Journal of Archaeology in the Low Countries 1-2 (November 2009)Sebastiaan Ostkamp: The world upside down. Secular badges and the iconography of the Late Medieval Period: ordinary pins with multiple meanings

2 The meaning of the badges

If at least some secular badges actually carried the meaning explained above, we may assume they had negative connotations for the Late Medieval population. To emphasize this negative aspect, symbols of foolishness were often depicted in the same pose or capacity as those of the most holy depictions. That this method was not limited to the visual arts is illustrated in the Carmina Burana, a Latin satire from the High Middle Ages that sketches a world that is heading towards its destruction (Pleij 1997, 395). Various biblical figures and saints are conducting actions contrary to their own virtuous lives, e.g. Church Fathers playing dice. An example of this genre is found in the Book of Hours originating from the Frisian monastery in Thabor. It contains a page showing a miniature of Christ as the Salvator Mundi (fig. 15) (Wierda 1995, 25). A bear standing in the margin of this folium is holding a clot of honey in its paw (Wierda 1995, 21). The bear and honey are depicted in the same way as Christ holding his orb, thereby sharply contrasting the highest imaginable with the lowest.

Other craftsmen manufactured objects that intermingled symbols of despicable behaviour and of worship. There are various examples of such mockery among the waste of a late fifteenth century craftsman that produced pipe clay statues (a so-called beeldendrukker) in Cologne (Neu-Kock 1988; Neu-Kock 1993). This craftsman produced statues with both religious and secular themes. Among the artefacts were small cribs holding the Christ Child carrying the orb, sometimes in the company of the child John the Baptist (Neu-Kock 1988, 19; Neu-Kock 1993, 38-40). In the same waste were also cribs in which an ass is sleeping (Neu-Kock 1988, 33; Neu-Kock 1993, 65). The choice of the ass, of all animals, is not surprising, as the ass was a symbol of laziness (Bax 1949, 68). The representation of the ass enhances the negative connotation of the image . By worshipping laziness as a virtue it becomes very clear how despicable it really is. That the variations are not only made upon religious themes is shown by the above-mentioned margin decorations from Bruges depicting the monkey and the ass stamping on a mortar (fig. 4). When we compare the margin decorations with the adjacent miniature, it becomes clear that the mortar is a variation on the weaponry that is depicted there. Just like the glorified soldiers are stamping around on their mortars, the despicable monkey and ass are stamping on theirs. And once more, the image that is meant to be virtuous shines brighter by contrasting it with something ridiculous.

A badge excavated in Sluis, in the province of Zeeland, shows a horned head with a protruding tongue (fig. 16). The bust is a devilish parody of a relic bust. The figures on either side show this ‘relic’ to an imaginary public, a theme also seen on religious badges. On various pilgrims’ badges relic busts are shown in the same way as the horned head from Sluis (fig. 17). Pilgrims’ badges from Aachen also display a relic: a holy piece of clothing is held up as an object of devotion (fig. 18). A secular badge depicting a piece of clothing is a variation on this theme. This time a pair of trousers is held up by two figures. However, in this case it is not the trousers but the protruding phallus that is the object of worship. On a badge excavated near Utrecht the elevated status of the phallus is further emphasized by surmounting it with the crown (fig. 19). That the phallus is not only represented as an object of religious worship is illustrated by a badge that was found in Den Bosch. A helmet, connected by a small chain to a badge, as symbol of nobility, is crowned by a winged phallus (Winkelman 2002b, 344).

A variation on ridiculing the display of relics is the mock procession. In this genre we can include the various margin decorations in fourteenth century manuscripts, where animals in procession perform the role of human beings (Randall 1966, fig. 569-573, 575 and 599). Hieronymus Bosch also painted such a mock procession in his Garden of Earthly Delights. Here two naked men carry an upside-down bear on a litter (Marijnissen & Ruyffelaere 1987, 121). When we compare this detail with contemporary images, it is obvious that it represents a mock procession (Ramakers 1996, 108-109). Badges that show three phalli bearing a crowned vulva also may be seen as a variation on this theme (fig. 20) (Van Beuningen & Koldeweij 1993, 262). Malcolm Jones has pointed out that the crowned vulva on this badge should be interpreted as a persiflage on Mary (Jones 2000, 100-101), whilst Johan Winkelman, Emeritus Professor of Historical German Literature at the University of Amsterdam, identified the vulva as an extreme depiction of Vrouw Minne (i.e. the Middle Dutch equivalent of Venus, a symbol of lust) (Winkelman 2002a, 231). According to the attributes with which she is associated, Vrouw Minne, portrayed as a vulva, is the counterpart symbol of Mary, just like Eve in the above-mentioned miniature from the Book of Hours of Catharina van Kleef. A litter bearing a copulating couple excavated in Amsterdam makes clear that the three phalli’s worship of the vulva symbolises coitus (Van Beuningen, Koldeweij & Kicken 2001, 407, fig. 1732). The absence of an attachment pin suggests that the litter was possibly part of a three dimensional group.

