Medieval drapery technology according to the technical regulations of the northwestern Mediterranean: Languedoc-Roussillon-Catalonia-Valencia-Majorca: 13th-15th centuries.

Summary The technical regulations of the northwestern Mediterranean (statutes of the woolen trades, drapery ordinances) permit a technological study of the successive stages of production, appretation, and dyeing of woollen fabrics in Languedoc, Roussillon, Catalonia, the kingdom of Valencia, and Majorca in the 13th-15th centuries. The conversation in metric measurements and the interpretation of the numerical data provide, for the first time, bases for comparison with the information derived from the analysis of samples of medieval woollen fabrics found in Languedoc and in the Datini archives in Prato. The amount of original information provided by the sources used and the overall vision offered by this work lead to questions that are valid for all medieval draperies, in particular that of the true quality criteria of the fabrics in the various drapery centers.