A question about dying came up in a topic on Wool, and I didn't have an answer at the time, but since then I've found some good resources on dying and thought I would give it its own topic to make it more easily available. Yes, I realize this topic will cause 99% of the our readership's eyes to glaze over...
These two books were recommended to me and I obtained a copy of each and they do not disappoint:
Dye Plants and DyeingA Dyer's GardenThe books are not specific to the Medieval Period, but they are detailed enough to let you know which plants would have been available to Medieval Europeans and thus which colors would be appropriate. For example, plants native only to the New World that yield unique colors would be inappropriate for pigment use in a Medieval European textiles. These books go in depth on pigment derived from different plants, and the colors they will yield on different fibers and even show examples of how soaking time will affect the depth of color.
Patrick and William, as per our recent discussions on the depth of the bottomless rabbit hole, you know you've gone deep when you're worried about period specific pigments in your clothing choices
Scott, I hope you see this topic, and hope it gives you a better answer to the question you posed a few months ago.
Note that Medieval dyes were not limited to plants. Minerals, animals, metals etc were all used for production of pigment as well.
Here are some available web translations of Medieval dye manuals:
14th C -
Innsbruck Manuscript15th C -
Segreti Per ColoriAlso could I ask if you could recommend a reading source on medieval dyes? I understand the techniques used but not really the pigments themselves. Could be supply, sumptuary, cultural, religious or other reasons for certain colors over others in different periods and locations, and it's an area I could use more knowledge of.
Scott
