The consecration of the kings of France always took place on a Sunday. On

the previous day, at the conclusion of evening prayers, the custody of the

cathedral devolved upon certain royal officers, assisted by the ordinary

officials. During the evening the monarch came to the church for devotion,

and "according to his religions feelings, to pass part of the night in

prayer," an act which was called _la veillée des armes_. A large platform,

surmounted by a throne, was erected between the chancel and the great

nave. Upon this assembled, besides the King and his officers of State,

twelve ecclesiastical peers, together with those prelates whom the King

might be pleased to invite, and six lay peers, with other officers or

nobles. At daybreak, the King sent a deputation of barons to the Abbey of

St. Remi for the holy vial, which was a small glass vessel called

_ampoule_, from the Latin word _ampulla_, containing the holy oil to be

used at the royal anointing. According to tradition, this vial was brought

from heaven by a dove at the time of the consecration of Clovis. Four of

the nobles remained as hostages at the abbey during the time that the

Abbot of St. Remi, followed by his monks and escorted by the barons, went

in procession to the cathedral to place the sacred vessel upon the altar.

The abbot of St. Denis in France had in a similar manner to bring from

Rheims with great pomp, and deposit by the side of the holy vial, the

royal insignia, which were kept in the treasury of his monastery, and had

been there since the reign of Charlemagne. They consisted of the crown,

the sword sheathed, the golden spurs, the gilt sceptre, the rod adorned

with an ivory handle in the form of a hand, the sandals of blue silk,

embroidered with fleur de lis, the chasuble or _dalmatique_, and the

_surcot_, or royal mantle, in the shape of a cape without a hood. The

King, immediately on rising from his bed, entered the cathedral, and

forthwith took oath to maintain the Catholio faith and the privileges of

the Church, and to dispense good and impartial justice to his subjects. He

then walked to the foot of the altar, and divested himself of part of his

dress, having his head bare, and wearing a tunic with openings on the

chest, on the shoulders, at the elbows, and in the middle of the back;

these openings were closed by means of silver aigulets. The Archbishop of

Rheims then drew the sword from the scabbard and handed it to the King,

who passed it to the principal officer in attendance. The prelate then

proceeded with the religious part of the ceremony of consecration, and

taking a drop of the miraculous oil out of the holy vial by means of a

gold needle, he mixed it with the holy oil from his own church. This being

done, and sitting in the posture of consecration, he anointed the King,

who was kneeling before him, in five different parts of the body, namely,

on the forehead, on the breast, on the back, on the shoulders, and on the

joints of the arms. After this the King rose up, and with the assistance

of his officers, put on his royal robes. The Archbishop handed to him

successively the ring, the sceptre, and the rod of justice, and lastly

placed the crown on his head. At this moment the twelve peers formed

themselves into a group, the lay peers being in the first rank,

immediately around the sovereign, and raising their hands to the crown,

they held it for a moment, and then they conducted the King to the throne.

The consecrating prelate, putting down his mitre, then knelt at the feet

of the monarch and took the oath of allegiance, his example being followed

by the other peers and their vassals who were in attendance. At the same

time, the cry of "_Vive le Roi_!" uttered by the archbishop, was repeated

three times outside the cathedral by the heralds-at-arms, who shouted it

to the assembled multitude. The latter replied, "_Noel! Noel! Noel!_" and

scrambled for the small pieces of money thrown to them by the officers,

who at the same time cried out, "_Largesse, largesse aux manants_!" Every

part of this ceremony was accompanied by benedictions and prayers, the

form of which was read out of the consecration service as ordered by the

bishop, and the proceedings terminated by the return of the civil and

religious procession which had composed the _cortège_. When the sovereign

was married, his wife participated with him in the honours of the

consecration, the symbolical investiture, and the coronation; but she only

partook of the homage rendered to the King to a limited degree, which was

meant to imply that the Queen had a less extended authority and a less

exalted rank.

[Illustration: Fig. 387.--Dalmatica and Sandals of Charlemagne, Insignia

of the Kings of France at their Coronation, preserved in the Treasury of

the Abbey of St. Denis.]

The ceremonies which accompanied the accessions of the emperors of Germany

(Fig. 388) are equally interesting, and were settled by a decree which the

Emperor Charles IX. promulgated in 1356, at the Diet of Nuremberg.

According to the terms of this decree--which is still preserved among the

archives of Frankfort-on-the-Main, and which is known as the _bulle d'or_,

or golden bull, from the fact of its bearing a seal of pure gold--on the

death of an emperor, the Archbishop of Mayence summoned, for an appointed

day, the Prince Electors of the Empire, who, during the whole course of

the Middle Ages, remained seven in number, "in honour," says the bull, "of

the seven candlesticks mentioned in the Apocalypse." These Electors--who

occupied the same position near the Emperor that the twelve peers did in

relation to the King of France--were the Archbishops of Mayence, of

Trèves, and of Cologne, the King of Bohemia, the Count Palatine of the

Rhine, the Duke of Saxony, and the Margrave of Brandenburg. On the

appointed day, the mass of the Holy Spirit was duly solemnized in the

Church of St. Bartholomew of Frankfort, a town in which not only the

election of the Emperor, but also his coronation, almost always took

place, though one might have supposed that Aix-la-Chapelle would have been

selected for such ceremonies. The Electors attended, and after the service

was concluded, they retired to the sacristy of the church, accompanied by

their officers and secretaries, They had thirty days for deliberation, but

beyond that period they were not allowed "to eat bread or drink water"

until they had agreed, at least by a majority, to give _a temporal chief

to the Christian people, that is to say, a King of the Romans, who should

in due time be promoted to be Emperor_, The newly-elected prince was, in

fact, at first simply _King of the Romans_, and this title was often borne

by persons who were merely nominated for the office by the voice of the

Electors, or by political combinations. In order to be promoted to the

full measure of power and authority, the King of the Romans had to receive

both religions consecration and the crown. The ceremonies adopted at this

solemnity were very analogous to those used at the consecrations of the

kings of France, as well as to those of installation of all Christian

princes. The service was celebrated by the Archbishop of Cologne, who

placed the crown on the head of the sovereign-elect, whom he consecrated

Emperor. The symbols of his authority were handed to him by the Electors,

and then he was proclaimed, "_Cæsar, most sacred, ever august Majesty,

Emperor, of the Holy Roman Empire of the nation of Germany_."

[Illustration: Fig. 388.--Costume of Emperors at their Coronation since

the Time of Charlemagne.--From an Engraving in a Work entitled "Insignia

Sacre Majistatis Cæsarum Principum." Frankfort, 1579, in folio.]

The imperial _cortége_ then came out from the Church of St. Bartholomew,

and went through the town, halting at the town-hall (called the _Roemer_,

in commemoration of the noble name of Rome), where a splendid banquet,

prepared in the _Kaysersaal_ (hall of the Caesars), awaited the principal

performers in this august ceremony.

At the moment that the Emperor set foot on the threshold of the Roemer,

the Elector of Saxony, Chief Marshal of the Empire, on horseback, galloped

at full speed towards a heap of oats which was piled up in the middle of

the square. Holding in one hand a silver measure, and in the other a

scraper of the same metal, each of which weighed six marks, he filled the

measure with oats, levelled it with the scraper, and handed it over to the

hereditary marshal. The rest of the heap was noisily scrambled for by the

people who had been witnesses of this allegorical performance. Then the

Count Palatine, as chief seneschal, proceeded to perform his part in the

ceremony, which consisted of placing before the Emperor, who was sitting

at table, four silver dishes, each weighing three marks. The King of

Bohemia, as chief butler, handed to the monarch wine and water in a silver

cup weighing twelve marks; and then the Margrave of Magdeburg presented to

him a silver basin of the same weight for washing his hands. The other

three Electors, or arch-chancellors, provided at their own expense the

silver baton, weighing twelve marks, suspended to which one of them

carried the seals of the empire. Lastly, the Emperor, and with him the

Empress if he was married, the princes, and the Electors, sat down to a

banquet at separate tables, and were waited upon by their respective

officers. On another table or stage were placed the Imperial insignia. The

ceremony was concluded outside by public rejoicings: fountains were set to

play; wine, beer, and other beverages were distributed; gigantic bonfires

were made, at which whole oxen were roasted; refreshment tables were set

out in the open air, at which any one might sit down and partake, and, in

a word, every bounty as well as every amusement was provided. In this way

for centuries public fêtes were celebrated on these occasions.

[Illustration: Fig. 389.--Imperial Procession.--From an Engraving of the

"Solemn Entry of Charles V. and Clement VII. into Bologna," by L. de

Cranach, from a Fresco by Brusasorci, of Verona.]

The doges of Venice, as well as the emperors of Germany, and some other

heads of states, differed from other Christian sovereigns in this respect,

that, instead of holding their high office by hereditary or divine right,

they were installed therein by election. At Venice, a conclave, consisting

of forty electors, appointed by a much more numerous body of men of high

position, elected the Doge, or president of _the most serene Republic_.

From the day when Laurent Tiepolo, immediately after his election in 1268,

was spontaneously carried in triumph by the Venetian sailors, it became

the custom for a similar ovation to take place in honour of any

newly-elected doge. In order to do this, the workmen of the harbour had

the new Doge seated in a splendid palanquin, and carried him on their

shoulders in great pomp round the Piazza San Marco. But another still more

characteristic ceremony distinguished this magisterial election. On

Ascension Day, the Doge, entering a magnificent galley, called the

_Bucentaur_, which was elegantly equipped, and resplendent with gold and

precious stuffs, crossed the Grand Canal, went outside the town, and

proceeded in the midst of a nautical _cortége_, escorted by bands of

music, to the distance of about a league from the town on the Adriatic

Gulf. Then the Patriarch of Venice gave his blessing to the sea, and the

Doge, taking the helm, threw a gold ring into the water, saying, "O sea! I

espouse thee in the name, and in token, of our true and perpetual

sovereignty." Immediately the waters were strewed with flowers, and the

shouts of joy, and the clapping of hands of the crowd, were intermingled

with the strains of instruments of music of all sorts, whilst the glorious

sky of Venice smiled on the poetic scene.

