‘Saide Monstrous Hose’: Compliance, Transgression and English Sumptuary Law to 1533

Abstract

Sumptuary law in early modern England has been described as unenforced, subject to systematic non-compliance, and ultimately legally inconsequential. A return to the original texts of the Acts to examine the language and form of the legal preambles suggests that another explanation might be available. Studies of surviving artefacts and information from wills and inventories suggest that the trend among the populace was toward compliance, rather than unprosecuted violation. Through to the mid-sixteenth century, when petition-driven statutes were replaced by royal proclamation, the Acts were continually refined and made more precise, closing legal loopholes that were being exploited. Records of ownership, in the form of wills and probate inventories, show minimal signs of violation of the sumptuary laws, although more do appear the higher one looks in the ranks of the nobility. When the sumptuary laws were violated, some prosecutions and fines were levied, and records from the Star Chamber, Chancery Court and Hall's Chronicle all detail instances of punishment for violators. While the small numbers and limited descriptions in wills and inventories make it problematic to frame too sweeping a statement regarding the ownership of offending items, the combination of signs of enforcement, material evidence matching the legal requirements and the boilerplate nature of the wording of the petitions and statutes give new reason to re-evaluate our understanding of sumptuary law in England.

The Political Economy of Status Competition: Sumptuary Laws in Preindustrial Europe

“…Alfonso X of Castile, Edward IV, Henry VIII, and Elizabeth I of England were personally involved in designing sumptuary codes 8 . In the late fourteenth century, English MPs lobbied for the reinstatement and vigorous enforcement of sumptuary laws, suggesting “a strong desire on the part of at least one vocal segment of society to see these controls enacted and enforced” (Doda 2014, p. 177).…”

“…12Ogilvie notes that similar registers of clothing fines survived for other parts of Europe in the centuries, suggesting that such a system was not unique to Württemberg. Doda (2014) surveys recent work studying wills and inventories in late medieval and Tudor England. This suggests that sumptuary legislation was by and large obeyed: “Among the 160 wills left by late medieval artisans, Burkholder found only one example of a potential violation, in the ownership of a silk girdle” (Doda 2014, p. 182).…”

“…Doda (2014) surveys recent work studying wills and inventories in late medieval and Tudor England. This suggests that sumptuary legislation was by and large obeyed: “Among the 160 wills left by late medieval artisans, Burkholder found only one example of a potential violation, in the ownership of a silk girdle” (Doda 2014, p. 182).…”

“…Elsewhere in northern Europe, sumptuary laws were supported by those who believed that foreign luxuries would destroy the guilds(Sturtewagen and Blonder 2019, p. 92).12 Ogilvie notes that similar registers of clothing fines survived for other parts of Europe in the centuries, suggesting that such a system was not unique to Württemberg Doda (2014). surveys recent work studying wills and inventories in late medieval and Tudor England.…”