Upper clothes in the Early New Ages in Hungary

The early modern Hungarian Kingdom women's upper garment can distinguish between two types: the Spanish and Hungarian-type costumes. The sources said a variety of garments were worn the colder days. The present data show that no matter which type of outer clothing  was worn to the garments. At least not the Hungarian or western type defined it, but which was considered to appropriate for the decorated outfit. As we shall see below, add some problems to the complexity of the situation  that a lot of different names can be found in the sources, which patterns should be defined from the images and artifacts .

Bela Radvánszky collected them the followings in inventories and letters:

Hacuka

 The German word Huseck effected this expression. Historically we can find the names hacuka, hacoka which was a light overcoat or mantle of the aristocracy. It remained in several dialects in different meanings . That was the name of the old style long German men coat in the Csallokoz, but it is often identified as a lightweight jacket for women  (eg. in Kemenesalja, Kiskunfélegyháza, Tokaj etc), which was also used in the early modern period.  In Debrecen and Sopron outmoded clothing was the hacuka, such as it is now well-known nowadays, and in the town from county Torontál, Tiszahegyes the meaning was 'clobber' . Baranya differs from the former interpretation, the white female stockings was understood as hacuka. I have not found data for the exact form, only the material and decoration can gain from descriptions and the images .

View of Cluj-Napoca 1614, Extract

Lady Eva Csaky wife of István Forgách

Spanish gown: 

We find it in the contemporary sources as janker. Probably a long robe, which was popular in the Western fashion among women. Made them short (kurta) and long sleeved variations. Separate sleeves often linked to the gowns. Janet Arnold collected some in Patterns of Fashion, Volume 2 and it is visibleon the engraving in the Cluj from 1614. In the foreground  there are three female characters wearing spanish gowns.

Bomez 

Doublet from Janet Arnold Patterns of Fashion Vol.2

The contemporaneous written material to find bomez, wambesz, vambesz as well, but Lilla Tompos identifies it with the so-called korcovány. In the pattern books there are accurate picture of them, for example among the samples in Kosice. According to this the korcovány is a waist-high, tight, sleeveless upper garment, which includes pieces on the waist, and on the shoulders decorated with epolett. This occurs in both male and female wardrobe can find it, and like other similar upper garment it was produced by a very wide range of materials. The korcovány closed with buttons on the front. Although Hungarian research isn't mentioned it, but compared with the well-known pieces from Western Europe the doublet is the closest to  our korcoványunk, which we can find in the works of Janet Arnold. Accordingly, it is possible that is attached separate sleeves to korcoványok even from other material  than the korcovány as well.

Kis köntös (Little robe)

 Short-sleeved upper garment. A wide, but may be a short kind of coat. Awareness of tailor's pattern is not yet identified. 

Gelezna

 A typical overcoat made from fur , which is usually long. A variety of fur was used as the fox, marten.

Women's winter clothing from 1703

Mente

The pattern was like the men's. Radvánszky collected several types. Thus, it was known long and thigh mente, and the short version was the mentécske (little mente) in the resource. The third type of clamping mente, which was a kind of close-fitting garment. The latter can only assume, since this piece is not currently known, the name clamping and the stiffened clothing habits of the period considered the possibility that this may have been fastened with whalebone or some other natural material.

Suba

 One of the most frequently mentioned type of upper garment. Usually it covered with a very wide range of fabrics and fur was outside. There have been cases that the fur was wore outside, and inside was lined with a different textile. We can find many different types in the inventories, such as  medium-sized suba for women. It streched under the waist, but it was not long. Radvánszky said the girls had different pattern than the women. From both type made winter and summer versions, where the difference is only in the amount of furs. Another kind is large or old Suba, which was long. Outside there was green taffeta or kamuka (type of textile) was used,  and decorated with furs, silk and gold and silver laces. Little suba was a short which reached only to the waist, but it was very richly decorated. Peter Apor wrote in the Metamorphosis Transylvaniae that only girls wore it in his time and decorated such richly that anyone heavily see the original textile. Radványszky contradict this, because women also have little subas. But it can be that there were precious garment, of course, will not throw out the owner. So it is understandable why the women were often herited them to the relative young girls. Finally, long-suba also mentioned  which streched below knee and only made for winter. All of the suba's pattern were wide.

Ursula Kanizsai

Kozsók, kosucska This is a kind if suba rather furry, the name is mostly appeared in the countryside..

Finally, there are also data palást (mantle) and köpönyeg (cloak). Between the two type can not really find a significant difference, of course, assuming the special mention of the two type some difference. With the parallels, I concluded that cut and the size can be the solution. As circle and the oval shape appear both of them, but the robe (or mantle) occurs more than the cloak. We know from the period not only long but also to the waist, elbow length cloaks. They called  tippet. There are archaeological artifacts as well in Hungary. Two sites were found tippets: in Miskolc-Avas the parish church in 1941 and 2010, the Franciscan Church in Sopron (known as the "Goat Temple"). The latter has not yet appeared in books, only a brief account of the end of 2010, in the National Restoration Conference held in the Hungarian National Museum. This is a  Spanish garb,a full woman's dress, on which spreaded the embroidered lace tippet. The other tippet from Miskolc made from velvet and was restored by Mrs Adam Bako in 1982-83. In addition, she told that  among the findings of Sarospatak there were some  textile piece  presuming as a tippet, but it was not be able to  be restored.  An other restorer Katalin E. Nagy, keep this type the small suba. Since there is no mention for sleeves of the little subas, so it is a conceivable option, but the formal terms are more easily searchable, so I classified this tippet, which in Western Europe was also a very fashionable outer clothing, in the type of cloaks.

The tippet from Miskolc, parish church

The tippet from Sopron, Franciscan church

Bibliography

Bakó Ádámné: Egy XVI. századi körgallér restaurálása. HOMÉ 1986.

Domokos Ottó: A magyarországi céhes szabók mintakönyvei 1630-1838. MNM, Budapest 1997.

Radvánszky Béla: Magyar családélet és háztartás a XVI-XVII. században. 1989. 94-102.

Tompos Lilla: Magyar és spanyol női viselet Magyarországon a 16. században. Korunk 2008 július http://www.korunk.org/?q=node/8&ev=2008&honap=7&cikk=8950 2009. 09.21. 17:32
Tompos Lilla: A korcovány az invetnáriumok tükrében. Ars Decorativa

Hacoka: http://archiv.magyarszo.com/arhiva/2007/06/30/main.php?l=j2.htm 2011.03.18.6:26

Magyar Néprajz IV. Anyagi Kultúra3. Életmód/ , Vékonyposztó, „Finommatéria” Felsőruhákhttp://vmek.oszk.hu/02100/02152/html/04/347.html2011.03.18. 7:03

Pallas nagylexikon: hacuka címszóhttp://vmek.oszk.hu/02100/02152/html/04/347.html2011.03.18. 7:04
Sopron Kecske templom: http://nol.hu/archivum/20101129-magyar_vall_a_sir_melyerol

Zoltai Lajos: Debreceni viselet  a XVI- XVII. században II. Női viselet. Ethnographia XLIX. (1938) 287-315.

http://mek.oszk.hu/09100/09175/html/66.html