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personsofvariousranksorincomes.40TheSumptuaryLawsof1363statedthat
clothofgoldisreservedforthehighest,i.e.thelords.Richerknightsmightchoose
anyothercolourandlesserknightswerelimitedtoclothworth6marksthebroad-
cloth.Richeresquireswerepermittedclothworth5marks,andlesseresquirescloth
worth4marks.TheSumptuaryLawsof1463addedsomemorespecificregula-
tions,suchas,forinstance,thoseconcerningknightsbeingforbiddentowearjackets
“ofsuchalengthasmaycoverhisbuttocksandprivyparts.”Thoseregulationscon-
cerningparliamentarypeersaresetoutmoreclearlythaninthepreviouslegislation.
TheTudorscontinuedusingtheSumptuaryLaws,whichwiththeprogressoftime
becameincreasinglycomplicated.InJanuary1510thefirstParliamentinthereign
ofkingHenryVIIIpassedaSumptuaryLawcalledAnActAgainstWearingof
CostlyApparel.ThislawwascloselybasedontheActsofApparel,whichhadbeen
passedin1463and1483.The1510SumptuaryLawwasamendedandaddedto
in1514,1515and1553.QueenMaryIpassedaSumptuaryLawin1554.Then
on15June1574QueenElizabethIenforcedevenmoreSumptuaryLawscalled
theStatutesofApparel.
1.5.
NobilitasMinor
Thegentry41werelocatedbetweentheyeomanry42andthepeerage,andtheterm
gentrytraditionallyreferredtothelowerstrataoflandedsociety.43Theywerecon-
sideredthenobilitasminor(orlessernobles)bysomelatersixteenth-centurycom-
40
SeeA.Ribeiro,DressandMorality(Oxford,2003),pp.12–16.
41
AgoodsourceofinformationonthegentryisabookbyP.Coss,TheOriginsoftheEnglish
Gentry(Cambridge,2003).SeealsoP.Coss,“TheFormationoftheEnglishGentry”,Past
andPresent,147(1995);G.E.Mingay,TheGentry(London,1976).
42
YeomanryisatermusedtoindicateavarietyofpositionsorsocialclassesinEngland.Aclear
definitionofthewordissomewhatdifficultbecauseitwascomplexandcomprisedseveralgen-
eralmeanings.Theword‘yeomanry'mostoftenreferredtoaclassoflandholding(freeholdand
copyhold)farmers.BytheendoftheElizabethanperiodyeomenhadoftenbecomeprosperous
smallfarmersandassuchsurviveduntiltheeighteenthcentury.Theamountoflandownedand
thewealthoftheEnglishyeomanfarmervariedfromplacetoplace.Manyyeomanfarmerswere
prosperous,mixedwiththeregionalgentryandsomeevenrentedlandtogentlemanlandowners.
Somewereentitledtobeclassedasgentlemenbutdidnotpursueit,asitwascheapertoremain
ayeoman.Intheperiodunderconsideration,ayeomanwasidentifiedasarankorpositioninano-
bleorroyalhousehold,withtitlessuchasyeomanofthechamber,yeomanoftheCrown,yeoman
usher,King'syeoman,andvariousothers.OnyeomenandstratificationofEnglishsocietyinthe
sixteenthcenturyseeK.Wrightson,EnglishSociety1580–1680(Routledge,1982),pp.2–20.
43
Forinstance,intheSumptuaryLawof1463thenobilitywasseparatedfromthegentry.The
lowestlimitofwealthforbaronswassetat£800ayear.SinceTheStatuteofAdditions(1413)
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