuletide merriment. However, when Geoffrey is suddenly called into the king’s service again, Alyse must remain at court, attending the queen and persuading her rebellious sister to accept an unwanted betrothal. When rumors of Geoffrey’s death arise, Alyse fends off an old suitor who wants to renew their friendship. But how long will he take “No” for an answer?

Here is an excerpt from Jenna's book:

“This entertainment will be tedious. I would much rather retire for a good night’s bedding right now,” he whispered, the puff of his breath tickling her ear and sending prickles of excitement down her neck.

She laced their fingers together. “’Twill be finished ‘ere long, my love. Then you can wield your weapon with a vigor yon knights cannot.”

He laughed and drank deeply. “Aye, sweet Alyse. My skill with both weapons outshines any other knight.”

“As you will not want me to be judge of that, I think, I will demur to your claim, although I will test your skills again with the one blade ‘ere the night is done.”

At Geoffrey’s bark of laughter—so loud it turned heads on the dais their way—Alyse settled back to watch the mummers, her cheeks burning, but a pleasant anticipation building within as well.

The mummer playing St. George took the center spot in the Great Hall and began a sing-song rhyme that soon had the court laughing at its nonsense. A stream of knights—played in turn by the other mummers—approached, made their rhyming challenge, and were quickly slain by St. George, whose wielding of his sword became swifter and swifter. He slayed the knights in such short order that by the time he faced the final knight, he did no more than look at the Turkish knight than the man fell down, his toes jingling softly as he landed on the soft rushes covering the floor.

A burst of laughter and applause followed that performance as the quack Doctor shuffled forward, his “magic potion” in a large bottle, gripped in his hand.

Thoroughly engrossed, Alyse laughed and clapped her hands. She held her breath and leaned forward as the Doctor poured the potion down the throats of the slain knights, spoke his own rhyme over them, and one by one, they began to twitch and dance, the rush-strewn floor seeming to come alive as they did. The room resounded with merriment as all seven knights revived.

Loud applause burst out from the courtiers, many of whom threw gold and silver coins onto the floor. Geoffrey tossed a gold florin to the Turkish knight. “For my lady’s pleasure,” he called.

The man nimbly caught the coin and made a deep bow. “Thank you, my lord.”

With a lecherous grin, Geoffrey grasped Alyse’s arm and urged her to rise. “And now allow me to attend to my lady’s pleasure as well.”

Today, Jenna is giving away a copy of one of her backlist Christmas books. Winner may choose which one to receive.

AUTHOR BIO:

Jenna Jaxon is a multi-published author of historical in all time periods because passion is timeless.  She has been reading and writing historical romance since she was a teenager.  A romantic herself, she has always loved a dark side to the genre, a twist, suspense, a surprise.  She tries to incorporate all of these elements into her own stories. She’s a theatre director when she’s not writing and lives in Virginia with her family, including two very vocal cats.

Jenna is a PAN member of Romance Writers of America as well as Vice-President of Chesapeake Romance Writers, her local chapter of RWA. She has three series currently available: The House of Pleasure, set in Georgian England, Handful of Hearts, set in Regency England, and Time Enough to Love, set in medieval England and France.

She currently writes to support her chocolate habit.

Find Jenna Jaxon online:

BLOG:  https://jennajaxon.wordpress.com/

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/Jenna_Jaxon

FACEBOOK:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jenna-Jaxon/146857578723570

AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: https://www.amazon.com/Jenna-Jaxon/e/B005CHPBD2/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

Warming Our Beds through History

In Medieval times, a servant or the woman of the house heated a stone or brick at the fireside, then wrapped it in cloths and carried it quickly to the bed. By the 16th century, people were using pans filled with smoldering embers from the fire itself. The brass or copper warming pan hung by the fire. At bedtime, hot fuel was put inside, and the warmer, carried by its long handle, was rushed to the bed and rubbed between the bed linens.
Some of these warming pans had pierced patterns, and some were elaborately decorated. The piercings allowed oxygen to reach the embers, making the heat last longer, but the bed would smell of fumes and there was always a risk of scorching the linens. Also, in parts of the UK, peat was burned as fuel, which would have made a most unpleasant smell in the bedroom.
In the 19th century, closed warming pans might hold either fuel or hot water. Some of these pans, especially decorative or silver ones, were handed down, generation to generation.
Here is an insight as to the importance of warming pans. It is from Cora Millet-Robinet’s Domestic Economy, 1853.

A copper warming pan is indispensable to a household. Take care to have a big enough quantity of embers, above all some red cinders, when you want to heat a bed. Get it smouldering well before you use it, otherwise the fire will soon go out and the bed will not warm up. You must move the warming pan constantly to avoid scorching the sheets.

