of stone, supplies were plentiful and cheap, and,
all in all, it appears to have been an age of abundance. It was
customary for the housewives to lay in a supply of oil and wine for the
year; they were most careful in regard to all matters of domestic
economy and took a pride in their work. Indeed, Burckhardt has said that
from this epoch dates the first conscious attempt to regulate the
affairs of a household in a systematic way, and to this end it is
interesting to note that bridal outfits were prepared with unusual care,
special attention being given to the supply of household linen, which
was sometimes elaborate. As a further aid to orderly housekeeping, it
was often the custom for the wives to keep a careful account of daily
expenditures, which they did with a skill that would doubtless cause the
despair of many a modern housewife who has attempted the same thing. It
must not be supposed, however, that the course of this domestic life was
without annoyance, as even here at this early day servants were inclined
to be exacting and hard to please. At least, that is the inference which
may be drawn from a letter by an old notary of Florence, Lapo Mazzei,
wherein he takes occasion to say, in inviting a friend to supper, that
it will be entirely convenient to have him come, inasmuch as he has
taken the precaution, in order not to trouble the house servants, to
send to the bakery to be roasted a fat pullet and a loin of mutton!

Some of the customs of this time will seem to us quite primitive. It was
an unheard-of thing, for example, to see carriages going about the
streets, as they had not yet come into general use, and riding on
horseback was the ordinary means of locomotion, even for ladies. Indeed,
mention has been found in one of the early historians of an adventure
which befell Louisa Strozzi, a daughter of the great Florentine house of
Strozzi, as she was returning to her home, from a ball in the early
morning hours, _on horseback_. It seems to have been the custom then, as
now, to give balls which lasted far into the night, and the growing
wealth of the citizens caused an increasing love of display. In some
communities laws were enacted in the interests of simplicity, and it was
provided that not more than three dishes should be supplied for an
ordinary entertainment, while twenty was the largest number which might
be served at a wedding feast. With regard to matters of dress, Scipio
Ammirato tells us in his sixte