cotton-msg - 10/8/15
Period cotton cloth.
NOTE: See also these files: linen-msg, silk-msg, textiles-msg, fabric-ident-msg, velvet-msg, spinning-msg, weaving-msg, fabric-SCA-msg.
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Cotton in the Middle Ages
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 95 12:25:16 EDT
From: drickman at state.de.us
To: h-costume at andrew.cmu.edu
Subject: cotton
I am not sure if this is of interest to anyone, but recent discussions
about the use of cotton by reenactors led me and others into an off the
list discussion of just what the word "cotton" meant to earlier centuries
and just what forms it may have been used in (i.e. batting, textiles) and
how commonly it was used.
My first indication that this was getting complicated was when Kathleen let
us know that Cromwell ordered shirts of linen and of cotton for soldiers
bound for the Bahamas. I discovered from the respected early textiles
expert, Nathalie Rothstein, that cotton in the 17th century was a word,
much like "flannel," which describes a weave or surface of cloth, and not
its fiber. In fact, in earlier times, "cotton" most often meant a woolen
fabric.
I spent last night reading through Florence Montgomery's Textiles in
America, 1650 - 1870 and picking Nathalie's brain, and this is roughly what
I came up with. First, Florence defines "cotton":
A term used to designate certain woolen cloths from at least the
fifteenth century, so one must be cautious in reading the
term...the explanation of the use of the word cotton may lie in
the fact that it had also the sense of nap or down, and the
process of raising the nap of woollen cloths was called
"cottoning" or "frizzing"...At the end of the sixteenth century,
Manchester was "eminent for its woollen cloth or Manchester
cottons"..."
An 1822 source quoted by this same author notes that in America and the
West Indies, cottons made of wool were chiefly used as clothing for
slaves...though some were worn in Great Britain by "the poor or labouring
husbandmen." This source speculates that the word could have been a
corruption of "coating" i.e. fabric meant for coats.
The point of this is not to say that what we call "cotton" didn't exist in
the 14th century, but that when we look for evidence of its use in the
written record, we need to know that, until well into the 19th century, the
word probably means wool, not cotton.
So, when did cotton such as we use come in? I don't know, yet. Florence's
book is laid out not as a history, but as a dictionary of early textile
terms. I can, however, report that under "Fustian" she tells us that it was
a cotton/linen fabric, originally a linen/wool (by the way, from here on in
this letter, when I write cotton, I intend the modern meaning of the word).
Fustians were made in Norwich, England as early as 1336, but these were a
wool/linen mixture. In 1554, Dutch and Walloon immigrants to England
brought with them the making of "fustians of Naples" which probably were
cotton/linen, because a 1601 description of fustians says that they were
made "of Bombast or Downe, being a fruit of the earth growing upon little
shrubs or bushes...commonly called Cotton Wooll; and also of Lynnen yarn
most part brought out of Scotland..."
Not mentioned by Florence, but told to me by Nathalie, is the fact that the
reason fustians, as well as any other European textile was not entirely
cotton was because cotton, as a fiber, is quite short, and so does not make
a very strong warp. The warp, of course, is the part of the textile that is
strung on the loom, and the weft is what is woven into it. Linen, on the
other hand, is a very long, and therefore strong, fiber, and makes a very
good warp. Thus, fustian has a linen warp and a cotton weft. Not until 1779
did the English (and thus the rest of Europe) learn how to make a strong
cotton warp, using something called a "mule-jenny." Meanwhile, in 1600, the
East Inda Company was chartered, and began the regular, and rather
high-volume, import of Indian cotton goods (as well as silks) into England
and the rest of Europe. These were not, however, clothing goods until 1670,
but rather coarse cottons, used for sacking, sailcloth and so on. Under
"Indian Goods" Florence Montgomery quotes one source which says that, prior
to 1670, no one apparently wore cotton, but rather "our more natural and
usual wear was cambrics, Silesia lawns, and such kind of fine flaxen
linens, from Flanders and Germany" which the British received in trade in
exchange for their famous woolen goods.
After 1670, "flimsy muslins from India" began seeing use as substitutes for
these just-mentioned fine linens. They were popular because they were
cheap, but they were also shoddy. Cotton used to line a man's coat, for
example, was twelve pence cheaper than linen shalloon, but the cotton wore
out quickly, where shalloon would outlast the coat itself and could be used
to line another.
