Modern History: A Funny Thing About Medieval Hoods

[Music] it's been a very cold night here in the UK got down to minus 10 which is actually quite unusual even for the winter there's been a deep frost and I took the opportunity to go out and about in late medieval kit including the ubiquitous hood I've learnt a few things by doing that let me explain [Music] this whole ensemble has actually kept me very warm especially when I'm working I've got a woolen cloak that's lined in linen that's over my shoulders I have other layers of walls well carrying my sword and this hood we see hoods in the medieval period in all the illustrations they're basically everywhere from the highest to the lowest status and they are quite an interesting item of clothing obviously people wear hoods these days but what they often don't have is the cape associated with it this woollen cape actually goes over your shoulders and adds another layer to the top of your body I guess it could be a little bit rain proof as well but it's in particular it keeps your body very warm when you don't need the hood up you have it down and that's fine but obviously when you pull the hood up it creates really quite a sort of warm enclosed area so when it's windy you don't really get wind on your face too much the problem with this when you're riding or when you're working is you don't have much peripheral vision so this would be ideal if you were trudging through the house and snow to get somewhere just put your head down and keep going but when you're actually working I've found you have to do something else which is you have to kind of roll the hood back a little bit on your face and we see this in illustrations at the time as well and what that does is it actually makes the hood sit quite close to your face and actually keeps you very warm obviously what your face is out a little bit so the wind can't blow across it so you get a cold nose and stuff but you've got much more peripheral vision but the thing sits quite snugly against you she's quite a warm uncomfortable feeling and I do wonder whether the act of rolling your hood back like this with the beginnings of the origin of another kind of medieval hat it's a bit cold out here to explain so let's go inside and I'll show you something that I find quite intriguing [Music] it's really nice to be out of the out of the blast of the icy wind the walls make a huge difference to how warm you feel especially if you have a fire on and if you're wearing wool and I'm going to talk about another kind of hat in fact it's arguably the same kind of hat but let me explain how it might have evolved so imagine you're in a warm environment and you want to keep your hood with you but it's too hot to wear it you take it off obviously so you take your hood off and then what do you do with it well you can throw it over your shoulder you could tuck it into a belt but what about this what about if you want to be a little crazy and you want to wear it the wrong way around a lot of people it peers in the time continued that's a rolling theme rolling the face as it were of the hood up and then if you put the face of the hood on your head there with me thus creating the beginnings of a new kind of hat the chaperone under this the vane gets modified this becomes incredibly trendy I suppose this becomes an important item of fashion and when it is cut and finished to make it look snazzy and exciting then you an effect from an inside-out hood complete with leary pipe and the bit that your neck would go through turns into this this is in effect exactly the same piece of clothing just slightly modified and worn differently let me show you this is a late 15th century chaperone this was incredibly famous this is a high-status hat this is being custom cuts to look like a better hat but this chaperone is actually a medieval hood worn backwards so if you think about people wearing baseball caps on backwards and you think that's some kind of crazy modern invention well remember 50 century medieval people got their first they created a fashion hat which was in effect a hood turned inside out and worn the wrong way around I find that fascinating human beings don't change do they we think of ways of subverting what's normal and changing things around for fashion you

Channel: Modern History TV

Views: 1,254,273

Rating: 4.943573 out of 5

Keywords: modern history, documentary, history, historical, history documentary, kingsley, jason kingsley, medieval, middle ages, knight, kingsely, jason kingsely, mediaeval, medeval, knihgt, hoods, chaperon, baseball cap, backwards baseball cap, medieval clothes, medieval fashion

Id: _XvEK6d9hEM

Length: 6min 8sec (368 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 07 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/ThatOneNerd14]

This guy's channel is fantastic. He shows how life differs today from someone in the medieval era. Not only that, but his production quality and information is top notch. Definitely recommend watching his stuff.

[u/doctorbooshka]

I ended up stumbling on his food videos after watching J Townsend’s 18th Century Cooking. Seeing how people lived, ate and worked in the past is really fascinating.

[u/McBlemmen]

if those shoulder cover hat combo things ever come back im definitely wearing them . looks so snuggly and comfortable for cold weather and with modern technology they could make them completely rain proof too. man thatd be awesome

[u/TanktopSamurai]

This guys feels like a less angry Lindybeige.

[u/DrShrlmpPuertoRico]

Those are some really intense intros and segways between clips.

[u/nadmaximus]

Now every time I see a guy in a medieval tapestry wearing his hood like this I'll know what a douche they are. This changes everything.

[u/DougLeary]

This weirdly reminds me of how I sometimes wear a pair of lightweight sweatpants as a scarf. I put the crotch behind my neck, with the waist hanging down in back and the legs in front, like when you carry someone on your shoulders. Then flip one leg over my shoulder like a scarf. I call it a pantscarf. This keeps me surprisingly warm for a quick trip outside in cold weather with the dog or to bring in the mail. If medieval people had had sweatpants I bet they would have thought of pantscarves.

[u/Archer1949]

Oh yeah, those hats you see in Van Eyck portraits! I didn’t even think they had a name. Cool.

[u/Inspiredbythelights]

where can i buy a hood like this?