Panthers and Griffins
Description
The pattern of the silk of the buskins of Pope Clement II
MÜLLER-CHRISTENSEN 1960:45
Silk pattern reconstructions after the buskins of Pope Clement II. Clement crowned Henry III as Holy Roman Emperor. He was the second bishop of Bamberg, and enthroned as pope in 1046, died in 1047. Instead of Rome, he was interred in Bamberg. His tomb was opened in 1942. Luckily for us, the sarcophagus preserved the organic materials. Not only his body but several liturgical garments came out from the tomb which are survived in superb condition. One of these were the buskins (ecclesiastical stockings) which's pattern we reproduced. Clement's mantle consisted the same patterned silk like his stockings, but the colors were different. Nowadays, the original artifacts are in the Diözesanmuseum Bamberg.
The pontifical stockings of Pope Clement II.
MILLER 2014:179
The panthers wear a collar with dots. Between the heads, there is a heart-shaped structure. The frames of the roundels are filled with geometric patterns. The original size of the roundels are 20.5 cm. There are pairs of confronting birds between the roundels.
The elements of the buskins of Clement II
MÜLLER-CHRISTENSEN 1960: FIG 31-33.
The silk is a very likely a product of Byzantium, however the pattern has strong Persian roots.
About the dating: Maureen Miller dates the pattern c. 1000. Clement II. lived in the first half of the 11th century. The dating of the so-called "Saint Vitalis" chasuble, which pattern is a strong parallel with the buskins' pattern, is also pointing us to the 11th century. There is a silk fragment in the Victoria&Albert Museum's collection with the panthers and griffins pattern, which is dated to the 10-11th century. Fragments of the same pattern were found in Edward the Confessor's grave, who was the king of England and died in 1066. Also, we find this silk in the garment of Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor, who died in 1024. The pattern is present in the 12th century, on the chasuble of Archbishop Arnold I of Trier, who died in 1183. A fascinating parallel of this silk is an altered tunic which is attributed to Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia (1207-1231), but the tunic was made from the coronation mantle of her mother, Gertrude of Andechs-Meran (c. 1185-1213), queen of Hungary. However, the original material of this clothing isn't created in the 13th century, it is also dated to the 11th century.
Altogether, we could say that the pattern is most suitable for late 10th and 11th century reenactment, but in special cases it could be also usable for 12-13th century reconstructions since we know cases when it was used in these later centuries as well.
The pattern of the silk of the Vitalis chasuble
MILLER 2014: 154
Silk with griffins and panthers from the collection of Victoria&Albert Museum
Inventory number: 8235-1863
The panthers and griffins silk's fragments from Edward the Confessor's grave
OWEN-CROCKER 2019:132
The "Elisabethkleid" - the former coronation mantle of Queen Gertrude of Andechs-Meran
MIELKE 2017:477
Coatsworth, Elizabeth - Owen-Crocker, Gale R.: Clothing the Past. Surviving Garments from Early Medieval to Early Modern Western Europe, Leiden, Boston 2018. p298-299
Mielke, Cristopher: Every hyacinth the garden wears: the material culture of medieval queens of Hungary (100-1395), Budapest 2017. p115-116, 477
Miller, Maureen C.: Clothing the Clergy: Virtue and Power in Medieval Europe, c. 800-1200., Ithaca, New York and London 2014. p193-194
Müller-Christensen, Sigrid: Das Grab Des Papstes Clemens II. im Dom zu Bamberg, München 1960. p44-46.
Owen-Crocker, Gale R.: Textiles in Christian Tombs. in: Life and cult of Cnut the Holy, Odense 2019. p131-132.
Victoria & Albert Museum online catalog
Reconstruction project requested by: Lidia Gubereva
Artwork: Balázs Szakonyi
