Quilts and coverlets in OF texts

The South Carolina Modern Language Review
Volume 11, Number 1
Quilts, Coverlets, and Customs as Depicted in Medieval French Texts
By Robin A. Holman
College of Charleston
Returning Crusaders, impressed by the sturdiness and protective quality of the
quilted shirts worn by the Saracens in addition to chain mail, are believed to have
introduced quilting to Europe. European and English accounts suggest that quilted
fabrics for military wear1 were more common than quilts used for domestic purposes
during the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, although according to Averil Colby
in his book Quilting, “it is improbable that domestic quilting played as small a part in the
textiles of the Early Middle Ages as written evidence suggests” (8). Few quilts have
survived over the centuries as fabric is a fragile substance sensitive to many sorts of
damage, and most of what we do know about early European quilting comes from
artwork and written descriptions. The scarcity of information regarding early domestic
quilts is noted in the introduction to Janine Janniere’s 1994 article in The Quilt Journal,
“Filling in Quilt History: A 16th-Century French Patchwork Banner.” The editor states
that “we have practically no data on (early) quilts, quilting or patchwork in Europe” (10).
An early reference regularly cited by scholars is the patchwork quilt in the twelfth
century poem Désiré. This study will present additional examples gleaned from Old
French literary and non-literary texts, which when taken in their entirety, will add to the
body of quilt and needlework knowledge. The depiction of the quilt’s quality, value,
appearance and construction, and prevalence, or availability, will be given particular
attention. In order to explore the cultural context, practices associated with the usage of
quilts and coverlets, both in everyday life and in the mystical fairy world of the Old
French lays and romances, will also be examined. “We may assume that even in works
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of fiction authors drew inspiration from their own experiences,” as Janniere aptly points
out (1). To facilitate the reader’s recognition of the Old French terms used to designate
quilts and coverlets, some brief etymological information precedes the textual
examination.
References to domestic quilts and coverlets began to appear in Old French lays
and romances during the twelfth century. The Latin word of unknown origin, CULCITA,
meaning mattress, cushion, or stuffed sack, after undergoing several phonetic
transformations resulted in Old French coilte, cuilte, and other variants such as cueute,
queute, couste, coute, coulte. Related compounds like coute-pointe, Modern French
“courtepointe,” and English “counterpane,” an embroidered quilt or bedspread, are based
on coute, or possibly the adjective courte, plus pointe, the past participle of the verb
poindre, an old word for percer, “to pierce with a needle-point.” The word cuilte,
although continued in English, began to fall out of common usage in France after the
fifteenth century. It has survived in Modern French under the form couette, designating a
down comforter encased in a slip cover which replaces a top sheet and blanket (Robert
510).2
The word quilt first designated a thin mattress, an item on which to lie. Later, the
quilt was used as an outer bed covering. A quilt was typically made of three layers.
Cloth or stuffing of wool or down was encased by two exterior pieces of woven material
and the layers were held together by hand-sewn stitches. The way quilts were assembled
and used reflected their importance and value. Some quilts were highly prized, luxurious
items, others were merely functional household objects, and yet others were associated
with frugality and poverty.
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Colby brings out some of out these ranges when he states: “(Quilting) work of the
Middle Ages was notable for its richness and lavish use of gold thread, although
generally this was ecclesiastical in purpose, it was not wholly confined to work for the
churches . . . some quilts were of a more humdrum quality and looked upon as essential
bed furnishings” (19).
In the Old French lays and romances the quilt is usually portrayed as being a
costly textile, often constructed of imported fabrics, such as silk or brocade. For
example, in the romance of Le Chevalier à l’épée, the well-adorned bed made available
to Gauvain and his bed-partner was fitted with rich quilts and white linens. Silk cloth
from “overseas,” Sicily and Romania, embellished the entire chamber.
Et li liz ert bel atorné
De riches coutes, de blans dras.
Mes je ne voil demorer pas
En la richese deviser
De dras de soie d’outremer,
De Palerne et de Romenie,
Dont la chanbre estoit enbelie.
