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The Early Medieval Textiles at Maaseik, Belgium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2011

Mildred Budny  and
Dominic Tweddle
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Extract

This article offers an account of the components, the structure and the history of the so-called casula and velamina of Sts Harlindis and Relindis preserved at the Church of St Catherine at Maaseik in Belgium as relics of the two sisters who founded the nearby abbey of Aldeneik (where the textiles were kept throughout the Middle Ages). The composite casula of Sts Harlindis and Relindis includes the earliest surviving group of Anglo-Saxon embroideries, dating to the late eighth century or the early ninth. Probably similarly Anglo-Saxon, a set of silk tablet-woven braids brocaded with gold associated with the embroideries offers a missing link in the surviving corpus of Anglo-Saxon braids. The ‘David silk’ with its Latin inscription and distinctly western European design dating from the eighth century or the early ninth offers a rare witness to the art of silk-weaving in the West at so early a date. The velamen of St Harlindis, more or less intact, represents a remarkable early medieval vestment, garment or cloth made up of two types of woven silk cloths, tablet-woven braids brocaded with gold, gilded copper bosses, pearls and beads. The velamen of St Relindis, in contrast, represents the stripped remains—reduced to the lining and the fringed ends—of another composite textile. Originally it was probably luxurious, so as to match the two other composite early medieval textile relics from Aldeneik. As a whole, the group contributes greatly to knowledge of early medieval textiles of various kinds.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 65 , Issue 2 , September 1985 , pp. 353 - 389
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1985

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References

Notes

1 See the accounts in Calberg, M., ‘Tissus et broderies attribués aux saintes Harlinde et Relinde‘, Bull. Soc. Royale d'Arch. de Bruxelles (Oct. 1951), 1–26;Google ScholarHendrickx, M. and Sangers, W., De Kerkschat van de Sint Catharina Kerk te Maaseik. Beschrijvende Inventaris, Reeks ‘Limburgs Patrimonium’, 1 (Limburg, 1963), 25–9, reprinted inGoogle ScholarSangers, W. and Hendrickx, M., ‘De Reliekenschat uit Aldeneik en Maaseik’, Aldeneik. Architectuur en Historie, ed. Daniels, G. and Sangers, W. (Hasselt, 1975), 90–1;Google ScholarDierkens, A., ‘L'abbaye d'Aldeneik pendant le haut moyen âge’ (unpublished Mémoire de licence en Histoire, Université Libre de Bruxelles: 2 vols., Brussels, Sept. 1975), 1, 91–101;Google Scholarid., ‘Evangéliaries et tissus de l'abbaye d'Aldeneik. Aspect historiographique’, Miscellanea Codicologica F. Masai Dictata, ed. Cockshaw, P., Garand, M.-C. and Jodogne, P. (Gent, 1979), 31–40;Google ScholarBudny, M. and Tweddle, D., ‘The Maaseik embroideries’, Anglo-Saxon England, xiii (1984), 65–96; andGoogle ScholarBudny, M., ‘The Anglo-Saxon embroideries at Maaseik: their historical and art-historical context’, Analecta Academiae, Mededelingen van de Koninklijke Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van België, KLasse der Schone Kunsten, xlv, 2 (1984), 55–133Google Scholar.

2 cf. Calberg, , op. cit. (note 1), 3; andGoogle Scholar Dierkens, ‘L'abbaye d‘Aldeneik’ (note 1 above), 1, 94. It does not appear in the recent inventory of the church treasury: Hendrickx, and Sangers, , op. cit. (note 1)Google Scholar.

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4 See e.g. Christie, A. G. I., English Medieval Embroidery: a Brief Survey of English Embroidery Dating from the Beginning of the Tenth Century until the End of the Fourteenth, together with a Descriptive Catalogue of the Surviving Examples (Oxford, 1938)Google Scholar; King, D., Opus Anglicanum. English Medieval Embroidery, Arts Council exhibition cat., Victoria and Albert Museum, 26th Sept. to 24th Nov. 1963 (London, 1963)Google Scholar; Brel-Bordaz, O., Broderies d'ornements liturgiques, XIIIe-XIVes. (Paris, 1982).Google Scholar On the various meanings ascribed to the term opus Anglicanum see esp. Brel-Bordaz,13.

