Pearls-Law-art

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Pearls-Law-art - 4/17/02

"Pearls - An Example Sumptuary Law" by Lord Anton de Stoc, mka Ian Whitchurch.

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NOTICE -

This article was submitted to me by the author for inclusion in this set

of files, called Stefan's Florilegium.

These files are available on the Internet at:

http://www.florilegium.org

While the author will likely give permission for this work to be

reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first

or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.

Thank you,

Mark S. Harris

AKA: Stefan li Rous

stefan at florilegium.org

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Pearls - An Example Sumptuary Law

by Lord Anton de Stoc

Regulation of the wearing of pearls (Venetian senate decree 15 October 1562)

We must ensure that the number of pearls in this city does not increase, but rather diminishes as painlessly as possible, and so

BE IT RESOLVED that all who have pearls and wish to make use of them in Venice shall be obliged within the next eight days to go to the Provveditori sopra le Pompe, and declare their number, weight and quality of thos pearls. They shall have them registered in thir name, and within the next twenty days after that they must have them sealed with the seal of the Sopraprovveditori and Provveditori shall approve and which shall be kept in the office, so that if from time to time the strings get brokn they can be resealed with the same seal after first making sure they are in the sme weight and are of the same number and quality. After this period of twenty-eight days has passed, no more pearls may be registered or sealed.

When these pearls have been registered and sealed, they may be transferred from one name to another, as is done at te Diece Savi. If anyone commits a fraud in the matter of these pearls, he shall be deprived of the priviledge of using them in future, as well as sufferering the penalty stated below, and whatever punishment he may deserve in accordance with the gravity of the fraud.

These pearls, duly registered and sealed, may be worn round the neck on a tight string only by the wives of those in whose name they are registred, for a period of ten years and no more, which shall be reckoned from the day of their marriage.

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Regulation of the wearing of pearls (Lochac degree, AS XXXVI)

We must ensure that the number of pearls in this Principality does not increase, but rather diminishes as painlessly as possible, and so

BE IT RESOLVED that all who have pearls and wish to make use of them in Lochac shall be obliged within the next eight days to go to the Inspector of Customs, and declare their number, weight and quality of those pearls. They shall have them registered in thir name, and within the next twenty days after that they must have them sealed with the seal of the Inspector of Customs and their arms which shall be kept in the office, so that if from time to time the strings get broken they can be resealed with the same seal after first making sure they are in the same weight and are of the same number and quality. After this period of twenty-eight days has passed, no more pearls may be registered or sealed.

When these pearls have been registered and sealed, they may be transferred from one name to another, with a fee of ten soldi paid to the Inspector of Customs. If anyone commits a fraud in the matter of these pearls, he shall be deprived of the priviledge of using them in future, as well as sufferering the penalty stated below, and whatever punishment he may deserve in accordance with the gravity of the fraud.

These pearls, duly registered and sealed, may be worn round the neck on a tight string only by those or the wives of those in whose name they are registered, for a period of ten years and no more, which shall be reckoned from the day of their marriage.

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Copyright 2002, Ian Whitchurch, 27 Atherton St Downer ACT 2602 Australia <Ian.Whitchurch at dewrsb.gov.au>. Permission granted to reproduce for not-for-Profit purposes, provided that the work is properly attributed.

If this article is reprinted in a publication, I would appreciate a notice in

the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also

appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being

reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.