It was enacted in the third year of the reign of Edward IV. c. 1:—"Firste, whereas many yeres paste & nowe at this daye, the workemanshyp of clothes & things requisite to the same, is & hath bene of such fraude disceite & falsite, that the sayde clothes in other landes & countreis, is had in small reputacyon, to the greate shame of this lande. And by reason thereof a great quantite of clothes of other strange landes be brought into this realme, & here solde at an highe & excessyve pryce, evydently shewynge thossens defaulte & falsyte of the maykynge of wollen clothes of this lande. Our soveraigne lorde the Kynge, for the remedy of the premisses, & to the preferment of such labours & occupacions, which hath been used by the makynge of the sayde clothes, by thaduyse assent & request & auctoritie aforsayd, hath ordeyned & establysshed, that every hole wollen clothe called brodclothe, which shal be made & set to sale after the feaste of Saynt Peter called ad vincula, which shal be in the yere of our Lorde M.CCCC.LXV. after the ful waterynge & rackyng straynyng or tenturyng of the same redy to sale, shall holde & conteyne in length xxiiii yardes, & to every yarde an ynche, conteynynge the bredthe of a mannes ynche, to be measured by the creste of the same clothe. And i brede ii yardes, or vii quarters at the leaste wythyn the lystes. & if the clothe be longer in measure than xxiiii yardes & the ynches than the byer therof shall paye to the seller for for as moche as doth excede such measure of xxiiii yardes, after the rate of the measure above ordeyned. Also it is ordeined & establisshed by auctoritie of the sayd lordes, that all maner clothes called streytes, to be made & put to sale after the same feaste, after the full watering & rackyng, streynynge or tenturynge therof redye to sale, shall holde & conteyne in lengthe xii yardes & the ynches, after the measure aforsaid, & in brede one yarde within the lystes. Also it is ordeyned & establysshed by thauctoritie aforsaid, that every clothe called kersey, to be made & put to sale after the sayde feaste, after the full waterynge & rackynge straynynge or tenturynge of the same redy to sale, shall holde & conteyne in lengthe xviii yardes & the ynches, as is aforsayd, & in brede one yarde & a nayle, or at the leaste one yarde within the lystes. & also it is ordeyned & establysshed, that every halfe clothe of every of the sayde hole clothes, streytes, & kerseys, shall kepe his measure in length & brede after the rate fourme & nature of his hole clothe aforsayde. & that no persone, whiche shall make or cause to be made any maner wollen clothe to sel after the said feaste shall medle or put in or upon the same cloth, nor the wolle, whereof the sayd clothe shall be made, any lambes wolle, flockes or corke in any maner, upon payne to forfayt xxs. for every clothe or halfe clothe, wherein & wherupon any such lambes wolle, flockes or corke shall be put or medled. The one halfe thereof to be to the Kyng, & the other halfe to hym that shall leyse the same clothe, & duely prove the same to be made contrarie to this ordinance, excepte that he shall chose to make of lambes wolle by itselfe without mynglyng with any other wolle. Excepte also that corke may be used in dyenge upon woded wolle, & also in dyenge of all suche clothe, that is onely made of woded wolle, so that the same wolle & clothe be perfytly boyled & madered, except also that corke may be put upon clothe, whiche is perfectly boyled & madered"—but enough of this. The sumptuary laws continued to be enacted against this, that, or the other abuse, or fancied abuse. If a new fashion sprung up, a brand new law would be immediately fashioned for the purpose of keeping it within bounds. It was to no purpose, however; the sumptuary laws continued to be disregarded as heretofore. "How often hath her majestie with the grave advice of her honorable Councell, sette downe the limits of apparell to every degree, & how soon again hath the pride of our harts overflowen the chanell!"[4]
Guiljelmus iii.
D. G. Angliæ, Scotiæ, Franciæ et Hiberniæ Rex.
WILLIAM III.
It was the same with the satirists, whether of horned head-dresses or other extravagances; Monk Lydgate might rave, might shout himself hoarse, but the women would have their horns.
It was indeed inevitable that the vagaries of fashion and the love of fine feathers should become the favourite butt of the satirists, purists, and other persons who assumed the character of mentor. Among the most insistent of these were the priesthood. St. Bernard thus admonishes his sister, perhaps with greater candour than politeness, on her visiting him, "well arraied with riche clothing, with perles and precious stones":—
"Suster, yet ye love youre bodi, by reson ye shuld beter love youre soule: wene ye not that ye displese God and his aungels to see in you suche pompe and pride to adorn suche a carion as is youre body.... Whi thenke ye not that the pore peple that deyen for hungir and colde, that for the sixte part of youre gay arraye xl persones might be clothed, refresshed, and kepte from the colde?... And thanne the ladi wepte, and solde awey her clothes, and levid after an holy lyff, and had love of God, aungeles, and holy seintes, the whiche is beter thanne of the worldely pepille" ("Knight of La Tour Landry," 1371).
The sister of St. Bernard, however, evidently lacked the power of repartee of St. Edith, daughter of King Edgar, who, though brought up in a convent at Wilton, and destined to the life of the cloister, nevertheless had a weakness for clothes which seemed too fine and gay for a nun. St. Ethelwold, who, it is clear, must have shared the opinions of St. Bernard upon the subject of finery, and ventured to upbraid her, received this crushing reply: "God's doom, that may not fail, is pleased only with conscience. Therefore I trow that as clean a soul may be under those clothes that are arrayed with gold as under thy slight fur-skins." He was reminded also that St. Augustine had said that pride could lurk even in rags. This latter sally calls to mind the story of Diogenes spitting upon the floor of Plato's house and exclaiming, "Thus I trample on the pride of Plato." "With greater pride, O Diogenes," was the quiet rejoinder.
Dowglas, the monk of Glastonbury, writing against the extravagances which were rife during the latter half of the reign of Edward III., says: "The English haunted so much unto the foly of strangers, that every year they changed them in diverse shapes and disguisings of clothing, now long, now large, now wide, now strait, and every day clothingges, new and destitute, and devest from all honesty of old arraye or good usage; and another time in short clothes, and so strait waisted, with full sleeves and tapetes of surcoats and hodes, over long and large, all so ragged and knib on every side, and all so shattered, and also buttoned, that I with truth shall say, they seem more like to tormentors or devils in their clothing, and also in their shoying and other arraye than they seemed to be like men."
The authors of the "Roman de la Rose," William de Lorris, who died in 1260, and John de Meun, who continued and finished the poem about 1304, are amongst the most severe of these satirists. In alluding to the unnecessary length of their trains, the author advises the ladies, if their legs be not handsome, nor their feet small and delicate, to wear long robes trailing on the pavement to hide them; those having pretty feet are counselled to elevate their robes, as if for air and convenience, that all who are passing may see and admire. This has been imitated by Ben Jonson, who in his "Silent Woman" makes Truewit say:—