Europe in the Middle Ages. 43
dresses
embroidered in Pearls. In Saxony, even imitation Pearls were forbidden,
and in Hamburg women so loaded themselves with gold and jewels' that a
mandate was issued forbidding them to wear more than one gold chain :
copies of this mandate were posted on the town wall and at the corners
of the principal streets. " The church, too, preached against luxury in
dress, but all to no purpose : the women continued to wear Pearls and
precious gems in spite of ecclesiastical denunciation. But the greatest
splendour of the Middle Ages was to be seen at the Court of the great
house of Burgundy, from the time of Philip the Bold to that of Charles
the Bold. Their magnificence far outshone that of the kings of France
and the German Emperors. Magnificent jewels that can be traced back to
the time of the last dukes of Burgundy are to this day reckoned among
the most valuable possessions of the crowns of France and Austria.
Charles the Bold surpassed all other princes of his line in
magnificence. When, in 1473, he attended the Imperial Diet at Treves,
he wore a dress of cloth of gold, richly embroidered with Pearls. At
the banquet which he gave to the Emperor Frederick III., the goblets
shone with precious stones and Pearls. When in the same year he went to
Dijon, he was resplendent with Pearls and diamonds ; and the crown
which he wore on his triumphal entry into
