Medieval Strings
Medieval stringed instruments are quite uncommon. Both of Mary's Medieval stringed instruments or vielles were made for her. Constructing a medieval stringed instrument is a tricky task as there are no intact examples left for makers to copy, so it is up to the maker to interpret images on manuscripts and paintings to try to recreate these lost instruments. In addition, no two instruments represented are identical and there are no plans for makers to follow so it is a huge task of speculative archaeology.
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The oval vielle and bow was made by Asier de Benito. It is based on images from the Cantigas da Santa Maria from the mid 13th century. It can be played either da gamba as seen in the video, or at the shoulder like a violin.
The video was made by Archaedium during lockdown in 2020 |
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The other instrument is called a giga or King David Vielle, and can be identified by the little bulges at the waist. It was made Matthew Farley using a viol construction.
The video is an extract from the Archaedium lockdown Christmas concert in December 2020 |
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