I love that you acknowledge your mistakes and publicly correct your statements. Too many people refuse to learn, double down on their "information" or pretend it didn't happen. It's not wrong to be incorrect, it's what you do when you're informed you're mistaken that I judge people on. It's why I watch you and why I trust what you say. That's a long way to say - Thanks Shad!
And he wasnt even completly wrong. He was wrong in some details, but at the same time he was right in general: people were decorating the walls in the Middle ages. Btw same with Greco-Roman statues, many of them were painted.
One thing I notice in the pictures you chose, it's possible that all these options may have been in one castle too, used in different parts. In that one picture with bare walls they seem to be at entrance, same with kitchen, there there are white washed or painted walls in living quarters and hallways, and then brocades used in main hall, bedrooms and heavily in ladies chambers. So even if it's likely that different castles and lords preferred one style, it's also possible that interiors weren't uniform, to avoid that pendulum swing too.
That occurred to me as well. It seems to me that the elaborate murals would be most likely to appear in the chapels or other religious sections of castles, with depictions of saints and holy events, to show the owner's devotion to God. And since people are encouraged in such places to remain reverently silent and listen to the mumblings of a priest, those areas would be the least likely to hang brocades if they dampen sound (which another comment discussed). But brocades might well appear around the confession nook, so that whispers don't carry. I'm wondering if there are properties of period rendering, painting, and plain stone that affect how easy it is to clean. For instance, most people agree that carpets are not the ideal floor covering in modern kitchens or bathrooms, but use linoleum or similar easily cleaned surfaces. Medieval people probably had the same idea, so if plain polished stone is easier to wash, that would be the first choice for walls and floors in the kitchens. Whereas I would think the entrance hall would be one of the first places to receive an "impressive" surfacing, seeing as it's the first place a visitor would be let into. Or it could be left modest to demonstrate the owner's humility. All depends on what exactly they're trying to say. Also I didn't see any mention in this video of tapestries and how those fit into this decoration idea. Like, do tapestries mainly appear over bare or rendered stone, while walls covered in murals stay bare?
Next we're going to be told that, based on 1960's home fittings, avocado green has not always been a color of preference for kitchens and washrooms! I don't even know what's real anymore! (sarcasm)
Let us not forget even nowadays homogenous interior decoration is rare and almost exclusive to workplace. Every inhabitant of a castle will prefer to express individuality.
@@Nurk0m0rath GRR Martin mentions tapestries several times when describing the castles of Westeroes. i cant remember what else he actually says about them but i remember the picture in my mind was of thick curtains
@@russellwarren9595 Well...I was referring to historical tapestries, not fantasy ones. It's "common knowledge" that they were prevalent in historical castles, from which comes their popularity in fantasy, and I'm very curious how accurate that depiction is, and if there's any nuance to it that isn't commonly known.
Hmm, a smoothly laid stone wall might be rather expensive, so perhaps the stone was left bare to showcase wealth, as opposed to not so fine brickwork that might be hidden below a layer of paint. Very thought provoking as always, Shad!
I was thinking the exact same thing. Dressed stone means paying masons to shape and tidy even well quarried stone. Which is, as shad pointed out, quite pleasing to the eye in it's own right. Still in the showing off wealth realm as you say though. Plus on a more esoteric note dressed stone in 'civilised' for want of a better word. Rubble walls look more primitive. So I'm wondering if some of the wood (and other) coverings were to give a cosmetic lift to older or cheaper built walls to not only show off but to get into the modern (contemporary) look at any given time.
@@neilmackay5655 Not only that, but as I said in a different comment, I wonder how many walls which were made to look like brick were merely mud bricks which were painted to look like stone-work, or even using a mortar mixture with a rendered face/facing in which grooves were made so it looks like stone or terracotta brick houses, with the grooves painted a different color than the flat sides, to look like there is mortar binding the bricks, or even flat walls which are whitewashed and have lines drawn so it looks like perfectly-flat brick-work, because perfectly-flat brick-work would also be present, because rick people don't want their guests' clothes to get caught in the corners and rip, so they don't have to pay and lose prestige due to the house being dangerous.
In much of south eatsern England, castles, just like churches, we're mainly made of flint with stone work only at corners, doorways etc, places that required more definite structure. A flint wall is both ugly and particularly rough, with many sharp extrusions, you would want the inside walls either plastered, and or covered with tapestries.
I think that you underestimate the utility of fabric wall hangings in environmental control. Stone absorbs heat but may never feel warm to the touch, fabric, on the other hand, can feel warm and the air space between fabric and stone is an effective insulation space. Castles, or for that matter, any stone building, collect damp; condensation forms on the walls during cold, or English weather; fabric covering could be both decorative and functional. Curious if fabric wall hangings are more prevalent in northern European countries as opposed to say southern Spain or Italy. You do good, Shad of Diversity.
My family had to spend a winter in a tent with only a iron stove for heating. We hung thick moving blankets up on the tube steel that formed the walls and over the front and back doors. They really did work keeping the heat inside.
I mentioned similar in my comment before seeing this, but one thing you miss is how well fabric can absorb and control dust, and therefore be cleaned out later, whether beaten or washed. This was a great advantage in more arid climates. Also, cloth doesn’t absorb as much heat as stone so brocades could help keep the internals of a building cool when exposed to a lot of sun.
Another thing about these hanging brocades: If you soak that cloth with water on a hot day, especially near the window, evaporation will cool things off inside. That makes it a sort of middle ages air conditioner.
I'm surprised Shad didn't mention how the cloth on the walls would also help a lot with echo dampening. Just try to go on a tour of a mostly intact castle as the guide tries to speak and every whisper from the tourists nearly drowns out everyone else. Cloth on the walls would help a lot.
Great point. Sound deadening could well be another reason to bring it with as well as identifying the specific court in attendance at the home of a lessor lordling
Couple of other uses to the same practice: chronicling and heraldry. Wall-hanging tapestries were often made to depict symbols and coats of arms of the house to whom the building belonged to, as well as to show important historical and mythological events from the house's history. Also about their prevalence - making such things on a loom was a typical work for the women of the house (often depicted even in legends and fairy-tales) as a communal pastime, and as such was something that could be produced internally by the household, with no need to hire any external help or invest in unusual resources, unlike painting.
@@MechaShadowV2 From what I understand, brocade is just a name for a textile woven to have patterns of some sort - don't know the name, but the kind where the pattern "stick out" from the body of the cloth. Tapestry is a specific name for a decorative wall adornment, especially showing some actual pictures. So Shad uses the word brocade kinda loosely here. It is the type of cloth, but one could have a brocade clothing as well. Or a brocade couch, for example. Tapestry can also be made to be a brocade, but always refers to wall adornment.
Ah, someone already pointed out the acoustics. Let me add one more thing to it though, since in Finland we still use some of those, they're called "ryijy" up here and are both decorations, meant to muffle the echo in larger buildings like halls where people eat of gather, but also in colder climates thick wall cloth can also act as a insulation making walls leak less warmth outside. So there's at least three purposes on those wall-cloths and since building anything from 100% stone or brick, or heck even wood means it's not very well insulated in winter months, there's a added benefit of having thick cloth on the wall to insulate inner walls.
Your discussion around the brocade work makes me wonder if wallpapering was a development from that work. If I google "Renaissance Era Wallpaper" I see similar patterns, and the same if you fast forward to say, "Regency Era Wallpaper". This makes me wonder what other more modern home design or style elements have their roots in the Medieval Period, at least from an influence perspective. Good food for thought.
Wainscotting also derives from that period. You can see this pattern in practically everything. As economies around the globe liberalized and the middle class came into being, they immediately adopted the historical signs of wealth from the (eventual) former nobility. If you were a wealthy burgher in the Late Middle Ages or early Renaissance, you promptly adopted as much of the nobility's signs of wealth as you could afford, starting with white wash and working your way up.
From what I know, wallpaper only became a thing after Europe established trade with Japan. Before that you either had patterns painted on the wall, or you had a wall-carpet/tapestry
in a way yes....so Shad showed examples of them just hanging. which they did; however, we also know they did this really cool thing were they wrapped cloth around boards to create a cloth paneling, and then would tile their walls and ceilings. not exactly wallpaper....but like a transitional step to doing it?