(Johnston and Owen, 480-486)
Aboard the magic ship in the lay of Guigemar, the quilt topping the exquisite bed
“fashioned in the style of Solomon,” was composed of silken fabric interwoven with
gold. Other priceless accessories complimenting the bed included a sable coverlet lined
with Alexandrian silk and a pillow that possessed the quality of preventing a person’s
hair from turning gray.
En mi la nef trovat un lit
Dunt li pecul e li limun
Furent a l’ovre Salemun,
...
D’un drap de seie a or teissu
Est la coilte ki desus fu.
Les altres dras ne sai preisier;
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Mes tant vos di de l’oreillier:
Ki sus eüst sun chief tenu
Jamais le peil n’avreit chanu;
Le covertur tut sabelin
Vols fu du purpre alexandrine.
(Ewert 170-182)
Descriptions of quilts in the lays and romances, although brief, bring to light a
surprising variety of patterns and styles. Medieval quilts could be striped, checkered,
star-spangled, flower-patterned, fur-trimmed, jewel-studded, or embroidered in wheelshaped motifs. For instance, the bed in the leafy bower where the young Scottish
nobleman Désiré fell in love with the fountain fairy was prepared by spreading on it an
expensive and well-made patchwork quilt sewn in a checkerboard design.
La couche fut apareille
Dont la coute ert a eschequiers
De .ij. pailles bien fez et chiers;
(Burgess and Brook, 178-80)
In the lay of Graelent, the valet sent by the fairy mistress to outfit and serve the
handsome Breton knight unpacked from a trunk and spread on the bed a large quilt which
displayed a striped brocade top layer and an underside made of another costly fabric.
Une grant coute en a ostée
D’un riche paille3 ovrée fu
De l’autre part
D’un chier boffu
Mets la sor le lit Graalant,
(Burgess and Brook, 378-81)
The bed with the gold-covered bedposts in which Gauvain and his lady found themselves
in the romance of La Mule sans frein was topped with a precious cloth ornamented with
wheel–shaped designs and covered in jewel work.
Que li quatre pecol estoient
Tuit de fin argent sororé.
Sus avoit un paile roé,
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Qui toz iert a pierres ovrez,
(Johnston and Owen, 934-37)
Two informative accounts of quilts and bedding appear in Chrétien de Troyes’
Lancelot. After being led to the tower keep by the dwarf, Gawain and Lancelot were
directed by the hostess to two comfortable beds prepared for them in a chamber.
Lancelot, however, insisted on sleeping in a nearby third bed that was even more
beautiful and ornate than the others. This high and long bed, obviously worthy of a king,
was decked out with a star-studded coverlet of yellow samite and furs of sable, not
squirrel.
Se couche sor un samit jaune,
Un covertor d’or estelé.
N’estoit mie de veir pelé
La forreüre ainz ert de sables;
Bien fust a oés un roi metables
Li covertors qu’il ot sor lui;
(Roques 506-511)
Later in the story we learn that the bed that awaited the hospitable damsel and the Knight
of the Cart was draped with a coverlet composed of two pieces of silk cloth of a floral
design. It offered sheets that were white, wide, and of a delicate fabric, not at all dirty.
This was by no means a lowly crib of crumbled straw or rough bedding.
Un lit ot fet en mi la sale,
Don li drap n’erent mie sale
Mes blanc et lé et delïé.
N’estoit pas de fuerre esmïé
La couche, ne de coutes aspres.
Un covertor de deux dïaspres
Ot estandu desor la couche;
(Roques 1195-2001)
A good quilt and fine sheets provide the backdrop for a sinister plot to get rid of
unwanted suitors in the lay of Doon. The lady of the Castle of Maidens first honors the
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suitors who successfully pass her arduous test, then has them led to her bedchamber,
ostensibly in order for them to rest, but here they are tricked, killed, and die in their sleep
while lying in the soft bed.
Molt durement les onoroit.
Puis les fesoit par eus mener
En ses chambres por reposer;
Liz lor fesoit apapeillier
Por eus occire et engingnier,
De bones coutes, de bons dras
Cil qui pené furent et las
Se couchierent et se dormoient;
El soëf lit dormant moroient.
(Burgess and Brook 52-60)
In another tale of entrapment, the lover in the lay of Yonec, who appears to his
lady in the form of a hawk, was fatally injured in a cruel snare set by the lady’s husband.
