History Channel Tense

After watching the short clip on prohibition which I found on the History Channel's videos section, they did not use the historical present tense as they had done in the film on vikings. The narrator of the clip spoke in past tense and talked about the key figures and dates that OCCURRED, rather than what was occurring. I do notice that most of the historical programs on the History Channel (not Ax Men...) use the historical present tense, which I actually enjoy listening to because of the storytelling element to it. It creates a program that may be more geared to attracting viewers than being semantically accurate, but I think that that is what the viewer should expect of a television program. Any other channel is showing sex, drugs, or violence, so History Channel has to make some money. 

Sumptuary Laws Opinions

The sumptuary laws are perhaps the silliest thing that I have read about it this sourcebook. There are too many of these laws to enforce practically, and the sheer concept of restricting social mobility through dress is a laughable reason to prevent women from wearing certain clothing items.


With the two dates given for the sets of laws from Venice and from England, one must wonder why the sumptuary laws are even being enforced with people dying in the streets from the bubonic plague. 1299 and 1363 are dates that land right in that window of the Black Death. 


Digging a little deeper in the text of the laws, I can imagine that if someone were to be found guilty of dressing above their social class, the fine would prove really if they deserved to belong to that group as they would have the money to pay for the fine.