Links: King Richard Week 2013 & Quiz

 
 

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SUMPTUARY

 

Sumptuary laws

 

in Medieval and late medieval England.

 

(by Fitzg)

 

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“Laws made for the purpose of restraining luxury or extravagance, particularly against inordinate expenditure in the matter of apparel, food, furniture etc.”
Black’s Law Dictionary.

 

English Sumptuary Laws date from 1281 in extant documents. They were then an expression of the Feudal System (every man in his place, dressed according his station. Women too.) The hierarchy must be established according to the “natural law”.
 
The next documented Law is that of 1309. This relates to conspicuous food consumptions of the nobles. (Peacocks presented at table, complete with feathers re-attached to the roasted fowl…)
Perhaps Edward III felt that such expenditure by his magnates reduced their monetary contributions to his Scottish and overseas wars.
 
Obviously, Kings and their families were not restricted by such fiscal management restraints.
 

 
 

 
 

 
 
Cloth of gold, fur, gold…. It appears that the first Tudor, despite a somewhat austere, penny-pinching reputation, at least in the popular version, was not averse to personal display.
 
However, there was considerable Church disapproval of courtly display of fashion “trends“. Shoes, in 15th C, were an issue with the Church: the vanity of the elongated toes.
 

 
 
And then, there was the Disney head dress. The Henin, and variations thereof.
 

 
 
The middle class was rising in wealth, and becoming uppity in dress. Note the quantities of costly material in the sleeves and gowns and richness of dyes.
 

Etienne Chevalier, was not a merchant, but a trusted civil servant.

 
 

 
 
Disconcertingly to the “enforcers” of the Sumptuary Laws, the merchant class rose inexorably. The merchant class accumulated wealth, based on wool and textiles, and import/export. They bought off the enforcers’ fines, and even lent funds to cash-strapped nobility. They were going to wear what they had earned. Their wives (and often mercantile partners/supporters) were an advertisement to their wealth and their often mutual hard work. (Take that, Enforcers! 😀 )
 
England has not been quite as rigidly class-ridden as might be thought – upward mobility was mobilised. From 15th century sheep farmers, the Churchills were Dukes of Marlborough two centuries later. A middle class was firmly rising throughout Europe, driven by trade – wool/textiles/luxury goods from the East. The sheep farmers became merchants (and money-lenders), married into gentry and titled families, became senior civil servants.
 
 

Sir Guy of Gisborne, dressed head to toe in costly leather. Would a minor knight, in possession of an obscure provincial manor, pass the Sumptuary laws? Leather tanning and production were extremely costly, as is the case today. Perhaps; it didn’t involve cloth of gold or furs….
 
And Many Happy Returns to Richard Armitage on August 22 2013.
 
Respects to King Richard III, may he please be laid to rest as befits an anointed monarch.
 
 

SOURCES (for the costume-obsessed)

• www.medieval-life-and-times.info-medieval-clothing/medieval-sumptuary-laws.htm
• www.medieval-castle-siege-weapons.com/medieval-clothing.htm
• www.batashoemuseum.ca/collections/permanent/history_western_fashions/medieval/index.hstml
• Boucher, Francois. 20,000 Years of Fashion; Henry H. Abrams Inc. New York.

 
 
 

Links: King Richard Week 2013 & Quiz