Purses have a long and illustrious history in Europe and played a large role in important ceremonies. In the 1300's, a wedding purse was usually given to the bride from the groom and there was even a law drawn up by the magistrates in the city of Zittau stating that "no one but the groom may give the bride a purse."
It is not know if the wedding purses were actually carried; speculation is that they may have been put away and used for storage of valuables.
Another ceremonial purse was called the Saracen purse, which was usually trapezoid in shape with a rounded tip and inspired by oriental products. The making of these purses was rigorously controlled and laws existed that stated that the purse makers "cannot and must not use threaded or twisted silk instead of fine golden thread from Luques, otherwise the work will be counterfeit".
The history of purses is long and some form of handbag has existed throughout the world for centuries. We have more information about the history of purses at Henrietta's Handbags.
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[Source: Handbag News and Information Blog from Henrietta's Handbags]