The greater part of the principal ceremonies of the Middle Ages acquired,

from various accessory and local circumstances, a character of grandeur

well fitted to impress the minds of the populace. On these memorable

occasions the exhibition of some historical memorial, of certain

traditional symbols, of certain relics, &c., brought to the recollection

the most celebrated events in national history--events already possessing

the prestige of antiquity as well as the veneration of the people. Thus,

as a memorial of the consecration of the kings of Hungary, the actual

crown of holy King Stephen was used; at the consecration of the kings of

England, the actual chair of Edward the Confessor was used; at the

consecration of the emperors of Germany, the imperial insignia actually

used by Charlemagne formed part of the display; at the consecration of the

kings of France at a certain period, the hand of justice of St. Louis,

which has been before alluded to, was produced.

[Illustration: Fig. 390.--Standards of the Church and the Empire.--Reduced

from an Engraving of the "Entry of Charles V. and Clement VII. into

Bologna," by Lucas de Cranach, from a Fresco by Brusasorci, of Verona.]

After their consecration by the Church and by the spiritual power, the

sovereigns had simply to take actual possession of their dominions, and,

so to speak, of their subjects. This positive act of sovereignty was often

accompanied by another class of ceremonies, called _joyous entry_, or

_public entry._ These entries, of which numerous accounts have been handed

down to us by historians, and which for the most part were very varied in

character, naturally took place in the capital city. We will limit

ourselves to transcribing the account given by the ancient chronicler,

Juvenal des Ursins, of the entry into Paris of Queen Isabel of Bavaria,

wife of Charles VI., which was a curious specimen of the public fêtes of

this kind.

[Illustration: Fig. 391.--Grand Procession of the Doge, Venice (Sixteenth

Century).--Reduced from one of fourteen Engravings representing this

Ceremony, designed and engraved by J. Amman.]

"In the year 1389, the King was desirous that the Queen should make a

public entry into Paris, and this he made known to the inhabitants, in

order that they should make preparations for it. And there were at each

cross roads divers _histoires_ (historical representations, pictures, or

tableaux vivants), and fountains sending forth water, wine, and milk. The

people of Paris in great numbers went out to meet the Queen, with the

Provost of the Merchants, crying '_Noel!_' The bridge by which she passed

was covered with blue taffeta, embroidered with golden fleurs-de-lys. A

man of light weight, dressed in the guise of an angel, came down, by means

of some well-constructed machinery, from one of the towers of Notre-Dame,

to the said bridge through an opening in the said blue taffeta, at the

moment when the Queen was passing, and placed a beautiful crown on her

head. After he had done this, he withdrew through the said opening by the

same means, and thus appeared as if he were returning to the skies of his

own accord. Before the Grand Chastelet there was a splendid court adorned

with azure tapestry, which was intended to be a representation of the

_lit-de-justice,_ and it was very large and richly decorated. In the

middle of it was a very large pure white artificial stag, its horns gilt,

and its neck encircled with a crown of gold. It was so ingeniously

constructed that its eyes, horns, mouth, and all its limbs, were put in

motion by a man who was secreted within its body. Hanging to its neck were

the King's arms--that is to say, three gold fleur-de-lys on an azure

shield.... Near the stag there was a large sword, beautiful and bright,

unsheathed; and when the Queen passed, the stag was made to take the sword

in the right fore-foot, to hold it out straight, and to brandish it. It

was reported to the King that the said preparations were made, and he said

to Savoisy, who was one of those nearest to him, 'Savoisy, I earnestly

entreat thee to mount a good horse, and I will ride behind thee, and we

will so dress ourselves that no one will know us, and let us go and see

the entry of my wife.' And, although Savoisy did all he could to dissuade

him, the King insisted, and ordered that it should be done. So Savoisy did

what the King had ordered, and disguised himself as well as he could, and

mounted on a powerful horse with the King behind him. They went through

the town, and managed so as to reach the Chastelet at the time the Queen

was passing. There was a great crowd, and Savoisy placed himself as near

as he could, and there were sergeants on all sides with thick birch wands,

who, in order to prevent the crowd from pressing upon and injuring the

court where the stag was, hit away with their wands as hard as they could.

Savoisy struggled continually to get nearer and nearer, and the sergeants,

who neither knew the King nor Savoisy, struck away at them, and the King

received several very hard and well-directed blows on the shoulders. In

the evening, in the presence of the ladies, the matter was talked over,

and they began to joke about it, and even the King himself laughed at the

blows he had received. The Queen on her entry was seated on a litter, and

very magnificently dressed, as were also the ladies and maids of honour.

It was indeed a splendid sight; and if any one wished to describe the

dresses of the ladies, of the knights and squires, and of those who

escorted the Queen, it would take a long time to do so. After supper,

singing and dancing commenced, which continued until daylight. The next

day there were tournaments and other sports" (Fig. 392).

[Illustration: Entry of Charles the Seventh into Paris

A miniature from _Monstrelet the Chronicles_ in the Bibl. nat. de Paris,

no 20,861 Costumes of the Sixteenth century.]

[Illustration: Fig. 392.--Tournaments in honour of the Entry of Queen

Isabel into Paris--From a Miniature in the "Chroniques" of Froissart,

Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century (National Library of Paris).]

[Illustration: Fig. 393.--Seat of Justice, held by King Philippe de Valois,

on the 8th April, 1332, for the Trial of Robert, Comte d'Artois.--From a

Pen-and-ink Sketch in an Original Manuscript (Arch. of the Empire)]

In the course of this simple and graphic description mention has been made

of the _lit de justice_ (seat of justice). All judicial or legislative

assemblies at which the King considered it his duty to be present were

thus designated; when the King came there simply as a looker-on, they were

more commonly called _plaidoyers_, and, in this case, no change was made

in the ordinary arrangements; but when the King presided they were called

_conseils_, and then a special ceremonial was required. In fact, by _lit

de justice_ (Fig. 393), or _cour des pairs_, we understand a court

consisting of the high officers of the crown, and of the great executive

of the State, whose duty it was to determine whether any peer of France

should be tried on a criminal charge; gravely to deliberate on any

political matter of special interest; or to register, in the name of the

absolute sovereignty of the King, any edict of importance. We know the

prominent, and, we may say, even the fatal, part played by these

solemnities, which were being continually re-enacted, and on every sort of

pretext, during the latter days of monarchy. These courts were always held

with impressive pomp. The sovereign usually summoned to them the princes

of the blood royal and the officers of his household; the members of the

Parliament took their seats in scarlet robes, the presidents being habited

in their caps and their mantles, and the registrars of the court also

wearing their official dress. The High Chancellor, the First Chamberlain,

and the Provost of Paris, sat at the King's feet. The Chancellor of

France, the presidents and councillors of the Parliament, occupied the

bar, and the ushers of the court were in a kneeling posture.

Having thus mentioned the assemblies of persons of distinction, the

interviews of sovereigns (Fig. 394), and the reception of

ambassadors--without describing them in detail, which would involve more

space than we have at our command--we will enter upon the subject of the

special ceremonial adopted by the nobility, taking as our guide the

standard book called "Honneurs de la Cour," compiled at the end of the

fifteenth century by the celebrated Aliénor de Poitiers. In addition to

her own observations, she gives those of her mother, Isabelle de Souza,

who herself had but continued the work of another noble lady, Jeanne

d'Harcourt--married in 1391 to the Count William de Namur--who was

considered the best authority to be found in the kingdom of France. This

collection of the customs of the court forms a kind of family diary

embracing three generations, and extending back over more than a century.

Notwithstanding the curious and interesting character of this book, and

the authority which it possesses on this subject, we cannot, much to our

regret, do more than borrow a few passages from it; but these, carefully

selected, will no doubt suffice to give some idea of the manners and

customs of the nobility during the fifteenth century, and to illustrate

the laws of etiquette of which it was the recognised code.

One of the early chapters of the work sets forth this fundamental law of

French ceremonial, namely, that, "according to the traditions or customs

of France, women, however exalted their position, be they even king's

daughters, rank with their husbands." We find on the occasion of the

marriage of King Charles VII. with Mary of Anjou, in 1413, although

probably there had never been assembled together so many princes and

ladies of rank, that at the banquet the ladies alone dined with the Queen,

"and no gentlemen sat with them." We may remark, whilst on this subject,

that before the reign of Francis I. it was not customary for the two sexes

to be associated together in the ordinary intercourse of court life; and

we have elsewhere remarked (see chapter on Private Life) that this

departure from ancient custom exerted a considerable influence, not only

on manners, but also on public affairs.

[Illustration: Fig. 394.--Interview of King Charles V. with the Emperor

Charles IV. in Paris in 1378.--Fac-simile of a Miniature in the

Description of this Interview, Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century, in the

Library of the Arsenal of Paris.]

The authoress of the "Honneurs de la Cour" specially mentions the respect

which Queen Mary of Anjou paid to the Duchess of Burgundy when she was at

Châlons in Champagne in 1445: "The Duchess came with all her retinue, on

horseback and in carriages, into the courtyard of the mansion where the

King and Queen were, and there alighted, her first maid of honour acting

as her train-bearer. M. de Bourbon gave her his right hand, and the

gentlemen went on in front. In this manner she was conducted to the hall

which served as the ante-chamber to the Queen's apartment. There she

stopped, and sent in M. de Crequi to ask the Queen if it was her pleasure

that she should enter.... When the Duchess came to the door she took the

train of her dress from the lady who bore it and let it trail on the

ground, and as she entered she knelt and then adyanced to the middle of

the room. There she made the same obeisance, and moved straight towards

the Queen, who was standing close to the foot of her throne. When the

Duchess had performed a further act of homage, the Queen advanced two or

three steps, and the Duchess fell on her knees; the Queen then put her

hand on her shoulder, embraced her, kissed her, and commanded her to

rise."

