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SUMMARY:Cloth consumption and commercialisation in the Western Mediterrane
 an before the Black Death - Dr Lluís To Figueras\, Universitat de Girona
DTSTART:20171026T160000Z
DTEND:20171026T173000Z
UID:TALK74751@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr Duncan Needham
DESCRIPTION:During the thirteenth century a large amount of textiles made 
 their way from the manufacturing centres of Flanders and the north of Fran
 ce towards the Mediterranean cities. The cloth trade has been analysed by 
 economic historians chiefly as part of a commercial revolution led by Ital
 ian merchants. New evidence (bridal trousseaus recorded in notarial regist
 ers from thirteenth-century Catalonia) shows cloth as a key element of the
  commercialisation of rural society. Flanders and northern France were pro
 ducing luxury textiles as well as coarse and relatively cheap woollens tha
 t were distributed through a network of local markets and retailers (drape
 rs) specialised in selling foreign cloth along with local fabrics. Changes
  in the patterns of consumption related to colour and quality of fabrics t
 riggered a social awareness on clothing as a means of social differentiati
 on. Cloth became crucial not only as a way to single out the clergy and no
 bility\, but also to differentiate the wealthier from the poorer peasants 
 and artisans. Investment in garments not only explains the success of a de
 nse marketing infrastructure across southern Europe\, it also stimulated i
 mprovements in the textile production in those areas. Several small towns 
 in the medieval Languedoc and Catalonia tried to emulate northern textile 
 centres by welcoming foreign specialist-dyers in order to improve the qual
 ity of their products. By the beginning of the fourteenth century Mediterr
 anean fabrics were able to compete with the woollens from northern Europe.
  Despite the century before the plague\, being considered a period of scar
 city\, in some areas of southern Europe at least\, peasant households purc
 hased textiles of a variety of origins and qualities and as a consequence 
 they made a substantial contribution to labour specialization and the deve
 lopment of local manufactures. 
LOCATION:Old Library\, Darwin College
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