Cottons were so cheap that, by the end of the 17th century, there were
strong moves by the weavers and linen merchants of England to outlaw their
import, which was partly successful. Of particular threat were the printed
cottons from India, and these were outlawed altogether. People were
arrested for owning them. Meanwhile, by the mid-18th century, Britain had
developed its own textile industry, weaving cotton and printing it in
imitation of Indian goods.
One last point, since "cotton" referred to a weave, similar to a worsted,
one needs to look for names of particular weaves of cotton fabric from
India when seeking evidence of its use in Europe and America. Such names
were legion, and not at all standardized, but look for the obvious ones
such as muslin, calico, and gingham. The less obvious ones can generally be
deciphered with references to Florence's invaluable book.
This, I hope, will not be the end of this discussion. Without a doubt there
are others on this list who know more than I do about this subject. Someone
else told us that there was a cotton industry in Italy in the Middle Ages,
and it would be interesting to know what sorts of textiles they wove, and
whether any of it was used for clothing, other than batting for a poupoint,
I think it was. How did this southern industry affect northern Europe?
There are many facets of this subject I would like to know about, and I'll
continue my search as well. Oh, and if this really is too boring for the
general list, let me know. Thanks.
David
From: foxd at silver.ucs.indiana.edu (daniel fox)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period Velvet?
Date: 14 Jun 1996 06:11:57 GMT
Organization: Indiana University, Bloomington
Actually you can tell them the cotton comes from Italy.
See: Mazzaoui, Maureen Fennell, _The Italian Cotton Industry in the Later
Middle Ages:1100-1600._
Audelindis
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 10:06:34 EST
From: <SNSpies at aol.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu, h-needlework at ansteorra.org,
h-costume at indra.com
Subject: Cotton in a European grave
In the recent issue of "Archaeological Textiles Newsletter," (ATN 27, Autumn
1998, 12-14) Penelope Walton Rogers writes about "Cotton in a Merovingian
Burial in Germany." She points out that cotton rarely enters the picture for
European textile researchers and when it does, it usually can be dismissed as
a modern contaminant. However, in this case, the identification of cotton
comes from a secure context in a Merovingian burial dated to the end of the
5th century, so it is therefore of rather exceptional interest.
The cotton is a Z-spun thread which was used to quilt some sort of garment or
cover which was made from a wool diamond twill with a padded backing. This
textile was found over the whole length of a woman's body in a coffin burial
in the Merovingian cemetery at Lauchheim/Ostalbkreis in Baden-Wuerttemberg.
She concludes that the presence of this cotton thread suggests some far-
reaching link with the eastern Mediterranean or western Asia. It is at
present unknown whether the textile arrived in Germany already quilted with
the cotton thread or whether the thread arrived in Germany on its own and was
then used to quilt the textile. It is also unknown whether it was unpicked
from another textile, but further research should answer these questions.
Ingvild/Nancy
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 12:35:23 -0500
From: capriest at cs.vassar.edu (Carolyn Priest-Dorman)
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Cotton in a European grave
Daveed wrote:
>Wouldn't such a
>thread and/or cloth have been available through Roman trade routes across
>the Med with Egypt?
Upper Egypt did produce some textiles woven of indigenous cotton. However,
if a cotton textile was purchased during that period in Egypt, then it was
mostly likely that its cotton fibers themselves originated in India. From a
very early date India had a lively trade relationship in both raw fiber and
finished cotton goods with the Mediterranean via the Arabian Sea and the
eastern coast of Egypt. The Near East, India, and the Arabian peninsula
also produced indigenous cotton textiles of many sorts, much more than was
produced in Egypt. The intriguing question is, what species of _Gossypium_
(_arboreum_ or _herbaceum_) will the fibers turn out to be? That would give
a much clearer signal of where it ultimately originated.
Maureen Mazzaoui (in _The Italian Cotton Industry in the Later Middle Ages
1100-1600_) makes the important point that cotton in the late Roman and
early Byzantine Empire was a luxury textile limited by its high price to the
court and the wealthy landowning classes. The Arabs were the first to adopt
cotton as the dress of the normal people. Before that, cotton had been a
novelty textile, even in the areas where it grew readily.
