Overview

Cloth-making became England's leading industry in the late Middle Ages; clothiers co-ordinated its different stages, in some cases carrying out the processes themselves, and found markets for their finished cloth, selling to merchants, drapers and other traders. While many clothiers were of only modest status or ""jacks of all trades"", a handful of individuals amassed huge fortunes through the trade, becoming the multi-millionaires of their day. This book offers the first recent survey of this hugely important and significant trade and its practitioners, examining the whole range of clothiers across different areas of England, and exploring their impact within the industry andin their wider communities. Alongside the mechanics of the trade, it considers clothiers as entrepreneurs and early capitalists, employing workers and even establishing early factories; it also looks at their family backgrounds and their roles as patrons of church rebuilding and charitable activities. It is completed with extracts from clothiers' wills and a gazetteer of places to visit, making the book invaluable to academics, students, and local historians alike. JOHN S. LEE is a Research Associate at the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of York.

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9781783273171

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Reviews

Anyone seeking a wide-ranging and well-informed historical account of late medieval English cloth-making will find it here. MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY An excellent start to this new series on medieval workers [and] a very worthwhile project.that will be of particular interest to economic and social historians and students, as well as those interested in regional and local history. JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIES It is surprising that we have had to wait so long for someone to tackle the clothiers . . . but it was worth the wait. John Lee has soaked up all the relevant literature, plus added his own discoveries from wills, chancery documents, and regional archives, to produce a readable, thorough, and wide-ranging survey. MEDIEVAL CLOTHING & TEXTILES The Medieval Clothier is an excellent first volume in Boydell's new series Working in the Middle Ages. . . . [It] is a highly successful book that provides an interesting, compelling and at all times authoritative survey of one of the most important trades in late medieval England, making it a must read for students and scholars alike. EH.NET The book may be aimed primarily at medievalists with interests in economic history, particularly in trade and taxation, and at those who study the history of entrepreneurship and social history, but the general reader will also be delighted by this appealing, beautifully organized book. BUSINESS HISTORY REVIEW Lee's book is an excellent example of clear and accessible research and synthesis and informs a key aspect of the debate on the role of small towns in early modern Europe. URBAN HISTORY Provides an interesting, accessible and well-referenced survey. ESSEX JOURNAL A very useful account...[It] can be recommended as an up to date introduction to the cloth trade in mediaeval England and is another impressive addition to the Boydell catalogue. EAST YORKSHIRE LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY

Provides an interesting, accessible and well-referenced survey. ESSEX JOURNAL A very useful account...[It] can be recommended as an up to date introduction to the cloth trade in mediaeval England and is another impressive addition to the Boydell catalogue. EAST YORKSHIRE LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY

Lee's book is an excellent example of clear and accessible research and synthesis and informs a key aspect of the debate on the role of small towns in early modern Europe. URBAN HISTORY Provides an interesting, accessible and well-referenced survey. ESSEX JOURNAL A very useful account...[It] can be recommended as an up to date introduction to the cloth trade in mediaeval England and is another impressive addition to the Boydell catalogue. EAST YORKSHIRE LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY

An excellent start to this new series on medieval workers [and] a very worthwhile project.that will be of particular interest to economic and social historians and students, as well as those interested in regional and local history. JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIES It is surprising that we have had to wait so long for someone to tackle the clothiers . . . but it was worth the wait. John Lee has soaked up all the relevant literature, plus added his own discoveries from wills, chancery documents, and regional archives, to produce a readable, thorough, and wide-ranging survey. MEDIEVAL CLOTHING & TEXTILES The Medieval Clothier is an excellent first volume in Boydell's new series Working in the Middle Ages. . . . [It] is a highly successful book that provides an interesting, compelling and at all times authoritative survey of one of the most important trades in late medieval England, making it a must read for students and scholars alike. EH.NET The book may be aimed primarily at medievalists with interests in economic history, particularly in trade and taxation, and at those who study the history of entrepreneurship and social history, but the general reader will also be delighted by this appealing, beautifully organized book. BUSINESS HISTORY REVIEW Lee's book is an excellent example of clear and accessible research and synthesis and informs a key aspect of the debate on the role of small towns in early modern Europe. URBAN HISTORY Provides an interesting, accessible and well-referenced survey. ESSEX JOURNAL A very useful account...[It] can be recommended as an up to date introduction to the cloth trade in mediaeval England and is another impressive addition to the Boydell catalogue. EAST YORKSHIRE LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY

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