Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Sumptuary laws: A Reminder

Who can honestly say I know what they are? I had almost forgotten about them until very recently when I was reminded of them by watching Great Art Explained: The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan Van Eyck on YouTube. 

These kind of laws have existed for over 2,000 years or so in many parts of the word across many societies!

We easily tend to forget what a long, arduous way human civilization and modern individual liberty have come! The urge to overly regulate or restrict our daily lives by government force has not ceased!

"Sumptuary laws (from Latin sumptuāriae lēgēs) are laws that try to regulate consumption. Black's Law Dictionary defines them as "Laws made for the purpose of restraining luxury or extravagance, particularly against inordinate expenditures for apparel, food, furniture, etc."[1] Historically, they were intended to regulate and reinforce social hierarchies and morals through restrictions on clothing, food, and luxury expenditures, often depending on a person's social rank.

Societies have used sumptuary laws for a variety of purposes. They were used to try to regulate the balance of trade by limiting the market for expensive imported goods. They made it easy to identify social rank and privilege, and as such could be used for social discrimination.[2]

The laws often prevented commoners from imitating the appearance of aristocrats, and could be used to stigmatize disfavored groups. ..."

Sumptuary law - Wikipedia

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