Accordingly, I'd guess the Merovingian woman had some sort of royal
connection. The other Frankish find of cotton in a grave that I know of is
dated seventh century. The textile in question was a violet overtunic made
from a silk, cotton, and unidentified vegetable fiber blend, perhaps a
_mulham_ from Persia. That woman was also sporting Byzantine gold-thread
embroidery--a clear sign of high rank.
Carolyn Priest-Dorman Thora Sharptooth
capriest at cs. vassar. edu Frostahlid, Austmork
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 17:04:44 EST
From: <SNSpies at aol.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Cotton in a European grave
<< Wouldn't such a thread and/or cloth have been available through Roman
trade routes across the Med with Egypt? >>
Let me quote further from the article:
"Cotton and cotton-union fabrics circulated within the Roman empire, although
they seem to have been regarded as a luxury and are comparatively rare in
the European archaeological record.
J.P.Wild (1970, "Textile Manufacture in the Northern Roman Provinces") cites
the following findings of cotton in Roman Europe: a single S-spun thread from
an early 4th-century well near Chew Stoke in Somerset, England (possibly a
modern contaminant - Wild, pers.comm.); a cotton-wool union fabric used to
wrap a 4th-century mummified woman's body buried near Aquincum-Budapest,
Hungary; and a cotton winding sheet from another mummified body in a tomb
on the Via Cassia near Rome."
There are also a couple of examples of fibre capsules from cotton plants found
in 6th-7th century France, but such objects are thought to have been brought
back from the Holy Land by pilgrims.
Ingvild/Nancy
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 17:21:01 EST
From: <SNSpies at aol.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Cotton in a European grave
<< I have never heard of the "ATN" before. Can you tell me how I may obtain
a subscription? >>
Subscriptions to "Archaeological Textiles Newsletter" are available by
writing to:
Dr. J.P. Wild
Department of Art History and Archaeology
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester M13 3PL
England
Payment is 20 pounds for a 2-year subscription (4 issues) and is accepted
only in pounds sterling. Payment should be made in the form of a bank check.
Ingvild/Nancy
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 19:38:45 -0500
From: capriest at cs.vassar.edu (Carolyn Priest-Dorman)
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Cotton in a European grave
Ingvild asked:
><< I'd guess the Merovingian woman had some sort of royal
> connection. The other Frankish find of cotton in a grave that I know of is
> dated seventh century. >>
>
>Thora, could you please post your reference for this? =20
The reference for this is:
France-Lanord, Albert. "La fouille en laboratoire:
Methodes et resultats." _Dossiers de l'Archeologie_
32 (January-February 1979), pp. 66- 91.
Details of the burial textiles in the so-called
Aregond grave, that of a seventh-century
Merovingian royal woman. Includes evidence for
silk, linen, hemp, wool, and cotton! Frustratingly
vague on weave details in some cases.
The gist of the article's information on textiles can be found in Chapter 6
of Marieke's and my _Compleat Anachronist_, #59.
Carolyn Priest-Dorman Thora Sharptooth
capriest at cs. vassar. edu Frostahlid, Austmork
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 20:06:06 EST
From: <SNSpies at aol.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Cotton in a European grave
<< Oooh! Are there any pictures, or detailed descriptions, available??
This sounds like something that would be fun to duplicate! >>
Sorry. The only picture with the article is a x400 magnification of the
cotton fibres. I will see what I can find out. From the article, it appears
that the quilted garment is still being analysed, etc. by Johanna Banck-
Burgess, she who did the Hochdorf chieftain textiles (so you can believe that
the end result of her analysis will be very good indeed). I will pass on
anything further that I can find out.
Ingvild/Nancy
Date: Sat, 24 Jul 1999 00:06:48 +0000
From: "Plastic for better taste. <plastic at codenet.net>" <plastic at codenet.net>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Cotton was (Re: Textiles)
I've recently began researching Indian Textiles and somewhat Cotton. So, I
don't have all the answers yet, and I may not have this quite right. But here
goes . . . off the top of my head.
Cotton in period was predominantly exported from India by caravan to the
Middle East, then into Egypt and Europe. Once the Dutch established colonies
in India (about 1540's) it was shipped all the way back to Europe. However it
was not from the cotton plant as we know it, but rather from the cotton tree.
