Tapestries in the Early Middle Ages: Art, Function, and the Occasional Draft Blocker

The early Middle Ages—roughly the 5th to 10th century—were a time when the phrase “multifunctional design” could have applied to everything from castle moats to your average tapestry. Yes, tapestries weren’t just for impressing guests or making your great hall Insta-worthy (if only Charlemagne had Wi-Fi). These woven wonders were as practical as they were beautiful, keeping chilly drafts at bay, sprucing up grim stone walls, and even dividing up large rooms when medieval mansions lacked en suite bathrooms.

Now, if you’re picturing something as intricate as the Bayeux Tapestry, slow your horse and cart. Early medieval tapestries were simpler creatures, a bit like the earthy, no-fuss ancestors of the Baroque excess we see later. They borrowed heavily from early Christian art and migratory tribal traditions—so think geometric patterns, plant motifs, and animals that occasionally look like someone squinted at a lion and decided to wing it. Highlights include the Reichenau textiles, with their religious imagery, and some Anglo-Saxon fragments rocking those signature interlaced designs¹². Materials of choice? Wool and linen were the heavy hitters, though silk made guest appearances when folks were feeling fancy. The dye palette was strictly natural—think madder for reds, woad for blues, and cochineal because, apparently, crushed bugs were very in at the time³⁴.

Weaving these tapestries was no casual weekend hobby. The warp-weighted looms of the period required skill, patience, and presumably more upper-body strength than I could muster without tea⁵. Yet, even with limited technology, early medieval weavers managed to create pieces that combined artistry and function—a balance we modern multitaskers can surely respect.

Functionality Meets Fashion

Forget Pinterest-perfect decor. Early medieval tapestries were the Swiss Army knife of home goods. Cold draft from your ill-fitting stone wall? Tapestry. Need privacy while plotting your next Viking raid in the great hall? Tapestry. Packing for a road trip with your noble entourage? Roll it up and voilà—portable status symbol⁶⁷⁸. The wealthy knew a good thing when they saw it, and tapestries were a chance to flex without Instagram.

Monasteries, as they often did, took things up a notch. Monastic workshops weren’t just producing bread and virtue; they were cranking out textiles for liturgical purposes. Altar cloths, vestments, decorative hangings—if it could glorify God and impress your local bishop, the monks were on it⁹. Early tapestries didn’t lean too heavily into biblical storytelling yet (that would come later), but they loved a good abstract or symbolic pattern. Case in point: the textiles from the Oseberg burial in Norway, featuring pagan-meets-Christian animal motifs because the 9th century was nothing if not transitional¹⁰¹¹.

A Legacy Worth Hanging On To

While the survival rate of early medieval tapestries leaves something to be desired (moths, fire, and time have little respect for art), their influence is undeniable. These early works laid the groundwork—literally and figuratively—for the tapestry traditions that would flourish in the High and Late Middle Ages. They bridged the gap between utilitarian necessity and artistic expression, reminding us that even a draft blocker can have style.

So, the next time you pass a tapestry in a museum, remember: it’s not just a pretty piece of cloth. It’s a medieval multitool, a work of art, and possibly the reason some poor monk didn’t freeze to death in 832 CE.

Footnotes

Why Footnotes?

Because I love them, and you’ll never be asked, “But where did you get that from?” again.

Footnotes

1. Kendrick, T. D. (1938). Anglo-Saxon Art to A.D. 900. Methuen & Co. Ltd. 
2. Thompson, V. (2004). Dressing the Past: Textiles and Identity in Early Medieval England. Archaeopress. 
3. Barber, E. J. W. (1992). Prehistoric Textiles: The Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Princeton University Press. 
4. Wild, J. P. (1970). Textiles in Archaeology. Shire Publications. 
5. Gleba, M. (2008). Textile Production in Pre-Roman Italy: From Spinning to Weaving. Oxbow Books. 
6. Bender Jørgensen, L. (1992). North European Textiles Until AD 1000. Aarhus University Press. 
7. Owen-Crocker, G. R. (2010). Dress in Anglo-Saxon England: Revised and Enlarged Edition. Boydell Press. 
8. Coatsworth, E., & Owen-Crocker, G. R. (2007). Clothing the Past: Surviving Garments from Early Medieval to Early Modern Europe. Boydell Press. 
9. Dodwell, C. R. (1993). The Pictorial Arts of the West, 800–1200. Yale University Press. 
10. Pächt, O. (1986). Book Illumination in the Middle Ages: An Introduction. Oxford University Press. 
11. Christensen, A. E. (2000). Oseberg: A Royal Ship Burial. Rizzoli International Publications.