
Policy for the Masses - A legal history podcast
An analysis of some of the oldest laws in the UK, why were they made, what is their history and what can we learn.
Policy for the Masses - A legal history podcast
The Sumptuary Laws - 1336 & 1337
•
Season 1
•
Episode 15
So I finally got to the Sumptuary Laws, or at least the first 4.
Sumptuary Laws were pretty common in Europe and tended to enforce appearance or reduce overt spending. This is the first 4 in England which cover clothing that could be worn or imported in 1336 and 1337.
The Sumptuary Law 1336
The Cloth Act 1337
The Fur Act 1337
The Importation Act 1337
References
The "Extremities" of Sumptuary Law in Robert Greene's "Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay" - Link
Beyond Sumptuary: Constitutionalism, Clothes, and Bodies in Anglo-American Law, 1215-1789 - Link
The 1363 English Sumptuary Law: A comparison with Fabric Prices of the Late Fourteenth-Century - Link
With special thanks to Purple Planet Music who provided me with the intro track - Passport