the tangible properties of the garment

468 Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies / 39.3 / 2009

In times of economic depression, urban centers across Europe relied

on the supply of products made in rural areas rather than on transoceanic

trade. Markets for textiles dotted the entire Italian landscape, and vendors

set up shop along roads connecting place to place, and along mountain

passes linking Italy to the North, sheath bridal gown , or in regional markets, fairs, auctions, and

lotteries; they assisted in the circulation of goods by carrying their products

to locales that could buy them.

After 1348, Italy cut back on manufacture and trade because of an

overwhelming reduction in the population caused by the plague. However,

the economy gradually gained back its prominence on the European stage

because Italy diversified its production techniques and the distribution of

its goods. All of its major cities (Milan, Cremona, Brescia, Pavia, Como,

Venice, and Naples) offer instructive examples of how Italians responded

to consumer demand. Venice, the most industrialized city in Europe, produced

wool and silk, among the many other types of goods that filled its

marketplaces, and were the staples of aristocratic clothing. The silk industry

also flourished in other northern Italian cities (Milan specialized in silk

thread) and in the south, while the Kingdom of Naples produced leather,

wool, and all kinds of luxurious trims for personal wardrobes.33 Cotton

was the only industry that declined in this period because ordinary people

preferred to purchase “low-cost German cloth rather than to weave it at

home.”34 Resilient northern Italian rural industries in the region of Lombardy

produced low-quality woolens, cotton, Japanese school uniforms . and linen, while needlework

thrived everywhere.35 In smaller villages, where there were less restrictive

guilds than in large cities, production increased from the making of leather

goods, linen, wool, and silk to glassmaking and the cutting of diamonds.

Rural and urban economies were united in their mutual dependencies for

the manufacture of goods.

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