I know there are a lot of history buffs on the SDMB, and with that in mind some of you might like to take a look at my Personal Appearances of Medieval People Project. What did king so-and-so look like? What color were queen such-and-such’s eyes? I’ve collected accounts from as many eyewitness and near-contemporary sources as I could find. Some highlights:
– Luitprand of Cremona helpfully telling us the Emperor Otto I wore “a hat on his head”. As opposed to his foot?
– Anna Komene fangirling over the hotness of Bohemond of Taranto.
– Sibt ibn al-Jawzi snidely remarking that had Emperor Frederick II been a slave, “he would not have fetched 200 dirhams at market”.
– Svyatoslav I of Kiev’s shaved head with sidelock, with a gold earring set with pearls and a ruby. I think he’s lead guitarist in an emo band now.
So, do any paintings of these people exist? It would be really cool if you linked to any portraits of the people that exist. I LOVE looking at portraits of people from this era!!
A few of them do, notably some of the figures from the later medieval/early Renaissance era, like Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia. But the vast majority do not, as portraiture was rather primative during the medieval era. I’d rather not put up portraits, as the few that do exist can be found in the people’s wikipedia profiles, and I’d like to keep the site more about medieval people rather than Renaissance people (that’s why I drew the line at the 15th century).
Btw, if anyone has submissions, I’d love to see them! I don’t have access to a lot of chronicles, and I’m sure there’s many descriptions I’ve missed. My email can be found at the bottom of the webpage.