n Child, from a Miniature in the
"Histoire de la Belle Helaine" (Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century,
National Library of Paris).]

But these regulations as to the mode of living were so little or so
carelessly observed, that all the successors of Philippe le Bel thought it
necessary to re-enact them, and, indeed, Charles VII., one century later,
was obliged to censure the excess of luxury in dress by an edict which
was, however, no better enforced than the rest. "It has been shown to the
said lord" (the King Charles VII.), "that of all nations of the habitable
globe there are none so changeable, outrageous, and excessive in their
manner of dress, as the French nation, and there is no possibility of
discovering by their dress the state or calling of persons, be they
princes, nobles, bourgeois, or working men, because all are allowed to
dress as they think proper, whether in gold or silver, silk or wool,
without any regard to their calling."

At the end of the thirteenth century, a rich merchant of Valenciennes went
to the court of the King of France wearing a cloak of furs covered with
gold and pearls; seeing that no one offered him a cushion, he proudly sat
on his cloak. On leaving he did not attempt to take up the cloak; and on a
servant calling his attention to the fact he remarked, "It is not the
custom in my country for people to carry away their cushions with them."

Respecting a journey made by Philippe le Bel and his wife Jeanne de
Navarre to the towns of Bruges and Ghent, the historian Jean Mayer relates
that Jeanne, on seeing the costly array of the bourgeois of those two rich
cities, exclaimed, "I thought I was the only queen here, but I see more
than six hundred!"

In spite of the laws, the Parisian bourgeoisie soon rivalled the Flemish
in the brilliancy of their dress. Thus, in the second half of the
fourteenth century, the famous Christine de Pisan relates that, having
gone to visit the wife of a merchant during her confinement, it was not
without some amazement that she saw the sumptuous furniture of the
apartment in which this woman lay in bed (Fig. 59). The walls were hung
with precious tapestry of Cyprus, on which the initials and motto of the
lady were embroidered; the sheets were of fine linen of Rheims, and had
cost more than three hundred pounds; the quilt was a new invention of silk
and silver tissue; the carpet was like gold. The lady wore an elegant
dress of crimson silk, and rested her head