5 See e.g. Hald, M., Olddanske tekstiler. Komparative tekstil- og draghthistoriske studier paa grundlag af mosefund og gravfund fra jernalderen, Nordiske Fortidsminder, 5 (Copenhagen, 1950),Google Scholar passim; Crowfoot, G., ‘The braid in soumak weave’ and ‘The braid in warp weave’, The Relics of Saint Cuthbert. Studies by Various Authors, ed. Battis-combe, C. F. (Oxford, 1956), 452–63;Google ScholarMüller-Christensen, S., ‘Examples of medieval tablet woven braids’, Studies in Textile History in Memory of Harold Burnham, ed. Gervers, V. (Toronto, 1977), 232–7;Google ScholarGeijer, A., A History of Textile Art: a Selective Account (London, 1979), 38–9, 219-21 and 242-3Google Scholar; Colling-wood, P., The Techniques of Tablet-Weaving (London, 1982), esp. 12–19Google Scholar and passim among the plates; and Geijer, A., ‘The textile finds from Birka’, Cloth and Clothing in Medieval Europe: Essays in Memory of Professor E. M. Carus-Wilson, ed. Harte, N. B. and Ponting, K. G., Pasold Studies in Textile History, 2 (London, 1983), esp. 93–6Google Scholar(with the Maaseik braids mentioned on 96).

6 See e.g. Crowfoot, G. M., ‘The tablet-woven braids from the vestments of St Cuth-bert at Durham Cathedral’, Antiq. J. xix (1939), 57–80;CrossRefGoogle Scholaread., ‘Anglo-Saxon tablet-weaving’, ibid, xxxii (1952), 189-91; ead., ‘The tablet-woven braids‘, in Battiscombe, , op. cit. (note 5), 433–52;Google ScholarCrowfoot, E. and Hawkes, S. Chadwick, ‘Early Anglo-Saxon gold braids’, Med. Arch, xi (1967), 42–86;CrossRefGoogle Scholar E. Crowfoot, ‘Early Anglo-Saxon gold braids: addenda and corrigenda’, ibid, xiii (1969), 209-10; and ead. ‘The textiles’, in Bruce-Mitford, R., The Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial, III: Late Roman and Byzantine Silver, … Textiles, … and other Items, ed. Evans, A. C., 2 vols. (London, 1983),Google Scholar appendix 4:B (‘Textiles from Taplow Barrow, Buckinghamshire’), 475-8.

7 See e.g. Muthesius, A. M., ‘Eastern Silks in Western Shrines and Treasuries before 1200’, unpublished Ph.D. thesis, London University, 1980, passimGoogle Scholar.

8 See above, note 3; Wilson, D. M., Anglo-Saxon Art from the Seventh Century to the Norman Conquest (London, 1984), 108; andGoogle ScholarFell, C., Clark, C. and Williams, E., Women in Anglo-Saxon England and the Impact of 1066 (London, 1984), 116–17Google Scholar.

9 Vita, §§ 12 and 13. The text is printed as De Sanctis virginibus Herlindis et Reinula seu Renilde abbatissis Masaci in Belgio, ed. Henschenius, G., in Bollandus, J., Henschenius, G. and Papebrochius, D. (eds.), Acta Sanctorum. Martii, III (Antwerp, 1668), 386–92;Google Scholar and reprinted in d'Achery, L. and Mabillon, J. (eds.), Acta Sanctorum Ordinis Sancti Be-nedicti in Saeculorum Classes Distributa, III: Saeculum III quod est ab Anno Christi DCC et DCCC, 1 (Paris, 1672), 654–62.Google Scholar On the date and authorship of the Vita, see e.g. Dierkens, A., ‘L'abbaye d'Aldeneik au IXe siècle‘, Ann. de la Fédération Hist, et Arch, de Belgique, xliv (1976), 135–42Google Scholar.