Medieval Trade Fairs

The European trade fairs, which thrived in the 12th and 13th centuries, linked the economies of the north with those of the Mediterranean. Especially popular in France, these fairs were held annually, in cities located along ancient land routes, and were governed by an established set of rules known as “merchant laws”.
Textiles, leather, furs, and spices were sold at the fairs, and traders came from all over Europe to display their wares. There were six fairs throughout the year. Each fair lasted six weeks. The schedule, while not firm, generally reserved the first eight days for vendors to set up their sites. The final days, about four, were needed to settle accounts.
From Genoa, it took a month to reach the fair cities. Pack mules crossed the Alps loaded with wares. From Spain, merchants traveled the well-worn pilgrim route from Santiago de Compostela. Well-to-do merchants might hire freight handlers to move the goods to the fair location.
In my October release from Five Star, titled The Tapestry Shop, Catherine visits the Colde Fair in Troyes, where she shops for household goods and visits a fortune teller.
One of the images (above) is of the lower floor of a medieval warehouse in Provins which was rented by merchants during the faire. Goods were stored here, and the displays would have been on the upper floor. In Provins, visitors can see a permanent exhibition (top image) depicting a medieval market.

Constructing a Medieval Castle

Kent Dover Castle--late 11th Century--England

Building a medieval castle was quite a feat. Requiring literally armies of craftsmen, from stone cutters to woodsmen, the project would take many years.
Materials Used in Medieval Castle Construction

In the beginning, castles were constructed out of wood, stone and mortar. The earlier the castle, the more wood was employed. Early castles were built in the motte-and-bailey style. The builders would mound up dirt to create a flat-topped hill. This was edged on the top by a wooden fence called a bailey, and the castle and other outbuildings were housed inside.

Later castles replaced the wooden bailey with a stone wall, and many of the outer buildings were incorporated into the structure of the castle. Wood was used for framing, scaffolding, ceilings and floors, and stone became the material of choice for everything else. Local stone was used for the most part, with decorative pieces being shipped in for special uses. Metals like lead (used for roofing), tin and iron were needed as well.

The construction process for a castle involved a bevy of workers. Some were paid, and some were conscripted to work on the castle.

A variety of laborers and craftsmen were needed, including woodcutters, quarrymen, master masons, ditch diggers, miners, smiths, carpenters and carters.

Major construction was directly dependent on good weather, and most work was only done during the months between April and November. Castles managed to "grow" only by 8 to 10 feet of height per year.

The outer walls of the castle were first made of large timbers, but they rotted quickly and were susceptible to fire. Stone replaced wood as the material of choice for curtain walls, as they were called.

If possible, workers quarried down to the bedrock, and then leveled it off before setting the base row of stones for the wall. If they could not get to the bedrock, they dug large trenches, placed the stones and filled around them with rubble, which was then compressed.
Walls surrounding medieval castles ranged from 30 to 44 feet high and anywhere from 7 to 20 feet thick.

Windows were not built into the lower floors of medieval castles, as they were difficult to defend. Upper levels had window openings with seats built in. At first, they were open, covered only by heavy curtains. As time passed, they built larger windows that were closed with wooden shutters or heavy oiled parchment.

Glass was not used for a long time, and when it finally came into use in the later years of the medieval period, it was so expensive that the window glass was removed when the lord of the castle was not in residence.

Building a medieval castle was no easy feat. It took money, time and the effort of a very large crew of skilled and unskilled workers. It is amazing that so many castles were built in the medieval period when you take all of this into consideration. Those that remain are testaments to the skill and imagination of those who have gone before, and leave us with bit of romantic nostalgia for a time that has long disappeared.

www.lorettacrogersbooks.com Lawmen and Outlaws Anthology now available a bookstores and www.thewildrosepress.com

This is the last 'installment' on medieval garb—well, maybe. Here's a picture of my finished hat that goes with my medieval gown, which I'll be wearing at the Costume Pageant at the Historical Novel Society conference. This year the conference has a terrific lineup of agents and editors. I can't wait to see friends again, ones I made at the very first North American conference in Salt Lake City in 2005, although they're held every year in the UK.
In my June release, Jeanne of Clairmonde, the heroine is making her way, along with a handsome squire she professes to dislike, to the French court in Paris, and I thought of her as I picked out a pattern for gown and hat. I'll post a picture from the conference later, of me in my medieval outfit.
A 2010 release from Five Star is also set in France, and the musician whose story it is has the king's nephew for a patron. I imagine he sees hats much like mine when he performs for royalty.
Next week I'll be blogging about Ancient Rome, because that's what I'm working on right now—edits on another historical novel, one of a trilogy set in the last years of BC. Watch for some good recipes; the Romans were gourmands.

