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13th Century Research Paper

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A Brief History of the Twelfth Century and Thirteenth Centuries

As European civilization continued to advance in economy and technology, people began to diversify. The introduction of government, newly innovated economic change, government, religious houses of worship,and arts and craft, also flourished. As the growth of population and prosperity began, internal struggles amongst farmers, businessmen, and the law, began to take shape. It was during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries that the religious wars known as, The Crusades, began. The crusades began when Turkish Moslems took control of cities known for their devout Christian worshipers. When Christian pilgrims were denied entry to important cities such as Jerusalem and bethlehem, …show more content…

Not all men who fought in these wars did it for religious purposes. Some men already trained in battle, were willing to become sale swords, encouraged by Church leaders, to "...rid Europe of war groups...and secure some peace and quiet" (162, Payne, Winakor, Farrell-Beck). Those able to rid regions of Turkish influence, became primary overseers of the land. These people who obtained crusader states, or conquered lands, helped stimulate trade by buying, Italian, French, Flemish, and English goods. In return, they sent back silks, perfumes, spices, and other Asian luxuries. While cities along the coast prospered, those inland were living in fear of tyrannical overseers, who raped and pillaged lands they believed were free for the taking. As the wealth obtained from crusader states intensified, so did the the importance of wealth and commerce. Land ownership was no longer the sole basis for prosperity in Europe. Growing agricultural cultivation techniques allowed peasants to begin to work for themselves, and rise above subsistence farming. They were able to afford trinkets and finer goods, which in turn, benefited the tradespeople of the area. Trade fairs were developed, and merchants began saving larger sums of money due to …show more content…

It is the broadness and smoothness of the fabric that portray this century's clothing style. It could be that the fine pleats of the bliauts were discontinued, and instead, made with full bodied, sheered wool cloth - which hung in large weighty folds. One of the most common garments of the thirteenth century was the cote. Typically, the standard cote consisted of a bodice that was loosely fit, with a belt or mantle synched over the waist. Fashioned with Dolman sleeves that narrowed at the wrist, but was fuller at the upper arm. Although most images do not depict fastenings, it is logical that the garment would have needed to have a loop or a button, or would have possibly been laced up the center back neck, and wrists. Women's cote's were floor length (fig. 18), but if exerting physical labor, they "...adopted a half calf cote or used a belt to raise the skirt above the fashionable length. (173, Payne) Later in the 1200s, cotes sometimes had a split in the front of the skirt, that was easier to tick away for physical activities, such as lawn games and horseback riding. The belt could be decorative or dull, and in some church statues show the cote falling from the shoulder;

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