An interesting parallel may again be found in Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights. One of the central details is a naked man dragging an enormous mussel (fig. 21), which clearly serves as a metaphor for the female sexual organ. We also encounter this metaphor in Late Medieval literature and on some secular badges (see also Winkelman 2002a, 229). One of two matching mussel shells excavated in Rotterdam is decorated on the inside with a vulva (fig. 22a & fig. 22b) (Van Beuningen & Koldeweij 1993, 264). A second example found in Amsterdam reveals a vulva protruding from an opened mussel (Van Beuningen, Koldeweij & Kicken 2001, 413, fig. 1776).

The couple in the enormous mussel shell painted by Bosch, symbolised man’s pursuit of carnal pleasures. In all examples shown thus far, lust is either worshipped or avidly sought after. The energy that people expend in pursuing earthly pleasures that are nonsensical in the light of eternal life appears to be a recurring theme in the popular culture of the later Middle Ages. An example is a scene on the triptych The adoration of the Magi, again by Hieronymus Bosch. The central theme of this triptych, the worship of Mary and Christ by the Three Kings, is placed in the foreground. The sinful world in the clearly separated zone behind forms the backdrop. One of the scenes in this foolish world depicts a man leading an ass mounted by a monkey (fig. 23) (Marijnissen & Ruyffelaere 1987, 245). This man is without a doubt a symbol of the fool who made the effort to transport a monkey, an animal that symbolized the lowest imaginable order in the eyes of Bosch’s contemporaries. To emphasize the foolishness of the man, the ass is covered with a beautiful rug. What made this scene recognizable as a parody of a biblical event is the idol behind and to the right of the man and his ass. Such idols, placed on a pillar, are a regular depiction in scenes showing the Flight to Egypt. This tableau is shown on both woodcarvings and stained glass windows and it is set in a landscape in which the idols are falling down (fig. 24) (Husband 1995, 153; Marijnissen & Ruyffelaere 1987, 239). This representation derives from an apocryphal story in which one of the many wonders of this journey was the spontaneous falling of the idols at the moment of the infant Jesus passed by. Joseph, who leads the ass bearing Mary and the Christ Child, has been replaced by a fool who is leading an ass carrying a monkey. Of course this time the idol stands firmly on its pillar, which fits perfectly within this foolish world.

The fool painted by Bosch is comparable with a contemporary fool carved on the underside of a choir seat in the church of Hoogstraten (Belgium). This duffer transports his dog in a wheelbarrow as if it were precious merchandise (Steppe 1973, 167, fig. 31). The scene is comparable with the earlier mentioned marginal illustrations from the Très riches heures du Duc de Berry (fig. 2). Furthermore, in the famous Book of Hours of Mary of Burgundy (1457-1482) we find a figure that is transporting a monkey in his wheelbarrow (Ostkamp 2004, 189). The animal shows him his rear end in contempt (see also: Filedt Kok 1985, 201-202). A badge found in Vlaardingen shows another variation on this theme (fig. 25). On the back of an enormous phallus we see a woman pushing a wheelbarrow loaded with phalli. In this way, the woman becomes a counterpart to the earlier mentioned male vulva worshippers, who are depicted as phalli carrying a vulva. Apparently the woman, as a penis worshipper, expended considerable effort to satisfy her lust.

It is possible that these badges fulfilled a function within the practices of the charivari. In their popular trials, people who demonstrated reprehensible behaviour were punished by their own community with ritual sanctions (Rooijakkers & Romme 1989). For example, by pinning such badges to adulterous men or women, they would be disgraced in front of the whole community. This would explain why this badge and the one with the vulva worshippers are so large. Unlike most of the much smaller, and therefore less striking badges, they must have drawn immediate attention.

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