History, Wonder Tales, Fairy Tales, Myths and Legends The Flemish | Page 191

Chapter IX
The Low Dutch and the Manufacture of Cloth
9. 1.
IT is curious that most modern writers on economics, such as Ashley and
Cunningham, have assumed that the English cloth trade practically started with the
introduction of Flemish weavers by Edward III. It is constantly asserted that before this
the cloth made in England was of very poor quality and entirely for home consumption,
and that the industry had but little organization. Salzman has shown, however, that the
cloth trade was highly organized much earlier, and that, while a large proportion of the
cloths were certainly coarse, fine cloths such as the Lincoln and Stamford scarlets had
early attained fame. An examination of the vocabulary of clothworking certainly
supports the conclusions of Salzman, for the Low Dutch element in it is surprisingly
small, whereas if the Flemish influence had been as great as is commonly assumed,
we should expathe English cloth trade, and it was fortunate that the king's foreign
policy gave the key to the solution of the industrial difficulties.
Edward wished to damage the trade of Flanders and to that end did his best to hinder
the export of wool and to revivify the English cloth trade so as to be independent of
Flanders. Either in order to remedy the defects of the native cloth or with the
deliberate intention of building up a cloth-making industry to compete with Flanders,
he now adopted the policy of encouraging foreign experts to settle in the country. The
conditions of the time were exceedingly favourable, for conditions in the Low
Countries were very disturbed; the craftsmen in the Flemish towns were oppressed by
the merchant companies, and, moreover, there was hostility between the weavers of
the towns and those of the country districts, so that the latter were frequently deprived
of their wool supply. Emigration to England would entirely solve this difficulty.
As early as 1331 special protection was granted to John Kemp of Flanders and any
other clothworkers who wished to come over. In 1337 the king sent Thomas de
Kenelyngworth to bring John Belle and other clothworkers to England, and later in the
same year protection was granted to Nicholas Appelman, dyer, and to other dyers and
fullers who had come over with him and were exercising their trades at Winchester.
Similar protection was granted in 1343 to John de Bruyn, ‘burgess of Ghent’, who was
making cloth at Abingdon, while in 1352 a general proclamation was made that foreign
clothmakers were not to be interfered with or compelled to join any gild. Such
protection was necessary, as it was only natural that the weavers already established
in the country should resent the introduction of so many skilled craftsmen into their
own trades. Eventually the Flemings and Brabanters in London formed for their
protection a weavers' gild of their own. This jealousy sprang up afresh with every new
batch of entrants, and the murder of Flemings at Snettisham and Yarmouth was
perhaps due to industrial rivalry. Thomas Blanket, who had set up looms and brought
over workmen for manufacture on a large scale at Bristol, was seriously interfered with
in 1340. Alien workmen continued to come in during the 15th century (no less than
1,738 were naturalized in 1436), and the ill feeling steadily grew till it culminated in an
organized attack on their foreign rivals by the apprentices and journeymen of London
on Evil May Day, 1517.
Very little appears to be ascertainable about the history of linen weaving in England in
the Middle Ages. That it was carried on fairly extensively is evident from casual
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