Badges and Maintenance

In one of the articles dealing with the historical background of the time when the N-Town cycle was being produced, I came across an interesting amount of laws and regulations put into place in order to restrict dukes, earls, barons, etc. from spreading their livery about. I wasn't so much interested in the article however until I came across the line stating that the livery was "limited to knights and esquires retained for life by indenture and domestic servants resident in the household." This puts a whole new shift on the knight and squire's tales, specifically when the realization is made that they are simply owned by the ruling class as well, not unlike the peasants who serve the high class (with other benefits to the knight of course). The article even gets more interesting when it brings up the point that even the king was meant to uphold this law, which gained more weight as the War of Roses continued on during this time period. The article continues on to describe that most of the badges and other livery were passed on during times of intense tumult, not surprising given the number of times the royal class was ousted. The article is called "The Commons and the Abolition of Badges," by Nigel Saul. Ask me if you want to get ahold of it.