The Cotton Industry of Northern Italy in the Late Middle Ages: IV0-14W

The Journal of Economic History

Volumn 32, Issue 1, 1972, Pages 262-286

  Mazzaoui, Maureen Fennell ^a  

^a INDIANA UNIVERSITY   (United States)

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EID: 84883979256     PISSN: 00220507     EISSN: 14716372     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0022050700075501     Document Type: Article

References (53)

1. There is at present no monograph on this subject. For a general treatment see Franco Borlandi, “Futainiers et Futaines dan L'ltalie du Moyen Age,” Hommage a Lucien Febvre (Paris, 1953), vol. II, pp. 133-140 and H. Wescher, “Cotton and Cotton Trade in the Middle Ages,” Ciba Review, VI (1947-49), 2321-2360. For Milan see Cesare Cantu, Scorso di un Lombardo negli Archivi di Venezia (Milan, Venice 1856), pp.'149-151; Emilio Motta, “Per la Storia dell'Arte dei Fustagni nel secolo XV,” Archivio Storico Lombardo, series II, vol. VII, anno XVII (1890), 140-45; G. Barelli, “Documenti Inediti suU'Arte dei Fustagneri a Milano,” Archivio Storico Lombardo, series III, vol. XVII, anno XXIX (1902), 221-23; Gibo Barbieri, Origin* del Capitalismo Lombardo (Milan: Giuffre, 1961), pp. 47-107. For Cremona see Guido Miglioli, Le Corporazioni Cremonesi dArte e Mestiere nella Legislazione Statutaria del Medio Evo (Verona, Padova: Drucker, 1904). The statutes of the cotton guild of Bologna have been published by Augusto Gaudenzi, Statuti delle Societd del Popolo di Bologna in Fonti per la Storia d'ltalia (Rome, 1889-1896), vol. II, pp. 397 ff. The guild in Padua has been studied by Roberto Cessi, Le Corporazioni dei Mercanti di Panni e della Lana in Padova fino a tutto il secolo XIV in Memorie del R. Istituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere ed Arti, vol. XXVIII, n.2 (1908), pp. 15, 32-33, 397 ff. For Venice see Giovanni Montocolo, / Capitolari delle Arti Veneziane in Fonti per la Storia d'ltalia, (Rome, 1905), vol. II, pt. II, pp. 535-581 and vol. Ill, pp. 271-289, 325-367. For cotton manufacture in Verona see Luigi Simeoni, Gli Antichi Statuti delle Arti Veronesi in Monumenti della R. Deputazione Veneta di Storia Patria (Venice, 1914), pp. 120-169, and more recently Maureen Fennell Mazzaoui, “L'Organizzazione delle Industrie Tessili nei Secoli XIII e XIV: I Cotonieri Veronesi,” Studi Storid Veronesi Luigi Simeoni, vol. XVIII-XIX, (1968-69), pp. 97-151.
2. For the linen and hemp industry in Germany see Aloys Schulte, Geschichte des Mittelalterlichen Handels und Verkehrs zwischen Westdeutschland und Itallen mit Ausschluss von Venedig (Berlin: Duncker and Humblot, 1966), Vol. I, pp. 112-117. For hemp workers in the thirteenth century see Monticolo, 1 Capitolari…, I, pp. 95-113.
3. The Paduan Da Nono lamented the preference of the upper classes for fine linens over the more common cotton cloth or pignolato in the thirteenth century. Cessi, La Corporazione…, pp. 25-26.
4. Hermann Grothe, “Geschichte der Baumwolle und Baumwollmanufaktur,” Deutsche Vierteljahrs-Schrift, II, pt. 1 (1864), pp. 77-121; Wilhelm Heyd, Geschichte des Levantehandeh im Mittelalter (Stuttgart, 1879), vol. II, pp. 572-75; Wescher, “Cotton and Cotton Trade…,” pp. 2322-2327.