From wall cloth to wall paper. Not exactly a huge leap. You could say there's a difference in that wallpaper is glued onto the wall, while brocades are hung, but there is wallpaper made from cloth. You can also nail it to the walls, which was done with either as far as I know.
Yeah, it was. I have very cool book about all of that, sadly, only in Czech. First you had wall hangings just like in the pictures Shad showed us, which could and would be packed when the nobility moved castles (especially ruling courts moved often, if i remember right), then you started to have dedicated hangings in each place (if there were no nobles in residence, they would be taken off and kept safe in chests by the chatelain). The fashion of smooth cloth panelling came shortly after, and the decorations stayed on the walls permanently. Rococco style is good example of this. It became basically a cloth wallpaper. True wallpaper as we consider it started as a cheaper version of cloth, made from paper, glue and textile dust - it was velvety looking. Also, asian paper wallpapers were popular and shortly after it started to be used more widely, and the expensive cloth/damask went out of fashion by the start of the 20c. Of course, brocade, damask and other expensive fabric were used only in the most prominent houses, you could have something cheaper in your hunting chateau... And also tapestries, gobelines were in fashion much of the period. They followed the same pattern, first pack -with, then stay but hidden, last affixed to the place permanently.
It's important to note that almost every castle that isn't in ruins has been lived in even after the medieval period ended and thus were redecorated from time to time to suit the tastes of the era. Warwick Castle for example, has a Baroque style dining room and very few of its rooms retain their medieval style.
It’s not really so much about getting things ‘right or wrong’ with medieval and ancient history as it is about being able to back up your points with feasible sources.
true because everything that is historical face is still really just estimation or theory and is trusting writings or into passed down by word of mouth
@@SergioLeonardoCornejo It's so funny how they're motivated so hard to rewrite history in a way that.. completely undermines their motivation (e.g. underrepresentation, persecution, etc) in doing so in the first place. That'd be like "I'm so poor, I'm going to write down a higher balance in my checkbook. That'll PROVE I need more donations!"
@@SergioLeonardoCornejo actually no, research is the vehicle which allows you to understand to understand the topic and formulate your points. It goes hand in hand with backing up your point but is not itself the main factor
I do love how using these cloth coverings for the walls is so practical as well, especially when you consider redecorating the walls of a captured keep. Using cloth to either cover or replace old enemy colors with your own.
This is why I really appreciate your videos. You put in a ton of time and research into the topic based on a thesis, formulate all of that, and come to a conclusion. When new evidence comes up that is additional or conflicting you take the time to actually investigate. It really adds credit and validity to your content.
Tapestries and brocades were also given in dowries and as presents because good fabric was not (and has never really been) inexpensive. Some were even made with actual gold that was formed into thread. And the resulting weight of the tapestry and brocades was astronomical. So anything they were attached to had to be of hearty construction most of the time.
It also makes so much more economical sense to commission a tapestry than to commission a mural. You can have a large group working on a brocade or tapestry because they can do it from where they live and have it brought to the castle upon completion rather than have to have a bunch of artists crowd your rooms, have to find housing for or for them to be traveling back and forth all the time...
After I watched the original video, I didn't leave that thinking that wood panneling was super common; just that it was done. So I'm not so sure that you overstated it as much as you feel you did. That being said, it's awesome to see a correction video for points you felt were incorrect in some way! One of the few youtubers that don't just try to rush by it. Loving the new video so far!
It is interesting how the brain works. You can skip somethings for years then someone points out an error and your like umm what the hell... its everywhere.
The first thing that came to my mind is that with cloth you would be able to change the athmophere of the room depending on, feasts, special guests,... Say the king or another noble visits and you want to welcome them with their heraldry.
Or the king might travel with their signature wall cloth setup similar to how the US president travels with a signature speaking stand that shows the symbolic seal of the office of the president. So anyone entering the royal function will instantly recognize from experience or artwork that the king is there and what part of the room they occupy.
Another advantage of brocade covered walls is the reduction of echo arising in huge, high ceilinged stone rooms. This would give a room a nice, homey ambience, making it more suitable for receiving guests and having conversations. Perhaps in certain settings that may have been a disadvantage, like if you wanted to convey power and dominance by the echoes resounding in a throne hall.
The awesome thing about brocades is that they were't just used in castles. Even peasants used them in their houses for decoration and insulation. In Romania there are still people doing this to this day. Brocades make walls look so awesome.
I'm sure these hangings added some minor insulation, that would be the most straight forward appeal to me. Also a side note, that would cause a bit of sound dampening too.
So, the tl;dr is a medieval castle interior can have: Bare Stone/Masonry Plain Paint/Whitewash Pattern Paintings Murals Wood Pannels Wall Carpets/Wall Curtains(?) Hey Shad! The wall carpet interior reminded me of tapestries! Are there medieval art that interiors are also decorated with tapestries? Also canvas paintings too?
@@martialartess thank you, from the moment I saw the thumbnail I thought "tapestries" and it makes so much sense in so many different areas that it seemed unfathomable that Shad didn't understand the importance and presence of them before now... I wonder if per chance it might have something to do with him living in such a warm climate? Oh well he knows now and that's great :)
Follow up videos like these always make me admire Shad's way of acknowledging responses and counterclaims in the name of good information. Cheers mate!
It's funny because in the manga "Bride Stories/Otoyomegatari" the hanging brocade/tapestry is exactly how interior wall decoration is depicted. In one of the early chapters a carpenter describes a house being built to a child and the interior is bare wood with carpet on the floor and hanging tapestry/brocade that can be changed and cleaned whenever desired. so when you started to describe how bare stone could be decorated in a historical setting my first thought was "Well hanging tapestries probably that would be the easiest to cover stone with..."
I wonder about cleaning back then. my thought throughout this entire video was "what if you splatter your food a little, or touch the wall as you go past (I guess they wouldn't be reaching for the light switch, but), or any of the many reasons that make me so glad for modern painted drywall you can wipe down with a sponge?" i mean hanging cloth behind your dining room table is begging for a cleaning job that they simply aren't equipped to do. even if they had washing machines, the brocade'd never fit in there.
@@KairuHakubi they had a whole society, they were equipped to wash rugs. They had whole facilities devoted to cleaning, and cleaning with vinegar and other natural shit has been around a while
I love the research and passion and not only does he admit he's wrong but he corrects it and removed the other video that spreads miss information,I will continue watching for years to come as I have already done, thanks shad
Hey Shad great video. There are some points I would like to add. The practice of using brocades actually might be where the notion of secret passage ways comes from. A door behind a brocade would not be visible. To have a secret door would be a lot harder with any type of "naked" wall. One other type of decorations, similarly used to brocades would have been tapestries. Especially when you have artwork showing big pictures on the wall. Those might have been tapestries.
Also one thing about brocades: medival nobility often traveled the land from castle to castle. With brocades you can move "your style" with you, or rather ahead of you. Which also gives the benefit of not having to outfit every of your castles with expensive decorations. Not every noble person was a king or Duke. Who had an abundance of funding.
Screens passages refer to the hallway that runs aside or at one end of a haul and typically built of stone and/or wood, much like the narthex of a church (or even a breezeway), but yeah, tapestries could well be used to create temporary passages of that type as well as conceal exits (especially for lords or servants)
This is one of the reasons I enjoy Shad so much. When he’s wrong he acknowledges it and attempts to rectify his mistakes and back them up with sources. Oh and he’s the best history teacher one could ever hope to have.
What always fascinates me is how we get off track in terms of our historical representations. Usually movies haha. I did like how in the 1960s movie Jack the Giant Killer some of the interior rooms were beautifully painted.
We hang cloth with patterns at various larp events, but I honestly had no idea that was a case of parallel evolution (if you will). This is awesome to know, thanks Shad! My gaming group and future readers of my highly successful novels (well, one can dream) will enjoy this tidbit!