It seems that it gives the cloth a different texture. In period, Egypt was not
cultivating cotton, but linen. I think I recently read that cotton fibers have
been found in Viking and Tudor excavations. From the earliest times, Indian
cotton gauzes were well known in Roman times as "woven air", haven't read
anything on the Greeks, but they were also well known in ancient Babylonia. I
think that the nomadic tribes of the middle east were the first people outside
of India to begin wearing predominantly cotton clothing. Cotton fabrics were
available resist dyed, block printed and painted. Resist dying was probably
the most common method of ornamentation and painting was mostly used for temple
hangings and such.
Bruno
Outlands
From: nweders at mail.utexas.edu
Date: September 21, 2006 11:10:43 AM CDT
To: ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Ansteorra] cotton in period
I found an article on "The Cotton Industry of Northern Italy in the Late
Middle Ages: 1150-1450" by Maureen Fennell Mazzaoui, (The Journal of
Economic History, Vol 32, No 1. The Tasks of Economy History. (Mar 1972)
pp. 262-286. The author has also written a book, since I found numerous
reviews on it as well bt I have not had a chance to find a copy.
Anyway, the article talks about the development of the cotton fabric and
thread industry in Italy. She states " In the European climate, cotton and
linen represented seasonal alternatives to the heavier silk and wool
cloths suitable for winter wear. She does say later that cotton was often
combined with linen, hemp, wool and silk to produce more diverse fabric
types.
During this time period, vast amounts of cotton fiber and fabrics was also
imported from Egypt and comprised of canvas to fine dress weight fabrics
(sorry no description or names of said fabric). however, the use of the
fabric as clothing is quite extensive.
It is a myth that cotton was not used for clothing or wool was used more
than cotton in some countries. During the 12th through 15th centuries,
cotton was used in the Mediterranean area for the same reasons why we use
it... it is cooler than wool in the summer, it took some dyes better than
linen, it allowed more diversity in fashion. I would also note that during
the 16th century, a severe dip in the weather caused a change in clothing
that made it more important to wear wool and furs rather than cottons.
Clare St. John
From: mikea <mikea at mikea.ath.cx>
Date: September 21, 2006 11:25:34 AM CDT
To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] cotton in period
On Thu, Sep 21, 2006 at 11:10:43AM -0500, nweders at mail.utexas.edu wrote:
> During this time period, vast amounts of cotton fiber and fabrics was also
> imported from Egypt and comprised of canvas to fine dress weight fabrics
> (sorry no description or names of said fabric). however, the use of
> the fabric as clothing is quite extensive.
In addition, the Arabs introduced the cotton plant into Sicily, before
1100, according to what I've been able to find. Since all this is pre-
cotton-gin, the fiber would have been separated from the seeds by hand,
making the cloth more expensive then in terms of labor than it is now.
--
Mike Andrews, W5EGO
From: Maridonna <maridonna at maridonna.com>
Date: September 21, 2006 1:21:18 PM CDT
To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] cotton in period
mikea wrote:
> In addition, the Arabs introduced the cotton plant into Sicily, before
> 1100, according to what I've been able to find. Since all this is pre-
> cotton-gin, the fiber would have been separated from the seeds by hand,
> making the cloth more expensive then in terms of labor than it is now.
Yes. :) The Arabs introduced cotton to Sicily (circa 827). A
source says that the reasons why cotton spread throughout the
western Mediterranean between the 9th-12th centuries is because of
the popularity of cotton among Muslims and their advanced knowledge
of irrigation techniques. Cotton came to rival flax in Sicily.
The source I have says Fustians may have been imported to Sicily up
to the 13th century. Fustian production was significant because
Sicily did not import the cloths, but there is no mention of what it
was made. S. Epstein, "An Island for Itself", pp.182-190.
--
Andrea / Maridonna, who moved her persona to Sicily so she could
wear cotton.
From: Claude Anthony Penny <cpenny at swbell.net>
Date: September 21, 2006 2:22:53 PM CDT
To: "Kingdom of Ansteorra - SCA, Inc." <ansteorra at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Ansteorra] cotton in period
I remember reading that the Arabs had a primitive type of a cotton gin.
It was compsed of knots on ropes that was pulled through the cotton
bolls. If I remember, a lot of the cotton was used as weft fibers,
because spinning strong, tight cotton thread was difficult. I believe
that the mixed fabric was used as cheap blanket-type material in Italy.