The Duchess then went up to Margaret of Scotland, wife of the Dauphin,

afterwards Louis XI., "who was four or five feet from the Queen," and paid

her the same honours as she had done to the Queen, although the Dauphine

appeared to wish to prevent her from absolutely kneeling to her. After

this she turned towards the Queen of Sicily (Isabelle de Lorraine, wife of

René of Anjou, brother-in-law of the King), "who was two or three feet

from the Dauphine," and merely bowed to her, and the same to another

Princess, Madame de Calabre, who was still more distantly connected with

the blood royal. Then the Queen, and after her the Dauphine, kissed the

three maids of honour of the Duchess and the wives of the gentlemen. The

Duchess did the same to the ladies who accompanied the Queen and the

Dauphine, "but of those of the Queen of Sicily the Duchess kissed none,

inasmuch as the Queen had not kissed hers. And the Duchess would not walk

behind the Queen, for she said that the Duke of Burgundy was nearer the

crown of France than was the King of Sicily, and also that she was

daughter of the King of Portugal, who was greater than the King of

Sicily."

Further on, from the details given of a similar reception, we learn that

etiquette was not at that time regulated by the laws of politeness as now

understood, inasmuch as the voluntary respect paid by men to the gentle

sex was influenced much by social rank. Thus, at the time of a visit of

Louis XI., then Dauphin, to the court of Brussels, to which place he went

to seek refuge against the anger of his father, the Duchesses of Burgundy,

of Charolais, and of Clèves, his near relatives, exhibited towards him all

the tokens of submission and inferiority which he might have received from

a vassal. The Dauphin, it is true, wished to avoid this homage, and a

disussion on the subject of "more than a quarter of an hour ensued;" at

last he took the Duchess of Burgundy by the arm and led her away, in order

to cut short the ceremonies "about which Madame made so much to do." This,

however, did not prevent the princesses, on their withdrawing, from

kneeling to the ground in order to show their respect for the son of the

King of France.

[Illustration: Fig. 395.--The Entry of Louis XI. into Paris.--Fac-simile

of a Miniature in the "Chroniques" of Monstrelet, Manuscript of the

Fifteenth Century (Imperial Library of Paris).]

We have already seen that the Duchess of Burgundy, when about to appear

before the Queen, took her train from her train-bearer in order that she

might carry it herself. In this she was only conforming to a general

principle, which was, that in the presence of a superior, a person,

however high his rank, should not himself receive honours whilst at the

same time paying them to another. Thus a duke and a duchess amidst their

court had all the things which were used at their table covered--hence the

modern expression, _mettre le couvert_ (to lay the cloth)--even the

wash-hand basin and the _cadenas_, a kind of case in which the cups,

knives, and other table articles were kept; but when they were

entertaining a king all these marks of superiority were removed, as a

matter of etiquette, from the table at which they sat, and were passed on

as an act of respect to the sovereign present.

The book of Dame Aliénor, in a series of articles to which we shall merely

allude, speaks at great length and enters into detail respecting the

interior arrangements of the rooms in which princes and other noble

children were born. The formalities gone through on these occasions were

as curious as they were complicated; and Dame Aliénor regretted to see

them falling into disuse, "owing to which," she says, "we fear that the

possessions of the great houses of the nobility are getting too large, as

every one admits, and chicanery or concealment of birth, so as to make

away with too many children, is on the increase."

Mourning is the next subject which we shall notice. The King never wore

black for mourning, not even for his father, but scarlet or violet. The

Queen wore white, and did not leave her apartments for a whole year. Hence

the name of _château, hôtel,_ or _tour de la Reine Blanche_, which many of

the buildings of the Middle Ages still bear, from the fact that widowed

queens inhabited them during the first year of their widowhood. On

occasions of mourning, the various reception rooms of a house were hung

with black. In deep mourning, such as that for a husband or a father, a

lady wore neither gloves, jewels, nor silk. The head was covered with a

low black head-dress, with trailing lappets, called _chaperons,

barbettes, couvre-chefs_, and _tourets_. A duchess and the wife of a

knight or a banneret, on going into mourning, stayed in their apartments

for six weeks; the former, during the whole of this time, when in deep

mourning, remained lying down all day on a bed covered with a white sheet;

whereas the latter, at the end of nine days, got up, and until the six

weeks were over, remained sitting in front of the bed on a black sheet.

Ladies did not attend the funerals of their husbands, though it was usual

for them to be present at those of their fathers and mothers. For an elder

brother, they wore the same mourning as for a father, but they did not lie

down as above described.

[Illustration: Fig. 396.--"How the King-at-Arms presents the Sword to the

Duke of Bourbon."--From a Miniature in "Tournois du Roi René," Manuscript

of the Fifteenth Century (Imperial Library of Paris).]

In their everyday intercourse with one another, kings, princes, dukes, and

duchesses called one another _monsieur_ and _madame_, adding the Christian

name or that of the estate. A superior speaking or writing to an inferior,

might prefix to his or her title of relationship _beau_ or _belle_; for

instance, _mon bel oncle, ma belle cousine_. People in a lower sphere of

life, on being introduced to one another, did not say, "Monsieur Jean, ma

belle tante"--"Mr. John, allow me to introduce you to my aunt"--but

simply, "Jean, ma tante." The head of a house had his seat under a canopy

or _dosseret_ (Fig. 396), which he only relinquished to his sovereign,

when he had the honour of entertaining him. "Such," says Aliénor, in

conclusion, "are the points of etiquette which are observed in Germany, in

France, in Naples, in Italy, and in all other civilised countries and

kingdoms." We may here remark, that etiquette, after having originated in

France, spread throughout all Christian nations, and when it had become

naturalised, as it were, amongst the latter, it acquired a settled

position, which it retained more firmly than it did in France. In this

latter country, it was only from the seventeenth century, and particularly

under Louis XIV., that court etiquette really became a science, and almost

a species of religions observance, whose minutiae were attended to as much

as if they were sacramental rites, though they were not unfrequently of

the most childish character, and whose pomp and precision often caused the

most insufferable annoyance. But notwithstanding the perpetual changes of

times and customs, the French nation has always been distinguished for

nobility and dignity, tempered with good sense and elegance.

If we now direct our attention to the _tiers état_, that class which, to

quote a celebrated expression, "was destined to become everything, after

having for a long time been looked upon as nothing," we shall notice that

there, too, custom and tradition had much to do with ceremonies of all

kinds. The presence of the middle classes not only gave, as it were, a

stamp of grandeur to fêtes of an aristocratic and religions character,

but, in addition, the people themselves had a number of ceremonies of

every description, in which etiquette was not one whit less strict than

in those of the court. The variety of civic and popular ceremonies is so

great, that it would require a large volume, illustrated with numerous

engravings, to explain fully their characteristic features. The simple

enumeration of the various public fêtes, each of which was necessarily

accompanied by a distinct ceremonial, would take up much time were we to

attempt to give it even in the shortest manner.

[Illustration: Fig. 397.--Entry of the Roi de l'Epinette at Lille, in the

Sixteenth Century.--From a Miniature in a Manuscript of the Library of

Rouen.]

Besides the numerous ceremonies which were purely religious, namely, the

procession of the _Fête-Dieu_, in Rogation week, and the fêtes which were

both of a superstitions and burlesque character, such as _des Fous, de

l'Ane, des Innocents_, and others of the same kind, so much in vogue

during the Middle Ages, and which we shall describe more in detail

hereafter, we should like to mention the military or gymnastic fêtes.

Amongst these were what were called the processions of the _Confrères de

l'Arquebuse_, the _Archers_, the _Papegaut_, the _roi de l'Epinette_, at

Lille (Fig. 397), and the _Forestier_ at Bruges. There were also what may

be termed the fêtes peculiar to certain places, such as those of _Béhors_,

of the _Champs Galat_ at Epinal, of the _Laboureurs_ at Montélimar, of

_Guy l'an neuf_ at Anjou. Also of the fêtes of _May_, of the _sheaf_, of

the _spring_, of the _roses_, of the _fires of St. John_, &c. Then there

were the historical or commemorative fêtes, such as those of the _Géant

Reuss_ at Dunkerque, of the _Gayant_ at Douai, &c.; also of _Guet de

Saint-Maxime_ at Riez in Provence, the processions of _Jeanne d'Arc_ at

Orleans, of _Jeanne Hachette_ at Beauvais; and lastly, the numerous fêtes

of public corporations, such as the _Écoliers_, the _Nations_, the

_Universités_; also the _Lendit_, the _Saint-Charlemagne_, the _Baillée

des roses au Parlement_; the literary fêtes of the _Pays et Chambres de

rhetorique_ of Picardy and Flanders, of the _Clémence Isaure_ at Toulouse,

and of the _Capitole_ at Rome, &c.; the fêtes of the _Serments, Métiers_,

and _Devoirs_ of the working men's corporation; and lastly, the _Fêtes

Patronales_, called also _Assemblées, Ducasses, Folies, Foires, Kermesses,

Pardons_, &c.

From this simple enumeration, it can easily be understood what a useless

task we should impose upon ourselves were we merely to enter upon so wide

and difficult a subject. Apart from the infinite variety of details

resulting from the local circumstances under which these ceremonies had

been instituted, which were everywhere celebrated at fixed periods, a kind

of general principle regulated and directed their arrangement. Nearly all

these fêtes and public rejoicings, which to a certain extent constituted

the common basis of popular ceremonial, bore much analogy to one another.

There are, however, certain peculiarities less known and more striking

than the rest, which deserve to be mentioned, and we shall then conclude

this part of our subject.

[Illustration: Fig. 398.--Representation of a Ballet before Henri III.

and his Court, in the Gallery of the Louvre.--Fac-simile of an Engraving

on Copper of the "Ballet de la Royne," by Balthazar de Beaujoyeulx (folio,

Paris, Mamert Patisson, 1582.)]

Those rites, ceremonies, and customs, which are the most commonly

observed, and which most persistently keep their place amongst us, are far

from being of modern origin. Thus, the custom of jovially celebrating the

commencement of the new year, or of devoting certain particular days to

festivity, is still universally followed in every country in the world.

The practice of sending presents on _New Year's Day_ is to be found among

civilised nations in the East as well as in our own country. In the Middle

Ages the intimate friends of princes, and especially of the kings of

France, received Christmas gifts, for which they considered themselves

bound to make an ample return. In England these interchanges of generosity

also take place on Christmas Day. In Russia, on Easter Day, the people, on

meeting in the street, salute one another by saying "Christ is risen."