10 Ch. 12, ed. Levison, W. in Krusch, B. and Levison, W., Passiones Vitaeque Sanctorum Aevi Merovingici, 2 vols., Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores Rerum Meroving-icarum, 7 (Hannover and Leipzig, 1919-1920), 1, 128–9Google Scholar.

11 On the historical probability of the association of Sts Willibrord and Boniface with Aldeneik, see esp. Werner, M., Der lütticher Raum in der frühkarolingischen Zeit. Untersuchungen zur Geschichte einer karolingischen Stammlandschaft, Veröffentlichungen des Max-Planck-Instituts fur Geschichte, 62 (Göttingen, 1980), 179–81; andGoogle ScholarBudny, , op. cit. (note 1), 97–9Google Scholar and 103-4. 0n the history of the abbey see esp. Dierkens, ‘L'abbaye d'Al-deneik’ (note 1 above).

12 See esp. Sangers, and Hendrickx, , op. cit. (note 1), 73–5Google Scholar and 77; and Budny, , op. cit. (note 1), 114–17.Google Scholar The manuscript is Alexander, J. J. G., A Survey of Manuscripts Illuminated in the British isles, 1: Insular Manuscripts, 6th to the gth Century (London, 1978), nos. 22–3Google Scholar and pls. 87-107. The reliquary is Braunfels, W.et al. (eds.), Karl der Grosse: Werk und Wirkung, exhibition cat. 10th exhibition of the Council of Europe, Aachen, 26th June-19th Sept. 1965 (Aachen, 1965), no. 226Google Scholar.

13 Vita, § 5. On the probable identity of Valencina see esp. Dierkens, A., ‘Les origines de l'abbaye d'Aldeneik (première moitié du VIIIe siècle): examen critique’, Le Moyen Âge, iii-iv (1979), 401–4Google Scholar and 432; Werner, , op. cit. (note 11), 175 n. 4; andGoogle ScholarPlatelle, H.et al., Histoire de Valenciennes, Coll. Histoire des Villes du Nord/Pas-de-Calais, 3 (Lille, 1982)Google Scholar.

14 Vita, § 12. On the meaning of the word palliola see esp. Calberg, op. cit. (note 1), 7 and n. 1; J. Niermeyer (ed.), Mediae Latinita-tis Lexicon Minus (Leiden, 1954-76), s.v. ‘palliolum’ and ‘pallium‘; and Budny, , op. cit. (note 1), 99–100Google Scholar.

15 See Budny, , op. cit. (note 1), esp. 100–2Google Scholar.

16 See ibid., 89-133.

17 cf. e.g. Calberg, , op. cit. (note 1), 3Google Scholar and 11; Dierkens, , ‘Evangéliaires et tissus’ (note 1 above), 38Google Scholar; and Budny, and Tweddle, , op. cit. (note 1), 69Google Scholar.

18 Historie van het leven der heyliger maechden Harlindis en Relindis, uut de legende int cortste ende gehtrouvvelijkste over gestelt (Liège, 1596), f. 9r, quote d e.g. inGoogle ScholarDierkens, , ‘Evangé1iaires et tissus’ (note 1 above), 37 n. 55Google Scholar.

19 See Dierkens, , ‘Evangé1iaires et tissus’ (note 1 above), 33.Google Scholar On the manuscript—a collection of saints’ lives—see also Gheyn, J. van Den et al., Catalogue des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque Royale de Bruxelles, 13 vols. (Brussels, 1901-1948), v, 113–15 (no. 3, 160)Google Scholar.

20 Schoolmeesters, E., ‘Les origines de la ville de Maeseyck’, Analedes pour servir à I'histoire ecclésiastique de la Belgique, xxii (Louvain, 1890), 383Google Scholar.

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22 Calberg, , op. cit. (note 1), 1Google Scholar.

23 Ibid., passim.

24 Ibid., 3 II. 4.

25 See Acknowledgements, p. 385.

26 On the textile terms adopted here, see e.g. Burnham, D. K., A Textile Terminology: Warp and Weft (London, 1981), passimGoogle Scholar.

