In the medieval inventories are sometimes found albae, described as red, blue or black; which has led to the belief that albs were sometimes not only made of stuffs other than linen, but were coloured.
Where the ritual, as in most cases, is a revival of pre-Reformation uses and not modelled on that of modern Rome, these albs are frequently apparelled.
Silk albs appear in the inventories, but only very exceptionally.
Albs were originally quite plain, but about the 10th century the custom arose of ornamenting the borders and the cuffs of the sleeves with strips of embroidery, and this became common in the 12th century.
As far as I am aware, only two complete albs of early linen lace exist.
All who have to care for Church vestments at the present time know that albs and other linen objects for Church use are comparatively short-lived, and it must be remembered that lace in early times was chiefly made for Church purposes.
After consulting illuminated manuscripts of the eighth and ninth centuries, I have come to the conclusion that there is in them strong evidence of lacework having been employed to ornament the albs worn even at those periods.
Many of the earlier albs are decorated with passemens or apparels, which are squares or oblongs of ornamental work often enriched with gold thread.
We find coloured albs in the mediaeval inventories.
I set off accordingly, after that with low laughing we had put the albs all over us, wrapping the ladders also in white.
Lower down and lacking the lighter background of the sky, we make out with less distinctness the U-valley, either with or without the albs to show that the sculpturing process has been interrupted by uplift.
These albs may be seen to special advantage on the sides of the Chamonix valley (Fig.
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "albs" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
