bonnet are not in fashion.' The Sire answered, 'Since you find fault
with the dress and cap of my wife, and as they do not suit you, I shall
take care in future that they are changed; but I shall be careful not to
choose them similar to yours.... Understand, madam, that I wish her to be
dressed according to the fashion of the good ladies of France and this
country, and not like those of England. It was these last who first
introduced into Brittany the large borders, the bodices opened on the
hips, and the hanging sleeves. I remember the time, and saw it myself, and
I have little respect for women who adopt these fashions.'"

Respecting the high head-dresses "which cause women to resemble stags who
are obliged to lower their heads to enter a wood," the knight relates what
took place in 1392 at the fete of St. Marguerite. "There was a young and
pretty woman there, quite differently dressed from the others; every one
stared at her as if she had been a wild beast. One respectable lady
approached her and said, 'My friend, what do you call that fashion?' She
answered, 'It is called the "gibbet dress."' 'Indeed; but that is not a
fine name!' answered the old lady. Very soon the name of 'gibbet dress'
got known all round the room, and every one laughed at the foolish
creature who was thus bedecked." This head-dress did in fact owe its name
to its summit, which resembled a gibbet.

These extracts from the work of this honest knight, suffice to prove that
the customs of French society had, as early as the end of the fourteenth
century, taken a decided character which was to remain subject only to
modifications introduced at various historical periods.

Amongst the customs which contributed most to the softening and elegance
of the feudal class, we must cite that of sending into the service of the
sovereign for some years all the youths of both sexes, under the names of
varlets, pages, squires, and maids of honour. No noble, of whatever wealth
or power, ever thought of depriving his family of this apprenticeship and
its accompanying chivalric education.

Up to the end of the twelfth century, the number of domestic officers
attached to a castle was very limited; we have seen, for instance, that
Philip Augustus contented himself with a few servants, and his queen with
two or three maids of honour. Under Louis IX. this household was much
increased, and under Philippe le Bel and his sons the royal household had
become so considerabl