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 Sumptuary
Laws
ENGLISH
LAWS - FRENCH
LAWS - ITALIAN LAWS - GERMAN
LAWS
Sumptuary Laws were brought
in place periodically to restrict what people ate but more particularly,
what people wore.
The upper classes were increasingly concerned about the newly affluent
townfolk and merchant classes who could now afford to dress like their
social superiors.
In a world where one's dress generally denotes one's social status, and
as merchants were born lower, this was deemed not in the least acceptable
by the upper classes. Not to mention, many a merchant's wife sent him
to the poorhouse attempting to keep up with the latest court fashions
which they could not afford, all for the sake of appearances.
Sumptuary laws passed by the King was the answer to this, although with
varying degrees of success.
Listed below are some selected medieval Sumptuary Laws. This is by no
means an all-encompassing list, but a selection of those which affected
women and the running of a household, dressing of staff and serving of
meals.
Selected regulations imposed by English Sumptuary
Laws
1336 -
Law regulating the number of courses at dinner
1337 - Law protecting English woolen industry and restricting furs
1355 - Statute regulating the dress of prostitutes
1361 - Proclamation to fix prices of food in London
1363 - Petition from Commons to fix the price of 'little victuals'
1363 - Statute Concerning Diet and Apparel
- Lords with lands worth
£1 000 annually and their families: no restrictions
- Knights with land worth 400 marks. ie £266 13s 4d annually
and their families: may dress at their will, except they may wear
no weasel fur, ermine or clothing of precious stones other than the jewels
in women's hair.
- Knights with lands worth 200 marks. ie. £133 6s 8d annually
and their families: fabric worth no more than 6 marks ie £4
for the whole cloth: no cloth of gold, nor a cloak, mantle or gown lined
with pure miniver, sleeves of ermine or any material embroidered with
precious stones; women may not wear ermine or weasel-fur, or jewels except
those worn in their hair.
- Esquires with land worth £200 per year, and merchants with
goods to the value of £1 000 and their families: fabric worth
no more than 5 marks. ie £3 6s 8d for the whole cloth; they may
wear cloth of silk and silver, or anything decorated with silver; women
may wear miniver but not ermine or weasel-fur, or jewels except those
worn in the hair.
- Esquires, gentlemen with £100 per year, and merchants with
goods to the value of £500 and their families: fabric worth
no more than 4 1/2 marks, £3, for the whole cloth; no cloth of gold,
silk, or silver, no embroidery, no precious stones or fur.
- Yeoman and their families: fabric worth no more than 40s, ie
£2 for the whole cloth, no jewels, no gold, silver, embroidery,
enamelware or silk; no fur except lamb, rabbit, cat or fox; women not
to wear a silk veil.
- Servants and their families: fabric worth not more than 2 marks
for the whole cloth; no gold, silver, embroidery, enamel or silk; women
not to wear a veil worth more than 12d.
- Carters, ploughmen, drivers of ploughs, oxherds, cowherds, swineherds,
dairymaids and everyone else working on the land who does not have 40
shillings of goods: no cloth except blanket and russet at 12d per
ell, belts of linen (rope).
1364 - Repeal of The
Statute Concerning Diet and Apparel
1399 (or 1388?) - Possible
statute 'regulating apparel suitable to every man's distinct rank and
quality' Listed in the Parliamentary History of England and Knighton's
chronicle, official roll lost
1402 - Sumptuary law
petition proposed by Commons
1406 - 1402 petition
resubmitted with additions
1409 - Law on the playing
of games
1414 - 2 petitions proposed
by Commons on price fixing (rejected), proclamation on unlawful games
1419 - 1414 petition
on price fixing resubmitted
1420 - passing of sumptuary
law
1422- succession of Henry
VI
1439-40 - sumptuary regulation
for the dress of prostitutes (repeat of 1355)
1463 - Statute of Apparel
1465 - Statute forbidding
the making of shoes with pike past the ordained length
1466? - Proclamation
on the length of shoe pikes
1477 - Act of Apparel
adds to 1463 Statute
1477 - Law on gambling
and illegal games
1483 - Statute of Apparel
Select
regulations imposed by French Sumptuary Laws
1283 - Burghers
and their wives are prohibited from wearing coronals of gold or silver
or precious stones or gold belts
1360 - Prostitutes are forbidden to
wear embroidery of any kind, pearls, gilt or silver buttons and squirrel
edges on their clothes.
Select regulations imposed by Italian Sumptuary
laws
1332 - Wives of knights, judges and
doctors are permitted to wear silver-gilt jewellery.
Other women are restricted to silver jewellery.
Select regulations imposed by
German Sumptuary laws
1356 - Laws concerning clothing restrictions
- Noblewomen: permitted to wear one brooch of silver or gold weighing
up to one heller, and a girdle of silver of up to one mark.
- Burgher Class men and women: forbidden to wear any gold, silver,
precious stones or fine pearls.
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Copyright
© Rosalie Gilbert
All text & photographs within this site are the property of Rosalie
Gilbert unless stated.
Artifact images remain the property of the owner.
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