Textiles and Embroideries

The third fabric was placed over the body of the Emperor Charlemagne in his shrine at Aachen. It has a pattern of large circles, each enclosing an elephant, strongly conventionalized and bearing rich jewelled trappings. Along the bottom there is an abbreviated inscription giving the names of certain officials. This stuff is later than the time of Charlemagne; it probably belongs to the end of the loth century. For boldness of design and general splendour these three silk fabrics, woven on the imperial looms of Constantinople in the loth century, are among the chief mediaeval stuffs we now possess. Weavings of this character probably came to an end with the sack of Constantinople by the Latins in 1204.

Sicily and Spain.

It is remarkable that Mohammedan tex tile art flourished nowhere as it did on European soil, and partly under rulers who were the enemies of Islam. The first Arabic incursions into Sicily took place in the 7th century, and during the course of the 9th century the island fell definitely under Mo hammedan rule. Silk and gold stuffs were woven in Sicily in the loth century, but they cannot be distinguished from those woven in other Mohammedan lands. In the year 1060 the Normans arrived in the island, and the Mohammedans were finally sub jugated. Weaving went on very much as before, though with greater magnificence and luxury, if we may judge from the two imperial robes produced at Palermo in the years 1134 and 1181 (described later). The lining of the great mantle is woven in silk and gold thread with figures representing the Temptation in the Garden of Eden, trees, birds, interlacing bands and Arabic let tering. A similar stuff, with horsemen, animals, birds and serpents is in the tomb of Roger, Norman ruler of Sicily (1072-1111), at Palermo. A brocade in pink silk, with a small pattern of gazelles, birds and trees in gold, formed part of the robe in which the emperor Henry VI. (d. 1197) was buried at Palermo; there is a fragment of this stuff in the British Museum.

The other great centre of Mohammedan weaving in Europe is Spain. There the Arabs landed in the year 711, and within seven years they were masters of the whole peninsula except the north west. By the 9th century the weaving of silk fabrics was estab lished in Andalusia. A remarkable woven fabric, known as the "veil of Hisham," bears the name of Hisham II., khalif of Cor doba from 996 to 1021. The material is a thin gauze, and the in scription borders a stripe of ornament woven in silk and gold thread, similar to the contemporary weavings of Egypt. In the 12th and 13th centuries some remarkable silk and gold fabrics were woven, with pairs of animals or birds, often in circles. Before the

end of the 14th century the peculiar type of arabesque ornament, relieved by bold lettering, associated particularly with the decora tion of the Alhambra at Granada, began to be seen in silk fabrics. The colours are bright—red, yellow and blue predominating. Upon the final subjugation of the Moors at the end of the 15th century, and the re-entry of the whole peninsula into Christendom, the skill of the Mohammedan weavers was still employed for producing stuffs "oeuvres a la moresque," but the influence of Italian design grew as the 16th century advanced. With the rise of the textile industry at Lyons French influence began to be felt.

Italy and France.

The great textile industry of Italy, though much influenced by oriental art, followed a more independent course than that of Spain. The soil and climate were favourable to the growth of the silkworm, and Italy became the chief centre of that industry in Europe. Looms were set up for weaving the thread into fabrics. As early as the 12th and 13th centuries silk weaving industries were found in the great cities of the north, such as Florence, Venice or Genoa. In the south they grew up as the political upheavals of Sicily led to the migration of craftsmen to more peaceful industrial centres. In the 14th cen tury Lucca became famous throughout Europe for its woven stuffs. Silk weaving was also carried on at Venice, Genoa, Vicenza, Florence, Bologna, Milan, Turin, Siena, Naples, Catanzaro, etc.

In the second half of the 15th century Florence had a large num ber of factories, sending stuffs to Rome, Naples, Genoa, Catalonia, Seville, Lyons, Avignon, Antwerp, Turkey and elsewhere. In the 18th century stuffs were still sent to Holland, Germany, Turkey, Barbary and South America. The Venetians, too, carried their operations far afield. It was claimed for them that they studied to suit the colours and quality of their fabrics to the markets for which they were destined, both in Italy, and "all over the world." The foundation of the silk-weaving industry in France in the i6th century, and its subsequent enormous development, chal lenged the Italian monopoly. Italian weavers were attracted to France. At Tours there were numbers of Genoese, and in the early days of the industry at Lyons there were many Genoese and Flo rentines. Weaving was also carried on in other French towns, but during the 17th century the highly organized industry at Lyons gradually grew until it outstripped the Italians and reached that eminence which it has since maintained throughout Europe.