Manly Man’s Purse

The Renaissance Faire is a peculiar event that sprouted from a high school history project in Southern California during the early 1960’s. It has grown into a sub-culture that spans across the United States, Canada and Europe. Some events are solid historically based events, others are hysterical spectacles of flesh and fantasy, clinging to a thread of Renaissance history…

The Purse-Maker, Jost Amman's Illustrations in The Ständebuch, 1568

So you have some coin…jangling around…no pockets to keep it in, but if you are true man of the era, you reach into your…purse!

Men’s pockets, as we know them today, did not really exist in a man's breeches until the 1600s. If you needed a way to tote your money, alas, you as a man would have a purse on your belt. It’s a simple concept and easy to pull-off at a Ren Faire. If you’re wealthy, you have a really nice purse…if you are poor, you have a drawstring pouch...full of moths.

Here’s a selection of purse shapes and sizes from period visual sources...

     

Sir Thomas Gresham, Unknown Artist, 1565

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Detail from a Portrait of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, Francesco Terzi, 1557

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Two early to mid 16th-century examples

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Extant example of a ring frame purse, 16th-century

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Mid 16th-century example from the lower class

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Lower class examples from 1559.  I am really amazed that peasants of this period were using, and carrying, ring-framed purses...

 

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1557...Girdle-bag

Another from 1563...

And another from 1560 (on what appears to be a female child)

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Here's a Spanish example from c.1580 made of silver and leather. It measures 7 inches × 8 1/2 inches × 4 1/4 inches.

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1560s

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Making purses in mid 16th-century Germany...I guess this answers my question regarding the availability of ring framed purses for the common man in the 1500s...look on the table...

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I use a leather purse or "girdle-bag" that I purchased from a company that manufactures primarily medieval garb and accessories. The shapes and construction didn’t change all that much from the 1400s to the 1500s, so it still works. Don’t discount earlier gear, especially when it comes to playing a peasant…you didn’t buy a new bobble every year, and some things never really change over time, especially leather worked goods. If you portray a gentleman of means, then you have many expensive options. Just looking at period paintings and engravings show what an expensive proposition this could be. General known as ring framed purses (or harp framed), these contraptions matched your selected choice of clothing. Every time you bought a new set of threads in a different color, you'd want to get that matching accessory...what slaves to fashion the rich were...and are. Velvets, silks, gold trim...I'm thinking I won't drag something like that out to a dusty old Faire...Court? Maybe...

I bought my purse…or “girdle bag” at Revival:
https://revivalclothing.com/product/medieval-kidney-pouch/ 

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Some little bastard stole my purse at Faire!