Gürtel im Mittelalter | Wiegand von Marburg

Oh, is there still room? You still need a belt for the belt. Hello and welcome to a new vegan video. This time it should be about an accessory or part of the clothing. In any case, an indispensable accessory for everyone who wants to move in the Middle Ages and that actually through all centuries. Namely, it should be about belts. Why are belts so important? Well, they are not there to keep your pants up, like today. Because you can also do that with a bow or a simple leather cord from me. Or you can nestle on a vest or a bum later. But a belt for a pants, which is then also hidden, the belts were too expensive and too valuable for that. And you actually had a belt more for that. First, to demonstrate a bit that you can afford something like that. So it's also a bit of status. And secondly, because you can also hang things on a belt. For example a knife, a bag, a bag. Maybe also some other object, for example a key chain or something similar. But you shouldn't hang too much on it, even today in the display. So overloading the belt too much, that usually looks pretty strange. And as far as I know, there is also no delivery for that. But bags, knives as well. And where else should you put them? Except in a handbag maybe. So the belt is on the one hand a fashionable accessory. It is also a bit of representation. So show what you have. And also practical, because you can just hang things on it, which you always want to have ready to go. I brought a whole selection with me. And I want to say a little something about it. Just to give you an overview. And also a little bit maybe to keep you away from mispurchases. Or possibly just to give an orientation, which belt suits you. Or maybe the right one would be. Speaking of mispurchases. So of course I bought a lot of nonsense at the beginning. Things that I didn't use afterwards. Or that I soon sold. Or that I still have somewhere to hang. And where I think like that. Well, you could have saved yourself. My very first belt, however, was not so bad. I bought this belt from a real leather dealer on the medieval market. And it has an iron buckle. Is made of real, solid, real leather. Is sewn. And the buckles of this shape actually existed. So you can read it afterwards, it is proven. The only problem, so historically correct it is not again. Because, and I didn't really pay attention to that, this belt is just way too wide. If you look at this with an inch or meter, then we have almost 4 cm through width here. And the buckle, which is even almost 6 cm wide. And belts of this width are just almost not available. So you can just look at the foundry. No matter whether in the Viking Age or in the High Middle Ages or in the Late Middle Ages. It is extremely rare that you have found belts over 4 cm wide at all. And 6 cm buckles are basically hardly or not at all. So that means, I did almost everything right. But I couldn't know that with the width. Today I still use it, especially to hold the chain belt or the chain armor on the hip. This is just a really strong belt and it is particularly suitable for this. And I mean, it also fits to the armor to some extent. Then you can represent that. But as I said, normally as a civilian belt I would not wear it anymore. So what fits better? The second type of belt that I then bought. So if you want to save a little money, above all. These are such belts that we used to call Morocco belts or Morocco belts. Whether they really come from there, I don't know exactly. Maybe they are also from India. In any case, you don't often get them from such flying dealers somewhere on the flea market. Or depending on whether you've been to the Christmas market or something. You probably know. And then I just take off the chrome buckle. And at the blacksmith's I buy a simple D buckle made of iron. And then I just sewed it here with such a leather strap, if you will. Or knotted. That lasts forever, looks pretty good and is also relatively cheap. So belts of this kind are usually around 20 euros or even cheaper. Depending on the length. And the buckles are not that expensive either. That means you are maybe with 30 euros for such a belt. Whether such a pattern is of course as historical as possible. Yes, and the way this leather strap is decorated again. Probably not. So I don't know of any example where it is shaped exactly like that. But it's not that far from medieval decor either. That you could say now, that doesn't work at all. So if you don't take it that carefully and if you want to save a little money. He could do it with this kind of belt and a nice, simple iron buckle. Actually quite well and that's also cheap. The width here. The width here is about 3 cm and the buckle about 4 cm. That's pretty close to the historical original. So belts of this width have also been found. If not so many. How do I know that at all? What width, what size roughly these belts had. Well, again from books, for example. You can even get a complete book. Identify, determine, describe. But this one mainly describes the belt from the folk migration and early Middle Ages. You can