Amongst other things described of the marriage of the Emperor Ferdinand II., it is said by Count Kcven hiller, that " the bride rode with he r sisters in a splendid carriage studded with gold, her maids of honour in car riages hung with black satin, and the rest of the ladies in neat leather carriages." In 1523, a law was enacted in Hungary to prevent the use of carriages. There was also a curious document published by Duke Julius of Brunswick, in 1588, forbid ding his vassals time use of carriages, which is in sub stance as follows : " As we know from ancient historians, from the annals of heroic, honourable, and glorious achievements, and even by our own experience, that the respectable, steady, courageous, and spirited Germans were heretofore so much celebrated among all nations, on account of their manly virtue, sincerity, boldness, honesty, and resolution, that their assistance was courted in war, and that in particular the people of this land, by their discipline and intrepidity, both within and without the kingdom, acquired so much celebrity, that foreign nations readily united with them ; we have for some time past found, with great pain and uneasiness, that their useful discipline and skill in riding, in our elec torate county and lordship, have not only visibly declined, but have been almost lost, (and no doubt other electors and princes have experienced the same among their nobility) ; and as the principal cause of this is, that our vassals, servants, and kinsmen, without distinction, young and old, have dared to give themselves up to indolence, and to riding in coaches, and that few of them provide themselves with well equipped riding horses, and with skilful experienced servants, and boys acquainted with the roads ; being not able to suffer any longer this neglect, and being desirous to revive the ancient Bruns wick mode of riding, handed down and bequeathed to us by our forefathers, we hereby will and command, that all and each of our before-mentioned vassals, servants, and kinsmen, of whatever rank or condition, always keep in readiness as many riding horses as they are obliged to serve us with by their fief or alliance, and have in their service able, experienced servants, acquainted with the roads ; and that they have as many horses as possible, with polished steel furniture, and with saddles proper for carrying the necessary arms and accoutrements, so that they may appear with them when necessity requires: We also will and command our before-mentioned vas sals and servants, to take notice, that when we order them to assemble, either altogether or in part, in times of turbulence, or to receive their fiefs, or when on other occasions they visit our court, they shall not travel or appear in coaches, but on their riding horses," &c. (Lunig. Corp. jur. feud. Germ. ii. p. 1447.) Nor was Duke Julius the only great lord that attempted to sup press the use of carriages, for Philip II. Duke of Pomerania Steam), tried the same thing in 1608.
All these orders, however, proved ineffectual ; for about the end of the 15th century, emikrors, kings, and princes, began to employ covered carriages in journeys, and afterwards on public solemnities, thereby setting an example, which, in the course of the 16th century, was generally- followed.
Early in the beginning of this period, covered car riages appear to have been used by women of high rank, while yet the men considered it as unbecoming to indulge themselvc s in such a luxury. Ambassadors appeared in coaches for the first time in 1613, at the imperial com mission held at Erfurth. (Ludolf. Electa juris pnblici, v. p. 416. Von Mosers Hufrecht,ii. p. 337.) The wedding carriage of the first wife of the Emperor Leopold, a Spanish princess, cost, with the harness, 38,000 florins. (Kink, Lebcn k. Leopold, p. 607.) The coaches used by
that c mperor, are thus described by Kink : " In the im perial coaches, no great magnificence was to be seen ; they were covered over with red cloth and black nails. The harness was black, and in the whole work there was no gold. The pannels were of glass, and on this account they were called the imperial glass coaches. On festivals, the harness was ornamented with red silk fringes. The imperial coaches were distinguished only by their having leather traces ; but the ladies in the imperial suite were obliged to be contented with car liars, the traces of Nthicli were made of ropes." Twiss says, that coaches were seen for the first time in Spain, in the year 154.6. in 1681, there was a magnificent dis play or carriages in Hanover, belonging to the Duke Ernest Augustus, who had fifty gilt coaches, with six horses to each. (Lunings rheum err. i. p. 289.) In the beginning of the 17th century, there were elegant ()aches in Russia. (Essai sur la Bibliotheiptc de l'Acadi ink dos Sciences de .St Petersburg, par J. Bacmiester, 1776, 8vo.
P. Carriages appear In have been very early in use in England. For it is said in the life of St Erkenwald, who died about the year 685, " (Madam verd die, verbi Dci 'tabula, C0111111i880 sibi gregi, tninistraturus, dune duarum rotarum ferretur vehiculo,ivirmitate prapediente, vel senio, contigit ut altera rotarunz semitis dijicultate a.rcm relinqueret, et ibidem socid rclict(2 remaneret. (See Sir William Dugdale's _History of St Paul's Cathedral, fol. Appel). p. 5.) In Brook's Catalogue of Kings, Prince's, Lc. p. 67, he says, speaking of William, third Earl of Derby, "this William dyed of a bruise, taken with a fall out of his coach, in the scare 1253, the 38th of King I 'curs the Third." We find in Stowe's Sum marie of the English Chronicles, p. 287, the following notice taken of carriages : " This yerc Walter Nippon made a coche for the Earle of Rutland, which was the first coche that ever was made in England since, to wit, in anno 1564. The said Walter Rippon made the first hollow turning coche, with pillars and arches, for her Majesty, being then her servant. Also, in anno 1584, a chariot throne, with foure pillars behinde to heart a canopie, with a crownc imperial' on the toppe, and be fore two lower pillars, whereon stoodc a lion and a dragon, the supporters of the alines of England." Stow, in his History of London, (fol. p. 70.), says, " The oldest carriages used by the ladies of England, were called whirlicotes, and that they were in fashion but for a short time." And Anderson, in his History of Commerce, (vol. iv. p. 180.), says, " That coaches were first brought to England, in 1580, from Germany, by Fitz-Allan, Earl of Arundel." In 1593, the English Ambassador came to Scotland in his coach. (Scott's History of Scotland, p. 551.) Ander son says, coaches began to be in common use in England in 1605. In 1610, one Henry Anderson, an inhabitant of Trail Sound, Or Stralsund, in Pomerania, offered to bring from that country to Scotland, coaches and wag gons, with horses to draw, and servants to attend them, provided he was secured in the exclusive privilege of keeping them. Accordingly, a royal patent was granted to him, conferring an exclusive privilege for fifteen years, of keeping coaches to run betwixt Edinburgh and Leith. (Privy Seal Record, Book 79, p. 2!'..5.) It would appear from this, that it was only for these towns that coaches were then intended. Coaches and six were introduced into England in 1619, by Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, (Northumberland Household Book, p. 448 ; Wilson's Life of James, p. 130); this was considered such a piece of vanity, that the Duke of Northumberland appeared immediately' afterwards with eight horses in his coach by way of ridicule.