Obviously you're an American, hence why you didn't know this school boy fat, that tapestries were hung on walls, and you call info, tidbits, in English it's titbit! Lol
Hey Shad. I actually have heard these mentioned, and they formed a pretty important part of my mental image of the interior of a castle, but because of their removable nature I never associated them with your descriptions of the interior of castles. My source of knowledge is primarily from historical novels in reference to their thermal insulation properties. The most obvious reference that jumps to mind is in "Ivanhoe" (published 1819 by Sir Walter Scot where he describes the castles of the female lead Rowena as needing the brocade for insulation because her poor Saxon castle was drafty. There are many more examples of course but they are most commonly mentioned in passing in the context of providing concealments for secret passages and so something like- "She/he caught a movement of the hangings out of the corner of her/his eye and his/her heart pounded. Was someone watching?" The other reference is generally to the state of repair as an indicator of the current wealth of the castle owner. "tattered and moldering brocade" vs "the brocade on the walls was faded but clean" kind of thing. I suspect your ignorance of these might be a result of you failing to read enough classic medieval romance novels.
"I don't get embaresd when I have something wrong, all you have to do is admit it." < Shad, casually pointing out the thing most people somehow find extremly difficult, and they rather lie...
I'm surprised you're surprised. As far back as I can remember I always knew castles were adorned with tapestry. Wondering where the knowledge came from, I traced it back. As a french kid who grew up in the 90's in the suburb of Paris, the Middle Age was an obvious part of primary school, and quite a few time we have been brought to museums to see medieval stuff. And in the museum of Cluny, we have an extremely famous serie of tapestry called La Dame à la Licorne. I'm certain it was the museum guide who taught us about medieval tapestry, to explain the context of why what we were looking at was even existing.
I think Shad was the victim of an overcompensating pendulum swing. I'm older than Shad, and I remember when I was young there was a common misconception that castle interiors were ALWAYS hung with tapestries, at least in sleeping quarters and the great hall. It was pervasive in medieval fantasy literature for a couple of decades. In reality, they were largely a feature of the late medieval period only, and some of the more famous tapestries date from the early Renaissance. (Acts of the Apostles, commissioned by Pope Leo X in 1515 is a set of 10 tapestries commonly misattributed to the late medieval period.) Academia eventually took a census and realized that there weren't all that many medieval tapestries. They were relatively robust, so if there had been a lot of them, there should have been a lot more surviving examples. There are some, but there aren't a great many of them. It makes sense when you realize that production of a single very large, elaborate tapestry would monopolize the output of a weaver for half a year. So I think there was overcompensation in the other direction, and a belief that that there were no hangings, or that they were limited to throne hangings. Incidentally, La Dame à la Licorne is only considered a tapestry of the late middle ages because of its art style and because of the style of dress of the woman depicted in them. The actual commissioning date of the series is unknown, and it doesn't show up in surviving records until the 1700s.
First image to appear. Bodiam. The most castly, castle to have castled. 😁 Ask a kid to draw a castle, they will draw Bodiam. Great vid Shad, admitting mistakes and showing what you've learnt since is why I love this channel.
I love these deeper dives into castles. You should start your own series where you travel to individual castles and discuss their history and design elements. Learning history, architecture, design functions, secret elements, etc from you would be great. Your excitement makes the content interesting. Start with Malbork castle. Not the oldest, but one of my favorites.
Hey Shad, not really fully related to the video but I've been meaning to bring this up for quite a while. Maybe you'd be interested to check out the Belgrade Fortress. It is a monstrosity 2000 years in the making with elements ranging from a bared piece of the wall of a Roman castrum to WW1 earthworks. You'd also maybe be interested in the castles of Golubac on the Danube, which is pretty well preserved from what I've seen, and the castle at the city of Uzice which was recently restored but always held a special place in my heart for its positioning and overall feel. Another interesting tidbit of trivia about that one is that it is a medieval fortress without many later improvements that was blown up in the 19th when the Ottomans were leaving the area as they considered it unassailable and thus too dangerous to leave in rival hands... allegedly
Shad I want to but you know I recognize how careful you are being in your videos. I understand that not always right, and you do a good job of explaining that. And people still make videos about not liking your technique or how you explain something, especially out of context. Keep up the hard work! I love your videos and your brothers videos.😄
Y'see guys?? Shad is a pretty humble person and he CAN admit he's wrong. So why don't we all follow his example and be more open to being wrong in order to, as Shad puts it, grab the opportunity to learn fascinating new things we otherwise wouldn't have learned.
@@PJDAltamirus0425 I could see the first too, it I’ve always been of the opinion that nunchucks aren’t the great weapons Hollywood makes them out to be. None of the counter arguments seemed any good to me too.
@@PJDAltamirus0425 That's 'cause in those instances he's already double checked, BUT there is still the possibility that he could be wrong. My advice is that we rewatch his videos, check the sources he cites or ask him for them, and see if he missed something, AND THEN we can decide if he's wrong or we are.
@@asphaltshingles8594 I agree. If anything, nunchucks seem more like weapons that you use to train your senses and reflexes to avoid hurting yourself with any weapon.
I really like the way you handle errors, respect! Everyone makes misstakes unless doing nothing and that would be the biggest misstake of all, the question is, will you learn from the misstakes and you do. Again, my high respect for you is growing even further
@@bryanwells4063 English isn't my native language and Im well aware my spelling has errors, but trying to improve. 🙂 And now i know that mistake, thanks 😃
Hi Shad, another great video from you. I would only add to the insulation of the brocades. I was working 4 seasons as castle guide and by standing near a wall for longer time you start to feel the cold from it. It is really bad on your back, brocades are good to prevent this cold flow. When you imagine they were sitting for hours at a feast something insulating behind them would really help. Also another point to wooden insulation in Czech region for some rooms they were using half-timbering (not sure if correct term). There is one room i know about that is preserved from middle ages until today.
I very much appreciate your humility. My motto is: I love being wrong because then I get to learn something new. Thanks, Shad! 8:15 I get the feeling that the wooden object in this room may be a wardrobe rather than an alcove. 17:46 Lemme just get my fabric guru hat on real quick… Brocades we’re historically made of silk. Silk is very good at keeping you warm, whether on your body or on the walls, since it has great insulating properties. This is likely why these brocades were hung above the bottom of the window. I can’t imagine that those windows were 100% air tight, so the brocade would have been an excellent solution to blocking a draft.
Considering how Renaissance era things are often attributed to the medieval ages... 500 years later, people will be referring to Shad's castle in the middle of Australia as an authentic medieval castle.
Some representative tapestries still survive. You can check some museum archives to see if they have them on display. I believe the Getty Center in Los Angeles has some. What you refer to as brocades are called tapestries.
When a castle is sacked, ANYTHING that was of value and light weight was taken. Anything that wasn't ruined in the sacking. That and time is why I think there are so few left.
Hey Shad. You know when people talk about time-travel into the Medieval times, and they think about what skills or tools they need, and EVERYONE FORGETS TO LEARN LATIN AND GREEK? It would be nice to have insight on this matter - not being able to communicate with either nobility or clergymen should set you in a pretty dire situation.
@Paul Gauthier Still. You'd be able to perfectly communicate with at least one group. The older versions of current languages are nearly incomprehensible, worsening the further back you go.
Castle video! Finally! Love them. Hanging cloth on walls is also good for dampening echo, loud noise can bounce quite unpleasantly from hard walls of a large hall.
Thanks for the video. This has opened a new thought in my mind. In a previous video you mentioned repurposed Roman watchtowers as medieval castles. And here you talked about how a lot of castles were changed during the renaissance to fit the new interests of the people. So I ask, what sort of changes would a medieval lord make to a Roman or other ancient building they got ownership of and lived in?
One example of a totally repurposed roman building for really different function I know is the thermae of Cluny in Paris which were Roman bath which as early as the VIth century were repurposed as a royal palace by the Merovingians, after apparently under Philippe Auguste (who resided at the Palais de la Cité royal residence since the Xth century) it was still known as the palatium de Terminis when he gave it to his chamberlain so it still had a palatial purpose in the XIIIth century before becoming part of an abbey in the next century.