His tomb, kept illuminated by twenty burning candles, was covered with a silken cloth
embroidered in circular forms and accented by a border of fine gold running from side to
side.
Une tumbe troverent grant
Covert[e] de un paile roé,
De un chier orfreis par mi bendé.
(Ewert, 498-500)
Quilts are used as swaddling clothes for newborn babies in two of Marie de
France’s Lais. The out-of-wedlock child born to the knight Milun and his mistress the
baron’s daughter was placed in small cradle with a fine pillow, wrapped in white linen,
and covered with a blanket hemmed with marten fur in preparation for being sent off to
live with the mother’s married sister in Northumbria.
Puis le cuchent en un bercel,
Envolupé d’un blanc lincel
Desouz la testë a l’enfant
Mistrent uns oreiller valiant
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E desus lui un covertur
Urlé de martre entur.
(Ewert 99-104)
In Le Fresne, a twin abandoned by her mother at birth as a result of a popularly held
belief that two babies pointed to two fathers, was enveloped in a linen garment and
covered with a fine cloth embroidered in circular patterns that her sire had brought back
from a trip to Constantinople before she was deposited in the fork of a large ash tree near
a convent.
En un chief de mut bon chesil
Envolupent l’enfant gentil
E desus un paile roéSes sire l’i ot aporté
De Costentinoble, u il fu;
Unques si bon n’orent veü.
(Ewert 121-126)
To embellish their tales and to stress the esteem in which the article was held,
storytellers often attempted to put a value on the quilt or bedding. A bed “more costly
than any man had ever seen” in the story of le bel Inconnu, or Giglain, fils de Messire
Gauvain et de la fée aux blanches mains was furnished with both a mattress and a
coverlet. The mattress, a soft counterpane quilt, was topped by a silk bedspread. Due to
its gold and silk composition, the bedding was appraised at more than one hundred marks
of silver.
Au Desscouneü font le let
Onques nus hom plus cier ne vit,
De kiuetes pointes et moles.
Que feroie longes paroles?
Li lis fu fais ens el palés.
Plus bel ne verrés vos ja mais;
La soie et l’ors qu’el lit estoit
Plus de cent mars d’argent valoit;
Et fu covers d’un drap de soie,
(Williams 2367-2373)
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In the small room in the castle of Esclados the Red where Yvain, the Knight of the Lion
was offered the ring that rendered him invisible, the queen’s handmaiden seated him on a
quilt deemed finer than any belonging to the Duke of Austria.
sel mena seoir en un lit
covert d’une coute si riche
qu’ainz n’ot tel li dus d’Osteriche
(Roques 1040-42)
In the lay of Lanval, the maiden in the tent was couched on a bed whose bed-clothes were
reportedly worth a castle.
Ele jut sur un lit mut belLi drap valeient un chastel(Ewert 97-98)
Sometimes the bedding is so lavish that the narrator is unable to put a price on it: “Ne sai
mei les dras preisier” (Yonec 389), “Les altres dras ne sai preisier” (Guigemar 177).
As we have seen in these citations from the lays and romances, in keeping with
the enchanted world of fairy mistresses, knights errant, and court life, the quilt has been
represented as costly, luxurious item associated with elegant surroundings or with giftgiving. An occasional literary reference, however, points to the existence of a lesser
quality quilt. In the developing story of le Fresne, the young woman Ash, who has been
reared in a convent by a kindly abbess, or “aunt,” becomes smitten with King Gurun, and
at his invitation, goes off to live with him. After several years, the king’s advisors grow
weary of this state of affairs and beseech their lord to marry a local noblewoman who
could produce a legitimate heir, a request to which he agrees. Upon the occasion of the
wedding of the king and his bride Hazel, her long lost twin sister, Ash very obligingly
removes her prized birth wrap from a chest and places it on the marriage bed as she found
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the quilt that had been thrown over the bed, a coverlet made of old dress fabric, to be
unsuitable for the special event.
Quant le lit orent apresté
Un covertur unt sus jeté
Li dras esteit d’un viel bofu;
La dameisele l’ad veü;
N’ert mie bons, ceo li esmbla;
En sun curage li pesa.
