290 tehmina goskarthe introduction of glazes (an innovation related to better knowledge of metallurgy)
textiles, and particularly silk, are the sine qua non of medieval material culture.
Michael McCormick, in examining European (Carolingian) commerce in the
Mediterranean from the seventh to tenth centuries, singled out silk as being of par-
ticular historical value, when the very few surviving examples from locations north of
the Alps are compared with evidence from papal inventories, especially those of
Hadrian I (2001: 719–726). The Byzantine perspective on Mediterranean silk com-
merce has probably received the lion’s share of attention because of the assumption,
based on its legal and regulatory texts such as the Book of the Prefect, that the Empire
dominated control of high-end production, especially that consumed by the Church.
But there is good evidence for private sericulture and silk production in southern Italy
and Greece from the mid-eleventh century, and probably earlier.
Southern Italian charters from the tenth to twelfth centuries, especially those from
Apulia, provide compelling evidence of the consumers of silk in the Mediterranean.
They are not the emperor, caliph or pope but the professional, mercantile and noble
classes whose beds were examined above. Two-thirds of the inventories in Apulian
charters mention a diverse range of silks such as diaspro (possibly white silk), catablat-
tio (possibly purple silk), samito (samite) and zendai (sendal). We are presented with
a many-hued textile culture including red, black, purple, violet and blue, and combi-
nations of white and yellow, red and yellow and yellow and black. These discerning
consumers also recorded the quality and type of their silks; for example, the term
ligulis is used on a number of occasions, suggesting a form of measurement of fabric
weight. Toponymic descriptors, for example, grecisco (Greek-style), hispano (Spanish)
and malfetanescam (Amalfitan-style) suggest designations of style, quality and even
“brand” (Goskar, 2011: 201–202). And on occasion we are given a glimpse of mon-
etary value; for example, in Bari in 1039, a white and yellow embroidered silk cloth
was worth twelve solidi.
This micro-study in medieval material culture highlights the depth of technical
knowledge present amongst those involved in the transactions. The material culture
of medieval inventories has seldom been addressed as evidence of expertise. We can
contrast the technical expertise of medieval consumers with the specialist skills of tex-
tile conservators who exercise forensic observation and scientific analysis to gain a full
understanding of an artifact’s construction down to the detail of how warp and weft
yarns were spun, and even detecting the tiniest trace of a centuries-old dye. Discovery
through object conservation allows us to appreciate early modern material culture at
a structural level.
The garments of the early modern Mediterranean may be seen in portrait paintings
and an increasing number of actual survivals. Renaissance dress is highly emblematic
of Mediterranean high culture in the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries. This period
also gives us the first real opportunity to associate particular things with specific peo-
ple. One such materially-defined personality was Cosimo I de’Medici, civic patron of
Florence and exponent of gentilezza—an idiom underwritten by personal possessions,
ornaments, clothing and furnishings (Syson and Thornton, 2001: 28–29). His funer-
ary garb has a curious object biography. Cosimo was buried in 1574 fully clothed in
the grand mantle of the Order of St Stephen, a red satin doublet, a fine pair of red
breeches and integral cod-piece made of finely spun wool, lined with linen and fin-
ished with silk tablet-woven braid (Arnold, 2000). At some undefined point in time0002063960.INDD 290 2/17/2014 11:38:27 AM