These practices, as well as many others, have no doubt been handed down to

us from the early ages of Christianity. The same may be said of a vast

number of customs of a more or less local character, which have been

observed in various countries for centuries. In former times, at

Ochsenbach, in Wurtemberg, during the carnival, women held a feast at

which they were waited upon by men, and, after it was over, they formed

themselves into a sort of court of plenary indulgence, from which the men

were uniformly excluded, and sat in judgment on one another. At Ramerupt,

a small town in Champagne, every year, on the 1st of May, twenty of the

citizens repaired to the adjoining hamlet of St. Remy, hunting as they

went along. They were called _the fools of Rameru_, and it was said that

the greatest fool led the band. The inhabitants of St. Remy were bound to

receive them gratuitously, and to supply them, as well as their horses and

dogs, with what they required, to have a mass said for them, to put up

with all the absurd vagaries of the captain and his troop, and to supply

them with a _fine and handsome horned ram,_ which was led back in triumph.

On their return into Ramerupt they set up shouts at the door of the curé,

the procurator fiscal, and the collector of taxes, and, after the

invention of gunpowder, fireworks were let off. They then went to the

market-place, where they danced round the ram, which was decorated with

ribbons. No doubt this was a relic of the feasts of ancient heathenism.

A more curious ceremony still, whose origin, we think, may be traced to

the Dionysian feasts of heathenism, has continued to be observed to this

day at Béziers. It bears the names of the _Feast of Pepézuch_, the

_Triumph of Béziers,_ or the _Feast of Caritats_ or _Charités_. At the

bottom of the Rue Française at Béziers, a statue is to be seen which,

notwithstanding the mutilations to which it has been subjected, still

distinctly bears traces of being an ancient work of the most refined

period of art. This statue represents Pepézuch, a citizen of Béziers, who,

according to somewhat questionable tradition, valiantly defended the town

against the Goths, or, as some say, against the English; its origin,

therefore, cannot be later than the thirteenth century. On Ascension Day,

the day of the Feast of Pepézuch, an immense procession went about the

town. Three remarkable machines were particularly noticeable; the first

was an enormous wooden camel made to walk by mechanism, and to move its

limbs and jaws; the second was a galley on wheels fully manned; the third

consisted of a cart on which a travelling theatre was erected. The consuls

and other civic authorities, the corporations of trades having the pastors

walking in front of them, the farriers on horseback, all bearing their

respective insignia and banners, formed the procession. A double column,

composed of a division of young men and young women holding white hoops

decorated with ribbons and many-coloured streamers, was preceded by a

young girl crowned with flowers, half veiled, and carrying a basket. This

brilliant procession marched to the sound of music, and, at certain

distances, the youthful couples of the two sexes halted, in order to

perform, with the assistance of their hoops, various figures, which were

called the _Danse des Treilles_. The machines also stopped from time to

time at various places. The camel was especially made to enter the Church

of St. Aphrodise, because it was said that the apostle had first come on a

camel to preach the Gospel in that country, and there to receive the palm

of martyrdom. On arriving before the statue of Pepézuch the young people

decorated it with garlands. When the square of the town was reached, the

theatre was stopped like the ancient car of Thespis, and the actors

treated the people to a few comical drolleries in imitation of

Aristophanes. From the galley the youths flung sugar-plums and sweetmeats,

which the spectators returned in equal profusion. The procession closed

with a number of men, crowned with green leaves, carrying on their heads

loaves of bread, which, with other provisions contained in the galley,

were distributed amongst the poor of the town.

In Germany and in France it was the custom at the public entries of kings,

princes, and persons of rank, to offer them the wines made in the district

and commonly sold in the town. At Langres, for instance, these wines were

put into four pewter vessels called _cimaises_, which are still to be

seen. They were called the _lion, monkey, sheep_, and _pig_ wines,

symbolical names, which expressed the different degrees or phases of

drunkenness which they were supposed to be capable of producing: the lion,

courage; the monkey, cunning; the sheep, good temper; the pig, bestiality.

We will now conclude by borrowing, from the excellent work of M. Alfred

Michiels on Dutch and Flemish painting, the abridged description of a

procession of corporations of trades, which took place at Antwerp in 1520,

on the Sunday after Ascension Day. "All the corporations of trades were

present, every member being dressed in his best suit." In front of each

guild a banner floated; and immediately behind an enormous lighted

wax-taper was carried. March music was played on long silver trumpets,

flutes, and drums. The goldsmiths, painters, masons, silk embroiderers,

sculptors, carpenters, boatmen, fishermen, butchers, curriers, drapers,

bakers, tailors, and men of every other trade marched two abreast. Then

came crossbowmen, arquebusiers, archers, &c., some on foot and some on

horseback. After them came the various monastic orders; and then followed

a crowd of bourgeois magnificently dressed. A numerous company of widows,

dressed in white from head to foot, particularly attracted attention; they

constituted a sort of sisterhood, observing certain rules, and gaining

their livelihood by various descriptions of manual work. The cathedral

canons and the other priests walked in the procession in their gorgeous

silk vestments sparkling with gold. Twenty persons carried on their

shoulders a huge figure of the Virgin, with the infant Saviour in her

arms, splendidly decorated. At the end of the procession were chariots and

ships on wheels. There were various groups in the procession representing

scenes from the Old and New Testament, such as the _Salutation of the

Angels_, the _Visitation of the Magi_, who appeared riding on camels, the

_Flight into Egypt_, and other well-known historical incidents. The last

machine represented a dragon being led by St. Margaret with a magnificent

bridle, and was followed by St. George and several brilliantly attired

knights.

[Illustration: Fig. 399.--Sandal and Buskin of Charlemagne.--From the

Abbey of St. Denis.]

Costumes.

Influence of Ancient Costume.--Costume in the Fifth

Century.--Hair.--Costumes in the Time of Charlemagne.--Origin of Modern

National Dress.--Head-dresses and Beards: Time of St. Louis.--Progress

of Dress: Trousers, Hose, Shoes, Coats, Surcoats, Capes.--Changes in the

Fashions of Shoes and Hoods.--_Livrée_,--Cloaks and Capes.--Edicts

against Extravagant Fashions.--Female Dress: Gowns, Bonnets,

Head-dresses, &c.--Disappearance of Ancient Dress.--Tight-fitting

Gowns.--General Character of Dress under Francis I.--Uniformity of

Dress.

Long garments alone were worn by the ancients, and up to the period when

the barbarous tribes of the North made their appearance, or rather, until

the invasion of the Roman Empire by these wandering nations, male and

female dress differed but little. The Greeks made scarcely any change in

their mode of dress for centuries; but the Romans, on becoming masters of

the world, partially adopted the dress and arms of the people they had

conquered, where they considered them an improvement on their own,

although the original style of dress was but little altered (Figs. 400 and

401).

Roman attire consisted of two garments--the under garment, or _tunic_, and

the outer garment, or _cloak_; the latter was known under the various

names of _chlamys, toga_, and _pallium_, but, notwithstanding these

several appellations, there was scarcely any appreciable distinction

between them. The simple tunic with sleeves, which answered to our shirt,

was like the modern blouse in shape, and was called by various names. The

_chiridota_ was a tunic with long and large sleeves, of Asiatic origin;

the _manuleata_ was a tunic with long and tight sleeves coming to the

wrists; the _talaris_ was a tunic reaching to the feet; the _palmata_ was

a state tunic, embroidered with palms, which ornamentation was often found

in other parts of dress. The _lacerna_, _loena_, _cucullus_, _chlamys_,

_sagum_, _paludamentum_, were upper garments, more or less coarse, either

full or scant, and usually short, and were analogous to our cloaks,

mantles, &c., and were made both with and without hoods. There were many

varieties of the tunic and cloak invented by female ingenuity, as well as

of other articles of dress, which formed elegant accessories to the

toilet, but there was no essential alteration in the national costume, nor

was there any change in the shape of the numerous descriptions of shoes.

The barbarian invasions brought about a revolution in the dress as well as

in the social state of the people, and it is from the time of these

invasions that we may date, properly speaking, the history of modern

dress; for the Roman costume, which was in use at the same time as that of

the Franks, the Huns, the Vandals, the Goths, &c., was subjected to

various changes down to the ninth century. These modifications increased

afterwards to such an extent that, towards the fourteenth century, the

original type had altogether disappeared.

[Illustration: Figs. 400 and 401.--Gallo-Roman Costumes.--From Bas-reliefs

discovered in Paris in 1711 underneath the Choir of Notre-Dame.]

It was quite natural that men living in a temperate climate, and bearing

arms only when in the service of the State, should be satisfied with

garments which they could wear without wrapping themselves up too closely.

The northern nations, on the contrary, had early learned to protect

themselves against the severity of the climate in which they lived. Thus

the garments known by them as _braies_, and by the Parthians as

_sarabara_, doubtless gave origin to those which have been respectively

called by us _chausses, haut-de-chausses, trousses, grègues, culottes,

pantalons_, &c. These wandering people had other reasons for preferring

the short and close-fitting garments to those which were long and full,

and these were their innate pugnacity, which forced them ever to be under

arms, their habit of dwelling in forests and thickets, their love of the

chase, and their custom of wearing armour.

The ancient Greeks and Romans always went bareheaded in the towns; but in

the country, in order to protect themselves from the direct rays of the

sun, they wore hats much resembling our round hats, made of felt, plaited

rushes, or straw. Other European nations of the same period also went

bareheaded, or wore caps made of skins of animals, having no regularity of

style, and with the shape of which we are but little acquainted.

Shoes, and head-dresses of a definite style, belong to a much more modern

period, as also do the many varieties of female dress, which have been

known at all times and in all countries under the general name of _robes_.

The girdle was only used occasionally, and its adoption depended on

circumstances; the women used it in the same way as the men, for in those

days it was never attached to the dress. The great difference in modern

female costume consists in the fact of the girdle being part of the dress,

thus giving a long or short waist, according to the requirements of

fashion. In the same manner, a complete revolution took place in men's

dress according as loose or tight, long or short sleeves were introduced.