Un cofre ovri, sun paile prist,
Sur le lit sun seignur le mist.
(Ewert 397-404)
When the bride’s mother enters the bedchamber, she immediately recognizes the
unique quilt, and the secret of Ash’s background comes out.
The quilt sometimes appears as an object of little worth in other texts. For
example, the cow herder or “ugly boy” in the chantefable Aucassin et Nicolette lamented
that his poor mother possessed nothing more valuable than a keutisele, a small cheap
mattress, and even that had been pulled out from under her back, leaving her to sleep on
straw.
Une lasse mere avoie, si n’avoit plus vaillant que une keutisele, si li a on sacie
de desou le dos, si gist a pur l’estrain.
(Roques XXIV 56-58)
The chronicler Jean Froissart (1224-1317) makes mention of an old smoke-blackened
quilt, a rag used to stamp out the fire: “Une povre couste de vieille toile enfumée pour
estuper le feu” (II, 157, cited by Littré, II, 956).
Archival material and non-literary texts apprise us of a medieval custom called
coulte à court, whereby the lord of the manor could demand a contribution of quilts and
bedding from his tenants on solemn occasions in order to lodge knights invited to his
chateau.
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Item, li plusieurs de ledite ville li doivent (au seigneur) queute à cort,
quant-ils en sont semons (1308 Moyens proposes par le procure. de l’abbaye
de Corbie-cited by Godefroy 2, 333).
In the following document, the bedding to be supplied to the lord at his pleasure is
specified: feather bed, bolster, and coverlet:
Tous lesdits subgetz sont tenus trouver et apporter audit seigneur,
toutesfois qu’il lui plaist, en son manoir seignenrial audit lieu
d’Estruiseulx, queute a court qui est entendu lit a plume, traversin
et couverture, se ilz n’ont letters de exempcion et franchise ad ce propos
(Coust. Loc d’Estruiseulx, Mém de la Soc. Des Antiq. E Pic. , I, 391cited by Godefroy 2, 333).
Decrees such as these lead us to believe that by the Late Middle Ages the quilt was an
everyday item of bedding in many French households. In fact, the poet Rutebeuf, near
the end of the thirteenth century, declared in his supplication to the King of France that a
man without a quilt was an unfortunate man, indeed: “Je suis sans coutes et sanz liz: N’a
si povre jusqu à Sanliz (972, III, 30).” ‘I have neither a quilt nor a bed. There is none
poorer than I between here and (the town of) Senlis.’
Quilts began showing up in inventories in France, Italy, Wales, and England
during the Renaissance. For instance, the household inventory of Henry VIII (of
England) includes dozens of quyltes and coverpointes. The most intriguing item listed is
a green quilt with gold or copper thread, a linen backing, and a central medallion of roses
and pomegranates, thought possibly to be a quilt made for Henry’s first wedding (Evans,
2).
A curious usage of bedding was noted in France during the sixteenth century by
the agronomist and counselor to Henri IV, Olivier de Serres, who described in his lengthy
treatise on crop management quilts being used to protect the harvest:4 “Ils couvrent les
pommes avec du foirre, des linges, des couvertes, mesme avec des cottes de
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plume.’’ ‘They cover the apples with straw, household linen, cloths, and even with
feather beds’ (cited by Littré 2, 956).
In conclusion, the contextualized examples assembled in this essay not only add
considerably to our knowledge of quilt history, but also afford the reader a glimpse into
medieval French society, its customs and mores. The brief, but informative descriptions
of luxurious bedding items found in several of the Old French lays and romances are
consistent with an environment dominated by the wealthy and titled. The well-appointed
beds in these stories are fitted with soft quilts, coverlets, or featherbeds constructed of
expensive imported fabrics such as silk and brocade. Some quilts are adorned with
jewels or furs, others are interwoven with gold thread. Quilt patterns are varied and
include star-shaped designs, floral patterns, and stripes. The most frequently mentioned
design is the embroidered wheel-shaped motif, or paille roé. One quilt is of patchwork
construction, as opposed to whole cloth. (Désiré). Apart from the yellow brocade
coverlet described in Lancelot, color is seldom mentioned. (Fine bed linens are referred
to as white.) The quilts in these stories are obviously valuable, highly prized possessions.
