The Aristocracy.
The love of show and magnificence was great during the middle ages and was greatly displayed by the aristocracy of the period. The most impressive and lavish displays were centered round the person of the king. This was shown in the gorgeous ceremonies and settings of his coronation, in court etiquette and regulations, and in the large establishment of his household. Some of the great nobles had establishments that rivaled and even excelled that of the king. The great lord had a large body of retainers who wore his livery and badge, a great number of whom were members of his household and ate at his table. These great lords were lavish in their entertainment and sometimes impoverished themselves through their hospitality, and were thereby compelled to obtain money, which, as mentioned before, gave to the cities the opportunity of securing privileges from them. In England such nobles sometimes repaired their fortunes by marrying the daughters of rich merchants or by engaging in trade, but in France the old noblesse, whose social standing depended upon their ancient origin, preferred poverty to such means of enriching themselves, which they would regard with holy horror, and they kept their respect and dignity through all the vicissitudes of misfortunes, without thus endangering their pure strain of noble blood by mixing it with that of the common herd or soiling their sacred persons with the vulgar touch of trade.