I really like the idea of using fabric to decorate the walls! You can swap it out whenever you want as long as you have the fabric. You could have seasonal or festive themes. It would muffle sound, not as good as carpet but in a similar way. Its insulating. AND it helps with cleaning dust as new fabric would help grab passing dust from the air, and when it's changed it can be cleaned or (most probably) just beaten out again outside.
In retrospect that makes sense! Learning stuff like this is always so interesting. Thank you for posting all that you do, Shad. That said: I do wonder if it might be more common in painting because the brochade provides an interesting texture and color to the painting.
Can you do a video on the staff of the castle, how kings or lords lived their day to day life, who they talked to, people that worked closely with the kings, advisors stewards and others and what their role was. also if anyone knows if there is a place I can get info on this can you link or guide me to it, thanks.
THIS, this right here is why I enjoy watching as well as trust the content put forth on this channel. Thank you Shad for your integrity and sharing your passion for learning with us!
18:43 tapestry and cloth wall covers are pretty integral to my perception of middle-ages interiors but that might be from a German perspective with high interest in needle works to begin with. Some European cities are famous for their brocades while the inventorys of traveling monachs had even more samples
Once again, one of the best ways to learn new things is to cofidently state the wrong thing online. Someone will correct you before you even finished typing your comment. Even if there was no intent or knowledge of the wrongness here with Shad. And I appreciate the correction and humbleness to admit being wrong.
I won't say I ever thought this was the case, but I do kind of feel like I just kind of realized it in the back of my mind intuitively. I don't know, it's kind of cool to have someone do the leg work and confirm it, but it's just an obvious thing when you really think about it I just don't find it as amazing as you do. Still, thanks for putting in the leg work on it, that's the amazing part to me. That someone would care enough to research it in whatever why they can to confirm it.
The difference between Shad and most scientists, historians, etc, is that Shad willingly admits when he's wrong and will gladly correct his mistakes, because he's happy to learn. This is one of the reasons I have so much respect for Shad.
Awesome video Shad, I think there is proper name for "brocades" and it's tapestry or arrases (from city of Arras in France, leading manufacture center of those in Europe since XIV century if I remember correctly) this form of decoration continued in to renaissance and even baroque (perhaps due to small ice age in the begining of XVII century), but obviously style of decoration evolved. So if you want reaserch more on that you can search those two keywords.
I considered tapestries but the wall hangings seem to be distinctly different due to their volume, size and style. Most tapestries were not as big as the bayeux tapestry and are defined as tapestries due to the scenes they're depicting where as a pattern is not a tapestry but a brocade.
@@shadiversity Ah I see your point, translation to english and precise wording missled me. You are right, with the distinction, even if some of tapestries can be pretty big, especially in set like Apocalypse one, they doesn't apear nearly as big as those on the iconography, and now I wander if there are any archeological finds of those brocades. That's thought provoking, how big piece of fabric medieval people could do?
@@L3nyDraws They could make them as big as they want because they would just sew them together. Broadcloth in England (generally the widest cloth in standard production) was 1.75 yards wide and regular cloth was about half that.
Really happy you revisited this as I've used similar descriptions to the white-painted horse-hair plaster walls in my published fantasy stories to depict poorer landowners :) The medieval art on the stone walls is awesome!
Modern Misconceptions: Lizardmen don't make for an interesting Fantasy Rearmed. Actually, being ectothermic (need less oxygen e.g. under water and may have explosive power but can't do much endurance) and having a tail, perhaps a string bite, etc. make for a fascinating contemplation. A related misconception is that it's not worthwhile to come to the conclusion that different species fight with similar weapons because apparent differences don't matter as much as perhaps perceived.
I'm glad you are so dedicated to details and honest about when you get something wrong (even when it's just a cosmetic detail). So many people today act insulted and defensive when they find out they were incorrect. We're all human and learning is a never ending process
An underappreciated weapons video on the staff sling would fit right in to your repertoire. Combining that with a discussion about their use on pitched battles vs siege (offence and defense) would be legendary.
This is why I enjoy watching your channel, Shad. Not only do you know your stuff for the most part, but your excitement at knowing it is off the charts. You are more exited by learning something new than you are disappointed at getting something wrong. Your excitement to learn replaces the know it all attitude so many have, and it leads both you and us to discover more than we would have otherwise.
Goddamit, it was just two days ago when I was racking my brain with creating the castle's interior for my World of Darkness RPG module. Your video would have saved so much of my time xD
It never occurred to me that such a big enthusiast as you can be unaware of the real/practical use of tapisseries, like the bayeux one. What i find very interesting in your display of artworks is the appareance of decorated floor tiles; it will be interesting to find a time frame. By the way, the squares on the ceiling are the frame of the next/uppermost floor whithout the masking we use in modern time.
I never considered that they would use hanging fabric to decorate, but it's so obvious from the pictures, it's shocking. It really does make me wonder if any scholars in the area has noticed those little loops and hooks. I've just not heard of it before.
This video is why I love this channel. Learning is so awesome thank you Shad! ... Did you mention how they could be used with specific patterns to represent their house or family in someway too?
Also, since the volume of fabric in one's wardrobe could attest to one's wealth: fabric being quite expensive due to being handmade, I would imagine having fabric "just" hanging on one's walls would also attest to one's wealth. Thank you for this video. Very well done, Sir!
I love that you acknowledge your mistakes and publicly correct your statements. Too many people refuse to learn, double down on their "information" or pretend it didn't happen. It's not wrong to be incorrect, it's what you do when you're informed you're mistaken that I judge people on. It's why I watch you and why I trust what you say. That's a long way to say - Thanks Shad!
This sentiment is seconded Shad! Keep up what you do. I know I greatly appreciate your work.
I knew there would be a comment like this. Fucking obvious bullshit.
as honest as a true knight, that be the measure of sir shad
"It's not wrong to be incorrect." That should be a quote for today's people to learn from.
And he wasnt even completly wrong. He was wrong in some details, but at the same time he was right in general: people were decorating the walls in the Middle ages. Btw same with Greco-Roman statues, many of them were painted.
One thing I notice in the pictures you chose, it's possible that all these options may have been in one castle too, used in different parts. In that one picture with bare walls they seem to be at entrance, same with kitchen, there there are white washed or painted walls in living quarters and hallways, and then brocades used in main hall, bedrooms and heavily in ladies chambers. So even if it's likely that different castles and lords preferred one style, it's also possible that interiors weren't uniform, to avoid that pendulum swing too.
That occurred to me as well. It seems to me that the elaborate murals would be most likely to appear in the chapels or other religious sections of castles, with depictions of saints and holy events, to show the owner's devotion to God. And since people are encouraged in such places to remain reverently silent and listen to the mumblings of a priest, those areas would be the least likely to hang brocades if they dampen sound (which another comment discussed). But brocades might well appear around the confession nook, so that whispers don't carry.
I'm wondering if there are properties of period rendering, painting, and plain stone that affect how easy it is to clean. For instance, most people agree that carpets are not the ideal floor covering in modern kitchens or bathrooms, but use linoleum or similar easily cleaned surfaces. Medieval people probably had the same idea, so if plain polished stone is easier to wash, that would be the first choice for walls and floors in the kitchens. Whereas I would think the entrance hall would be one of the first places to receive an "impressive" surfacing, seeing as it's the first place a visitor would be let into. Or it could be left modest to demonstrate the owner's humility. All depends on what exactly they're trying to say.
Also I didn't see any mention in this video of tapestries and how those fit into this decoration idea. Like, do tapestries mainly appear over bare or rendered stone, while walls covered in murals stay bare?
Next we're going to be told that, based on 1960's home fittings, avocado green has not always been a color of preference for kitchens and washrooms!
I don't even know what's real anymore!
(sarcasm)
Let us not forget even nowadays homogenous interior decoration is rare and almost exclusive to workplace.
Every inhabitant of a castle will prefer to express individuality.
