Chausses And Braies
Garments for the Medieval Leg

    The purpose of this article is to provide guidance for medieval enthusiasts, especially members of the Society For Creative Anachronism, who wish to wear more authentic medieval clothing for the legs and lower torso as was worn from the period of the late 12th century through the 14th century. Let me start off by saying that my research has intentionally not been complete, and should therefore not be considered a scholarly study, yet I believe it will prove very helpful.  Furthermore, I am not aware of any extant examples of these garments*, so all of my research has been from the examples seen in illustrated medieval books. These books were illustrated in contemporary styles, and so when an artist depicted an event from a more ancient time, the artist will depict the figures wearing clothing from the artist's period.

* Note: Since writing this article, I have become aware of some Viking bog and 14th c. English finds which do contain examples of chausses. There are web sites which contain archeological descriptions of them, including drawn patterns and scale, fabric type, etc. These chausses differ from mine in that the legs are single pieces which wrap around the front and seam up the back. They also differ in having a single foot top which wraps down to a seam along the bottom center of the foot to just before the heel. This is most clearly shown in the pair belonging to the Bocksten Bog Man. I suggest that you read my article to get an idea of the shapes and what you need to finish your set, then try making a set based on the archeological patterns. Use this article as a guide to help you through it. For SCA purposes and comfort, you may desire to use my version of the foot for its non-authentic padded sole. My instructions for pinning the leg to get a good fit will also be useful.

    The lower body and legs in this period were typically clothed in a pair of white pants called Braies, and the legs were usually covered with individual stocking-like garments which were known as Chausses (hose). My understanding is that a material such as linen would be typical for the Braies, while the Chausses could also be made of wool. Typically, chausses seem to have been secured to the braies by a cord which ties them to a belt which is contained inside a casing within the braies.

    I am unsure as to whether any undergarment such as a breech cloth was worn. However, I have seen a great many illustrations of men in various stages of undress due to being tortured, working in the fields, or as in the case of King Saul below, taking a dump. Never have I seen a loincloth on the figures, and I would expect that if they were worn, then they ought to have shown up sometimes in illustrations such as ones depicting nearly nude bodies being tossed into a cremation bonfire.

    There are some sources with painted reconstructions of what chausses and braies looked like. Some very easy to understand art can be seen in the Osprey Publications of the Warrior Series books. On plate "L" in Norman Knight 950-1204 AD we see an illustration of chainmail chausses worn over cloth chausses, worn over braies. The problem with these books is that they do not tend to document the sources, so we are left to wonder how much of the depiction is documentable and how much is really just conjecture. Personally, I believe that the authors do a lot of solid research, but I find it frustrating that they do not cite sources. The Osprey artist didn't depict the braies with a casing which is bunched up like a roll, and the "belt" cord passes in and out of the braies several times through a series of small holes. We can't know if they got it right or not.

    However, in the Osprey book Knight Of Outremer 1187-1344 AD we have several good illustrations of chausses and braies. There is even a good painting of gamboised chausses, and these illustrations are supported by the pictures which I am including on this web page.
 
 

King Saul in a Private moment

    In this illustration from The Maciejowski Bible, Paris, about 1250, we see white braies with blue chausses. The illustration shows a definite slit in the waist casing. Inside the casing a green belt band is visible.
 
 

Workers in the Field

    This illustration from the Maciejowski Bible shows that braies were worn as pants, and not a private garment as we consider modern underwear. Notice the length is long, at least to the mid calf. Length changes as time goes on. By the fourteenth century they become very short. In the period when the chausses stop being separate hose and get joined in the back and covered with a codpiece in the front, you may begin to think of them more as modern underwear, but not in this early period.

    Notice how the farmer has drawn the corners of the cuffs up to the waist slit with the same cords he would garter the cuffs with otherwise. I have another illustration of cuffs being gartered with cords beneath the knee, but unfortunately the picture went with my ex-wife in divorce. It was a mid 13th c. picture of St. Christopher out of the Westminster Psalter, and if you have the Janet Backhouse book Illuminated Manuscripts you can find it in there. So we will have to make due with the following contemporary illustration:
 
 

    The first illustration is from the deBrailles Hours, and like the illustration from the Life of St Alban and Amphibalus, it is from Mid 13th century England. Note the voluminous appearance of the braies and the substantial amount of fabric in the casing at the waist. The sample from Paris in the first 1/3 rd of the next century is equally long, but this more realistic illustration shows considerably less volume. The French art, from the Petite Hours of Jeanne d'Evreaux shows a narrow belt or cord inside the casing. You will also notice that this illustration clearly shows the typical slit up the lower thigh. This is the same slit which allowed the braies of the worker above to be tied up to the hip. It is not clear to me whether the slit is usually only on the inseam or also on the outside which seems to be the case here. Other illustrations appear to show it running up the inside of the leg.

    The location of the waist cord is low on these garments. Notice that it rides below the Ilium (top pelvic protrusion) which we normally belt above in modern times. This is not only important for the look to be right, but I have found another really good reason for it.

    These guys use a narrow cord to tie their waists. It is padded a little by the casing roll, but narrow bands concentrate the pressure on the ilium when worn up high. However, by wearing it under the ilium it rides on both the hip and the buttocks. The pressure is so relieved on me that I tie all of my civilian and gamboised chausses, as well as my cuisses and metal polyns up to that same cord with no discomfort! I find this amazing, since I used to suspend my leg harness on a modern wide belt at the modern place to wear a belt, and it would give me some pain and bruises on my ilium after a few hours. I do not have a lot of extra body fat and am well muscled, so the comfort and wearability of this arrangement is good for me. It may be different for someone of a different build. More muscle and fat there will pad it, but your shape may cause you to have to belt it at a different height.
 
 

The 14th Century and later:

1st half 14th c. Catalonia
The Love Breviary
 

    This illustration shows the shortening of the braies in the mid 14th century, but notice that we still see one slit in the front where the belt cord gets tied, and a slit in front of each hip. The slit is not on the side of him. It is slightly forward of the hip.
 
 
 

Illustrations from the Hours of Catherine of Cleves. Flanders About 1440.

  Left: Braies from the Martyrdom of St. Erasmus. Right: Chausses of St. Sebastian. The thing to notice in these braies is that they are nearly crotch short and the volume of material is greatly reduced to accommodate much closer fitting chausses. The casing though still has the same three slits, and this time we can see that the cords are represented as very thin. Notice also that the cords which tie the chausses to the braies originate at the top of the chausse and two of them go up to the casing and are tied there. The Osprey book illustrations showing cords showed them as single cords which tied to themselves. Either way may be correct, but it's hard to tell. The Maciejowski Bible shows a guy with the cord seeming to be tied just above the top of the chausse. This may indicate that the cord is just tied as a loop and passes through a grommet or leather hole in a reinforcement on the chausse and then passes over the waist belt. It makes a lot of sense that way. My personal experience is that it is really easy to tie with two ends available rather than tying to itself on both ends.
 
 

Next: Making a set of Chausses and Braies

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