The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries had been remarkable for a general
development of commerce: merchants of Venice, Geneva, Florence, Milan,
Ghent, Bruges, Antwerp, and many other famous cities had traded
extensively with the East and had grown opulent, and their homes naturally
showed signs of wealth and comfort that in former times had been
impossible to any but princes and rich nobles. Laws had been made in
answer to the complaints of the aristocracy to place some curb on the
growing ambition of the "bourgeoisie"; thus we find an old edict in the
reign of Philippe the Fair (1285-1314)--"No bourgeois shall have a
chariot, nor wear gold, precious stones, nor crowns of gold and silver.
Bourgeois not being prelates or dignitaries of state shall not have tapers
of wax. A bourgeois possessing 2,000 pounds (tournois) or more, may order
for himself a dress of 12[5] sous 6 deniers, and for his wife one worth 16
sous at the most," etc., etc., etc.

This and many other similar regulations were made in vain; the trading
classes became more and more powerful, and we quote the description of a
furnished apartment in P. Lacroix's "Manners and Customs of the Middle
Ages."

"The walls were hung with precious tapestry of Cyprus, on which the
initials and motto of the lady were embroidered, the sheets were of fine
linen of Rheims, and had cost more than 300 pounds, the quilt was a new
invention of silk and silver tissue, the carpet was like gold. The lady
wore an elegant dress of crimson silk, and rested her head and arms on
pillows ornamented with buttons of oriental pearls. It should be remarked
that this lady was not the wife of a great merchant, such as those of
Venice and Genoa, but of a simple retail dealer who was not above selling
articles for 4 sous; such being the case, we cannot wonder that Christine