5. Adolf Schaube, Handelsgeschichte der Romanischen Volker des Mittelmeergebiets bis zum Ende der Kreuzziige (Munich and Berlin; Oldenbourg, 1906), p. 469 note 6 and index s.v. “barchent, barracani, bucherani.” Heyd, Geschichte…, pp. 692-93. Although Heyd lists the boccasino as a linen cloth, Italian sources denote it as a mixed cloth with a cotton weft; Mazzaoui, “Cotonieri Veronesi,” p. 137, note 76. Cf: also Aloys Schulte, Geschichte der Grossen Ravensburger Handelsgesellschaft 1380-1530 (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner, 1964) vol. II, p. 98.
6. On the various qualities of cotton see Francesco Balducci Pegolotti, La Pratica della Mercatura, ed. Allen Evans (Cambridge, Mass.: The Mediaeval Academy of America, 1936), pp. 293, 366-67. For the cotton of Romania see Freddy Thiriet, La Romanie Vdnitienne au Moyen Age (Paris: Boccard, 1959), pp. 321-22, 333, 338, 417, 436. For the cotton of Barberia see the “Statuta Universitatis et Paratici Artis Pignolatorum, Bambacis et Panni Lini” of 1388 of Cremona, mss. in the Biblioteca Govemativa di Cremona, Aa 3-67, f. 8 r, where the inferior short fibre cotton of North Africa, Turkey, and Apulia was prohibited in the manufacture of cotton cloth in that city.
7. Simeoni, Statuti, pp. 132, 142, 146; Monticolo, 1 Capitolari…, II, pt. 2, p. 563
8. Schaube, Handehgeschichte…, pp. 161, 164, 284, 469, 513, 523, 637, 643, 743.
9. Schaube, Handehgeschichte…. pp. 197, 213-14,. 494 note 2, 701, 749-50. For Venetian trade with Armenia in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries see the discussion and documents in L'Armeno-Vcneto, Comvendio Storico e Documenti delle Relazionl degli Armeni cox Veneziant (Venice, 1893).
10. Monticolo, 1 Capitolari…. III, p. 276.
11. ” Schaube, Handelsgeschichte…, pp. 207, 214, 313, 384, 523, 614.
12. Felix Bourquelot, Etudes sur les foires de Champagne (Paris, 1865), vol. V, pt. I, pp. 207, 243-44; Walter Endrei, L'Evolution des Techniques du Filage et du Tissage (Paris: Mounton, 1968), pp. 53-55; Wescher, “Cotton and Cotton Trade…,” pp. 2328-2332.
13. Robert Davidsohn, Getchichte von Florenz, vol. IV, pt. 2, p. 77; Borlandi, “Futainiers…,” p. 134; Wescher, “Cotton and Cotton Trade…,” p. 2329.
14. In addition to the sources cited in fn. 1, see Borlandi, “Futainiers…,” pp. 135-136; Schulte, Mittelalt. Handels, p. 140; Wescher, “Cotton and Cotton Trade…,” pp. 2329-2331.
15. ” Du Cange, s.v. “gipo,” “gambiso.” On the popularity of the doublet in England, see Alfred P. Wadwortn and Julia De Lacy Mann, The Cotton Trade and Industrial Lancashire 1600-1780 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1931), p. 18.
16. is Simeoni, Gli Antichi Statuti…, p. 297; Monticolo, 1 Capitolari…. I, pp. 23-54.
17. George F. Hourani, Arab Seafaring in the Indian Ocean in Ancient and Early Medieval Times (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1951), p. 100.
18. Monticolo, 1 Capitolari…, II, pt. 2, p. 549, note 2; Jacques Heers, G&nes au XVSiecle (Paris: S.E.V.P.E.N., 1961), p. 229.
19. Simeoni, CU Antichi Statuti, pp. 170-92; Monticolo, I Capitolari…, I, pp. 157-58.