also find a lot about belts in this book, for example. And in our case here. Spurensuche Haithabu. Here are first of all the forms that have been found. And secondly, the frequency of the forms. And, for example, the width, the length of the buckle and the material. That means you can actually draw conclusions here. What was useful, what was not so useful. What is a typical everyday object and what is not so much. Maybe even better than, for example, found at the grave. Grave donations are not always necessarily typical for everyday culture. Sure, because of course you take someone into the grave. Maybe the best things he had. Let's say he gave me the Sunday start. Or even something ritual. It is not said that someone with the same clothes also walked around in everyday life. Or who used it again and again. That's why you always have to be a little careful with grave donations. While finds near houses, in latrines, for example. Or, for example, in the harbour basin, like in Haithabu. Which could just have fallen out of the ship. Or crumpled out of a bag or something like that. You can already draw conclusions that it may be everyday culture. As always. So who, for example, now wants to move as a Viking actor in the room Haithabu. It's good to actually take a closer look at this. And maybe take the buckle that was most common there. So an iron buckle. About 2 cm belt width. That means between 1.8 and 2.2. Something like this, for example. That has the right width. And of course the right material. Because in contrast to these belts here. You get them again and again. And they're not that cheap either. And I would say that was also a mispurchase. Of course it looks good. But as I said, it's too wide. Secondly, the material is not really historical. These buckles are either made of a kind of brass or zamak. But zamak is a material that can be poured quite well. And looks a bit like silver. And is relatively cheap. And that is always used for buckles and bracelets. Today on medieval brands or at cheaper vendors. And as I said, zamak simply did not exist at that time. In contrast, for example, to these beads. They are made of tin. I don't know about the buckle. I guess that's zamak. So I would have to exchange them. But the beads are actually made of tin. And tin used to be a valuable material. So similarly valuable, maybe even like silver. And certainly also popular for such decorations. For example on belts. By the way, especially for the Viking Age. I also like to wear webbord belts. That means it is acceptable that women have rather taken such webbord belts. But not just women. Of course, this also applies to men. And I think that's particularly pretty. So that has something magnificent. And in the past it might even have been cheaper than leather. So yes, it actually fits very well in time. And is also still quite smooth today. And of course you can then close it at the ends with such a braid. Or actually make buckles on it again. For this, at least in later times, i.e. already in the High Middle Ages, there are also evidence that webbord belts were used with buckles. And they should then also be a little wider than the normal 2 cm, which were otherwise usually used. Anyway, back to the material and what you might not use. What you can't use at all are such shopping belts. First of all, because chrome buckles are really strikingly unhistorical. They shine wonderfully, but there were no such buckles. I would have to look up when the chrome was invented at all. But I would say 20th century. Maybe you know better, then write it in the comments when it was invented exactly. But in the Middle Ages it was not guaranteed. And what is even worse, even if there is leather on it, with these shopping belts, I'll show you what's really in there. So, now I have cut such a belt for you. And then you can see it quite well. Let's see if that brings the focus here. It is in sandwich construction. Inside mostly with cardboard and on the outside with really very thin split leather, sewn, glued and sewn. Because with that you can save a lot of material again. The expensive leather can be used very thinly for many, many belts. And inside is just cheap cardboard. And if you want to shorten such a belt, for example, and then make it a little smaller, because you think it's somehow too long, then you realize that it doesn't work with these things. So chrome buckle, loop and cardboard core inside you just don't need at all. Even if there is leather on it. You can see it from a distance, this is a cheap shopping belt. So it's best to forget it right away. By the way, if you want to attach the buckle to the belt, then you can sew it once. Yes, such a sewn form has definitely helped. Or you can sew it with a belt sheet. These sheets should of course fit the buckle as much as possible, also in terms of material. Then you either take a thin iron sheet or maybe even a silver sheet or bronze, depending on what you have on hand and what fits in between. So I would usually take an iron sheet and then sew it with full stitches. Very important, of course, if you go away from the simple shapes, from the