Medieval Underwear

Medievalists know very little about underwear worn in the Middle Ages. What we know about clothing comes from the few extant pieces that have survived the years, carefully preserved in museums with controlled climate and lighting, but with underwear—being what it was—we have little to go by. The Chartres statues, for instance, represent outer garments, so we can only guess, from representations on pottery and drawings, at what was worn beneath. Dating from early Rome, there are representations of women participating in games that show them wearing something that looks much like a bikini, a small lower piece and a binding wrap at the top.
When full skirts came into use, it's doubtful women would lift layers of cloth and then have to untie something to answer nature's call, although something like men's loincloths may have been worn during certain times of the month.
Women wore undergowns, or chemises, beneath their outer gowns. In the picture, this woman has her outer gown tucked into her belt, perhaps to allow a bit of air to pass through her chemise, but this was the furthest she'd go.
Men, in early Middle Ages, wore loincloths like what is shown. Laborers in the field thought nothing of stripping down to their loincloths in hot weather. At other times, the clothes were colorful and part of everyday outer garb, as the picture suggests, and men at sea had no compunction about stripping naked during daytime chores on the ship, unless there were women aboard.
We know more about the hose they wore, as that garment is visible in statues and paintings. Hose were made of two woven pieces of fabric sewn together, usually of wool. Their wool was a soft weave because of the manner in which it was made, nothing like our wool today which would be a bit itchy, at least to this writer. Later, hose (hosen) worn by armored knights were made of sturdier material and called chausses, an item worn beneath the armor.
In the late Middle Ages and Early Modern period, hose became a significant part of everyday outer garb and were frequently colorful and made of fine fabrics.
There are several good reference books on the subject, but be careful to steer away from costume books used for Hollywood productions. Some are not true to the period, but look better on screen. A good little overall guide, one I have on my reference shelf and which gives a good idea of the construction of medieval clothing, is Medieval Costume in England and France: the 13th, 14th, and 15th Centuries, by Mary G. Houston. At least it's a place to start your research on this fascinating subject.

Costume Saga

Continuing with the Medieval Costume Saga, so now I had my muslin pattern for my tunic. It fit, and I made sure the neck opening was large enough for my head, which was a concern. There were no zippers in medieval times, of course, just laces, and I knew I didn't want to deal with laces and hand-made buttonholes, so had to make sure I could pull the garment over my head.
Now it was time to buy the material. SCA members, for the most part, are a knowledgeable bunch when it comes to their garb, and I wanted to be able to wear this to SCA events too. I knew by now what color dyes were used, and that colors were limited. Another caveat: I couldn't wear purple (reserved for royalty) and I didn't want white (soils too easily). I called around town, and found no one had any linen. (Synthetics, by the way, are of course not period). Even JoAnn Fabrics had no linen. I looked on ebay, and Voila! I could get five yards (more than enough) of moss green, which was a good color. I bid, and won, so for less than $20 I got some lovely linen.
The next day, I laid it out on my cutting table (actually the bar counter in my kitchen) and used my Black & Decker cutters (a Christmas gift which I love) to cut out my tunic. After cutting it out, I decided it needed some glitz and glitter. Green linen can look awfully drab.
I went back to ebay, and this time got a scrap of copper-toned linen for neckline and sleeve trim. Halfway through the sewing, I knew I wanted something else, some kind of dressy trim on the copper linen. All the patterns showed trim, and I found some that was green and copper. I sewed it on, and then decided I wanted a few sparkles. The Costume Pageant at the Historical Novel Society conference is at night, after all, so I decided on some teensy Swarovski sew-on crystals.
Except for whipping down the collar and cuffs, and hemming the floor-length tunic, I'm finished. My hat, though, is the most fun—and another story altogether. To read about the HNS conference in June, go to http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org/.

Medieval Exercises

If you thought obsession with exercise began in the late 20th century, think again. In the 1300s, Johannes de Mirfeld wrote a treatise, recommending, along with walking and riding, the following routines to strengthen the body:

(1) Keep a “stout rope” hanging in your chamber. Grasp the rope with both hands, raise yourself up , and remain in that position for as long as possible without touching the ground.
(2) Hold a 30 pound stone in your hands and carry it frequently “from one part of [your] dwelling to another.”
(3) Using the same stone, hold it in the air over your head for as long as possible, until your arms begin to tire. Also lift the stone to your shoulders and hold again until you tire.
(4) Hold a staff in your hand and let another fellow try to pull it away from you.
(5) Hold a penny in your hand, and let someone attempt to pry it out of your fingers.

