Martinmas Vs Halloween, Dragonwort and Sunburn and the Liripipe, an absurd fashion trend!

For our 2022 advent calendar, we decided to create a set of magazine covers in the likeness of Dolly or Cosmopolitan that capture the medieval essence. If such a journal could have existed, what sort of articles would it have contained? Anything and everything to assist the young maiden about to set out on her life’s journey as a wife and mother, and once there, all the information needed to be a good spouse and keep her husband satisfied, and at home when not away soldiering.

Such were our efforts that we now find ourselves tasked with writing some of these articles! Well, why not? It might be fun… So please enjoy the snippets below from the November issues of The Chastity Belt.

It must also be mentioned that some articles in these blogs are written as they would have appeared directly in the ‘magazine’, whilst others, due to wanting to be as informative as possible, are written from the present-day point of view. Either way, please enjoy.

Martinmas Vs Halloween

Saint Martin’s Day or Martinmas, is the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours and is celebrated on the 11^th of November. It is often referred to as Old Halloween or Old Hallowmas Eve as the celebration closely resembles that which we associate with Halloween.

But who was Martin of Tours and why does he remain intimately connected to the Christian leadup to Christmas?

Born about 336 in Hungary, Martin (also known as Martin the Merciful) was a roman soldier prior to converting to Christianity. He founded the monastery at Liguge and was later consecrated as Bishop of Caesarodunum (Tours) in 371, however he is best known for the tale concerning the cutting of his cloak, half of which he gave to a scantily clad beggar in the depths of winter. That night, Martin dreamed of Jesus wearing the half of the cloak he had given away. He heard Jesus say to some of the angels, “Martin, who is still but a catechumen (meaning new to the religion) clothed me with this robe.”

The part kept for himself became the famous relic preserved in the oratory at the Marmoutier Abbey near Tours. During the Middle Ages, the supposed miraculous cloak was carried by the king into battle, and used as a holy relic upon which oaths were sworn.

Interestingly, the priest who cared for the cloak in the reliquary was called a cappellanu, and ultimately all priests who served the military were called cappellani. The French translation is chapelains, from which the English word chaplain is derived.

A similar linguistic development took place for the term referring to the small, temporary churches built for the relic. People called them “capella”, the word for a little cloak. Eventually, these churches lost their association with the cloak, but continued to be referred to as “chapels”.

From the late 4th century to the late Middle Ages much of Western Europe including Great Britain engaged in a period of fasting, beginning on the day after St Martin’s Day. This fast period lasted 40 days (not including Saturdays and Sundays), and was called Quadragesima Sancti Martini, or “the forty days of St. Martin”. At St. Martin’s eve people heavily indulged in wine and feasted for the last time before they started to fast. This fasting time was later called “Advent” by the Church and was considered a time for spiritual preparation for Christmas. This period was eventually shortened to begin on the Sunday before December and became the current period we now recognise as Advent.

There are many similarities between the celebration of Martinmas and Halloween. Traditionally, in many parts of Europe, St Martin’s Day marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter. It was also the period when livestock were slaughtered for winter provision. Incidentally, the Olde English name for November was Blōtmōnaþ, meaning the month of sacrifice!

Bonfires were lit on St Martin’s Eve throughout Europe and in Germany the bonfires were so numerous that the festival was nicknamed Funkentag, or Spark Day! Young people in each village would dance around the fire and leap through the flames, and the ashes were then strewn on the fields to make them fertile. Similar customs form part of the festival of Samhain, in Ireland.

In some European towns, a night time processions of children carrying paper lanterns or turnip lanterns took place, with the participants singing songs about St Martin before being rewarded with cookies and sweets.

It is believed that Martinmas disappeared from the calendar as a result of the English Reformation, the emergence of Guy Fawkes Night (5 November), as well as changes in farming and the Industrial Revolution. Celebrating Halloween in the UK is a relatively recent occurrence that commenced in the 20^th century.

