Silk and the Silk Road
Silk, the yarns and textiles made with filaments of the cocoons of several species of
moth (especially the Bombyx mori, which feeds on white mulberry leaves and was
cultivated in ancient China). Silk cloths from the Far East reached the Mediterranean
already in Roman times, and raw silk and silk yarns imported from China, Central Asa and
India via the Silk Road formed the basis for the production of late Roman silks. In 533/4,
under Justinian I, actual silk moth eggs were reportedly smuggled into the empire by some
monks who had learned the secrets of sericulture (Procopius, Wars 8.17.1-8). The
silk industry thus established eventually came to constitute a major element of the
Byzantine economy. Silk moths were cultivated first in Syria, then in Asia Minor, southern
Greece, and southern Italy.
The center of the Byzantine silk industry from the 7th century onward was
Constantinople, though after the 10th century silk weaving was known to have been
practiced in Thebes, Corinth, Athens and Thessalonika as well. The silks were made either
in imperial factories (located both within and near the Great Palace) or in numerous
private workshops. The industry was very specialized and, in Constantinople at least, the
private production of silk was divided among several different professions, whose members
were organized into guilds. Some of these professions are named in the Book of the
Eparch: the prandioprates or silk importer, the silk merchant for the raw
silk, the katartarios, or raw silk dresser, the serikarios, or silk
weaver, and the vestioprates, or silk clothier.
In Justinian I's legislation (Cod. Just. VIII 13[14].27) the Latin term for
silk merchant is metaxarius. In the 10th century their guild was called that of
the metaxopratai. The Book of the Eparch (ch.6.14) defines their
function as purchasing and selling raw silk (metaxa); they were prohibited from
engaging in silk processing or production. Metaxopratai bought raw silk from
traders coming "from outside" (from the provinces or a foreign country) and sold
it publicaly ("in the forum") to buyers who were primarily katartarioi
or processors of raw silk. The sale of metaxa to Jews or to merchants who would
export it from Constantionople was forbidden.
In the chapter on katartarioi (ch. 7.2) the term metaxarios also appears - the
reference is to metaxarioi who are not on the official register. It is unclear whether
they are identical with the metaxopratai or form a group of lower-ranking merchants (i.e.,
silk traders who do not belong to the guild). Another unclear term is the "so-called
melathrarioi" who are forbidden to sell "the cleaned raw silk"; it is
uncertain whether they are forbidden to deal at all in raw silk, and thus melathrarioi are
unauthorized dealers, or whether they are traders in uncleaned raw silk.
To be distinguished from the metaxoprates is the serikoprates, a type of silk merchant
who dealt in silk textiles rather than raw silk. The Book of Eparch attest that the
vestiopratai bought cloth from either archontes or serikoprates, an artisan involved in
various aspects of silk production, especially dyeing and the sale of textiles.
Silks were widely used in Byzantium for court and ecclesiastical vestments, and for
domestic and church furnishings, such as altar cloths, curtains and couch covers. Silk
yarns were used for a variety of fabrics, including tapestry-woven hangings and
embroidery. Wearing of the finest grades of silks, especially the purple-dyed ones, was
limited to the imperial family and entourage, at least through the 9th century. Silk was
always considered a luxury product; valued on a par with gold and other precious materials
(even sold by weight and bought on speculation), its manufacture and trade was controlled,
and its quality guaranteed by the state. Foreign trading of Byzantine silks was
restricted. Only small quantities were exported to Muslim countries, and the Venetian,
Amalfitan and other privileged Italian merchants were permitted to sell only lesser
quality Byzantine silks in Pavia.
Silks from the state workshops in Constantinople were thus greatly coveted both at home
and abroad; they were an essential part of official court costume and could also be
awarded to loyal followers. As imperial gifts, they were an important element of Byzantium
foreign policy.
Western Europe
Silk provided medieval Europe with its most luxurious textile fabrics. At the dawn of
the medieval era, Western Europe imported silk textiles from the Orient; but by the High
Middle Ages, Italy had not only established an important sericulture component in her
agriculture to become on of the world's major manufacturers of fine silk textiles.
The Arabs introduced sericulture into Spain, so that, by the early ninth century, silk
textile production - of silkatun especially - is recorded at Almeria. By the late 11th or
early 12th century sericulture had also been established in Muslim Sicily; and by the 13th
century silk textiles were being woven on the Italian mainland itself, principally at
Lucca and Bologna. These two Italian cities were also the site of the first silk-throwing
machine, first recorded at Bologna in 1272. This was to create a revolution in silk
production.
In the 6th century, Kosimas Indikopleustes mentions he existence of two routes, one by
sea from China to Ceylon and the other through the steppes of Central Asia to the Persian
frontier. The sea route continued through the Red Sea to Ethiopia and eventually to Egypt
or Syria.
Spices
In medieval merchant handbooks, the term spezierie designates a large number of items
that were used in medicine, perfume making and embalming, as well as dyestuffs and
seasonings. Since many spices, including the most expensive ones, were produced in
Southeast Asia and Africa, the term is associated with eastern trade, although among the
spices are items such as saffron, produced in the western Mediterranean, and mastic,
produced on Chios. For medieval commerce, pepper and ginger were the most important items;
of small bulk and very high value, carried primarily on galleys, spices were very
lucrative commodities.
Until the 7th century, Byzantine territories included some spice-producing areas
(Egypt) as well as the ports through which eastern spices reached the Mediterranean. After
the loss of the eastern provinces, Constantinople became the most important market within
Byzantium. Alexandria remained a major outlet throughout the Middle Ages. In the 10th
century, the campaign manual of Constantine VII mentions as items to be carried into the
field: Greek incense, frankincense, mastic, saffron, musk, amber, aloe and wood aloe (or
eaglewood), cinnamon of first and second quality, and cassia. All of these, and other
spices, are mentioned in the Book of the Eparch in the chapter on myreposio (ch. 10),
which suggests that spices reached Constantinople primarily from the area of Trebizond.
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