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Decorations: Elizabeth

The shoes of Charlemagne, preserved in the Imperial Treasury of Vienna, are richly ornamented, and studded with pearls and precious stones. Shoe-roses, or bunches of ribbons, were very fashionable in the court of Elizabeth, and were sometimes enriched with costly jewels. Massinger, in his "City Madam," says:-- "Rich pantouffles in ostentation shows, And roses worth a family." Nothing could surpass the sumptuous attire of Cardinal Wolsey--"his very shoes," says Roy, being "Of gold and stones precious, Costing many a thousand pounds." Girdles were, in former times, of great richness. The figure of Queen Clotilde, consort of King Clovis, represented on the door of the church of St. Germain des Pres, wears a girdle, ornamented with jewels, and a long cord hangs from it, and a broad band encircles the waist, with precious stones. The "Girdle of Richesse," in Chaucer's translation of the "Romance of the Rose," is described as having a buckle of precious stones. He has other allusions to them. In the effigy of Henry IV. at Canterbury Cathedral, the king's royal mantle is fastened across the breast by a broad band richly jewelled. The author of the "Romance of Garin" describes his hero with a girdle of fine gold, enriched with precious stones.

It is said that the poetical name for a Belt, or Girdle, was taken from Baldrick, Chancellor of William the Conqueror, and who is supposed to have worn one of uncommon magnificence. "Athwart his breast, a baldrick brave he ware, That shined like twinkling stars with stones most precious, rare."

Pope says:-- "A radiant baldrick, o'er his shoulders tied, Sustain'd the sword that glitter'd at his side."

During the reigns of Henry VII. and Henry VIII. very beautiful examples of ladies' girdles occur. They sometimes took the form of chains, particularly in the time of Mary and Elizabeth, and had large pendants at the ends. They appear to have been frequently entirely composed of limbs of metal, gold or silver, with flowers, engraved cameos, or groups of precious stones intermixed.

The Stomacher, jewelled, was worn by men and women from the reign of Edward IV. to Henry VIII., inclusive. Hall mentions one worn by the latter sovereign, embroidered with diamonds, rubies, great pearls, and other rich stones. The gown or jacket was worn over it. Ladies' stomachers, also, were often richly jewelled, particularly in the reign of Elizabeth. Jewellery again came into fashion at the Restoration, and from that period until 1790 the stomacher was a conspicuous portion of female dress.