Think these exercises would work today? A rope, a stone, a staff (or broomstick) and a penny would certainly save a lot of money at the gym!

Adding a Touch of Suspense by Slipping Some Poison in the Cup

This blog was originally posted on my research blog, Medieval Research with Joyce, and hence deals with medieval poisons. Deadly Doses (or Howdunit: Book of Poisons) can also be used for other historical time periods, as well.

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Want to up the suspense of your medieval novel or short story? There’s nothing like a drop or two of poison in a character’s wine to make a reader sit up and take notice.
But where do we go to find information about medieval poisons?

An excellent starting point is Deadly Doses: A Writer’s Guide to Poisons, by Serita Deborah Stevens with Anne Klarner. Deadly Doses is part of the Howdunit Series published by Writers Digest Books.

Now, this book is not strictly about “medieval” poisons, so you must do a little searching to find an appropriate poison for your time period. But of the eleven chapters, several can be quickly eliminated from your search: “Houshold Poisons”, “Medical Poisons”, “Pesticides”, “Industrial Poisons”, and “Street Drugs” all belong to a more modern age.

That leaves “Poisonous Plants”, “Fragile Fungi”, and “Snakes, Spiders, and Other Living Things” as topics to explore if your focus is the Middle Ages.

For my novel, Loyalty’s Web, I found myself leaning towards some use of a poisonous plant. After a short chapter introduction, the chapter breaks down into the following poison subsections: “Quickly Fatal”; “Mistaken for Edible or Eaten by Mistake”; “Edible in Small Quantities, Certain Parts Edible, or Edible Certain Times of the Year”; “Flowering Plants”; and “Miscellaneous Plant Poisons”.

Each of these subsections is further broken down in the following super-sub categories:

“Name”, “Toxicity”, “Location”, “Deadly Parts”, “Effects and Symptoms”, “Reaction Time”, “Antidotes and Treatments”, and “Notes”.

The first thing I did was take a red pencil and mark the name of each plant under the “Location” category, that was listed as “native to Europe, Britain or England” or that may have been brought there by the Romans. The important thing is to be sure that whatever poison you choose was actually available to the people of the Middle Ages in the area of Europe that you are writing about.

Once you’ve whittled the possibilities down with a red pencil or other highlighter, you can focus your research on the additional information for each of the poisons you’ve marked, and gradually come to a decision about which poison will best serve the plot of your story.

Since I wanted to keep my readers guessing a bit about the poison angle at the beginning, I decided to go with a plant that could be “Mistaken for Edible or Eaten by Mistake”. I eventually settled on water hemlock, also known as cowbane. Although the “Location” information seemed to place water hemlock mostly in North America, a note in the first chapter to Deadly Doses, “A Short History of the Dreaded Art”, informed me that : “Water hemlock, foxglove, henbane, and the prussic acid of the almond tree were all found in the Parisian woods and meadows.” (Deadly Doses, p 6) This told me that the plant I wanted also grew in France (the location of Loyalty’s Web). It also taught me that it can be well worth your while to read “generalized” chapters about the background of your subject, before moving on to seemingly more pertinent “specialized” chapters. Valuable tips and facts are often “hidden” in Introductions and the like.

Once I’d settled on water hemlock, which I referred to by its nickname, cowbane, throughout my novel, I went on to glean the following information from its entry:

It had a toxicity level of 6, placing it in the “supertoxic” category, meaning that only a very, very small amount of the poison would cause death. I also learned that younger plants, growing in the springtime, are more poisonous, which again fit with the springtime setting of my novel.

Under “Deadly Parts”, I learned that although the entire plant is poisonous, most of the poison is contained in the roots and rootstock. So when I finally had a character uncover the “source” of the poison, I had her discover a portion of cowbane root that someone in the castle had been hiding. (Don’t want to give too much away here by telling you who!) The poison was also dissoluble in alcohol, which made it perfect for adding a few drops to a cup of wine.

Although it never went that far in my novel, if my hero had actually drunk his tainted cup of wine, this would have been the effect: “Restlessness and feelings of anxiety, pain in the stomach, nausea, violent vomiting, diarrhea, dilated pupils, labored breathing, sometimes frothing at the mouth, weak and rapid pulse, and violent convulsions terminated by death. Respiratory failure is the cause of death.” (Deadly Doses, p 61)

Death would occur between 20 minutes to an hour. (Given the process leading up to death, I think I’d rather go fast, than slow!)