@@Nurk0m0rath GRR Martin mentions tapestries several times when describing the castles of Westeroes. i cant remember what else he actually says about them but i remember the picture in my mind was of thick curtains
@@russellwarren9595 Well...I was referring to historical tapestries, not fantasy ones. It's "common knowledge" that they were prevalent in historical castles, from which comes their popularity in fantasy, and I'm very curious how accurate that depiction is, and if there's any nuance to it that isn't commonly known.
Hmm, a smoothly laid stone wall might be rather expensive, so perhaps the stone was left bare to showcase wealth, as opposed to not so fine brickwork that might be hidden below a layer of paint. Very thought provoking as always, Shad!
And pierrefonds was built in 19th century, so its stonework isnt representative....
I was thinking the exact same thing.
Dressed stone means paying masons to shape and tidy even well quarried stone.
Which is, as shad pointed out, quite pleasing to the eye in it's own right.
Still in the showing off wealth realm as you say though.
Plus on a more esoteric note dressed stone in 'civilised' for want of a better word. Rubble walls look more primitive.
So I'm wondering if some of the wood (and other) coverings were to give a cosmetic lift to older or cheaper built walls to not only show off but to get into the modern (contemporary) look at any given time.
It's ugly, so it's unlikely
@@neilmackay5655 Not only that, but as I said in a different comment, I wonder how many walls which were made to look like brick were merely mud bricks which were painted to look like stone-work, or even using a mortar mixture with a rendered face/facing in which grooves were made so it looks like stone or terracotta brick houses, with the grooves painted a different color than the flat sides, to look like there is mortar binding the bricks, or even flat walls which are whitewashed and have lines drawn so it looks like perfectly-flat brick-work, because perfectly-flat brick-work would also be present, because rick people don't want their guests' clothes to get caught in the corners and rip, so they don't have to pay and lose prestige due to the house being dangerous.
In much of south eatsern England, castles, just like churches, we're mainly made of flint with stone work only at corners, doorways etc, places that required more definite structure. A flint wall is both ugly and particularly rough, with many sharp extrusions, you would want the inside walls either plastered, and or covered with tapestries.
I think that you underestimate the utility of fabric wall hangings in environmental control. Stone absorbs heat but may never feel warm to the touch, fabric, on the other hand, can feel warm and the air space between fabric and stone is an effective insulation space. Castles, or for that matter, any stone building, collect damp; condensation forms on the walls during cold, or English weather; fabric covering could be both decorative and functional. Curious if fabric wall hangings are more prevalent in northern European countries as opposed to say southern Spain or Italy. You do good, Shad of Diversity.
My family had to spend a winter in a tent with only a iron stove for heating. We hung thick moving blankets up on the tube steel that formed the walls and over the front and back doors. They really did work keeping the heat inside.
it's like window curtains; maybe not much isolation but great for controlling drafts
speaking from experience and knowing people who lived in castles, it's warmer
they'd also spend different amounts of time in different parts of the castle
so summer more whitewashed parts or bare, winter more covered parts
I mentioned similar in my comment before seeing this, but one thing you miss is how well fabric can absorb and control dust, and therefore be cleaned out later, whether beaten or washed. This was a great advantage in more arid climates. Also, cloth doesn’t absorb as much heat as stone so brocades could help keep the internals of a building cool when exposed to a lot of sun.
Another thing about these hanging brocades: If you soak that cloth with water on a hot day, especially near the window, evaporation will cool things off inside. That makes it a sort of middle ages air conditioner.
Or it might add to the humidity and make things more unbearable?
Swamp cooler is not air conditioner.
@@richardwoodrum1568 Only if the weather was humid already. Dry heat is a thing in a number of regions.
I'm surprised Shad didn't mention how the cloth on the walls would also help a lot with echo dampening. Just try to go on a tour of a mostly intact castle as the guide tries to speak and every whisper from the tourists nearly drowns out everyone else. Cloth on the walls would help a lot.
You can even notice this effect when you take down all the curtains in a room.
Great point. Sound deadening could well be another reason to bring it with as well as identifying the specific court in attendance at the home of a lessor lordling
Couple of other uses to the same practice: chronicling and heraldry. Wall-hanging tapestries were often made to depict symbols and coats of arms of the house to whom the building belonged to, as well as to show important historical and mythological events from the house's history.
Also about their prevalence - making such things on a loom was a typical work for the women of the house (often depicted even in legends and fairy-tales) as a communal pastime, and as such was something that could be produced internally by the household, with no need to hire any external help or invest in unusual resources, unlike painting.
What's the difference between brocade and tapestry, if you don't mind my asking?
@@MechaShadowV2 From what I understand, brocade is just a name for a textile woven to have patterns of some sort - don't know the name, but the kind where the pattern "stick out" from the body of the cloth.
Tapestry is a specific name for a decorative wall adornment, especially showing some actual pictures.
So Shad uses the word brocade kinda loosely here. It is the type of cloth, but one could have a brocade clothing as well. Or a brocade couch, for example. Tapestry can also be made to be a brocade, but always refers to wall adornment.
Ah, someone already pointed out the acoustics. Let me add one more thing to it though, since in Finland we still use some of those, they're called "ryijy" up here and are both decorations, meant to muffle the echo in larger buildings like halls where people eat of gather, but also in colder climates thick wall cloth can also act as a insulation making walls leak less warmth outside. So there's at least three purposes on those wall-cloths and since building anything from 100% stone or brick, or heck even wood means it's not very well insulated in winter months, there's a added benefit of having thick cloth on the wall to insulate inner walls.
Your discussion around the brocade work makes me wonder if wallpapering was a development from that work. If I google "Renaissance Era Wallpaper" I see similar patterns, and the same if you fast forward to say, "Regency Era Wallpaper". This makes me wonder what other more modern home design or style elements have their roots in the Medieval Period, at least from an influence perspective. Good food for thought.
Wainscotting also derives from that period. You can see this pattern in practically everything. As economies around the globe liberalized and the middle class came into being, they immediately adopted the historical signs of wealth from the (eventual) former nobility. If you were a wealthy burgher in the Late Middle Ages or early Renaissance, you promptly adopted as much of the nobility's signs of wealth as you could afford, starting with white wash and working your way up.
From what I know, wallpaper only became a thing after Europe established trade with Japan. Before that you either had patterns painted on the wall, or you had a wall-carpet/tapestry
in a way yes....so Shad showed examples of them just hanging. which they did; however, we also know they did this really cool thing were they wrapped cloth around boards to create a cloth paneling, and then would tile their walls and ceilings. not exactly wallpaper....but like a transitional step to doing it?
From wall cloth to wall paper. Not exactly a huge leap. You could say there's a difference in that wallpaper is glued onto the wall, while brocades are hung, but there is wallpaper made from cloth. You can also nail it to the walls, which was done with either as far as I know.
Yeah, it was. I have very cool book about all of that, sadly, only in Czech. First you had wall hangings just like in the pictures Shad showed us, which could and would be packed when the nobility moved castles (especially ruling courts moved often, if i remember right), then you started to have dedicated hangings in each place (if there were no nobles in residence, they would be taken off and kept safe in chests by the chatelain). The fashion of smooth cloth panelling came shortly after, and the decorations stayed on the walls permanently. Rococco style is good example of this. It became basically a cloth wallpaper. True wallpaper as we consider it started as a cheaper version of cloth, made from paper, glue and textile dust - it was velvety looking. Also, asian paper wallpapers were popular and shortly after it started to be used more widely, and the expensive cloth/damask went out of fashion by the start of the 20c.
Of course, brocade, damask and other expensive fabric were used only in the most prominent houses, you could have something cheaper in your hunting chateau... And also tapestries, gobelines were in fashion much of the period. They followed the same pattern, first pack -with, then stay but hidden, last affixed to the place permanently.
It's important to note that almost every castle that isn't in ruins has been lived in even after the medieval period ended and thus were redecorated from time to time to suit the tastes of the era. Warwick Castle for example, has a Baroque style dining room and very few of its rooms retain their medieval style.