The narrator often tries to impress the listener or reader with the importance of the quilt
by setting a monetary value on it, comparing it to another object of great value, or by
avowing that its worth is so great that a price cannot be attached to it. This type of quilt
or coverlet may be offered as a gift (Graelent ), contribute to the celebration of a
marriage (Le Fresne), or ceremonially drape a tomb (Yonec). An occasional literary
reference points to a cheap or poor quality quilt, for example, the small mattress
belonging to the cow herder’s mother in Aucassin et Nicolette. Poor quality quilts are
associated with lower-class or impoverished people. Old or unremarkable quilts were
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sometimes used as rags or served other utilitarian purposes, like covering crops. Archival
material, in particular, lends credence to the belief that many ordinary households
possessed some type of quilt by the thirteenth century, as lords of the manor issued
decrees ordering tenants to supply bedding for their guests on certain occasions.
The textual references cited in this study furnish details about the appearance,
distribution, and use of early domestic quilts, but they do not provide information about
the quilt makers, real or fictitious. We do not know who they were, how they lived, what
influenced their choice of designs and styles, or whether the motifs carried meaning.5 If
one wishes to engage in speculation, plausible interpretations of some of the motifs can
be put forward. For instance, the popular wheel-shaped motif, paille roé, may be a
representation of the Wheel of Fortune. This image, which symbolizes the capricious
nature of Fate, appears throughout medieval art and literature. The wheel was
manipulated by the goddess Fortuna, who turned it at whim, thereby increasing the
happiness and prosperity of some while removing it from others. The wheel or circular
form also suggests the exchange of rings, betrothal, and the unity of the couple. The
wedding ring pattern formed of interlocking circles which is usually associated with
twentieth century quilts, actually evolved from an old motif dating back to Roman times.
The checkerboard pattern may have links to one or more of the magical elements that
permeate the Old French lays and romances, as patchwork has long been associated with
magic rites and supernatural powers in certain cultures and religions.6
NOTES
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1
An example in French literature of quilted defensive body armor is found in the story of
Perceval. The uncouth Welch lad was not willing to give up his own clothes or take a
highly-prized tunic of quilted silk cloth that the knight had worn under his hauberk.
2
Other modern words for bed coverings are couverture (de lit), couverture piqué/ouatée,
édredon piqué, couvre-lit, couvre-pied, courtepointe, duvet.
3
paile, palie, paille < Lat. PALLIUM: « riche drap d’or ou de soie, généralement rayé»
‘fine golden or silken cloth, generally striped.’ (Larousse Dictionnaire de l’ancien
français) This word is not to be confused with paille < Lat. PALEA, “straw.”
4
Similarly, references to quilts being used for husbandry purposes are found in 19th- and
20th- century English, Irish, and American bee-keepers manuals and journals. Ex.: “His
quilts, for so they are called by him, are laid close to the tops of the frames; they are not
sufficiently heavy to crush the bees, even if laid directly on them, and they mould
themselves to any possible condition.” (1873 Brit. Bee Journal, cited by The Oxford
English Dictionary, 2nd ed., vol. XIII. P. 29.)
5
‘‘Refined work with story-telling motifs is associated principally with Southern Italy,
renowned examples being the fourteenth century Tristan quilts.’’ (Kathryn Berenson,
Associate Fellow, International Quilt Study Center, ‘‘Tales from the ‘Coilte.’’)
6
According to Deborah Weagel in her doctoral dissertation of 2006, patchwork products,
popular and practical throughout the ages and in many different cultures “are often laden
with symbolic and magical contents; religious signs in Buddhism and Islam, or in
connection with shamanistic magic” (3).
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Colby, Averil. Quilting. Great Britain: Charles Scribner Sons, l971.
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Berenson, Kathryn. “Tales From the ‘Coilte.’” V & A (Victoria and Albert Museurn)
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Evans, Lisa. “Medieval and Renaissance Quilting.” Patches from the Past. Web. 2 May,
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French Literature IV: Old French Narrative Lays. Glyn S. Burgess and Leslie C Brook,
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