This blog grew from two things - at a surface level it grew out of a series of Facebook Postings on a group called "The Neville Guide to the Wars of the Roses", in which I babbled about fifteenth-century costume, arms and armour to a group a tangentially interested readers and writers of historical fiction (devotees of the "toff soap-opera" narrative of the period, as I sometimes think of them). Deeper down, it grows out of a fascination with the period which started in childhood with the Ladybird title "Warwick the Kingmaker", and subsequent readings of Josephine Tey's "The Daughter of Time" and Paul Murray Kendall's biography of Richard III.
Later, I got involved in Wars of the Roses reenactment and thus drawn into the dark labyrinth of authenticity (this doublet is wool, yes; but what breed of sheep? How wide was the loom on which it was woven? What dyes and mordants were applied? Hand-stitched, of course. But what precise material was the needle made from? What sources are there for that exact stitch? Do contemporary manuscripts bear out that pattern of doublet being worn with that design of boot?).
Anyway... some of those who originally read the FB posts may appreciate better sourcing and some illustrations. Hence the blog. Enjoy.
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