simple D buckle or the simple rectangular shape and comes to a decor, then you would have to look even more closely, does this actually fit into the time that I want to represent. So, for example, in the Viking Age there are different styles. As far as I know, this is Jelling style, there is Boris style, there is urn style and so on. Maybe you can google that yourself. And then you can say, well, it doesn't matter. But it doesn't really matter. If I basically want to represent a Viking near Heidabu in the 8th century and I have a belt in urn style, then a connoisseur knows that it doesn't fit the urn. It came much later, so 10th, 11th century and not already in the 8th. So don't take something that has only been developed later. And if you don't know that very well, then ask someone who knows it better or just look it up on the Internet. There are plenty of information pages about it. Of course, you can also write me a comment or send me a photo. You know, I can be reached by e-mail, of course also via Facebook and Instagram. And if you want to ask me for advice here and there, you can find me there and I will answer every comment. You know that. For later times, of course, it is the same. So when I'm in the High Middle Ages or in the Late Middle Ages, then of course I make sure that I take something from the style, from the shape that fits this time. So this is, for example, my High Middle Ages belt and I have this one in the Late Middle Ages or this one here or this one here in Gothic time. As I said, you just look at it. There was the one in the width, there was the buckle shape and that's about what I usually want to do. Of course you can take any other one, but it would be a shame if you already bought a belt and then you actually misplaced it in the wrong century. So now a word about the way of wearing. Basically, this looping method is insanely popular in the entire Middle Ages scene. That is, I have now simply hooked the belt and then I take it through once and through the loop that is here I pull the end of the belt. This is really insanely popular and can be seen everywhere. The problem with this is only for the Early and High Middle Ages there is no proof at all. Even if it looks stupid, but in the Middle Ages you can often see, for example on statues, on church portals or in illustrations, that the belt end actually just hangs down like that. It's a bit unusual for us, looks a bit funny, but that would actually be historically more accurate than this looping method. And if you don't want that, you can just easily attach the buckle end, i.e. the belt tongue, somewhere on the belt. That's enough, too. That means I would then just take the belt tongue and just stick it somewhere, whether from above or from below. Would be a possibility. But as I said, just let it hang like that is also OK. Provided, at least, I'm there in the Early Middle Ages and not in the Late Middle Ages. Oh, something else. Of course, only expensive belts, magnificent belts, also have a belt tongue at the end. Belt tongue and or belt buckles, it's clear, that depends again on what kind of booth you want to represent. Are you a high-ranking merchant, maybe? Or are you possibly just a little craftsman or a farmer who doesn't necessarily walk around with such a magnificent belt? So here you shouldn't wear too much, less is more, I would say at this point. And by the way, that also applies to everything you put on it. Oh, of course, I completely forgot. You also need a drinker on your belt. No, of course you don't. As far as I know, there are no proofs for that either. Yes, there were drinkers for vikings, but they were for rituals, festivals and funerals and not to put them around your belt every day. But you probably already know that. I will put a few links in the info area below where you can get good belts, possibly also cheaper than maybe somewhere else or at least suitable for what you need. In particular, I can recommend Dragal. I wouldn't have made this wonderful sword belt without his help. That actually makes sense again. And Dragal has a page that offers an incredible amount of information about belts. You can also take a look at that if you don't want to afford a thick book or if that's too much for you and you just want to get some information on the Internet quickly. As I said, I'll put a link in the info area below. I'm just doing this because I'm convinced of him. It's not a product placement, but I've already written to him a couple of times and I also have a few belts from him and that's why I can recommend him. Just take a look at the website. Maybe there's something for you too. So, next time I'll be out again in the outdoor area, because it's getting too warm in here. Spring is coming and you can't really see it, but around my outdoor area, a very special herb grows, namely hops. And I'll show you that. And the topic that it will be about next time is beer. I'm already looking forward to it. I hope you enjoyed it today and of course I hope that you will be there again next time. And maybe you are also interested in the topic. So until then and until next time. Bye.