Silk woven in or distributed via the Byzantine Empire
David, between personifications of Wisdom and Prophecy, is depicted in a chlamys of patterned Byzantine silk. Paris Psalter, 10th century.
Byzantine silk is silk woven in the Byzantine Empire (Byzantium) from about the fourth century until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453.
The Byzantine capital of Constantinople was the first significant silk-weaving center in Europe. Silk was one of the most important commodities in the Byzantine economy, used by the state both as a means of payment and of diplomacy.[1]
Raw silk was bought from China and made up into fine fabrics that commanded high prices throughout the world. Later, silkworms were smuggled into the Empire and the overland silk trade gradually became less important. After the reign of Justinian I, the manufacture and sale of silk became an imperial monopoly, only processed in imperial factories, and sold to authorized buyers.[1]
Byzantine silks are significant for their brilliant colours, use of gold thread, and intricate designs that approach the pictorial complexity of embroidery in loom-woven fabric.[2] Byzantium dominated silk production in Europe throughout the Early Middle Ages, until the establishment of the Italian silk-weaving industry in the 12th century and the conquest and break-up of the Byzantine Empire in the Fourth Crusade (1204).
^ abLaiou, Angeliki. "Exchange and Trade Archived 2011-06-08 at the Wayback Machine". In Laiou (2002), p. 703
Byzantinesilk is silk woven in the Byzantine Empire (Byzantium) from about the fourth century until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. The Byzantine...
resulting in silk production in the Mediterranean, particularly in Thrace in northern Greece, and giving the Byzantine Empire a monopoly on silk production...
establishment in the Mediterranean, remaining a monopoly in the Byzantine Empire for centuries (Byzantinesilk). In 1147, during the Second Crusade, Roger II of Sicily...
Early Byzantine Period". In Freeman, Evan (ed.). Smarthistory Guide to Byzantine Art. Clare, pg. 1589 Clare, pg. 1587 Patrick Hunt. "Late Roman Silk: Smuggling...
AD the Byzantine Empire managed to obtain silkworm eggs and were able to begin silkworm cultivation; the Arabs also began to manufacture silk at the same...
pattern, and made and exported very richly patterned cloth, especially Byzantinesilk, woven and embroidered for the upper classes, and resist-dyed and printed...
The Byzantine economy was among the most robust economies in the Mediterranean for many centuries. Constantinople was a prime hub in a trading network...
is often used in evening dresses. Shot silk taffeta was one of the most highly-sought forms of Byzantinesilk, and may have been the fabric known as purpura...
especially Byzantinesilk, woven and embroidered for the upper classes, and resist-dyed and printed for the lower segments of society. Surviving Byzantine art...
silks were produced in large quantities throughout the Byzantine era, many continuing and adapting late Roman artistic practice though Byzantinesilk...
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced...
pattern, and made and exported very richly patterned cloth, especially Byzantinesilk, woven and embroidered for the upper classes, and resist-dyed and printed...
their bodies. By the Middle Byzantine period all parts of the chlamys were highly decorative, with bright patterned Byzantinesilk and tablia and borders heavily...
administered the Western Regions on the Silk Road. The (945 AD) Tang shu "Book of Tang" mentioned Haixi cloth from Folin (Byzantine Syria), which Emil Bretschneider...
the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research. He is a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society. He is best known for his 2015 book The Silk Roads. Frankopan is the...
silver platter with warrior twins on winged horses (5th/6th century CE) Byzantinesilk textile with elevated twins receiving offerings (7th/8th century CE)...
were dedicated to transcription. The Byzantines introduced the art of silk in Calabria and made it the main silk production area in Europe. In the 11th...
left in Aachen: the Aachen Gospels, a diptych of Christ, and an early Byzantinesilk. The Coronation Gospels and a reliquary burse of St. Stephen were moved...
medallions with a motif of a bull being attacked by a griffin, taken from Byzantinesilk (or its Persian equivalent) but probably woven locally in the Rhineland...
perhaps a westerner trained in a Byzantine style, as his stitching is not as smooth as other examples of Byzantinesilk spines made by native Greeks. The...
Shoki. Smuggling of silkworm eggs into the Byzantine Empire by monks allows development of the Byzantinesilk industry in the Empire. Eutychius becomes...
at a village level, and very simply cut. The elite imported silk cloth from the Byzantine and later Muslim worlds, and also probably cotton. They also...
Byzantine realm and China at this time. Byzantine Greek historian Procopius stated that two Nestorian Christian monks eventually uncovered how silk was...
Mosque established during Byzantine times for visiting Muslim dignitaries Ahmed Bican Yazıcıoğlu Byzantine calendar Byzantinesilk Eparch of Constantinople...
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