My Arts and Sciences entry is soap, I made this because it is an easy beginners project and there are modern soap-making references to refer to regarding techniques. Soap in one form or another has been used throughout the SCA period. Leaving aside the contentious issue of personal hygiene, some form of soap has always been essential for the woolen textile industry. In period, certain kinds of soap were made for human use the finer soaps were made from olive oil which forms a soap which was physically harder yet more gentle on the skin. Castille Soap is one name for such a soap, named after the region of current day Spain. It is therefore likely that this soap would have been used in the Mediterranean but was almost certainly exported to Northern Europe, if not made there from imported Olive Oil. The primary source for this project was "Mappae Clavicula" parts of which date to at least the early 9th century but the version that the extract used comes from a translation of a version that dates to probably the mid to late 12th century. The soap recipes exist in this version, not the earlier versions (which are incomplete).

It seems likely that soap-making in period was undertaken by guilds because only this alchemic recipe comes down to us and that an olive oil soap recipe isn't included in various "guides for good housewives" published towards the end of period. This would explain the lack of instructions. Exactly who would have used it is hard to speculate but certainly the nobility and the rising middle class as it would have been an expensive commodity compared to harsher soaps made from tallow (animal fat).

Two recipes for soap are given in Mappae Clavicula only one of which uses olive oil but since it does not provide detailed quantities, modern recipes which use the same ingredients were used for the actual soap-making on the grounds that the process is the same and therefore all that is skipped is a tiresome process of experimentation to ascertain exact quantities. Both the period and modern recipes follow:

Mappae Clavicula extract:

"280. How soap is made from olive oil or tallow. Spread well burnt ashes from good logs over woven wickerwork made of tiny withies, or on a thin-meshed strong sieve, and gently pour hot water over them so that it goes through drop by drop. Collect the lye in a clean pot underneath and strain it two or three times through the same ashes, so that the lye becomes strong and coloured. This is the first lye of the soapmaker. After it has clarified well let it cook, and when it has boiled for a long time and has begun to thicken, add enough oil and stir very well. Now, if you want to make the lye with lime, put a little good lime in it, but if you want it to be without lime, let the above-mentioned lye boil by itself until it is cooked down and reduced to thickness. Afterwards, allow to cool in a suitable place whatever has remained there of the lye or the watery stuff. This clarification is called the second lye of the soapmaker. Afterwards, work [the soap] with a little spade for 2, 3 or 4 days, so that it coagulates well and is dewatered, and lay it aside for use. If you want to make [your soap] out of tallow the process will be the same, though instead of oil put in well-beaten beef tallow and add a little wheat flour according to your judgment, and let them cook to thickness, as was said above. Now put some salt in the second lye that I mentioned and cook it until it dries out, and this will be the afronitrum for soldering."

Modern recipe

All Olive Oil Test Bar
8 ounces olive oil (by weight; I use blended or pomace, not extra virgin olive oil)
3 fluid ounces water (distilled or filtered)
1.03 ounces sodium hydroxide (by weight)

Slowly add the lye to the water, then bring both lye solution and tallow to about body temperature. Do not touch the lye water - it will burn. In fact, be very careful with the lye.

Combine lye water and tallow in a glass bowl and mix slowly and steadily with a fork until the consistency is that of sour cream. Pour mixture into mold and age according to standard procedure - i.e. remove soap from mold after 24 hours, leave in the open for 2-3 weeks, turning over daily. If it stays too soft after a couple of days, then place it over low heat until it melts, and then stir until ready to pour into molds.

Adding the lye to the water will generate temperatures in excess of 200 F, so plan on enough time for it to cool.

The lye quantity is a dry weight which had to be estimated, but the end results were good. The only deviation was a layer of oil which formed on the just-set soap which indicated that the quantities were incorrect. This had no effect on the final product and could be discarded.

The project was successful and produced a cream coloured soap which feels soft on the hands and provides a good lather.

References

2) Maine (1995) - www.fragrant.demon.co.uk/makesoap.html

3) Stefan's Florilegium (1999) http://www.florilegium.org/files/CRAFTS/soapmaking-msg.html

NOTE: The following reference is given in Buchele (1997): "Mappae Clavicula: a little key to the world of medieval techniques". English translation by Cyril Stanley Smith & John G. Hawthorne. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, n.s. v.64, pt. 4, 1974. However, every attempt to find this reference was unsuccessful and therefore I have had to rely on tertiary sources from the internet.

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