me, pointing at the Sumptuary Laws: this is why we can’t have nice things
this is the funniest post i’ve read in decades
Except that’s not the primary way such laws were used.
The primary purpose of Medieval sumptuary laws was to prevent people from dressing above (or below, in some cases) their station. They started in Roman times. Another use for sumptuary laws was to promote local stuff over imports.
Here are some fun examples of English sumptuary laws:
“No knight under the estate of a lord, esquire or gentleman, nor any other person, shall wear any shoes or boots having spikes or points which exceed the length of two inches.” This referred to pointed riding boots. Riding boots (except, bizarrely, modern English boots) had a point so that you could catch the stirrup more easily if you lost one. There was a fashion for those points getting longer and longer. But note that it says under the estate of. If you had rank, you could have your ridiculous eight inch points.
“Wives and daughters of servants were not to wear veils above twelve pence in value”
“Cloth of gold and purple silk were confined to women of the royal family.” The restriction of the color purple to royalty dates, again, back to Roman times.
“The importation of silk and lace by Lombards and other foreigners were forbidden.” This is an example of sumptuary laws as trade protectionism.
Sumptuary laws were also, surprise surprise, used to restrict the clothing of Jews and Muslims. This includes the original yellow badge for Jews, that later became Hitler’s yellow star.
In England, they got the most ridiculous under Elizabeth, regulating the width of ruffs, the length of swords. An attorney named Kynge was thrown out of the Privy Council for showing up with a gilt rafier, ruffs above his station, etc.
James I decided the entire thing had gotten ridiculous and voided all of England’s sumptuary laws, with the helo of Parliament.
This was not enough to prevent these laws from showing up in the early American colonies: A 1651 Massachusetts law restricted any person whose estates does not exceed 200 pounds from wearing certain things, such as gold or silver buttons, or silk hoods or scarves). They didn’t last long.
Needless to say, sumptuary laws were pretty much impossible to actually enforce.
nerd
(i love this)
I’m being told now this post is antisemitic and transphobic and homophobic
I just found a really old blog where a bunch of people genuinely tried to buy an island for Tumblr people to live on, and the entire blog was just them arguing about what the laws on that island should be and how they should fund it
the url is teamisland if anyone wants to look back in horror
the juxtaposition of these two posts is the only evidence you ever need that no one on this website should ever be allowed power
