Like all eras we discuss, what was going on in the world affected even the fashion of Carnival. Carnival was affected by politics & conquer – it started & stopped depending on who was in charge of a country; e.g. Germany had a huge Carnival celebration in Cologne, but when France had control of Germany in the early 1800’s, the french king cancelled it.
In other countries, since it was largely based on Catholic traditions, the rise & fall of Catholicism was also the rise & fall of Carnival, although this was not a firm rule, as many Protestant countries historically & currently held/hold the festival.
(photo: A modern Venetian Carnival Ball held in a rented private estate. Note how the costumes are contemporary versions of historical mid-1700’s ensembles – the difference being largely methods & materials used in construction.)