2. THE MIDDLE AGE CLOTHING
Most people in the Middle Ages wore woolen clothing, with undergarments made
of linen. Brighter colors, better materials, and a longer jacket length were
usually signs of greater wealth.
3. The clothing of the aristocracy and wealthy merchants tended to be elaborate
and changed according to the dictates of fashion. Towards the end of the
Middle Ages, men of the wealthy classes sported hose and a jacket, often
with pleating or skirting, or a tunic with a surcoat. Women wore flowing gowns
and elaborate headwear, ranging from headdresses shaped like hearts or
butterflies to tall steeple caps and Italian turbans.
4. Most of the holy orders wore long woolen habits in emulation of Roman clothing.
One could tell the order by the color of the habit: the Benedictines wore
black; the Cistercians, undyed wool or white. St. Benedict stated that a
monk's clothes should be plain but comfortable and they were allowed to
wear linen coifs to keep their heads warm. The Poor Clare Sisters, an order
of Franciscan nuns, had to petition the Pope in order to be permitted to wear
woolen socks.
5. IN OUR TOWN THE
CALENDIMAGGIO FESTIVAL IS
AN ANNUAL EVENT WHICH
RECALLS THE MEDIEVAL
COSTUMES, FESTIVITIES AND
CONTEST.
6. The Calendimaggio :
the Ides of May Festivity
The Calendimaggio celebrations in Assisi trace their roots back to very ancient
customs of celebrating spring that were used by civilisations even outside the
Italian peninsula. These traditions were later transformed into celebrations of the
goddesses Maia and Flora by the Romans, and later still into the Kalende di
Maggio celebrations during the Middle Ages. Groups of young gaudentes sing,
dance and serenade their way through the city's streets and squares as a means
of celebrating the return of spring.
In Assisi the festivities are also linked to the centuries-old rivalry between the
"Parte de Sotto" and the "Parte de Sopra" areas of the city. In 1300 the two
factions, led respectively by the Fiumi and the Nepis families, engaged in a long
and bloody struggle for supremacy that lasted for over two centuries.
On the last evening of the festivities the "Palio" is awarded in the neautral ground
of Piazza del Comune by a jury made up of historians, directors and
musicologists. The jury decides which of the two "Parti" has best interpreted the
celebrations of the return of spring.
