[Illustration:  Fig. 417.—­Costumes of the Common People in the Fourteenth Century:  Italian Gardener and Woodman.—­From two Engravings in the Bonnart Collection.]

“The braies, or brayes, were a kind of drawers, generally knitted, sometimes made of woollen stuff or silk, and sometimes even of undressed leather. ....  Our ancestors derived this part of their dress from the ancient Gauls; only the Gallic braies came down to the ankle, whereas those of the thirteenth century only reached to the calf.  They were fastened above the hips by means of a belt called the braier.

“By chausses was meant what we now call long stockings or hose.  The stockings were of the same colour and material as the braies, and were kept up by the lower part of the braies being pulled over them, and tied with a string.

“The shoes were made of various kinds of leather, the quality of which depended on the way in which they were tanned, and were either of common leather, or of leather which was similar to that we know as morocco, and was called cordouan or cordua (hence the derivation of the word cordouannier, which has now become cordonnier).  Shoes were generally made pointed; this fashion of the poulaines, or Polish points, was followed throughout the whole of Europe for nearly three hundred years, and, when first introduced, the Church was so scandalized by it that it was almost placed in the catalogue of heresies.  Subsequently, the taste respecting the exaggerated length of the points was somewhat modified, but it had become so inveterate that the tendency for pointed shoes returning to their former absurd extremes was constantly showing itself.  The pointed shoes became gradually longer during the struggles which were carried on in the reign of Philippe le Bel between Church and State.

“Besides the shoes, there were also the estiviaux, thus named from. estiva (summer thing), because, being generally made of velvet, brocade, or other costly material, they could only be worn in dry weather.

“The coat (cotte) corresponded with the tunic of the ancients, it was a blouse with tight sleeves.  These sleeves were the only part of it which were exposed, the rest being completely covered by the surcoats, or cotte-hardie, a name the origin of which is obscure.  In shape the surcoat somewhat resembled a sack, in which, at a later period, large slits were made in the arms, as well as over the hips and on the chest, through which appeared the rich furs and satins with which it was lined....  The ordinary material of the surcoat for the rich was cloth, either scarlet, blue, or reddish brown, or two or more of these colours mixed together; and for the poor, linsey-woolsey or fustian.  The nobles, princes, or barons, when holding a court, wore surcoats of a colour to match their arms, which were embroidered upon them, but the lesser nobles who frequented the