Brown robes?


Pretty sure the books have all the monks wearing black robes since the Benedictines were known as the"black monks" for their garb.

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Their robes in the show are very dark brown, that would qualify as "black" to medieval men and women. True black is difficult and expensive to achieve, it would not become a monk. But undyed wool from a brown or black sheep would be what the monks would use for their robes. Depending on the sheep's natural colour, the "black" would vary.

It is also possible that the costume department for the show didn't really think this through and just went with the colour most often seen on monks in manuscripts. Black ink was used for contours and shading, but rarely to paint a whole character - as it would, understandably, make it look just like a shapeless blot. Most 12th century representations of Benedictine monks are brown.

"Occasionally I'm callous and strange."

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