The Wool Trade

During the High Middle Ages, shepherds bred the best quality sheep to sell wool to merchants and weavers across Europe. The first step in preparing the wool for trade was sorting. This step included separating the wool into different grades. The main grades included the outer layer, which was coarser, thicker and longer, and the inner layers, which were softer wool and short fibers. The second step was cleansing the wool. This step included washing the wool to remove grease, oils, and dirt. The third step was beating to remove foreign objects and separate matted and entangled fibers. The fourth step was preliminary dyeing. The fifth step was greasing. This step included applying olive oil or butter on the wool to protect it. The sixth step was combing the wool to prepare it for spinning. The wool would then be used in knitting and weaving to make woolen clothes. Woven wool was also dried, fulled, teaseled, shorn, pressed, and dyed to make the finest draperies and clothing.

Shepherding played a significant role in promoting the sale of woolen clothes during the High Middle Ages. Large landowners began producing wool in large quantities for trade. They developed trade links to sell their wool to the manufacturers leading to trade expansion across Europe. Monarchs used the trade to generate revenue by taxing wool traders. However, the taxes damaged the wool trade because many Flemish weavers moved to the Cotswolds, the West Country, Cumberland, and the Yorkshire Dales. The wool trade also led to the rise of markets in the English ports such as Sandwich, London, Southampton, and Boston (Lockett, 1974). The monarchs protected the markets mainly because wool was a symbol of national prosperity. Between the 1570s and 1590s, a law was passed requiring all Englishmen except nobles to wear woolen caps in churches to support the wool industry. The success of the wool trade led to the Highland Clearances across Europe. The clearances were forced evictions of tenants in the Scottish Islands and Highlands. They were conducted in two phases. The first phase included employing the displaced land tenants in industries such as quarrying and fishing. The second phase included paying the evicted tenants fares to immigrate to other places.

The demand for woolen clothes led to the development of mechanical looms, which facilitated the production of woolen clothes, thus eliminating hand weaving. The mechanical loom increased wool production, which increased the wool trade. The main impact of the increase in the wool trade was the rise of towns because many people settled along the trade routes. As the towns grew, the power of fixed rents reduced, and nobles began selling freedom to the serfs and towns. Selling freedom reduced the nobles’ power leading to the end of the feudal order and enabling the towns to form urban republics or communes (Dalling 328). Towns that gained independence could dictate their liberties and duties and were ruled by a king, thus reducing the nobles’ power. The decline of the nobles’ control over the towns led to the decline of the medieval church because the kings were recognized as the appointed rulers and the supreme judges. The wool trade also enabled the peasants to generate enough money to buy their land. Land ownership led to the decline of community-wide collaboration in farming, resulting in decreased communal ties and increased inequality.

Works Cited

Dalling, Robert. The Story of Us Humans, from Atoms to Today’s Civilization. iUniverse, 2006.

Lockett, Alison. The Wool Trade. Methuen, 1974.

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During the High Middle Ages (1000-1300 CE) the revival of trade and the growth of industrial production, particularly in the woolen industry, fostered the rebirth of urban centers and the creation of numerous new occupations as a result.

The Wool Trade

After reading the module readings and examining the module resources, write an essay or create a PowerPoint explaining:
The major points in the symbiotic chain of events were shepherding to the sale of woolen clothes.
The cause and effect relationship between at least four stages of the woolen trade process. For example: new developments in agriculture allow farmers to focus on non-staple crops, which gives rise to shepherding. They needed shears to trim the sheep, which gave rise to the shearing trade and shear craftsman trade. The sheared wool had to be transported from agricultural centers to production centers, which gave rise to the wagon-making industry, the shipping industry, road building, etc.
Format your assignment as follows:
Essay
Minimum of 600 words
1” margins
12 pt font
Formal English
Absent of grammar/spelling/mechanical errors