The number and value of the purchases there set down would indeed be surprising, if nothing were considered but the demands upon the treasury necessitated by the political events of the day, but it must be remembered that even the most cautious rulers, such as Philip the Fair and Charles V., were as prodigal, so far as buying luxuries was concerned, as were even the insane John the Good and the mad Charles VI., so that it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that there was a good reason for this extraordinary expenditure in the necessity for maintaining the prestige of the Monarchy in the eyes of the great vassals of the Crown, who were almost as noble and powerful as the King himself. The accounts for 1316 include an order for two arm-chairs from the "image maker" Martin Maalot for King Philip V., surnamed the Tall, and two chairs for the Queen; in the following year, that of the Coronation, the Court was supplied with a large number of bahuts, chests, in which to pack the King's robes, his bed, the accessories of his devotions, and the spices, then so costly, for his table. Two chests were reserved for the Queen's bed, and ten for the rest of her belongings, and in addition to these are mentioned two "gilded caskets for her head," which were most likely boxes for her head dresses.

The chests, also enumerated, intended to carry "rooms" require a little special explanation.

We have already referred above to the fact that the great nobles, and even plain citizens of wealth, used to travel about with all their family goods packed in huge chests which at stopping-places served as furniture. The portion of this luggage known as the " rooms" contained the hangings that were fastened to the walls of the lodgings with hooks and cords, and the coverings for the beds. The hangings generally consisted of tapestry, that varied according to the season of the year. This is how it comes about that in documents relating to the royal household such expressions occur as the Easter Room, the All Saints Room, the Christmas Room, etc. Occasionally, however, the name applies rather to the subject of the tapestry than to the time of year; for instance, we read of the Room of the Cross; of the Lions; of the Conquest of England; of Penthesilea, Queen of the Amazons; of the Nine Prussians, and so on. The bed was surmounted by a canopy with three curtains, and above the King's toilet-table was another smaller canopy.

At the end of the century, "rooms" made of leather prepared and painted by a process invented in Spain came into use, to which were given the appropriate name of Cordovan chambers; in 1416 the Due de Berri had such a room made in red leather, adorned with several shields in gules, that is to say, in red with three bands of silver surrounding the coat of arms of Castile; and Queen Isabella of Bavaria sent for six leather carpets to match the summer hangings of one of her rooms. The Coronation Room of Queen Jeanne of Burgundy, which has served us as a pretext for these explanations, was the most sumptuous ever seen, for it was embroidered in gold, with no less than 1321 parrots, and the coat of arms of the Duke of Burgundy.

Not only does a perusal of the "Accounts of the Minister of the Royal Finances" reveal how gorgeous were the travelling bahnts, or chests. There is the item of two dining-tables, also for Jeanne of Burgundy, one with folding-leaves, both with feet of ebony and ivory. Clemence of Hungary, wife of Louis X., surnamed "le Hutin," or the quarreller, had an arm-chair made of copper, such as was then manufactured in the neighbourhood of Dinan (hence the term dinan-derie, still applied to copper-work), and had it covered with velvet by an artisan of the name of Gilbert leChasublier, or the chasuble-maker. When, as was customary, a seat was to be covered with painted canvas, it was usual, as well as natural, to apply, not to a maker of chasubles, but to an illuminator. Thus we find the Court Painter Girard of Orleans commissioned in 1352 to paint and carve the thrones to be used on the occasion of the marriage of Blanche of Bourbon to the King of Castile. He it was, too, who in 1364 made those for the Coronation of Charles V., and he worked for John the Good even during the latter's captivity in England. For the house of the King richly carved benches were also made - the larger ones known as bancs de taille, or waist-high benches; the others as forms.

The accounts also include dressers, dais, footstools to be placed in front of the benches, carved animals as ornaments for the feet of furniture, and buffets or sideboards, which were apparently merely low dressers.

In the celebrated library formed by Charles V. in a tower of the Louvre the cabinet-makers Jacques de Parvis and Jean Grobois executed some important panelling work, and did a good deal of restoring of old furniture. The walls were wainscoted with oak from Holland; the ceiling was of carved cypress-wood; the windows were provided with iron gratings to prevent birds from flying in, glass being as yet little used; and cabinets divided into three stories were constructed, in which, as was then the custom, MSS. were kept spread out flat, one division being reserved to specimens of jewellery.

All this gives a singular impression of combined luxury and simplicity. We find Charles VI. appearing in a robe on which were embroidered 1400 jewelled swallows, each holding a golden dish in its mouth. At the same time, however, the King contented himself with sitting on a wooden bench, or a chair, covered with painted canvas; whilst Isabella of Bavaria decked herself with a fabulous quantity of diamonds and otherprecious stones, yet was ignorant, as were all her contemporaries, of such a thing as a nightdress, and she slept in a room the windows of which consisted of nothing but thin pieces of bone or perhaps of leaves of parchment. In fact, the luxury which prevailed to so great an extent in society in the fourteenth century represents merely the desire to cut a dash in the eyes of others - not a real love of comfort. Barbarism was still really triumphant over Latin culture, and many more years were needed before by slow degrees the desire became general for the refined surroundings which are one of the most noteworthy features of civilisation - a word that must not, by the way, be confounded with the idea of moral progress.