CHAPTER VI.

REIGNS OF JOHN AND OF CHARLES V.

The States of Languedoc—A young French lady in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries—Low dresses—Saying of a mercer—_Damoiselles_—_Garnaches_ and _garde-corps_—_Le Parement des dames_—Social distinctions—High character is worth more than gilded belt—Precious stones—The castles and other dwellings of the Middle Ages—Splendid furniture—Humble abodes of the poor—Evening assemblies 45