The Middle Ages: Jakke, Fortuna, Bellina, and Troy
Research on the middle ages is a giant compact group of both hypothesizes and speculations. There's a lot of evidence for what we do know about dogs and their relationship to people as viewed in middle age art. However, we can't actually know because we can't ever get the 'truest' form of evidence there is: a direct conversation with the artist. What we come up with makes sense, but it's difficult to agree with when we just don't know for sure. I think that's the hard part about researching humanity-related topics; we can learn a lot and come up with many theories, but in the end we can't truly come to know something like we can in multiple scientific fields. At the same time, though, this is also what makes studies like this so interesting. We can't ever know for sure, but that also means there's infinite opportunities for us to explore and play with since we don't have the limitations of a set answer.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
It is for this reason as to why I think the concepts behind a dog's collar are so fascinating. In his essay, John Block Friedman talked about a few main points of the significance behind these collars in medieval times. Perhaps Friedman's most important idea, or at least the one I plan to talk about, is the idea that the dog's collar is supposed to represent its owner's status and how it is possessed by that person. In other words, the collar is meant to show who the dog belonged to and how wealthy and/or powerful that person was. In all honesty, Friedman could be spot on about this. There are plenty of artistic representations of owners and their dogs that supports this idea. In fact, it would likely prove harder to provide a different explanation behind these collars. But that's what I'm going to day anyways.
Note: This image is cropped to highlight the collar and remove a slightly graphic sight from this picture as it is not the focus and may make some people uneasy. The link contains the picture in its entirety.
To further explore the idea behind these collars, I want to look at how we treat these accessories in our own time. To start off with, I just used the word accessory- as in, not necessary. Now I'm not saying that we think collars aren't important, because for goodness sake please collar your dogs so that we know they have a home and can return them if they're lost. Rather, I'm saying that we think of collars as a decorative piece. It's a way to highlight the personality, breed, gender, and color of your dog. A bright pink velvet collar for a female Dalmatian creates a very different feeling than a black studded collar for a Rottweiler. Basically, we tend to use collars to highlight our pets in some way- the opposite of what our middle age ancestors seemed to do. This contrast of owner vs pet focus changes the way these simple pieces of fabric are both viewed and made.
On another point, collars are also viewed in a contrasting way to my first point. That is, that they are in fact completely, 200% necessary. Energetic Golden Retrievers need strong, heavy collars that will survive the insistent tugging and occasional owner-dragging experience. A Chihuahua will need one that is lighter and thinner, but also more difficult to get out of so the little escape artist is trapped. You get the idea. This time, the collar's purpose isn't to highlight the owner or the dog, but rather to make sure both survive their interactions with one another. Again, this changes the very elements of the collar. One made out of necessity, rather than extravagance, will look and feel different.
Source Image: Jaiver Narvaez at pxhere.com
So those are the three main ideas to think about: owner status, dog accessory, and necessity for both. In the image where Philip the Good visits Jacques de Guise, it is clear that the dog's collar matches the status and personality of its owner. But does it also look beautiful on that long neck? I certainly would say so! And I pity the dog if it has to try to escape from that tight collar. The image with the dogs in insignia-bearing collars also prove these points. Yes, the collars clearly represent the owners. But that brilliant blue collar looks stunning on the white dog. And the brown dog above the white one has a large clasp on it's collar, which is likely meant for easy removal. Perhaps that dog has other collars it wears in different settings so a clasp makes switching them easier, or maybe its such a calm dog that it doesn't really need a collar at home. Maybe there's more to these collars than just representing the owner, and we could find many other paintings where this might just be the case.
Image Source: tpholland at flickr.com
Now to be fair, I don't have evidence or any texts to back these ideas up. I can't say that I've extensively studied the middle ages (though I know any interesting amount about jousting training). I can't even say that I've spent a hours on end studying and thinking about the paintings I used as examples. I guess what I'm really trying to say is that John Block Friedman's theory of dogs representing their owners and their status isn't necessarily wrong. But it isn't right either. Rather, there are many perspectives and concepts that could influence the choice of dog collar. Goodness, there could be some collars represented in these paintings that were literally a spur of the moment choice by the artist just to finish the project. We just don't know. And because we don't know, we shouldn't just take the most obvious or seemingly-well-supported idea and automatically accept it as our own. We need to explore these ideas and think about what other reasons might exist. We need to come to that conclusion on our own. In the end, it's all up to you. You might come to the same conclusion as Friedman, or you might be like me and have your own thoughts about what collars meant in the middle ages. As long as you are willing to think and understand that an answer isn't necessarily right or certain, then I think this essay is worth the read.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
On a random side note not related to this specific essay at all but rather with all of Our Dogs Our Selves, I would really like to read the Japanese essay. Japan has such an interesting and unique culture, I'm curious as to how they compare to European countries during this time. And how the interacted with dogs seems so different than the other accounts. Maybe reading this essay will provide some context and interesting details to our own history with dogs.
Comments
Post a Comment