It’s not really so much about getting things ‘right or wrong’ with medieval and ancient history as it is about being able to back up your points with feasible sources.
true because everything that is historical face is still really just estimation or theory and is trusting writings or into passed down by word of mouth
@@hleroklite And what can be proven right about castle decoration and dressing for one place in one decade might be wrong a mere fifty miles away.
Research, actually. Sometimes sources might have a bias. Like the BBC claiming people of African ancestry were ubiquitous in medieval England nobility
@@SergioLeonardoCornejo It's so funny how they're motivated so hard to rewrite history in a way that.. completely undermines their motivation (e.g. underrepresentation, persecution, etc) in doing so in the first place. That'd be like "I'm so poor, I'm going to write down a higher balance in my checkbook. That'll PROVE I need more donations!"
@@SergioLeonardoCornejo actually no, research is the vehicle which allows you to understand to understand the topic and formulate your points. It goes hand in hand with backing up your point but is not itself the main factor
I do love how using these cloth coverings for the walls is so practical as well, especially when you consider redecorating the walls of a captured keep.
Using cloth to either cover or replace old enemy colors with your own.
I really appreciate how you handle criticism. You are a great role model in several ways. Keep it up!
I think he’s an entp
Tapestries fulfilled the same function. Another benefit of these would be that they knock down the echo in these rooms
This is why I really appreciate your videos. You put in a ton of time and research into the topic based on a thesis, formulate all of that, and come to a conclusion. When new evidence comes up that is additional or conflicting you take the time to actually investigate. It really adds credit and validity to your content.
Tapestries and brocades were also given in dowries and as presents because good fabric was not (and has never really been) inexpensive. Some were even made with actual gold that was formed into thread. And the resulting weight of the tapestry and brocades was astronomical. So anything they were attached to had to be of hearty construction most of the time.
It also makes so much more economical sense to commission a tapestry than to commission a mural. You can have a large group working on a brocade or tapestry because they can do it from where they live and have it brought to the castle upon completion rather than have to have a bunch of artists crowd your rooms, have to find housing for or for them to be traveling back and forth all the time...
After I watched the original video, I didn't leave that thinking that wood panneling was super common; just that it was done. So I'm not so sure that you overstated it as much as you feel you did.
That being said, it's awesome to see a correction video for points you felt were incorrect in some way! One of the few youtubers that don't just try to rush by it. Loving the new video so far!
It is interesting how the brain works. You can skip somethings for years then someone points out an error and your like umm what the hell... its everywhere.
The first thing that came to my mind is that with cloth you would be able to change the athmophere of the room depending on, feasts, special guests,... Say the king or another noble visits and you want to welcome them with their heraldry.
Or the king might travel with their signature wall cloth setup similar to how the US president travels with a signature speaking stand that shows the symbolic seal of the office of the president.
So anyone entering the royal function will instantly recognize from experience or artwork that the king is there and what part of the room they occupy.
@@johndododoe1411 Yes, that would make sense.
@@johndododoe1411 yep, identifies that the King's Court is in residence at a particular castle during a Progress :)
Another advantage of brocade covered walls is the reduction of echo arising in huge, high ceilinged stone rooms. This would give a room a nice, homey ambience, making it more suitable for receiving guests and having conversations. Perhaps in certain settings that may have been a disadvantage, like if you wanted to convey power and dominance by the echoes resounding in a throne hall.
The awesome thing about brocades is that they were't just used in castles. Even peasants used them in their houses for decoration and insulation. In Romania there are still people doing this to this day. Brocades make walls look so awesome.
brocades or carpets?
@@Tallorian bouth
That's because the people who live in Romania are the people who work in our hand car washes and men pleasure palaces...
I'm sure these hangings added some minor insulation, that would be the most straight forward appeal to me. Also a side note, that would cause a bit of sound dampening too.
Props to that mystery commenter for helping Shad bring us this awesome detail. Thank you Shad for this discovery.
i love your ability to grow and admit mistakes you've made
So, the tl;dr is a medieval castle interior can have:
Bare Stone/Masonry
Plain Paint/Whitewash
Pattern Paintings
Murals
Wood Pannels
Wall Carpets/Wall Curtains(?)
Hey Shad! The wall carpet interior reminded me of tapestries! Are there medieval art that interiors are also decorated with tapestries? Also canvas paintings too?
Actually, these brocades *are* a type of tapestry
don't forget about hanging animal skins and mounted heads!
@@martialartess thank you, from the moment I saw the thumbnail I thought "tapestries" and it makes so much sense in so many different areas that it seemed unfathomable that Shad didn't understand the importance and presence of them before now... I wonder if per chance it might have something to do with him living in such a warm climate? Oh well he knows now and that's great :)
Follow up videos like these always make me admire Shad's way of acknowledging responses and counterclaims in the name of good information. Cheers mate!
It's funny because in the manga "Bride Stories/Otoyomegatari" the hanging brocade/tapestry is exactly how interior wall decoration is depicted.
In one of the early chapters a carpenter describes a house being built to a child and the interior is bare wood with carpet on the floor and hanging tapestry/brocade that can be changed and cleaned whenever desired.
so when you started to describe how bare stone could be decorated in a historical setting my first thought was "Well hanging tapestries probably that would be the easiest to cover stone with..."
I like that story.
I was thinking of Otoyomegatari, too.
I wonder about cleaning back then. my thought throughout this entire video was "what if you splatter your food a little, or touch the wall as you go past (I guess they wouldn't be reaching for the light switch, but), or any of the many reasons that make me so glad for modern painted drywall you can wipe down with a sponge?" i mean hanging cloth behind your dining room table is begging for a cleaning job that they simply aren't equipped to do. even if they had washing machines, the brocade'd never fit in there.
For me, I recall Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail, when he gets into the castle impersonating a Scottish lord to look at the tapestries.
@@KairuHakubi they had a whole society, they were equipped to wash rugs. They had whole facilities devoted to cleaning, and cleaning with vinegar and other natural shit has been around a while
I love the research and passion and not only does he admit he's wrong but he corrects it and removed the other video that spreads miss information,I will continue watching for years to come as I have already done, thanks shad
Hey Shad great video. There are some points I would like to add. The practice of using brocades actually might be where the notion of secret passage ways comes from. A door behind a brocade would not be visible. To have a secret door would be a lot harder with any type of "naked" wall. One other type of decorations, similarly used to brocades would have been tapestries. Especially when you have artwork showing big pictures on the wall. Those might have been tapestries.
Also one thing about brocades: medival nobility often traveled the land from castle to castle. With brocades you can move "your style" with you, or rather ahead of you. Which also gives the benefit of not having to outfit every of your castles with expensive decorations. Not every noble person was a king or Duke. Who had an abundance of funding.
Screens passages refer to the hallway that runs aside or at one end of a haul and typically built of stone and/or wood, much like the narthex of a church (or even a breezeway), but yeah, tapestries could well be used to create temporary passages of that type as well as conceal exits (especially for lords or servants)
This is one of the reasons I enjoy Shad so much. When he’s wrong he acknowledges it and attempts to rectify his mistakes and back them up with sources. Oh and he’s the best history teacher one could ever hope to have.
What always fascinates me is how we get off track in terms of our historical representations. Usually movies haha. I did like how in the 1960s movie Jack the Giant Killer some of the interior rooms were beautifully painted.
We hang cloth with patterns at various larp events, but I honestly had no idea that was a case of parallel evolution (if you will).
This is awesome to know, thanks Shad!
My gaming group and future readers of my highly successful novels (well, one can dream) will enjoy this tidbit!
Obviously you're an American, hence why you didn't know this school boy fat, that tapestries were hung on walls, and you call info, tidbits, in English it's titbit! Lol
Hey Shad. I actually have heard these mentioned, and they formed a pretty important part of my mental image of the interior of a castle, but because of their removable nature I never associated them with your descriptions of the interior of castles.
My source of knowledge is primarily from historical novels in reference to their thermal insulation properties. The most obvious reference that jumps to mind is in "Ivanhoe" (published 1819 by Sir Walter Scot where he describes the castles of the female lead Rowena as needing the brocade for insulation because her poor Saxon castle was drafty.
