Moreover, a peasant generally owned only a few pieces of clothing: two of each undergarment, one outer garment, a hat, a belt, and a pair of shoes. They made their own basic garments or purchased secondhand ones from a merchant who specialized in selling used goods. Medieval peasants rarely, if ever, bought new clothes. Clothes were thus an important investment, and an expensive one. Involved stripping the guilty person and making him or her face his sentence naked. In fact, a common part of medieval punishments For example, while medieval men and women sometimes stripped down to their shirts when doing heavy labor, both sexes considered public nakedness exceptionally embarrassing once one was no longer a child. It kept a person warm, covered nakedness (which was considered shameful), and marked a person’s status. Clothing in medieval Europe, even among peasants, had several functions. The difficulties in heating peasant residences help to account for peasant clothing. Perhaps it is not surprising that peasants generally went immediately to the fields in the morning and returned to their homes only a few hours later for the main meal. The fire had to be stoked new wood and other supplies had to be gathered and the heat had to radiate from the fire. Mornings were long and chilly, because reheating the house usually took hours. To minimize such hazards, the fire was allowed to die down into embers during the evening and at night, so that the house cooled significantly while people were sleeping. Medieval records are filled with stories about people, especially young children, falling into a fire and being critically burned. Although fire was essential for peasants, it was also a danger. The thin sticks that a peasant gathered were frequently bundled together to make something approximating a log and, therefore, a more consistent and durable fire. Wood, however, was an exhaustible resource, and peasants were generally entitled only to windfall wood-branches or trees blown down in storms.

When a spark flew off into these objects, the peasant coaxed it into flame by blowing on it and gradually feeding slightly larger kindling to the flame until a usable fire was achieved. In the fire pit the peasant built a small pile of highly flammable objects, including materials such as dry grasses, tiny pieces of wood, or old scraps of cloth. If the fire died out, it had to be restarted either by using embers borrowed from a neighbor or with a flint and steel, a relatively valuable tool. Maintaining it was crucial and an ongoing chore. The fire pit in the center of a peasant house served as the sole source of heat, the cook fire, and the primary light source. Farmers and Peasants: Clothes and Hygiene

Going medieval clothing fabric