27 Calberg, , op. cit. (note 1), fig. 3Google Scholar.

28 On these types of embroidery stitches see Christie, , op. cit. (note 4), 25–6Google Scholar and figs. 53-4; and Schuette, M. and Müller-Christensen, S., The Art of Embroidery, transl. King, D. (London, 1964), p. ixGoogle Scholar and figs. 53-4 (the Maaseik embroideries are nos. 9–10).

29 See e.g. Christie, , op. cit. (note 4), 25Google Scholar and 49 and figs. 48 and 71 A.

30 cf. Calberg, , op. cit. (note 1), 19; andGoogle ScholarHendrickx, and Sangers, , op. cit. (note 1), 27Google Scholar.

31 See above, pp. 355-6.

32 Roman numerals (I–11) are used here to identify the two different strips, and arabic numerals (1-10) to identify the individual elements of the arcades, starting with the first spandrel, arch, pier, or arched field at the left n i the arcade as viewed upright. Thus, for example, the first arch in the series is identified as arch I.I or II. I, depending upon the arcade.

33 Roman numerals (I–II) identify the two different strips; arabic numerals (1-5) identify the five roundels in each tier; and majuscules (A-B) identify the two tiers as viewed upright. Thus roundel iA occurs at the upper left of roundel strip I and at the lower right of roundel strip II as turned upside-down.

34 See esp. Budny, and Tweddle, , op. cit. (note 1), 78–84; andGoogle ScholarBudny, , op. cit. (note 1), 71–2Google Scholar.

35 See e.g. Geijer, , ‘Textile finds’ (note 5 above), 89 and 96Google Scholar.

36 See above, pp. 353-4 and note 6.

37 See E. Plenderleith, C. Hohler and R. Freyhan, ‘The stole and maniples’, in Battiscombe, , op. cit. (note 5), 375–432Google Scholar and pls. xxix-xxx, xxxi 13 and xxxn-xxxiv; and Wilson, , op. cit. (note 8), pls. 205–7Google Scholar.

38 See e.g. Volbach, W. F., Early Decorative Textiles, transl. Gabriel, Y. (Feltham, Middle-sex, 1969),Google Scholarpassim among the plates.

39 See above, p. 354 and note 12; and Wilson, , op. cit. (note 8), pl. 155Google Scholar.

40 See e.g. Metcalf, D. M., ‘Sceattas from the territory of the Hwicce’, Num. Chron. 7th ser. xvi (1976), fig. 2, esp. no. 13Google Scholar.

41 Wilson, D. M., Catalogue of Antiquities of the Later Saxon Period, 1: Anglo-Saxon Ornamental Metalwork, 700-1100, in the British Museum (London, 1964), no. 92 and fig. 38Google Scholar.

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44 Calberg, , op. cit. (note 1), 13Google Scholar.

45 Falke, O. von, Kunstgeschichte der Seidenweberei, 2 vols. (Berlin, 1913), 11, 25.Google Scholar He mistakenly thought that the ‘David silk’ came ‘aus dem Grab der Stifterinnen Klosters Soestern’. On the Taben textile (now in the Bischöfliche Museum in Trier) see e.g. Wackenroder, E., Die Kunstdenkmäler der Kreises Saarburg, Die Kunstdenkmäler der Rheinprovinz, 15 (Düsseldorf, 1939), 242–4 and fig. 184Google Scholar.

46 Falke, Von, op cit. (note 45), 11, 25.Google Scholar On the Sens textile see e.g. Gischia, L. and Mazend, L., Les Arts primitifs français (Paris, 1953), pl. 19; andGoogle ScholarSalin, E., La Civilisation mérovingienne d'après les sépultures, les textes et le laboratoire, 4 vols. (Paris, 1950-1959), iv, 412 and fig. 187Google Scholar.

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59 See Volbach, W. F., Tessuti (note 47 above), 111:I, nos. T 28-9, fig. 11 and pl. XVIII. (No. T 29 is not ‘lino’ but silk.) See also e.g.Google ScholarJonghe, D. De and Tavernier, M., ‘Met selectieroeden geweven koptische Weefsels’, Bull, van de Koninklijke Musea voor Kunst en Geschiedenis, i (1978), 77–83Google Scholar and figs. 38-4.

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