There are many more examples of course but they are most commonly mentioned in passing in the context of providing concealments for secret passages and so something like-
"She/he caught a movement of the hangings out of the corner of her/his eye and his/her heart pounded. Was someone watching?"
The other reference is generally to the state of repair as an indicator of the current wealth of the castle owner.
"tattered and moldering brocade" vs "the brocade on the walls was faded but clean" kind of thing.
I suspect your ignorance of these might be a result of you failing to read enough classic medieval romance novels.
"I don't get embaresd when I have something wrong, all you have to do is admit it." < Shad, casually pointing out the thing most people somehow find extremly difficult, and they rather lie...
I just watched castle reviews from early Shadiversity and was sad that Shad stopped doing castle stuff.
And voilà, he posts a castle-related video!
I'm surprised you're surprised. As far back as I can remember I always knew castles were adorned with tapestry. Wondering where the knowledge came from, I traced it back. As a french kid who grew up in the 90's in the suburb of Paris, the Middle Age was an obvious part of primary school, and quite a few time we have been brought to museums to see medieval stuff. And in the museum of Cluny, we have an extremely famous serie of tapestry called La Dame à la Licorne. I'm certain it was the museum guide who taught us about medieval tapestry, to explain the context of why what we were looking at was even existing.
I think Shad was the victim of an overcompensating pendulum swing. I'm older than Shad, and I remember when I was young there was a common misconception that castle interiors were ALWAYS hung with tapestries, at least in sleeping quarters and the great hall. It was pervasive in medieval fantasy literature for a couple of decades. In reality, they were largely a feature of the late medieval period only, and some of the more famous tapestries date from the early Renaissance. (Acts of the Apostles, commissioned by Pope Leo X in 1515 is a set of 10 tapestries commonly misattributed to the late medieval period.) Academia eventually took a census and realized that there weren't all that many medieval tapestries. They were relatively robust, so if there had been a lot of them, there should have been a lot more surviving examples. There are some, but there aren't a great many of them. It makes sense when you realize that production of a single very large, elaborate tapestry would monopolize the output of a weaver for half a year. So I think there was overcompensation in the other direction, and a belief that that there were no hangings, or that they were limited to throne hangings.
Incidentally, La Dame à la Licorne is only considered a tapestry of the late middle ages because of its art style and because of the style of dress of the woman depicted in them. The actual commissioning date of the series is unknown, and it doesn't show up in surviving records until the 1700s.
Here in Belgium this is very common knowledge as well. Perhaps interesting how geographical location can influence our knowledge.
@@kurtmichiels6593 this was known among my peers in the US as well fwiw.
First image to appear. Bodiam. The most castly, castle to have castled. 😁 Ask a kid to draw a castle, they will draw Bodiam.
Great vid Shad, admitting mistakes and showing what you've learnt since is why I love this channel.
How is the building project for castles coming along? Any updates?
I m from Germany and this is known to be a "Wandteppich". In english "wallcarpet"
I love these deeper dives into castles. You should start your own series where you travel to individual castles and discuss their history and design elements. Learning history, architecture, design functions, secret elements, etc from you would be great. Your excitement makes the content interesting. Start with Malbork castle. Not the oldest, but one of my favorites.
Hey Shad, not really fully related to the video but I've been meaning to bring this up for quite a while. Maybe you'd be interested to check out the Belgrade Fortress. It is a monstrosity 2000 years in the making with elements ranging from a bared piece of the wall of a Roman castrum to WW1 earthworks.
You'd also maybe be interested in the castles of Golubac on the Danube, which is pretty well preserved from what I've seen, and the castle at the city of Uzice which was recently restored but always held a special place in my heart for its positioning and overall feel. Another interesting tidbit of trivia about that one is that it is a medieval fortress without many later improvements that was blown up in the 19th when the Ottomans were leaving the area as they considered it unassailable and thus too dangerous to leave in rival hands... allegedly
Shad I want to but you know I recognize how careful you are being in your videos. I understand that not always right, and you do a good job of explaining that. And people still make videos about not liking your technique or how you explain something, especially out of context. Keep up the hard work! I love your videos and your brothers videos.😄
Everyone knows this one, Shad -- they were dingy and grey and loaded with enough torch brackets to asphyxiate an elephant!
Don't forget bare stone everywhere. Medieval people loved the cold and clammy feel of rough-hewn bare stone.
Don't forget, there was also dirt and mud everywhere.
@@IamOutOfNames Good for the complexion, dontcha know
@@robbylava And goes well with the brown and grey of their clothes, too.
A main channel AND Knights Watch upload on the same day? Shad, you spoil us!
Y'see guys?? Shad is a pretty humble person and he CAN admit he's wrong.
So why don't we all follow his example and be more open to being wrong in order to, as Shad puts it, grab the opportunity to learn fascinating new things we otherwise wouldn't have learned.
....well, she hasn't done that for the problem with Hema, back scabbards, knives and nunchucks.
@@PJDAltamirus0425 She? Are we talking about the same person?
@@PJDAltamirus0425 I could see the first too, it I’ve always been of the opinion that nunchucks aren’t the great weapons Hollywood makes them out to be. None of the counter arguments seemed any good to me too.
@@PJDAltamirus0425
That's 'cause in those instances he's already double checked, BUT there is still the possibility that he could be wrong. My advice is that we rewatch his videos, check the sources he cites or ask him for them, and see if he missed something, AND THEN we can decide if he's wrong or we are.
@@asphaltshingles8594
I agree. If anything, nunchucks seem more like weapons that you use to train your senses and reflexes to avoid hurting yourself with any weapon.
I really like the way you handle errors, respect!
Everyone makes misstakes unless doing nothing and that would be the biggest misstake of all, the question is, will you learn from the misstakes and you do. Again, my high respect for you is growing even further
Yeah, kinda like your mistake in spelling mistake! Lol
@@bryanwells4063 English isn't my native language and Im well aware my spelling has errors, but trying to improve. 🙂 And now i know that mistake, thanks 😃
Hi Shad, another great video from you. I would only add to the insulation of the brocades. I was working 4 seasons as castle guide and by standing near a wall for longer time you start to feel the cold from it. It is really bad on your back, brocades are good to prevent this cold flow. When you imagine they were sitting for hours at a feast something insulating behind them would really help. Also another point to wooden insulation in Czech region for some rooms they were using half-timbering (not sure if correct term). There is one room i know about that is preserved from middle ages until today.
I very much appreciate your humility. My motto is: I love being wrong because then I get to learn something new.
Thanks, Shad!
8:15 I get the feeling that the wooden object in this room may be a wardrobe rather than an alcove.
17:46 Lemme just get my fabric guru hat on real quick…
Brocades we’re historically made of silk. Silk is very good at keeping you warm, whether on your body or on the walls, since it has great insulating properties. This is likely why these brocades were hung above the bottom of the window. I can’t imagine that those windows were 100% air tight, so the brocade would have been an excellent solution to blocking a draft.
Considering how Renaissance era things are often attributed to the medieval ages... 500 years later, people will be referring to Shad's castle in the middle of Australia as an authentic medieval castle.
Some representative tapestries still survive. You can check some museum archives to see if they have them on display. I believe the Getty Center in Los Angeles has some. What you refer to as brocades are called tapestries.
When a castle is sacked, ANYTHING that was of value and light weight was taken. Anything that wasn't ruined in the sacking. That and time is why I think there are so few left.
Very humble, unlike your eldin ring comment section. I appreciate this kind of content!
Hey Shad. You know when people talk about time-travel into the Medieval times, and they think about what skills or tools they need, and EVERYONE FORGETS TO LEARN LATIN AND GREEK? It would be nice to have insight on this matter - not being able to communicate with either nobility or clergymen should set you in a pretty dire situation.
@Paul Gauthier Still. You'd be able to perfectly communicate with at least one group. The older versions of current languages are nearly incomprehensible, worsening the further back you go.
Castle video! Finally! Love them. Hanging cloth on walls is also good for dampening echo, loud noise can bounce quite unpleasantly from hard walls of a large hall.
