The problem of luxury criticism in the middle ages
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59531/ots.2023.1.2.65-90Keywords:
church, mendicant orders, renaissance, costume, bonfires, critique of luxuryAbstract
The aim of the medieval critique of luxury was to develop a system of rules to keep people's
appearance and lifestyle within certain limits. Luxury was also regulated by the church and the secular
authorities. The cities have sought to maintain social order and economic stability through sumptuary laws
and dress codes. The Church has seen luxury as a sin of vanity, ostentation, lust and profligacy, and has
condemned it. The foundation of the mendicant orders opened a new era in the fight against luxury. Contempt
of worldly goods and the rejection of the fashions of the world have offered good starting point in the fight
against luxury. In their sermons, the preachers criticised ornated dresses of women, lavish festivities and
sumptuous weddings. But that was not enough. At the end of each sermon, to measure the effect of the sermon,
the bonfires of vanity were set alight, where the condemned luxuries and games were destroyed.
Criticism of luxury was a solution to the crises (political, social, economic and religious) that had emerged
during the Renaissance. The mendicant friars suggested to maintain the order created by God and to follow
the evangelical ideal. However, their proposal was unacceptable to the citizens who wanted to enjoy life here
on earth, and was only a temporary success.
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