We shall commence our historical sketch from the fifth century, at which

period we can trace the blending of the Roman with the barbaric

costume--namely, the combination of the long, shapeless garment with that

which was worn by the Germans, and which was accompanied by tight-fitting

braies. Thus, in the recumbent statue which adorned the tomb of Clovis, in

the Church of the Abbey of St. Geneviève, the King is represented as

wearing the _tunic_ and the _toga_, but, in addition, Gallo-Roman

civilization had actually given him tight-fitting braies, somewhat similar

to what we now call pantaloons. Besides this, his tunic is fastened by a

belt; which, however, was not a novelty in his time, for the women then

wore long dresses, fastened at the waist by a girdle. There is nothing

very remarkable about his shoes, since we find that the shoe, or closed

sandal, was worn from the remotest periods by nearly all nations (Figs.

402 and 403).

[Illustration: Fig. 402.--Costume of King Clovis (Sixth Century).--From a

Statue on his Tomb, formerly in the Abbey of St. Geneviève.]

[Illustration: Fig. 403.--Costume of King Childebert (Seventh

Century).--From a Statue formerly placed in the Refectory of the Abbey of

St. Germain-des-Prés.]

The cloak claims an equally ancient origin. The principal thing worthy of

notice is the amount of ornament with which the Franks enriched their

girdles and the borders of their tunics and cloaks. This fashion they

borrowed from the Imperial court, which, having been transferred from Rome

to Constantinople during the third century, was not slow to adopt the

luxury of precious stones and other rich decorations commonly in use

amongst Eastern nations. Following the example of Horace de Vielcastel,

the learned author of a history of the costumes of France, we may here

state that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to define the exact

costume during the time of the early Merovingian periods. The first

writers who have touched upon this subject have spoken of it very vaguely,

or not being contemporaries of the times of which they wrote, could only

describe from tradition or hearsay. Those monuments in which early costume

is supposed to be represented are almost all of later date, when artists,

whether sculptors or painters, were not very exact in their delineations

of costume, and even seemed to imagine that no other style could have

existed before their time than the one with which they were daily

familiar. In order to be as accurate as possible, although, after all, we

can only speak hypothetically, we cannot do better than call to mind, on

the one hand, what Tacitus says of the Germans, that they "were almost

naked, excepting for a short and tight garment round their waists, and a

little square cloak which they threw over the right shoulder," and, on the

other, to carry ourselves back in imagination to the ancient Roman

costume. We may notice, moreover, the curious description given of the

Franks by Sidoine Apollinaire, who says, "They tied up their flaxen or

light-brown hair above their foreheads, into a kind of tuft, and then made

it fall behind the head like a horse's tail. The face was clean shaved,

with the exception of two long moustaches. They wore cloth garments,

fitting tight to the body and limbs, and a broad belt, to which they hung

their swords." But this is a sketch made at a time when the Frankish race

was only known among the Gauls through its marauding tribes, whose raids,

from time to time, spread terror and dismay throughout the countries which

they visited. From the moment when the uncultivated tribes of ancient

Germany formally took possession of the territory which they had withdrawn

from Roman rule, they showed themselves desirous of adopting the more

gentle manners of the conquered nation. "In imitation of their chief,"

says M. Jules Quicherat, the eminent antiquarian, "more than once the

Franks doffed the war coat and the leather Belt, and assumed the toga of

Roman dignity. More than once their flaxen hair was shown to advantage by

flowing over the imperial mantle, and the gold of the knights, the purple

of the senators and patricians, the triumphal crowns, the fasces, and, in

short, everything which the Roman Empire invented in order to exhibit its

grandeur, assisted in adding to that of our ancestors."

[Illustration: Figs. 404 and 405.--Saints in the Costume of the Sixth to

the Eighth Centuries.--From Miniatures in old Manuscripts of the Royal

Library of Brussels (Designs by Count H. de Vielcastel).]

One great and characteristic difference between the Romans and the Franks

should, however, be specially mentioned; namely, in the fashion of wearing

the hair long, a fashion never adopted by the Romans, and which, during

the whole of the first dynasty, was a distinguishing mark of kings and

nobles among the Franks. Agathias, the Greek historian, says, "The hair is

never cut from the heads of the Frankish kings' sons. From early youth

their hair falls gracefully over their shoulders, it is parted on the

forehead, and falls equally on both sides; it is with them a matter to

which they give special attention." We are told, besides, that they

sprinkled it with gold-dust, and plaited it in small bands, which they

ornamented with pearls and precious metals.

Whilst persons of rank were distinguished by their long and flowing hair,

the people wore theirs more or less short, according to the degree of

freedom which they possessed, and the serfs had their heads completely

shaved. It was customary for the noble and free classes to swear by their

hair, and it was considered the height of politeness to pull out a hair

and present it to a person. Frédégaire, the chronicler, relates that

Clovis thus pulled out a hair in order to do honour to St. Germer, Bishop

of Toulouse, and presented it to him; upon this, the courtiers hastened to

imitate their sovereign, and the venerable prelate returned home with his

hand full of hair, delighted at the flattering reception he had met with

at the court of the Frankish king. Durinig the Merovingian period, the

greatest insult that could be offered to a freeman was to touch him with a

razor or scissors. The degradation of kings and princes was carried out in

a public manner by shaving their heads and sending them into a monastery;

on their regaining their rights and their authority, their hair was always

allowed to grow again. We may also conclude that great importance was

attached to the preservation of the hair even under the kings of the

second dynasty, for Charlemagne, in his Capitulaires, orders the hair to

be removed as a punishment in certain crimes.

The Franks, faithful to their ancient custom of wearing the hair long,

gradually gave up shaving the face. At first, they only left a small tuft

on the chin, but by degrees they allowed this to increase, and in the

sixth and seventh centuries freemen adopted the usual form of beard.

Amongst the clergy, the custom prevailed of shaving the crown of the head,

in the same way as that adopted by certain monastic orders in the present

day. Priests for a long time wore beards, but ceased to do so on their

becoming fashionable amongst the laity (Figs. 406, 407). Painters and

sculptors therefore commit a serious error in representing the prelates

and monks of those times with large beards.

As far as the monumental relics of those remote times allow us to judge,

the dress as worn by Clovis underwent but trifing modifications during the

first dvnasty; but during the reigns of Pepin and Charlemagne considerable

changes were effected, which resulted from the intercourse, either of a

friendly or hostile nature, between the Franks and the southern nations.

About this time, silk stuffs were introduced into the kingdom, and the

upper classes, in order to distinguish themselves from the lower, had

their garments trimmed round with costly furs (see chapter on Commerce).

[Illustration: Fig. 406 and 407.--Costume of the Prelates from the Eighth

to the Tenth Centuries--After Miniatures in the "Missal of St. Gregory,"

in the National Library of Paris.]

We have before stated (see chapter on Private Life) that Charlemagne, who

always was very simple in his tastes, strenuously set his face against

these novel introductions of luxury, which he looked upon as tending to do

harm. "Of what use are these cloaks?" he said; "in bed they cannot cover

us, on horseback they can neither protect us from the rain nor the wind,

and when we are sitting they can neither preserve our legs from the cold

nor the damp." He himself generally wore a large tunic made of otters'

skins. On one occasion his courtiers went out hunting with him, clothed in

splendid garments of southern fashion, which became much torn by the

briars, and begrimed with the blood of the animals they had killed. "Oh,

ye foolish men!" he said to them the next day as he showed them his own

tunic, which a servant had just returned to him in perfect condition,

after having simply dried it before the fire and rubbed it with his hands.

"Whose garments are the more valuable and the more useful? mine, for which

I have only paid a sou (about twenty-two francs of present money), or

yours, which have cost so much?" From that time, whenever this great king

entered on a campaign, the officers of his household, even the most rich

and powerful, did not dare to show themselves in any clothes but those

made of leather, wool, or cloth; for had they, on such occasions, made

their appearance dressed in silk and ornaments, he would have sharply

reproved them and have treated them as cowards, or as effeminate, and

consequently unfit for the work in which he was about to engage.

Nevertheless, this monarch, who so severely proscribed luxury in daily

life, made the most magnificent display on the occasions of political or

religious festivals, when the imperial dignity with which he was invested

required to be set forth by pompous ceremonial and richness of attire.

During the reign of the other Carlovingian kings, in the midst of

political troubles, of internal wars, and of social disturbances, they had

neither time nor inclination for inventing new fashions. Monuments of the

latter part of the ninth century prove, indeed, that the national dress

had hardly undergone any change since the time of Charlemagne, and that

the influence of Roman tradition, especially on festive occasions, was

still felt in the dress of the nobles (Figs. 408 to 411).

In a miniature of the large MS. Bible given by the canons of Saint-Martin

of Tours in 869 to Charles the Bald (National Library of Paris), we find

the King sitting on his throne surrounded by the dignitaries of his court,

and by soldiers all dressed after the Roman fashion. The monarch wears a

cloak which seems to be made of cloth of gold, and is attached to the

shoulder by a strap or ribbon sliding through a clasp; this cloak is

embroidered in red, on a gold ground; the tunic is of reddish brown, and

the shoes are light red, worked with gold thread. In the same manuscript

there is another painting, representing four women listening to the

discourse of a prophet. From this we discover that the female costume of

the time consisted of two tunics, the under one being longer but less

capacious than the other, the sleeves of the former coming down tight to

the wrists, and being plaited in many folds, whilst those of the latter

open out, and only reach to the elbow. The lower part, the neck, and the

borders of the sleeves are trimmed with ornamented bands, the waist is

encircled by a girdle just above the hips, and a long veil, finely worked,

and fastened on the head, covers the shoulders and hangs down to the feet,

completely hiding the hair, so that long plaits falling in front were

evidently not then in fashion. The under dress of these four women--who

all wear black shoes, which were probably made of morocco leather--are of

various colours, whereas the gowns or outer tunics are white.

[Illustration: Fig. 408.--Costume of a Scholar of the Carlovingian Period

(St. Matthew writing his Gospel under the Inspiration of Christ).--From a

Miniature in a Manuscript of the Ninth Century, in the Burgundian Library,

Brussels (drawn by Count H. de Vielcastel).]

