14th – 15th C German Rope Hat
By Lord Thomas Boardmakere
The item I am submitting today will keep your head warm in two ways. Firstly, by providing a layer of thermo-insulating fibres between your head and the elements. Secondly, by offering a small amount protection against sharp cuts and blunt impacts which might have otherwise lead to rapid and terminal cooling of the skull (death).
The Original
The original item is currently housed at The Met – accession number:14.25.609. It dates from the 14th or 15th century Germany. It is made from rope and what looks like linen thread.
It is described as a “Cervelière” which is a low profile helmet often worn under chain mail to protect the skull.
Construction
The hat is a coiled natural fibre rope stitched together to make a bowl.
The most challenging part of the build was figuring out how to stitch the coils, for clues we have these photos.
We see horizontal stitches moving along the ropes and holes where stitches used to be.
I believe that each layer of rope has two sets of stitches, a row connecting it to the one above and a row of stitches connecting with the coil underneath. It took test run to figure out this stitch pattern.
I don’t not have any information about what plant fibre the hat was made from. I chose to use 10mm sisal and linen thread to construct mine, as it was inexpensive, available in Australia and didn’t drifting to far the original. The hat required just under 10 meters, this will vary on your head size.
As each coil is stitched into place, you have an amazing amount of control over the shape – and by simply moving the new row more vertically or horizontally you can build a curve. With frequent test fits to the head you can get a very custom fit.
It’s also noteworthy that the hat is not symmetrical I decide which end would be the front and which the back, and built the back more vertically to conform to the shape of human head.
Conclusion and Ramblings
If I was to do this project again in would attempt to construct my own rope from a softer more period fibre. I now know how much is required for my head so I can plan to make a rope that long.
As to the object being referred to a Cervelière.
The art works from the Morgan bible depicting Cervelière are of iron with padding underneath.
The item I recreated doesn’t have any form of chin strap or any marks of once having one, it’s too stiff to be effective padding inside of a helmet rigid helmet. It may work as a ridged layer under chainmail, but the object also dates to at least 200 years after the Morgan bible was created.
Later art works woven basket helmets being much thicker and of a coiled basket technique. If I was to trust my life to a rope helmet I want it to be much, much thicker as well.
Thanks for reading and I’m hoping to see more rope hats about the place. Personally I think the object I recreated is just a heavy duty hat, they would off a small amount of protect from things like a frisky cow or bumping your head on a building site and is much better then nothing at all but again this is pure speculation.
Thomas Boardmakere is an artisan and fighter from Mordenvale. He is currently building a period pole lathe as part of his entry into the Hordweard, among other projects.