Now, for some delicious Martinmas recipes –

Martinmas Squash Soup

1 kg of squash or pumpkin
750mls of beef broth
1 tsp minced parsley
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
Pinch of pepper
Pinch of salt
150g garlic cream cheese

Peel and dice squash and place in a large saucepan with the beef broth
Add the salt, pepper, parsley, oregano and thyme
Cook on a slow boil until squash is cooked through and soft
Allow to cool before blending (with stick blender) until smooth
Serve hot with a dob of cream cheese in each bowl

Martinmas Beef Pot Roast

1.5kg brisket of beef
40g fresh ginger – peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp ground mace
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp ground nutmeg
500ml dry cider
30ml white wine vinegar
40g cornflour
Salt and black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 140°c/275°f/gas mark 1.
Apart from the beef and cornflour, thoroughly whisk all the ingredients together.
Place the beef in an ovenproof or casserole dish that has a lid.
Pour the spiced liquid over the beef, cover with the lid and cook for 4-5 hours.
Once cooked, remove the beef from the cooking liquid and set aside to rest.
Transfer the liquid to a pan and thicken to the desired consistency with the corn flour which has been slackened with a little water.
Adjust the seasoning and slice the beef to serve.

Horseshoe Cookies

1 1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar (icing sugar)
1/2 cup whole blanched almonds
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (plain flour)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 vanilla bean
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces. It needs to be very cold

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar and the almonds. Process until finely ground. Add flour and salt, and pulse to combine.

Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod. Add seeds to the flour mixture. (Reserve bean for the dusting sugar.) Add butter a few pieces at a time. Quickly pulse to combine. Do not over process. The mixture should resemble coarse meal.

Place the reserved vanilla bean on the prepared baking sheet, and let dry out in the oven for 3 to 5 minutes. Set aside.

Remove dough to a clean work surface. Blend dough by pushing it away from you with the heel of your hand. Gather it up with a bench scraper, and continue process until dough will peel easily from the work surface in one piece.

Divide dough into four equal pieces. Roll each piece into a cylinder 5/8 inch in diameter and about 22 inches long. Cut each log into pieces about 3 inches long. Curve each piece into a horseshoe, and place on the prepared baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes.

While cookies are baking, cut reserved dried vanilla bean into small pieces. Place the remaining cup confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of the food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process until well mixed, about 1 minute. Sift sugar into a small mixing bowl to remove any large pieces of the vanilla bean.

Remove cookies to a rack to cool. After cookies have cooled a little, about 5 minutes, gently toss warm cookies in vanilla sugar to coat. Remove to rack to cool completely. Once cooled, dust again with remaining vanilla sugar. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Makes about 30.

Can Dragonwort help sunburn?

Artemisia dracunculus is an herbaceous perennial in the sunflower family. It is a wild tarragon plant from which culinary varieties have been cultivated for their aromatic leaves. It is most often found in dry open places such as roadsides, meadows, desert scrub habitats, or disturbed areas. This shrub-like plant reaches heights up to 3 feet with erect stems, slender branches, and narrow linear leaves. It produces non-ornamental flowers in summer resulting in viable seeds that may self-seed and it spreads readily by means of rhizomatous roots and can be easily propagated.

Dragonwort is known to be poisonous to dogs, cats, and horses if ingested in sufficient quantity. In humans, occasional consumption of the plant in small culinary quantities is thought to be safe. Essential oils in the plant, particularly its roots, has the potential to cause contact dermatitis in humans so its is highly unlikely to help with sunburn.

The Liripipe

A liripipe – the tail of a hood or cloak, or a long-tailed hood – was often seen an absurd or exaggerated fashion trend in the mid 14^th to late 15^th centuries.

The phrase ‘liripipe hood’, which is often used by costume historians, is not in fact a medieval term but one adopted by scholars dating to the early modern period, to describe a fashion which appears often in medieval art, in the form of a long extension to a hood.

The origin of the word itself also has several rather odd explanations, including in Webster’s Dictionary where it is suggested that it is a corruption of the term cleri ephippium, meaning “clergy’s tippet” or preaching scarf, but this seems unlikely.

Another possible origin for the word is that it refers to the resemblance of the hood’s “tail” to a long, thin purse used to hold coins, literally a “lira pipe”.

There are several spelling variants, including liripoop, which also refers to the obsolete meaning of a ‘silly person’ most probably because it is an inherently funny word! Oddly, it sounds very much like nincompoop, though there doesn’t appear to be any genuine connection between the two terms.

In modern times, liripipe mostly refers to the tail of the cowl of an academic hood, seen at graduation ceremonies.

Catherine A Wilson co-writes with Catherine T Wilson (no relation). Their first book, The Lily and the Lion, was based upon their true-life accidental meeting and resulting friendship. All four books in their ‘Lions and Lilies’ series have won first place prizes in the Chatelaine/Chaucer Awards in the US and in 2019, The Traitor’s Noose won the Grand Prize Chaucer Award.