Notwithstanding that under the Carlovingian dynasty it was always

considered a shame and a dishonour to have the head shaved, it must not be

supposed that the upper classes continued to wear the long Merovingian

style of hair. After the reign of Charlemagne, it was the fashion to shave

the hair from above the forehead, the parting being thus widened, and the

hair was so arranged that it should not fall lower than the middle of the

neck. Under Charles the Bald, whose surname proves that he was not partial

to long hair, this custom fell into disuse or was abandoned, and men had

the greater part of their heads shaved, and only kept a sort of cap of

hair growing on the top of the head. It is at this period that we first

find the _cowl_ worn. This kind of common head-dress, made from the furs

of animals or from woollen stuffs, continued to be worn for many

centuries, and indeed almost to the present day. It was originally only a

kind of cap, light and very small; but it gradually became extended in

size, and successively covered the ears, the neck, and lastly even the

shoulders.

No great change was made in the dress of the two sexes during the tenth

century. "Nothing was more simple than the head-dress of women," says M.

Jules Quicherat; "nothing was less studied than their mode of wearing

their hair; nothing was more simple, and yet finer, than their linen. The

elegant appearance of their garments recalls that of the Greek and Roman,

women. Their dresses were at times so tight as to display all the elegance

of their form, whilst at others they were made so high as completely to

cover the neck; the latter were called _cottes-hardies_. The

_cotte-hardie_, which has at all times been part of the dress of French

women, and which was frequently worn also by men, was a long tunic

reaching to the heels, fastened in at the waist and closed at the wrists.

Queens, princesses, and ladies of the nobility wore in addition a long

cloak lined with ermine, or a tunic with or without sleeves; often, too,

their dress consisted of two tunics, and of a veil or drapery, which was

thrown over the head and fell down before and behind, thus entirely

surrounding the neck."

[Illustration: Fig. 409.--Costume of a Scholar.

Fig. 410.--Costume of a Bishop or Abbot.

Fac-similes of Miniatures in a Manuscript of the Ninth Century ("Biblia

Sacra"), in the Royal Library of Brussels.]

We cannot find that any very decided change was made in dress before the

end of the eleventh century. The ordinary dress made of thick cloths and

of coarse woollen stuffs was very strong and durable, and not easily

spoiled; and it was usual, as we still find in some provinces which adhere

to old customs, for clothes, especially those worn on festive occasions

and at ceremonials, to be handed down as heirlooms from father to son, to

the third or fourth generation. The Normans, who came from Scandinavia

towards the end of the tenth century, A.D. 970, with their short clothes

and coats of mail, at first adopted the dress of the French, and continued

to do so in all its various changes. In the following century, having

found the Saxons and Britons in England clad in the garb of their

ancestors, slightly modified by the Roman style of apparel, they began to

make great changes in their manner of dressing themselves. They more and

more discarded Roman fashions, and assumed similar costumes to those made

in France at the same period.

[Illustration: Fig. 411.--Costume of Charles the Simple (Tenth

Century).--From a Miniature in the "Rois de France," by Du Tillet,

Manuscript of the Sixteenth Century (Imperial Library of Paris).]

Before proceeding further in our history of mediæval dress, we must

forestall a remark which will not fail to be made by the reader, and this

is, that we seem to occupy ourselves exclusively with the dress of kings,

queens, and other people of note. But we must reply, that though we are

able to form tolerably accurate notions relative to the dress of the upper

classes during these remote periods, we do not possess any reliable

information relative to that of the lower orders, and that the written

documents, as well as the sculptures and paintings, are almost useless on

this point. Nevertheless, we may suppose that the dress of the men in the

lowest ranks of society has always been short and tight, consisting of

_braies_, or tight drawers, mostly made of leather, of tight tunics, of

_sayons_ or doublets, and of capes or cloaks of coarse brown woollen. The

tunic was confined at the waist by a belt, to which the knife, the purse,

and sometimes the working tools were suspended. The head-dress of the

people was generally a simple cap made of thick, coarse woollen cloth or

felt, and often of sheep's skin. During the twelfth century, a person's

rank or social position was determined by the head-dress. The cap was made

of velvet for persons of rank, and of common cloth for the poor. The

_cornette_, which was always an appendage to the cap, was made of cloth,

with which the cap might be fastened or adjusted on the head. The

_mortier_, or round cap, dates from the earliest centuries, and was

altered both in shape and material according to the various changes of

fashion; but lawyers of high position continued to wear it almost in its

original shape, and it became like a professional badge for judges and

advocates.

In the miniatures of that time we find Charles the Good, Count of

Flanders, who died in 1127, represented with a cap with a point at the

top, to which a long streamer is attached, and a peak turned up in front.

A cap very similar, but without the streamer, and with the point turned

towards the left, is to be seen in a portrait of Geoffroy le Bel, Comte de

Maine, in 1150. About the same period, Agnès de Baudement is represented

with a sort of cap made of linen or stuff, with lappets hanging down over

the shoulders; she is dressed in a robe fastened round the waist, and

having long bands attached to the sleeves near the wrists. Queen

Ingeburge, second wife of Philip Augustus, also wore the tight gown,

fastened at the collar by a round buckle, and two bands of stuff forming a

kind of necklace; she also used the long cloak, and the closed shoes,

which had then begun to be made pointed. Robert, Comte de Dreux, who lived

at the same period, is also dressed almost precisely like the Queen,

notwithstanding the difference of sex and rank; his robe, however, only

descends to the instep, and his belt has no hangings in front. The Queen

is represented with her hair long and flowing, but the count has his cut

short.

[Illustration: Fig. 412.--Costume of King Louis le Jeune--Miniature of

the "Rois de France," by Du Tillet (Sixteenth Century), in the National

Library of Paris.]

[Illustration: Fig. 413.--Royal Costume.--From a Miniature in a Manuscript

of the Twelfth Century, in the Burgundian Library, Brussels.]

Women, in addition to their head-dress, often wore a broad band, which was

tied under the chin, and gave the appearance of a kind of frame for the

face. Both sexes wore coloured bands on their shoes, which were tied round

the ankles like those of sandals, and showed the shape of the foot.

The beard, which was worn in full at the beginning of the twelfth century,

was by degrees modified both as to shape and length. At first it was cut

in a point, and only covered the end of the chin, but the next fashion was

to wear it so as to join the moustaches. Generally, under Louis le Jeune

(Fig. 412), moustaches went out of fashion. We next find beards worn only

by country people, who, according to contemporary historians, desired to

preserve a "remembrance of their participation in the Crusades." At the

end of this century, all chins were shaved.

The Crusades also gave rise to the general use of the purse, which was

suspended to the belt by a cord of silk or cotton, and sometimes by a

metal chain. At the time of the Holy War, it had become an emblem

characteristic of pilgrims, who, before starting for Palestine, received

from the hands of the priest the cross, the pilgrim's staff, and the

purse.

We now come to the time of Louis IX. (Figs. 414 to 418), of that good king

who, according to the testimony of his historians, generally dressed with

the greatest simplicity, but who, notwithstanding his usual modesty and

economy, did not hesitate on great occasions to submit to the pomp

required by the regal position which he held. "Sometimes," says the Sire

de Joinville, "he went into his garden dressed in a camel's-hair coat, a

surcoat of linsey-woolsey without sleeves, a black silk cloak without a

hood, and a hat trimmed with peacocks' feathers. At other times he was

dressed in a coat of blue silk, a surcoat and mantle of scarlet satin, and

a cotton cap."

The surcoat (_sur-cotte_) was at first a garment worn only by females, but

it was soon adopted by both sexes: it was originally a large wrapper with

sleeves, and was thrown over the upper part of the robe (_cotte_), hence

its name, _sur-cotte._ Very soon it was made without sleeves--doubtless,

as M. Quicherat remarks, that the under garment, which was made of more

costly material, might be seen; and then, with the same object, and in

order that the due motion of the limbs might not be interfered with, the

surcoat was raised higher above the hips, and the arm-holes were made very

large.

[Illustration: Fig. 414.--Costume of a Princess dressed in a Cloak lined

with Fur.--From a Miniature of the Thirteenth Century.]

[Illustration: Fig. 415.--Costume of William Malgeneste, the King's

Huntsman, as represented on his Tomb, formerly in the Abbey of Long-Pont.]

At the consecration of Louis IX., in 1226, the nobles wore the cap

(_mortier_) trimmed with fur; the bishops wore the cope and the mitre, and

carried the crosier. Louis IX., at the age of thirteen, is represented, in

a picture executed in 1262 (Sainte-Chapelle, Paris), with his hair short,

and wearing a red velvet cap, a tunic, and over this a cloak open at the

chest, having long sleeves, which are slit up for the arms to go through;

this cloak, or surcoat, is trimmed with ermine in front, and has the

appearance of what we should now call a fur shawl. The young King has long

hose, and shoes similar in shape to high slippers. In the same painting

Queen Margaret, his wife, wears a gown with tight bodice opened out on the

hips, and having long and narrow sleeves; she also has a cloak embroidered

with fleurs-de-lis, the long sleeves of which are slit up and bordered

with ermine; a kind of hood, much larger than her head, and over this a

veil, which passes under the chin without touching the face; the shoes are

long, and seem to enclose the feet very tightly.

[Illustration: Fig. 416.--Costumes of the Thirteenth Century: Tristan and

the beautiful Yseult.--From a Miniature in the Romance of "Tristan,"

Manuscript of the Fourteenth Century (Imperial Library of Paris).]

From this period gowns with tight bodices were generally adopted; the

women wore over them a tight jacket, reaching to a little below the hips,

often trimmed with fur when the gown was richly ornamented, and itself

richly ornamented when the gown was plain. They also began to plait the

hair, which fell down by the side of the face to the neck, and they

profusely decorated it with pearls or gold or silver ornaments. Jeanne,

Queen of Navarre, wife of Philippe le Bel, is represented with a pointed

cap, on the turned-up borders of which the hair clusters in thick curls on

each side of the face; on the chest is a frill turned down in two points;

the gown, fastened in front by a row of buttons, has long and tight

sleeves, with a small slit at the wrists closed by a button; lastly, the

Queen wears, over all, a sort of second robe in the shape of a cloak, the

sleeves of which are widely slit in the middle.

