ITEMS OF CLOTHING

UNDERWEAR

THE CHEMISE

BREASTCOVERINGS

UNDERPANTS

HOSE & GARTERS

Women's Underpants
A question of underpants, trewes, clouts or braes

It seems to be generally accepted that medieval women did not wear drawers. To women of childbaring ages, this would certainly not be an appealing thought, especially when considering certain times of the month.

Underpants for medieval women aren't recorded or written about greatly, although Ian Mortimer's book, A Time Traveler's Guide to the 14th Century mentions aristocratic women's clouts as a form of linen braes for women to wear when nature forces her to do so. In household rolls and in warderobe records they are not listed specifically, except in one instance which is within the ordinances issued to tailors concerning the value of the clothing which could be charged for a particular garment.

In the book Fashion in the Age of the Black Prince, Stella Mary Newton asserts that this 1350 ordinance mentions the cost of a chemise as no more than 8 deniers and for the robbes-linges (which were presumably linen underpants) the price was to be the usual one for masculine ones of the same style. This certainly seems to indicate that women may have worn underpants of a similar style to men.

Existing garments
Until 2008, no existing garment which may be considered underpants for women had been found. In July 2008 investigations for re-construction were carried out at the Castle Lengberg in Nikolsdorf, East Tyrol, Austria. A vaulted spandrel was discovered in the south wing which was filled with backfill- possibly to level the floor when a further level was added..The fill was stored for subsequent sorting at a later date. When examined, it was revealed that the fill consisted of layers of dry material, among them organic material- twigs and straw, but also worked wood, leather (mainly shoes) and textiles.

Among the finds were a pair of linen underpants, shown at right, idendical to those shown being worn by men in illustrations in many artworks. Beatrix Nutz was part of the archaeological team who investigated the textile fragments, and wrote of her findings supporting the dating of the underpants to approximately 1480:

On the contrary – a closer examination of the pieces in question showed that no textile techniques were used in their construction that would not fit to the time period. All applied techniques were common during the 15th century and none of them developed later. Besides - all other textiles from this find, like fragments of dresses, shirts, trousers, laces etc., fit well to the 15th century.

The question of whether the underpants found were worn by a man or a woman is inconclusive, although it is interesting to note that the underpants were found along with items of breast support which we would call bras and corsolettes today and are layered through the gusset like modern panties, indicating they may have belonged to a woman. I personally feel that after extensive wear, underpants which belonged to a man would show signs of sagging at the front to accommodate male anatomy, which these do not. Of course, this is an observation based on an image and not closer inspection of the actual garment, which might prove otherwise. Regardless of this, it is of great interest to note the rather modern but practical design of the garment.

Underpants in household rolls
Perhaps there is no mention of women's underwear in household accounts because most of the records and rolls were written by male stewards who did not bother with such trifling and unimportant items. Perhaps the items were of very little value and were not recorded for this reason. Perhaps it was not an area any man wished to enquire about. It was then, as it was during the following centuries, private and "unmentionable".

It is also possible that ladies' underpants do not rate a mention because they were actually not worn at all and that in images like the 1475 painting by Boccaccio, at left, and that underwear was painted in for modesty's sake.

It does not seem that extra modesty was required in the fresco The Fountain of Youth painted from 1411 to 1416 by di Manta where the woman in question was already covered by a fine chemise. A closer examination shows a whitening where her underpants seem to be although no corresponding whiteness at her breasts. In a time period when sunbaking and tan lines were not known, it seems unlikely that the whitening at her groin is merely her white bottom. Detail shown at right.

As a woman, I find this insistence at the lack of underpants to be a little perplexing. What of the menses? It is certain that women menstruated and it follows that some method of dealing with the same was employed. Many times I have been asked, usually in hushed tones and in a private place, about underwear at this time of the month. Although I have repeatedly read that women wore nothing, I believe that in this day and age, if women feel the necessity to speak privately on this matter, they would probably have been less inclined to discuss it with any kind of record-keeper in the middle ages. Some kind of underpants must have been worn, at least during some times of the month.

Undergarments and horseriding
It is also known that many women rode horses although usually on a saddle with a kind of foot platform which permitted genteel, well-bred women to ride sidesaddle. The Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal, written circa 1226 and referencing an event in the in1140’s tells us:

While fleeing enemies, Empress Matilda was riding ‘cumme femme fait, en seant’ as ‘women do, sidesaddle.’ Her Marshal told her she would have to part her legs and ride astride because they needed to get a move on. ‘Les jambes vos covient desjoindre e metre par en son 'l’arcum.’

This shows us that although it was the norm for a woman to ride with her legs at the side, it was not unknown for a woman to ride astride when required. In contrast to this, some women, like Margaret Paston regularly rode in her travels and according to Frances and Joseph Gies book, Women of the Middle Ages. They write that she probably rode astride 'as women had always done' rather than side saddle which was just coming into vogue in the early 15th century.' It appears that this was not considered unusual or shocking for a business woman who was in need to travel quickly to ride this way.

As any horsewoman would be well-aware, to ride astride vigorously with no underwear for protection of any kind would be unlikely for all but the shortest periods. It is possible that for short journeys where the rider does little more than walk, protection other than the voluminous folds of gown were sufficient for a woman's delicate nether regions. The image at left is from the Manesse Codex, a 13th century German manuscript, and shows a woman who appears by the position of her singular knee, to be riding astride.

In Mistress, Maids and Men by Margaret Labarge, we learn that the Countess of Leicester seemed to have an undergarment of fine leather. The skins were delivered to her tailor, Hique, who also purchased 3 ells of canvas for the same purpose. The Latin word used in the original household roll is cruralia which suggests some kind of shin coverings. It is known that the Countess rode astride often and it is suggested by Margaret that these items were used to make some kind of riding-breeches to protect her legs and underneath.

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