John S. Lee. The Medieval Clothier

The Medieval Clothier, by John S. Lee, is a good example of a renewed interest in the history of cloth manufacture in late medieval England. Cherished by economic historians since the times of Eileen Power, this topic has been recently revived by some major contributions (e.g., from John Oldland, Nicholas R. Amor, and Milan Pajic), and this book is a good example of this trend. It offers an updated and comprehensive survey with new insights on cloth making in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century England. In the first chapter the author summarizes all tasks and processes involved in cloth making, from sorting wool to dyeing and finishing each piece. Crucial improvements, such as the introduction of the spinning wheel, broadlooms, and fulling mills, were already in place by the beginning of the fourteenth century and enabled a rise in work productivity. Other changes, as for instance the way of preparing wool...

Art · Art history · Fifteenth · Power (physics) · Classics · Crafts, Textile, and Design · Historical Economic and Social Studies · History · Medieval Literature and History