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Medieval English wool trade
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Medieval English wool trade
The medieval English wool trade was one of the most important factors in the medieval English economy. The medievalist John Munro notes that "[n]o form of manufacturing had a greater impact upon the economy and society of medieval Britain than did those industries producing cloths from various kinds of wool." The trade's liveliest period, 1250–1350, was 'an era when trade in wool had been the backbone and driving force in the English medieval economy'.
The wool trade was a major driver of enclosure (the privatisation of common land) in English agriculture, which in turn had major social consequences, as part of the British Agricultural Revolution. Medieval England had an extensive local supply of wool ("unrivalled elsewhere in Europe", according to one economic historian). The English innovated mechanised methods for fulling cloth in the 13th century.
Among the lasting monuments to the success of the trade are the 'wool churches' of East Anglia and the Cotswolds; the London Worshipful Company of Clothworkers; and the fact that since the fourteenth century, the presiding officer of the House of Lords has sat on the Woolsack, a chair stuffed with wool.
During the early Anglo-Saxon period (c. 450–650), archaeological evidence for weaving using warp-weighted looms is extensive, imply at least subsistence-level wool production. Tools and technologies of spinning and weaving were similar to those of the Roman period; it is likely that fine, white wool continued to be produced from sheep introduced from the Mediterranean region alongside coarser local wools. Dyes included woad for blue and less frequently madder and lichens for reds and purples. Some high-status woollen cloth is found, including gold brocade. New textile types appeared around the tenth century, prominently including diamond twills whose use continued into the thirteenth century. There is little evidence for long-distance trade, but there seems to have been some, presumably of especially rare wools or cloths: the silence of the sources is interrupted by a famous mention of the slipping standards of English cloaks exported to Francia in a letter from Charlemagne to Offa of Mercia. By the eleventh century, however, sheep were numerous in England, and at least some export of their wool by low German merchants was taking place; Peter Sawyer argued that wool was already a major source of wealth and an important export commodity in England at this time.
Subsistence-level production of wool continued, but was overshadowed by the rise of wool as a commodity, which in turn encouraged demand for other raw materials such as dyestuffs; the rise of manufacturing; the financial sector; urbanisation; and (since wool and related raw materials had a high value-to-weight ratio and were easily transported) regional, international, and even intercontinental trade.
English wools, particularly from the Welsh Marches, the South West and Lincolnshire, were the most prized in medieval Europe. They were exported to the emergent urban centres of cloth production of the Low Countries, France, and Italy, where production was promoted by the adoption of the pedal-driven horizontal loom and spinning wheel, along with mechanised fulling and napping.
The English imported more foreign cloth at the start of the 14th century than they exported wool cloth. In the 1330s, imports of foreign cloth collapsed and by the 1340s, imports of foreign cloth had almost disappeared. The onset of war led the English to protect their home industry and impose hindrances on imports of foreign cloth. According to one 1950 study, "war-time needs, war-time diplomatic policy, and war-time fiscal policy, had together given an immense impetus to the development of England's woollen industry" in the 14th century.
In 1280 about 25,000 sacks of wool were exported from England; trade in raw wool peaked around 40,000–45,000 sacks per year, falling to 33,000 in 1355 and 9,706 in 1476 as exports changed to finished cloth. As exports of raw wool fell, exports of cloths rose, from 10,000 cloths per year in 1349–50 to 60,000 in 1446–47, and c. 140,000 in 1539–40. 'By the end of the thirteenth century, the heavily industrialised areas of Europe could not have existed without the export of English wool.'
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Medieval English wool trade
The medieval English wool trade was one of the most important factors in the medieval English economy. The medievalist John Munro notes that "[n]o form of manufacturing had a greater impact upon the economy and society of medieval Britain than did those industries producing cloths from various kinds of wool." The trade's liveliest period, 1250–1350, was 'an era when trade in wool had been the backbone and driving force in the English medieval economy'.
The wool trade was a major driver of enclosure (the privatisation of common land) in English agriculture, which in turn had major social consequences, as part of the British Agricultural Revolution. Medieval England had an extensive local supply of wool ("unrivalled elsewhere in Europe", according to one economic historian). The English innovated mechanised methods for fulling cloth in the 13th century.
Among the lasting monuments to the success of the trade are the 'wool churches' of East Anglia and the Cotswolds; the London Worshipful Company of Clothworkers; and the fact that since the fourteenth century, the presiding officer of the House of Lords has sat on the Woolsack, a chair stuffed with wool.
During the early Anglo-Saxon period (c. 450–650), archaeological evidence for weaving using warp-weighted looms is extensive, imply at least subsistence-level wool production. Tools and technologies of spinning and weaving were similar to those of the Roman period; it is likely that fine, white wool continued to be produced from sheep introduced from the Mediterranean region alongside coarser local wools. Dyes included woad for blue and less frequently madder and lichens for reds and purples. Some high-status woollen cloth is found, including gold brocade. New textile types appeared around the tenth century, prominently including diamond twills whose use continued into the thirteenth century. There is little evidence for long-distance trade, but there seems to have been some, presumably of especially rare wools or cloths: the silence of the sources is interrupted by a famous mention of the slipping standards of English cloaks exported to Francia in a letter from Charlemagne to Offa of Mercia. By the eleventh century, however, sheep were numerous in England, and at least some export of their wool by low German merchants was taking place; Peter Sawyer argued that wool was already a major source of wealth and an important export commodity in England at this time.
Subsistence-level production of wool continued, but was overshadowed by the rise of wool as a commodity, which in turn encouraged demand for other raw materials such as dyestuffs; the rise of manufacturing; the financial sector; urbanisation; and (since wool and related raw materials had a high value-to-weight ratio and were easily transported) regional, international, and even intercontinental trade.
English wools, particularly from the Welsh Marches, the South West and Lincolnshire, were the most prized in medieval Europe. They were exported to the emergent urban centres of cloth production of the Low Countries, France, and Italy, where production was promoted by the adoption of the pedal-driven horizontal loom and spinning wheel, along with mechanised fulling and napping.
The English imported more foreign cloth at the start of the 14th century than they exported wool cloth. In the 1330s, imports of foreign cloth collapsed and by the 1340s, imports of foreign cloth had almost disappeared. The onset of war led the English to protect their home industry and impose hindrances on imports of foreign cloth. According to one 1950 study, "war-time needs, war-time diplomatic policy, and war-time fiscal policy, had together given an immense impetus to the development of England's woollen industry" in the 14th century.
In 1280 about 25,000 sacks of wool were exported from England; trade in raw wool peaked around 40,000–45,000 sacks per year, falling to 33,000 in 1355 and 9,706 in 1476 as exports changed to finished cloth. As exports of raw wool fell, exports of cloths rose, from 10,000 cloths per year in 1349–50 to 60,000 in 1446–47, and c. 140,000 in 1539–40. 'By the end of the thirteenth century, the heavily industrialised areas of Europe could not have existed without the export of English wool.'
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