Source: surviving textiles from women's communities, historical research by professional art historians, archaeology.

 

We have no textual references to women embroidering at Elstow, but this was a common occupation both among noble lay women and nuns in the Middle Ages. Luxurious liturgical textiles – including Orphreys, elaborate embroidery done on a fabric such as linen – were in high demand for priestly vestments such as stoles and were highly valued. Embroidered liturgical textiles number among the artistic treasures of medieval Europe.

 

Learn more: Stefanie Seeberg, “Women as Makers of Church Decoration: Illustrated Textiles at the Monasteries of Altenberg/Lahn, Rupertsberg, and Heiningen (13th - 14th c.),” in Reassessing the Roles of Women as “Makers” of Medieval Art and Architecture, vol. 1 (Leiden and Boston, 2012), 375–84.

 

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