20. Schaube, Handehgeschichte…, p. 549, note 6. Cf. Wescher, “Cotton and Cotton Trade…,” pp. 2358-9.
21. The document has been published by Luigi Simeoni in Studi su Verona nel Medio Evo (Verona: Istituto di Studi Storici Veronesi, 1967), I, pp. 67-8; 83-4.
22. Although Simeoni maintains that the guild represents a primitive association of the woolen industry, it is clear from the products mentioned and the structure of the corporation that the guild is one of cotton producers. For a detailed analysis of the document see Mazzaoui, “Cotonieri Veronesi” pp. 124-125.
23. Ireneo Affo, Storia della Citta di Parma (Parma, 1793), pp. 325-26, 329.
24. Maureen Fennell Mazzaoui, “The Emigration of Veronese Textile Artisans to Bologna in the Thirteenth Century,” Atti e Memorie della Academia di Agricoltura, Scienze e Lettere di Verona, series VI, vol. XIX, pp. 275-321 and especially p. 279, note 10. See also Gaudenzi, Statuti…, II, pp. 395-407.
25. Cessi, La Corporazione…, pp. 15, 32-33.
26. Mazzaoui, “Emigration,” pp. 280-282; Mazzaoui, “Cotonieri Veronesi,” pp. 138, 151.
27. These measurements concerned primarily the so called panno stricto. See Mazzaoui, “Cotonieri Veronesi,” pp. 146-47.
28. Pegolotti, La Practica…. p. 180.
29. S. Mazzaoui, “Cotonieri Veronesi,” p. 142. Cf. also Simeoni, Statuti, pp. 130, 131, 170-83; Vincenzo Pancotti, 1 Paratici Vicentini e 1 Low Statuti (Piacenza: Biblioteca Storica Piacentina. 1925-30), pp. 323-26; Monticolo, 1 Capitolari…, II, pt. 2, pp. 548-51, 557, 568; Gaudenzi, Statuti…, II, p. 405.
30. On the standardization of loom reeds, linear measurements and warp threads for woolen cloth, see Mazzaoui, “Emigration,” p. 283. On the bows, see Simeoni, Cli Antichi Statuti…, p. 134 and Monticolo, 7 Capitolari…, II, pt. 2, p. 678 and III, pp. 3-4. It should be pointed out that in England, beginning in the fifteenth century, cotton cloths retained a unit of measurement peculiar to themselves, the goad of 1 % yards. Wadsworth and Mann, The Cotton Trade…, p. 16, note 4; Cf. p. I l l on the use of cotton warps.
31. Ugo Cualazzini, “Aspetti Giuridici della Signoria di Uberto Pelavicino su Cremona,” Archivio Storico Lombardo, LXXXIII (1957), 26.
32. Endrei, pp. 23-38.
33. Ibid., pp. 59-61; In the light of the Italian documentation it is difficult to accept Endrei's affirmation (p. 109) that the bow was only rarely used for beating cotton in the middle ages.
34. Endrei, L'Evolution… pp. 20-23, 45-46, 53-56, 85-90.
35. On the labor of religious houses see Cessi, La Corporazione…., p. 15.
36. Monticolo, I Capitolari…. III, p. 355 ff
37. Simeoni, Gli Antichi Statuti…, pp. 120-169; Monticolo, I Capitolari II, pt. 2, pp. 535-81; III, pp. 3-4, 271-289, 325-367; Motta, “Per La Storia. ’.,” p. 142; Barelli, Origini del Capitalismo…, pp. 221-23; Cessi, La Corporazione…, pp. 175-79. For Cremona see the “Statuta vetera consulum artis pignolatorum et panni lini Cremonae,” mss. della Biblioteca Governativa di Cremona, Aa 3-67, f. 15 r. At Cremona in the fourteenth century the beaters of cotton were organized in a separate guild, Miglioli, pp. 85-88.
