Sumptuary Laws

A "sumptuary law" is a law that seeks to regulate or limit the consumption, use, or wearing of specific items. Historically, sumptuary laws were commonly used in Europe in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance to limit demand for foreign goods, to prevent commoners from imitating nobility, to "protect" citizen's morals, or to bolster a native industry. Some examples include: restrictions in England regarding the use of purple cloth and Cloth of Gold (restricted to certain noble classes or royalty), laws in Renaissance Venice on the size and shape of women's sleeves (to "protect" them from scandalous French fashion), and requirements in Elizabethan England that all males over the age of six own an English woolen cap (to help economically encourage the native cap-making industry and keep the Spanish hat industry from thriving).

In the Current Middle Ages, sumptuary laws are generally used to reserve specific items of clothing or display to specific sets of people. The Society-wide sumptuary laws are regulated by the College of Arms.

Society-wide Sumptuary Laws

Where color is not specified, all colors and metals are reserved. The College of Arms maintains the full list in the official Ordinary and Armorial. The areas in which questions often arise are:

Name	Reserved for
Kingdom Crowns	The kingdom crowns are worn only by the King and Queen of the kingdom
A crown or coronet	Royalty, Royal Peers, and the Court and Landed Baronage
A cap of maintenance gules trimmed ermine	Members of the Order of the Pelican
A cap of maintenance gules trimmed argent goutty de sang	Members of the Order of the Pelican
A coronet embattled	Royal peers of county rank
A coronet with strawberry leaves	Royal peers of ducal rank (Note: This applies to a coronet with any strawberry leaves)
A circular chain	Knights (Note: The regalia is an unadorned chain of any color/metal; necklaces with something pendant do not presume on the regalia)
A laurel wreath	Members of the Order of the Laurel
A pelican in its piety	Members of the Order of the Pelican
A pelican vulning itself	Members of the Order of the Pelican
A white baldric	Masters of Arms
A white belt	Knights
A white livery collar	Members of the Order of Defense (Note: A silver livery collar is not reserved)
A wreath of roses	Royal consorts, Members of the Order of the Rose

Kingdom Sumptuary Laws

Many kingdoms of the Known World have sumptuary laws, usually included as part of their Kingdom Laws. Caid has no sumptuary laws beyond those defined in Corpora and by the Society College of Arms. People who move to Caid from elsewhere sometimes mistake the laws of their prior kingdom as being true in Caid, as well.

The most common areas in which questions about sumptuary laws arise are:

• Circlets and Coronets
• Belt Colors
• Unadorned Chains
• Spurs
• Order Robes and Peerage Cloaks