Thanks for the video. This has opened a new thought in my mind. In a previous video you mentioned repurposed Roman watchtowers as medieval castles. And here you talked about how a lot of castles were changed during the renaissance to fit the new interests of the people. So I ask, what sort of changes would a medieval lord make to a Roman or other ancient building they got ownership of and lived in?
One example of a totally repurposed roman building for really different function I know is the thermae of Cluny in Paris which were Roman bath which as early as the VIth century were repurposed as a royal palace by the Merovingians, after apparently under Philippe Auguste (who resided at the Palais de la Cité royal residence since the Xth century) it was still known as the palatium de Terminis when he gave it to his chamberlain so it still had a palatial purpose in the XIIIth century before becoming part of an abbey in the next century.
@@QuiroLeonarth vey interesting, thanks for letting me know. I hope I remember to check it out.
I really like the idea of using fabric to decorate the walls! You can swap it out whenever you want as long as you have the fabric. You could have seasonal or festive themes. It would muffle sound, not as good as carpet but in a similar way. Its insulating. AND it helps with cleaning dust as new fabric would help grab passing dust from the air, and when it's changed it can be cleaned or (most probably) just beaten out again outside.
The cloth hanging on the walls could also help with the sound echoing.
I love this about Shad. When he knows he's wrong, he makes an effort to correct himself. He's a real gentleman and scholar.
In retrospect that makes sense! Learning stuff like this is always so interesting. Thank you for posting all that you do, Shad.
That said: I do wonder if it might be more common in painting because the brochade provides an interesting texture and color to the painting.
Shad is the only person on youtube who can be wrong, admit he was wrong, and still be awesome. :)
Can you do a video on the staff of the castle, how kings or lords lived their day to day life, who they talked to, people that worked closely with the kings, advisors stewards and others and what their role was.
also if anyone knows if there is a place I can get info on this can you link or guide me to it, thanks.
THIS, this right here is why I enjoy watching as well as trust the content put forth on this channel. Thank you Shad for your integrity and sharing your passion for learning with us!
18:43 tapestry and cloth wall covers are pretty integral to my perception of middle-ages interiors but that might be from a German perspective with high interest in needle works to begin with.
Some European cities are famous for their brocades while the inventorys of traveling monachs had even more samples
I love how the thumbnail makes it look like your hiding the revelation but your actually showing it.
Once again, one of the best ways to learn new things is to cofidently state the wrong thing online. Someone will correct you before you even finished typing your comment. Even if there was no intent or knowledge of the wrongness here with Shad. And I appreciate the correction and humbleness to admit being wrong.
I won't say I ever thought this was the case, but I do kind of feel like I just kind of realized it in the back of my mind intuitively. I don't know, it's kind of cool to have someone do the leg work and confirm it, but it's just an obvious thing when you really think about it I just don't find it as amazing as you do. Still, thanks for putting in the leg work on it, that's the amazing part to me. That someone would care enough to research it in whatever why they can to confirm it.
You are a true historian. Well done Shad. Great stuff!
To err is human; to forgive, divine. To geek out over castles, Shad.
Better question: "How did they decorate the MACHICULLATIONS?"
I really appreciated all the wall hanging discussion in the Wheel of Time
The difference between Shad and most scientists, historians, etc, is that Shad willingly admits when he's wrong and will gladly correct his mistakes, because he's happy to learn. This is one of the reasons I have so much respect for Shad.
I wouldn't say most scientists and historians. It's probably relative to how loudmouthed they are, though.
Awesome! I love all the information you give and the honesty and compassion you have for that information.
I've always heard it said "The best way to get the correct answer is to post the wrong answer on line"....
YESSS
so true
I knew about the paintings looking like wallpaper, but did not know about the wall rugs. Cheers!
It was a very elegant, informative and enjoyable way of learning from a mistake and improving upon it. Well done, great attitude!
I like how this video managed to be even more informative than the original. You should link the original in this ones description for comparison.
Awesome video Shad, I think there is proper name for "brocades" and it's tapestry or arrases (from city of Arras in France, leading manufacture center of those in Europe since XIV century if I remember correctly) this form of decoration continued in to renaissance and even baroque (perhaps due to small ice age in the begining of XVII century), but obviously style of decoration evolved. So if you want reaserch more on that you can search those two keywords.
I considered tapestries but the wall hangings seem to be distinctly different due to their volume, size and style. Most tapestries were not as big as the bayeux tapestry and are defined as tapestries due to the scenes they're depicting where as a pattern is not a tapestry but a brocade.
@@shadiversity Ah I see your point, translation to english and precise wording missled me. You are right, with the distinction, even if some of tapestries can be pretty big, especially in set like Apocalypse one, they doesn't apear nearly as big as those on the iconography, and now I wander if there are any archeological finds of those brocades.
That's thought provoking, how big piece of fabric medieval people could do?
@@L3nyDraws They could make them as big as they want because they would just sew them together. Broadcloth in England (generally the widest cloth in standard production) was 1.75 yards wide and regular cloth was about half that.
I love the video editing and picture choice when talking about clean and modest stone.
Better question, which kings and lords and barons etc. had the most drip
Really happy you revisited this as I've used similar descriptions to the white-painted horse-hair plaster walls in my published fantasy stories to depict poorer landowners :) The medieval art on the stone walls is awesome!
Modern Misconceptions: Lizardmen don't make for an interesting Fantasy Rearmed.
Actually, being ectothermic (need less oxygen e.g. under water and may have explosive power but can't do much endurance) and having a tail, perhaps a string bite, etc. make for a fascinating contemplation. A related misconception is that it's not worthwhile to come to the conclusion that different species fight with similar weapons because apparent differences don't matter as much as perhaps perceived.
I raise the spine disappointment
Yes! Ive been waiting for you to go back to castles eagerly.
Hello Shad !
Pease like so that Shad sees it .
I bet the cloth brocade had a practical use as well. Like wrapping your room in a blanket. (as you noted at around 17:50)
I've heard it said that one of the fastest ways to get people to teach you things for free is to be wrong on the internet.
also tapestries, sort of halfway between the painted murals and the hanging brocade coverings
I'm glad you are so dedicated to details and honest about when you get something wrong (even when it's just a cosmetic detail). So many people today act insulted and defensive when they find out they were incorrect. We're all human and learning is a never ending process
An underappreciated weapons video on the staff sling would fit right in to your repertoire. Combining that with a discussion about their use on pitched battles vs siege (offence and defense) would be legendary.
Great example of a willingness to learn and a desire to give accurate information!
This is why I enjoy watching your channel, Shad. Not only do you know your stuff for the most part, but your excitement at knowing it is off the charts. You are more exited by learning something new than you are disappointed at getting something wrong. Your excitement to learn replaces the know it all attitude so many have, and it leads both you and us to discover more than we would have otherwise.
Love the passion you put into everything you work on. Really looking forward to seeing every little detail you put into Shadow of the Conqueror
Goddamit, it was just two days ago when I was racking my brain with creating the castle's interior for my World of Darkness RPG module. Your video would have saved so much of my time xD
It never occurred to me that such a big enthusiast as you can be unaware of the real/practical use of tapisseries, like the bayeux one.
What i find very interesting in your display of artworks is the appareance of decorated floor tiles; it will be interesting to find a time frame.
By the way, the squares on the ceiling are the frame of the next/uppermost floor whithout the masking we use in modern time.
I never considered that they would use hanging fabric to decorate, but it's so obvious from the pictures, it's shocking. It really does make me wonder if any scholars in the area has noticed those little loops and hooks. I've just not heard of it before.
This video is why I love this channel. Learning is so awesome thank you Shad! ... Did you mention how they could be used with specific patterns to represent their house or family in someway too?
Also, since the volume of fabric in one's wardrobe could attest to one's wealth: fabric being quite expensive due to being handmade, I would imagine having fabric "just" hanging on one's walls would also attest to one's wealth. Thank you for this video. Very well done, Sir!
Kinda like a medieval wallpaper, neat!
Great video Shad
It makes sense to hang Brocades, adds decoration & could help add some insulation.
Hey props for this video. This is absolutely the right way to go about recognizing a mistake and making a correction.