There are antidotes and treatments, but most of them belong to a more modern age, and if the source of the poison had been concealed in something like wine, one would not have known what sort of antidote to try in the first place. Besides which, given the potentially fast-acting nature of the poison, a character would have to be very self-possessed, knoweldgable, and/or experienced to gather one’s wits quickly enough to act in time to save the victim.

This is just a single example of the kinds of valuable, detailed information available in Deadly Doses. As a starting point for authors of mystery, suspense, or who just like to throw in a bit of “surprise” to keep their readers guessing, I highly recommend Deadly Doses, by Serita Deborah Stevens and Anne Klarner.

Note: Deadly Doses is widely available in Used Books on Amazon.com. Writer’s Digest Books lists the title Howdunit: Book Of Poisons, by Serita Stevens and Anne Louise Bannon, which may well be the same as Deadly Doses with a new name, but not having a copy of my own, I can’t vouch for that. The description sounds very similar, and since my copy of Deadly Doses is 298 pages, and Book of Poisons lists at 368 pages, I’m guessing that Book of Poisons may merely be an updated version of Deadly Doses, with a new title. If so, this is definitely a book you will want to consider including in your library!

How to Visit a Castle Without Ever Leaving Your Living Room

I once attended a writing class where the instructor, a successful writer of medieval romances who was sharing her medieval research methods with us, ended the class by informing us all that she would soon be returning to England to research her next novel, because she “finds it difficult to write about things she hasn’t actually seen for herself”…such as castles.

There I sat, thinking to myself, “Hmm, does that mean I can’t write about the Middle Ages unless I go to England and ‘see for myself’?” A thought immediately followed by the dour recognition that a trip to England was in no way compatible with my current budget, or likely to become compatible anytime in the near future. (Much though I still dream of visiting England and its castles “someday”.)

I, too, am a very visually oriented person. It’s difficult for me to describe something I haven’t actually seen, hence my fondness for “picture books”, such as books on medieval clothing or even children's books on the Middle Ages. Once I have seen a picture or image, I can then store that in my imagination to use as a point of reference when studying more detailed, less visual texts.

For those of us who write about castle-dwelling characters, but who have never had the opportunity (and no immediate prospect) of seeing even so much as the ruins of a medieval castle in “real life”, how do we begin to imagine, much less transport our readers, back to this far-distant environment?

Modern technology is…well…marvelous. And thanks to a History Channel DVD called Modern Marvels: Castles & Dungeons, those of us with limited budgets can now enjoy a striking tour of medieval castles from the comfort of our own homes.

I remember reading for years about the “motte and bailey” model on which the earliest castles in England were built. And I remember straining for years and years to try to imagine exactly what these books were talking about. I didn’t want to “guess” at what a motte and bailey castle looked like. I wanted to know. Castles & Dungeons took away all my guesswork by showing me exactly how closely my imagination had and hadn’t matched “the facts”.

In addition to learning how castles were built, first of wood and later of stone, this DVD gives the viewer an up close and personal look at such castle features as: crennelation, glass windows, loop holes and arrow slits, the portcullis, murder holes, the oubliette, the great hall, and castle kitchens. The visuals and narration are so well done, that one comes away feeling reassured that an actual trip to England isn’t an absolute requirement for writing medieval fiction with some degree of authenticity and confidence.

Modern Marvels: Castles & Dungeons is currently only available from the History Channel, but you can get a copy by clicking on this link: http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=72080

Real Men Wear Lace

Can you imagine a modern-day hero wearing lace? It conjures images of Liberace and cross-dressers. But until the twentieth century, lace was a sign of wealth. And wealth meant money. Freedom. Power. Security. Lace was not feminine or foppish. Let’s face, it, until very recent times, women had few choices; marriage or abject poverty. And for a woman who couldn’t go get a job to take care of herself, finding a husband who could care for her – and her future children – in comfort, was vital. If a man wore lace, it announced his wealth, which was attractive to women, and to the fathers of maidens looking for a husband. A wealthy man could afford to feed, house, and clothe his wife in comfort. He owned vast lands, had tenants, and in later times he also had investments. Today we call those guys filthy rich.

Unlike today, no one trimmed their undergarments in lace because it would not be seen, which was pointless because lace was a way of announcing status and money. In the late Georgian era, shirts were trimmed in lace because the cuffs peeked out from under the coat sleeves. But before that, and then in the latter part of the Regency era, lace on shirt sleeves disappeared when they stopped showing underneath the coats.

Men’s coats were also ornate, trimmed in lace and made out of brocade and often with gold threads creating intricate designs. The buttons were another sign of wealth. Even shoe buckles revealed money; only the poor used shoe laces.

So if you wonder through a time gate and find yourself centuries in the past, run for the nearest lace-trimmed man and hope he feeds you!