4 - Textiles in the Crown of Aragon: Production, Commerce, Consumption

Summary

Introduction

The Crown of Aragon was an international system of states governed by the same monarchy from the 12^th century onwards as a result of the marriage in 1137 between Queen Petronilla I of Aragon (r. 1157–1164) and Count Ramón Berenguer IV of Barcelona (r. 1131–1162). It later became ‘a singular Mediterranean empire’ following the conquests of Majorca, Valencia, Sicily, Athens and Neopatria, Sardinia and Naples. The last king solely of Aragon was Fernando II the Catholic (r. 1479–1516), for after him all its component states were governed as part of the Spanish Empire. This chapter examines the textile history of the Iberian kingdoms (Aragon, Catalonia and Valencia) and Majorca, the four largest states of the Crown of Aragon spanning a total area of about 100,000 km². The population of these states of the Crown reached a peak before the Black Death in 1348−50. The number of taxed households stood at 312,518, a total of about 1,250,000 people, if we multiply each household by four. However, the epidemic of bubonic plague and other adverse circumstances – wars, outbreaks of disease, shortages and famine – caused a sharp population drop, so that by the end of the 15^th century the total number of taxed households had fallen to 178,791 (a 42.8% decrease from 312,518), and the main cities were Valencia (8,840 taxed households in 1489), Barcelona (5,749 in 1497), Zaragoza (3,983 in 1496) and Majorca (2,055 in 1444) (Table 4.1, Map 4.1).

Wool was the most important industry in the textile sector throughout the Crown of Aragon from the 13^th century onwards. Later on, towards the end of the medieval period, beginning in the 15^th century, international demand triggered a boom in the silk industry in a few cities such as Valencia. Cotton, linen and hemp did not have such a significant impact on the economy as the wool and silk trades. To understand these historical processes, it is necessary to examine the main types of fabrics identified to date in the medieval documents of the Crown of Aragon, as well as paying attention to clothing and ornaments of the period. It is also useful to study the predominant market consumption patterns through the copious data on the textile trade provided by the wealth of tax records for the Crown of Aragon.