At the end of the thirteenth century luxury was at its height at the court

of France: gold and silver, pearls and precious stones were lavished on

dress. At the marriage of Philip III., son of St. Louis, the gentlemen

were dressed in scarlet; the ladies in cloth of gold, embroidered and

trimmed with gold and silver lace. Massive belts of gold were also worn,

and chaplets sparkling with the same costly metal. Moreover, this

magnificence and display (see chapter on Private Life) was not confined to

the court, for we find that it extended to the bourgeois class, since

Philippe le Bel, by his edict of 1294, endeavoured to limit this

extravagance, which in the eyes of the world had an especial tendency to

obliterate, or at least to conceal, all distinctions of birth, rank, and

condition. Wealth strove hard at that time to be the sole standard of

dress.

As we approach the fourteenth century--an epoch of the Middle Ages at

which, after many changes of fashion, and many struggles against the

ancient Roman and German traditions, modern national costume seems at last

to have assumed a settled and normal character--we think it right to

recapitulate somewhat, with a view to set forth the nature of the various

elements which were at work from time to time in forming the fashions in

dress. In order to give more weight to our remarks, we will extract,

almost word for word, a few pages from the learned and excellent work

which M. Jules Quicherat has published on this subject.

"Towards the year 1280," he says, "the dress of a man--not of a man as the

word was then used, which meant _serf_, but of one to whom the exercise of

human prerogatives was permitted, that is to say, of an ecclesiastic, a

bourgeois, or a noble--was composed of six indispensable portions: the

_braies_, or breeches, the stockings, the shoes, the coat, the surcoat, or

_cotte-hardie,_ and the _chaperon_, or head-dress. To these articles those

who wished to dress more elegantly added, on the body, a shirt; on the

shoulders, a mantle; and on the head, a hat, or _fronteau_.

[Illustration: Fig. 417.--Costumes of the Common People in the Fourteenth

Century: Italian Gardener and Woodman.--From two Engravings in the Bonnart

Collection.]

"The _braies_, or _brayes_, were a kind of drawers, generally knitted,

sometimes made of woollen stuff or silk, and sometimes even of undressed

leather. .... Our ancestors derived this part of their dress from the

ancient Gauls; only the Gallic braies came down to the ankle, whereas

those of the thirteenth century only reached to the calf. They were

fastened above the hips by means of a belt called the _braier_.

"By _chausses_ was meant what we now call long stockings or hose. The

stockings were of the same colour and material as the braies, and were

kept up by the lower part of the braies being pulled over them, and tied

with a string.

"The shoes were made of various kinds of leather, the quality of which

depended on the way in which they were tanned, and were either of common

leather, or of leather which was similar to that we know as morocco, and

was called _cordouan_ or _cordua_ (hence the derivation of the word

_cordouannier_, which has now become _cordonnier_). Shoes were generally

made pointed; this fashion of the _poulaines_, or Polish points, was

followed throughout the whole of Europe for nearly three hundred years,

and, when first introduced, the Church was so scandalized by it that it

was almost placed in the catalogue of heresies. Subsequently, the taste

respecting the exaggerated length of the points was somewhat modified, but

it had become so inveterate that the tendency for pointed shoes returning

to their former absurd extremes was constantly showing itself. The pointed

shoes became gradually longer during the struggles which were carried on

in the reign of Philippe le Bel between Church and State.

"Besides the shoes, there were also the _estiviaux_, thus named from.

_estiva_ (summer thing), because, being generally made of velvet, brocade,

or other costly material, they could only be worn in dry weather.

"The coat (_cotte_) corresponded with the tunic of the ancients, it was a

blouse with tight sleeves. These sleeves were the only part of it which

were exposed, the rest being completely covered by the surcoats, or

_cotte-hardie,_ a name the origin of which is obscure. In shape the

surcoat somewhat resembled a sack, in which, at a later period, large

slits were made in the arms, as well as over the hips and on the chest,

through which appeared the rich furs and satins with which it was

lined.... The ordinary material of the surcoat for the rich was cloth,

either scarlet, blue, or reddish brown, or two or more of these colours

mixed together; and for the poor, linsey-woolsey or fustian. The nobles,

princes, or barons, when holding a court, wore surcoats of a colour to

match their arms, which were embroidered upon them, but the lesser nobles

who frequented the houses of the great spoke of themselves as in the robes

of such and such a noble, because he whose patronage they courted was

obliged to provide them with surcoats and mantles. These were of their

patron's favourite colour, and were called the livery (_livrée_), on

account of their distribution (_livraison_), which took place twice a

year. The word has remained in use ever since, but with a different

signification; it is, however, so nearly akin to the original meaning that

its affinity is evident."

[Illustration: Fig. 418.--Costume of English Servants in the Fourteenth

Century.--From Manuscripts in the British Museum.]

[Illustration: Fig. 419.--Costume of Philip the Good, with Hood and

"Cockade."--From a Miniature in a Manuscript of the Period.]

An interesting anecdote relative to this custom is to be found in the

chronicles of Matthew Paris. When St. Louis, to the dismay of all his

vassals, and of his inferior servants, had decided to take up the cross,

he succeeded in associating the nobles of his court with him in his vow by

a kind of pious fraud. Having had a certain number of mantles prepared for

Christmas-day, he had a small white cross embroidered on each above the

right shoulder, and ordered them to be distributed among the nobles on the

morning of the feast when they were about to go to mass, which was

celebrated some time before sunrise. Each courtier received the mantle

given by the King at the door of his room, and put it on in the dark

without noticing the white cross; but, when the day broke, to his great

surprise, he saw the emblem worn by his neighbour, without knowing that he

himself wore it also. "They were surprised and amused," says the English

historian, "at finding that the King had thus piously entrapped them....

As it would have been unbecoming, shameful, and even unworthy of them to

have removed these crosses, they laughed heartily, and said that the good

King, on starting as a pilgrim-hunter, had found a new method of catching

men."

"The chaperon," adds M. Quicherat, "was the national head-dress of the

ancient French, as the _cucullus_, which was its model, was that of the

Gauls. We can imagine its appearance by its resemblance to the domino now

worn at masked balls. The shape was much varied during the reign of

Philippe le Bel, either by the diminution of the cape or by the

lengthening of the hood, which was always sufficiently long to fall on the

shoulders. In the first of these changes, the chaperon no longer being

tied round the neck, required to be held on the head by something more

solid. For this reason it was set on a pad or roll, which changed it into

a regular cap. The material was so stitched as to make it take certain

folds, which were arranged as puffs, as ruffs, or in the shape of a cock's

comb; this last fashion, called _cockade_, was especially in vogue (Fig.

419)--hence the origin of the French epithet _coquard_, which would be now

expressed by the word _dandy_.

"Hats were of various shapes. They were made of different kinds of felt,

or of otter or goat's skin, or of wool or cotton. The expression _chapeau

de fleurs_ (hat of flowers), which continually occurs in ancient works,

did not mean any form of hat, but simply a coronet of forget-me-nots or

roses, which was an indispensable part of dress for balls or festivities

down to the reign of Philippe de Valois (1347). Frontlets (_fronteaux_), a

species of fillet made of silk, covered with gold and precious stones,

superseded the _chapeau de fleurs_, inasmuch as they had the advantage of

not fading. They also possessed the merit of being much more costly, and

were thus the means of establishing in a still more marked manner

distinctions in the social positions of the wearers.

[Illustration: Fig. 420.--Costumes of a rich Bourgeoise, of a

Peasant-woman, and of a Lady of the Nobility, of the Fourteenth

Century.--From various painted Windows in the Churches of Moulins

(Bourbonnais).]

[Illustration: Saint Catherine Surrounded by the Doctors of Alexandria.

A miniature from the _Breviary_ of the cardinal Grimani, attributed to

Memling.

Bibl. of Saint-Marc, Venice.

(From a copy belonging to M. Ambroise Firmin-Didot.)]

"There were two kinds of mantles; one was open in front, and fell over the

back, and a strap which crossed the chest held it fixed on the shoulders;

the other, enveloping the body like a bell, was slit up on the right side,

and was thrown back over the left arm; it was made with a fur collar, cut

in the shape of a tippet. This last has been handed down to us, and is

worn by our judges under the name of _toge_ and _épitoge_.

"It is a very common mistake to suppose that the shirt is an article of

dress of modern invention; on the contrary, it is one of great antiquity,

and its coming into general use is the only thing new about it.

"Lastly, we have to mention the _chape_, which was always regarded as a

necessary article of dress. The _chape_ was the only protection against

bad weather at a period when umbrellas and covered carriages were unknown.

It was sometimes called _chape de pluie_, on account of the use to which

it was applied, and it consisted of a large cape with sleeves, and was

completely waterproof. It was borne behind a master by his servant, who,

on account of this service was called a _porte-chape._ It is needless to

say that the common people carried it themselves, either slung over their

backs, or folded under the arm."

If we now turn to female attire, we shall find represented in it all the

component parts of male dress, and almost all of them under the same

names. It must be remarked, however, that the women's coats and surcoats

often trailed on the ground; that the hat--which was generally called a

_couvre-chef,_ and consisted of a frame of wirework covered over with

stuff which was embroidered or trimmed with lace--was not of a conical

shape; and, lastly, that the _chaperon_, which was always made with a

tippet, or _chausse_, never turned over so as to form a cap. We may add

that the use of the couvre-chef did not continue beyond the middle of the

fourteenth century, at which time women adopted the custom of wearing any

kind of head-dress they chose, the hair being kept back by a silken net,

or _crépine_, attached either to a frontlet, or to a metal fillet, or

confined by a veil of very light material, called a _mollequin_ (Fig.

420).

With the aid of our learned guide we have now reached a period (end of the

thirteenth century) well adapted for this general study of the dress of

our ancestors, inasmuch as soon afterwards men's dress at least, and

especially that of young courtiers, became most ridiculously and even

indecently exaggerated. To such an extent was this the case, that serious

calamities having befallen the French nation about this time, and its

fashions having exercised a considerable influence over the whole

continent of Europe, contemporary historians do not hesitate to regard

these public misfortunes as a providential chastisement inflicted on

France for its disgraceful extravagance in dress.

[Illustration: Fig. 421.--Costumes of a young Nobleman and of a Bourgeois

in the Fourteenth Century.--From a painted Window in the Church of

Saint-Ouen at Rouen, and from a Window at Moulins (Bourbonnais).]