Cairenn
who has entirely TOO much info about way TOO many fields
From: Giraude Benet <giraude at WEDCRAFT.COM>
Date: January 19, 2011 12:36:46 PM CST
To: CALONTIR at listserv.unl.edu
Subject: Re: [CALONTIR] Late Period Garb
On Wed, 19 Jan 2011 13:43:28 -0400, SPaterson <sjpaterson at EASTLINK.CA> wrote:
> Cottons? What time & place? (Inquiring minds want to know)
Not sure of every place, but definitely Italy, mid to late period. You can
browse a good book on the Italian cotton industry via Google Books here:
Giraude :)
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2011 16:35:54 -0800 (PST)
From: wheezul at canby.com
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] goats milk cheese recipe
I wonder why the author would not take Scappi at his word on the cotton?
It was common in Italy by then (and indeed had been for centuries). I've
been on a 'cotton binge' reading the latest academic works. "Le commerce
du coton en M?diterran?ee ? la fin du Moyen Age" part of Bill's The
Medieval Mediterranean (2007) by Jong-Kuk Nam leaves no doubt. I am still
chuckling over the German scam of putting the Venetian trademark on their
fustian because it was of a higher quality than theirs and the resulting
Venetian bruhaha.
Katherine
helewyse wrote:
<<< It should also be uploaded to my webpage soon (courtesy of Doc) -
http://www.medievalcookery.com/helewyse
and pass it again through the stocking of cotton stuff[ii].
[ii] - bombasino is an alternative spelling of bombagino and means cotton
stuff, bombicino is silk paper. What may be called for here is a type of finely
woven wool or silk strainer, similar to those used in the production of
hippocras. >>>
To: Authentic_SCA at yahoogroups.com
Subject: Cotton use in Italy, elsewhere in period (Re: printed fabric)
Posted by: "gianottadallafiora" christianetrue at earthlink.net gianottadallafiora
Date: Thu Oct 27, 2011 9:31 am ((PDT))
Yes, there is a lot of crossover for Arabic culture in Italy and
Spain: but what's the actual evidence? Evidence always trumps
speculation, especially in era with lots of iconography.
I agree with this. Gregory, I can't speak to the use of imported printed fabrics in garments; all I know is that printed cotton fabrics from India were being imported into Europe and Egypt throughout the medieval period, with Sicily and Italy seeing the stuff earlier than England did.
Personally, I don't think that the imported printed stuff was used in clothing. I don't think it would have worn very well, it was expensive (if you go by statements in the Geniza documents) and people were mad for silk - plus trying to argue for a native printed cotton industry before the late 17th century is kind of futile. The imported printed stuff probably would have made great luxury cushions, bedding, curtains, etc. I'd love to see what's in the Ashmolean collection, though, to determine that. And get more looks at dowry lists from Italy.
And as Urtatim already pointed out, the modern printed fabric being discussed isn't even appropriate for 16th century Ottoman anyway ...
There are some references to women in Italy wearing cotton cotes in this article I found, but it's native-grown, or at least native-woven from imported raw cotton stuff:
And now here's a book I must get hold of (grin):
The Italian Cotton Industry in the Later Middle Ages 1100-1600
Maureen Fennell Mazzaoui
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press (c) 1981
ISBN: 0521230950
David Abulafia, in his "The Two Italies: Economic relations between the Norman Kingdom of Sicily and the Northern Communes," talks about the importation of Sicilian raw cotton by Genoese traders as seen in trade agreements from the 1150s and 1160s. This means the cotton-wearing northern Italian ladies were using stuff made from Sicilian or other imported fibers, woven and dyed locally - and again, not printed.
Adelisa Salernitanum
To: Gleann Abhann (mail list)
Subject: Re: Japanese Question
Posted by: btheilman at comcast.net
Date: Wed Sep 4, 2013 7:20 pm ((PDT))
Vegetable Lamb of Tartary. The Vegetable Lamb of Tartary (Agnus scythicus or Planta Tartarica Barometz) is a mythical plant of central Asia, believed to grow sheep as its fruit. The sheep were connected to the plant by an umbilical cord and grazed the land around the plant. When all the grazing material was gone, both the plant and sheep died. In the medieval period, the plant was said to explain the existence of cotton.
lol.
From the Facebook SCA group on 10/14/13:
Dawn Malmstrom
For anyone curious about European use of cotton starting around 1100ce please read "The Italian Cotton Industry in the Later Middle Ages, 1100-1600" by Maureen Fennell Mazzaou.
<the end>