38. For a discussion of these institutions see Ugo Cualazzini, “Rapport! fra Capitale e Lavoro nelle Industrie Tessili Lombarde del Medio Evo,” Memorie dell’ Institute Ciuridico della R. University di Torino, series II, XX (1932), pp. 34 ff, 70 ff. On the Casa dei Mercanti in Verona, see Mazzaoui, “Cotonieri Veronesi,” pp. 103 ff 40 Among others see R. S. Lopez and H. A. Miskimin, “The Economic Depression of the Renaissance,” The Economic History Review, series II, XIV (1962), pp. 408-27; E. Pitz, “Die Wirtschaftskrise des Spatmittelalters,” Vierteliahrschrift fur Sozialund Wirtschaftsgeschichte, LII (1965), pp. 347-67; M. Mollat, P. Johansen, M. Postan, A. Sapori, C. Verlinden, “L'Economie Europeenne aux demiers siecles du Moyen Age,” Relazioni del X Congresso Internazionale di Scienze Storiche, VI (1955).
39. David Horlihy, Medieval and Renaissance Pistoia (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1967), p. 115.
40. Douglas F. Dowd, “The Economic Expansion of Lombardy, 1300-1500: A Study in Political Stimuli to Economic Change,” THE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY, XXI (1961), 149, 155.
41. Egidio Rossini and Maureen Fennell Mazzaoui, “Societa e Tecnica nel Medioevo: La Produzione dei Panni di Lana a Verona riei Secoli XIII, XIV, XV,” Atti e Memorie della Academia di Agricoltura Scienze e Lettere di Verona, Series VI, XXI (1969-70), 571-624. Cf. Dowd, pp. 155-158.
42. Jacques Heers, “II Comercio nel Mediterraneo alia Fine del Secolo XIV e nei Primi Anni del XV,” Archivio Storico ltdUano (1955), pp. 202-09.
43. Frederic Chapin Lane, Venentian Ships and Shipbuilders of the Renaissance, (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1934), pp. 45-46.
44. Heers, “Commercio,” pp. 165-176, 202 ff; Heers, GSnes, pp. 392-393.
45. Michael E. Mallett, The Florentine Galleys in the Fifteenth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967), ch. 5.
46. Gino Luzzatto, Storia Economica di Venezia dall’ XI al XIV Secolo, (Venice: Centro Intemazionale delle Arti e del Costume, 1961), p. 167.
47. The Genoese were also active in this trade. Heers, “Commercio,” pp. 176-179.
48. Luigi Gaddi, “Per la Storia della Legislazione e delle Istituzioni Mercantili Lombarde,” Archivio Storico Lombardo, series II, X (1893), p. 312; Schulte, Mittelalt. Handels, I, 105 ff, 139-141, II, p. 108; Schulte, Ravensburger Handehg., I, pp. 249-251, 495-498; II, p. 97ff. For the cotton industry of Ulm see Eugen Niibling, Ulms Baumwollweberei im Mittelalter (Leipzig, 1890). For Strassburg see Custav Schmoller, Die Strassburger Tucher-und Weberzunft (Strassburg, 1879). Also Ascan Westermann, “Zur Geschichte der Memminger Weberzunft und ihrer Erzeugnisse” Vierteljahrschrift für Sozial-und WiHschaftsgeschichte, XII (1914), pp. 385-403, 567-592.
49. Barbieri, pp. 47-107; Cantu, pp. 149-151; Gaddi, p. 310-311.
50. Schulte, Mittehlt. Handels, I, 646-647; Schulte, Ravensburger Handelsg., I, pp. 249-250, pp. 97-105; Wescher, pp. 2341-2344.
51. A.S.V. Casa dei Mercanti II, f. 145 v-152 r.
52. Pancotti, III, p. 325; Gaddi, p. 619.
53. Gaddi, p. 947; Schulte, Mittelalt. Handels, I, p. 569; Heinrich Kretschmayr, Geschichte von Venedig (Stuttgart: Scientia Aalen, 1964) II, pp. 617-618; Cf. Luzzatto, pp. 165-167 who considers Mocenigo's figures exaggerated. B0 Heers, GSnes, p. 229.