"We must believe that God has permitted this as a just judgment on us for

our sins," say the monks who edited the "Grande Chronique de St. Denis,"

in 1346, at the time of the unfortunate battle of Cressy, "although it

does not belong to us to judge. But what we see we testify to; for pride

was very great in France, and especially amongst the nobles and others,

that is to say, pride of nobility, and covetousness. There was also much

impropriety in dress, and this extended throughout the whole of France.

Some had their clothes so short and so tight that it required the help of

two persons to dress and undress them, and whilst they were being

undressed they appeared as if they were being skinned. Others wore dresses

plaited over their loins like women; some had chaperons cut out in points

all round; some had tippets of one cloth, others of another; and some had

their head-dresses and sleeves reaching to the ground, looking more like

mountebanks than anything else. Considering all this, it is not surprising

if God employed the King of England as a scourge to correct the excesses

of the French people."

And this is not the only testimony to the ridiculous and extravagant

tastes of this unfortunate period. One writer speaks with indignation of

the _goats' beards_ (with two points), which seemed to put the last

finishing touch of ridicule on the already grotesque appearance of even

the most serious people of that period. Another exclaims against the

extravagant luxury of jewels, of gold and silver, and against the wearing

of feathers, which latter then appeared for the first time as accessories

to both male and female attire. Some censure, and not without reason, the

absurd fashion of converting the ancient leather girdle, meant to support

the waist, into a kind of heavy padded band, studded with gilded ornaments

and precious stones, and apparently invented expressly to encumber the

person wearing it. Other contemporary writers, and amongst these Pope

Urban V. and King Charles V. (Fig. 422), inveigh against the _poulaines_,

which had more than ever come into favour, and which were only considered

correct in fashion when they were made as a kind of appendix to the foot,

measuring at least double its length, and ornamented in the most

fantastical manner. The Pope anathematized this deformity as "a mockery of

God and the holy Church," and the King forbad craftsmen to make them, and

his subjects to wear them. All this is as nothing in comparison with the

profuse extravagance displayed in furs, which was most outrageous and

ruinous, and of which we could not form an idea were it not for the items

in certain royal documents, from which we gather that, in order to trim

two complete suits for King John, no fewer than six hundred and seventy

martens' skins were used. It is also stated that the Duke of Berry, the

youngest son of that monarch, purchased nearly ten thousand of these same

skins from a distant country in the north, in order to trim only five

mantles and as many surcoats. We read also that a robe made for the Duke

of Orleans, grandson of the same king, required two thousand seven hundred

and ninety ermines' skins. It is unnecessary to state, that in consequence

of this large consumption, skins could only be purchased at the most

extravagant prices; for example, fifty skins cost about one hundred francs

(or about six thousand of present currency), showing to what an enormous

expense those persons were put who desired to keep pace with the luxury of

the times (Fig. 424).

[Illustration: Fig. 422.--Costume of Charles V., King of France.--From a

Statue formerly in the Church of the Célestins, Paris.]

[Illustration: Fig. 423.--Costume of Jeanne de Bourbon, Wife of Charles

V.--From a Statue formerly in the Church of the Célestins, Paris.]

We have already seen that Charles V. used his influence, which was

unfortunately very limited, in trying to restrain the extravagance of

fashion. This monarch did more than decree laws against indelicate or

unseemly and ridiculous dress; he himself never wore anything but the long

and ample costume, which was most becoming, and which had been adopted in

the preceding century. His example, it is true, was little followed, but

it nevertheless had this happy resuit, that the advocates of short and

tight dresses, as if suddenly seized with instinctive modesty, adopted an

upper garment, the object of which seemed to be to conceal the absurd

fashions which they had not the courage to rid themselves of. This heavy

and ungraceful tunic, called a _housse_, consisted of two broad bands of

a more or less costly material, which, starting from the neck, fell behind

and before, thus almost entirely concealing the front and back of the

person, and only allowing the under garments to be seen through the slits

which naturally opened on each side of it.

A fact worthy of remark is, that whilst male attire, through a depravity

of taste, had extended to the utmost limit of extravagance, women's dress,

on the contrary, owing to a strenuous effort towards a dignified and

elegant simplicity, became of such a character that it combined all the

most approved fashions of female costume which had been in use in former

periods.

The statue of Queen Jeanne de Bourbon, wife of Charles V., formerly placed

with that of her husband in the Church of the Célestins at Paris, gives

the most faithful representation of this charming costume, to which our

artists continually have recourse when they wish to depict any poetical

scenes of the French Middle Ages (Fig. 423).

[Illustration: Fig. 424.--Costumes of Bourgeois or Merchant, of a

Nobleman, and of a Lady of the Court or rich Bourgeoise, with the

Head-dress (_escoffion_) of the Fifteenth Century.--From a Painted Window

of the Period, at Moulins (Bourbonnais), and from a Painting on Wood of

the same Period, in the Musee de Cluny.]

This costume, without positively differing in style from that of the

thirteenth century, inasmuch as it was composed of similar elements, was

nevertheless to be distinguished by a degree of elegance which hitherto

had been unknown. The coat, or under garment, which formerly only showed

itself through awkwardly-contrived openings, now displayed the harmonious

outlines of the figure to advantage, thanks to the large openings in the

overcoat. The surcoat, kept back on the shoulders by two narrow bands,

became a sort of wide and trailing skirt, which majestically draped the

lower part of the body; and, lastly, the external corset was invented,

which was a kind of short mantle, falling down before and behind without

concealing any of the fine outlines of the bust. This new article of

apparel, which was kept in its place in the middle of the chest by a steel

busk encased in some rich lace-work, was generally made of fur in winter

and of silk in summer. If we consult the numerous miniatures in

manuscripts of this period, in which the gracefulness of the costume was

heightened by the colours employed, we shall understand what variety and

what richness of effect could be displayed without departing from the most

rigid simplicity.

One word more in reference to female head-dress. The fashion of wearing

false hair continued in great favour during the middle of the fourteenth

century, and it gave rise to all sorts of ingenious combinations; which,

however, always admitted of the hair being parted from the forehead to the

back of the head in two equal masses, and of being plaited or waved over

the ears. Nets were again adopted, and head-dresses which, whilst

permitting a display of masses of false hair, hid the horsehair or padded

puffs. And, lastly, the _escoffion_ appeared--a heavy roll, which, being

placed on a cap also padded, produced the most clumsy, outrageons, and

ungraceful shapes (Fig. 424).

At the beginning of the fifteenth century men's dress was still very

short. It consisted of a kind of tight waistcoat, fastened by tags, and of

very close-fitting breeches, which displayed the outlines of the figure.

In order to appear wide at the shoulders artificial pads were worn, called

_mahoitres_. The hair was allowed to fall on the forehead in locks, which

covered the eyebrows and eyes. The sleeves were slashed, the shoes armed

with long metal points, and the conical hat, with turned-up rim, was

ornamented with gold chains and various jewels. The ladies, during the

reign of Charles VI., still wore long trains to their dresses, which they

carried tucked up under their arms, unless they had pages or waiting-maids

(see chapter on Ceremonials). The tendency, however, was to shorten these

inconvenient trains, as well as the long hanging and embroidered or

fringed sleeves. On the other hand, ladies' dresses on becoming shorter

were trimmed in the most costly manner. Their head-dresses consisted of

very large rolls, surmounted by a high conical bonnet called a _hennin_,

the introduction of which into France was attributed to Queen Isabel of

Bavaria, wife of Charles VI. It was at this period that they began to

uncover the neck and to wear necklaces.

[Illustration: Fig. 425.--Italian Costumes of the Fifteenth Century:

Notary and Sbirro.--From two Engravings in the Bonnart Collection.]

[Illustration: Fig. 426.--Costumes of a Mechanic's Wife and a rich

Bourgeois in the latter part of the Fifteenth Century.--From Windows in

the Cathedral of Moulins (Bourbonnais).]

Under Louis XI. this costume, already followed and adopted by the greatest

slaves of fashion, became more general.

"In this year (1487)," says the chronicler Monstrelet, "ladies ceased to

wear trains, substituting for them trimmings of grebe, of martens' fur, of

velvet, and of other materials, of about eighteen inches in width; some

wore on the top of their heads rolls nearly two feet high, shaped like a

round cap, which closed in above. Others wore them lower, with veils

hanging from the top, and reaching down to the feet. Others wore unusually

wide silk bands, with very elegant buckles equally wide, and magnificent

gold necklaces of various patterns.

"About this time, too, men took to wearing shorter clothes than ever,

having them made to fit tightly to the body, after the manner of dressing

monkeys, which was very shameful and immodest; and the sleeves of their

coats and doublets were slit open so as to show their fine white shirts.

They wore their hair so long that it concealed their face and even their

eyes, and on their heads they wore cloth caps nearly a foot or more high.

They also carried, according to fancy, very splendid gold chains. Knights

and squires, and even the varlets, wore silk or velvet doublets; and

almost every one, especially at court, wore poulaines nine inches or more

in length. They also wore under their doublets large pads (_mahoitres_),

in order to appear as if they had broad shoulders."

Under Charles VIII. the mantle, trimmed with fur, was open in front, its

false sleeves being slit up above in order to allow the arms of the under

coat to pass through. The cap was turned up; the breeches or long hose

were made tight-fitting. The shoes with poulaines were superseded by a

kind of large padded shoe of black leather, round or square at the toes,

and gored over the foot with coloured material, a fashion imported from

Italy, and which was as much exaggerated in France as the poulaine had

formerly been. The women continued to wear conical caps (_hennins_) of

great height, covered with immense veils; their gowns were made with

tight-fitting bodies, which thus displayed the outlines of the figure

(Figs. 427 and 428).

Under Louis XII., Queen Anne invented a low head-dress--or rather it was

invented for her--consisting of strips of velvet or of black or violet

silk over other bands of white linen, which encircled the face and fell

down over the back and shoulders; the large sleeves of the dresses had a

kind of turned-over borders, with trimmings of enormous width. Men adopted

short tunics, plaited and tight at the waist. The upper part of the

garments of both men and women was cut in the form of a square over the

chest and shoulders, as most figures are represented in the pictures of

Raphael and contemporary painters.

[Illustration: Italian Lacework, in Gold Thread.