Byzantine Textile: Splendour and Reflections
Let me start my talk by an anecdote on Spanish Rabbi, Benjamin of Toledo of 12th century, who travelled to Constantinople. He described the city as fallows; "All the people look like princes. The Second Rome is a glittering city of miracles. Everybody is dressed in silk, purple and gold"[1]. I believe that Byzantine capital is still glittering upon our contemporary fashion in silk, purple and gold even today. My story with Byzantine textiles starts with my preparation for Autumn Season of 2013. While I was sketching for my new collection, to get inspired I visited textile museums all over the world; Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria Albert Museum or Saint Louis Art Museum. Especially the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens attracted me the most with its tremendously rich collection with 1.000 textiles, mostly ecclesiastical, from all over Greece, the Balkans and Asia Minor from 15th century until 20th. I spent lots of time by examine Coptic textiles remained from Byzantine times.[2] As result of this long pleasant journey, I decided to create something new and Byzantine. I choose Byzantine textile products in my creation of autumn of 2013, because the Byzantine textiles had been so rich in variety and glamorous comparing to coeval cultures. Today, I want to talk about the reasons behind this richness; I believe that the Byzantine textiles were so glamorous because first the Byzantine Empire had been most important textile producer in the world using a variety of material and colours, which hardly existed in other culture. Secondly, I think that the fact that the colours, cloths and fabrics chosen by Byzantine were not merely restricted to simple personal tastes, but they had political, social and symbolical values.
Textile Production and Its Consumers
Textile for Humans
Let me start with my argument that Byzantine culture had been the most important and creative textile industry in the world. In my opinion, above all, comparing to others, Byzantine Empire could be considered as the textile empire in both sense of word; production and consumption until 13th century. The textile production was held by different classes from different regions all over the Empire, from the bottom to top; from peasants to Palace, from Egypt to Balkans. While Imperial workshops looming usually silk, public workshops and private workshops weaved cloths for more common people. Meanwhile the craftsmen settled nearby the Palace dealt with cloth making, peasant women in Egypt weaved for her family as well.[3] To understand more its structure, let’s look at Τὸ ἐπαρχικὸν βιβλίον describing entirely the organization of silk industry in Constantinople. In the tenth century, there were two pivotal guilds called as metaxopratai and katartarios. The function of the cartel called metaxopratai was to provide raw silk to workshops and to export the finished silk products to other ports of the Empire. On the other hand, the guild called as katartarios should produce silk yarn, cloths and dresses. As expected these two guilds worked symbiotically to fill the needs for silk products.[4] Although, the secrets of silk production with its worm were, most probably, brought stealthily from China in seventh century, it became already part of dynastical charm most probably before the fall of Rome. Even in the late Roman Empire, the aristocrats and thus the Imperial family dressed up with silk to swagger their wealth. As a result, silk industry was not only producing something to wear only, it produced wealth and prestige as well, like jewellery industry. For that reason, silk industry was supported by the governments and it widespread quickly from Syria and Anatolia to Thebes, Corinth and the Andros Island by the 12th century. The Byzantine silk industry was so influential that western consumers bought Byzantine silk instead of others. For that reason, Roger II of Sicily kidnapped Byzantine silk weavers and western producers learned their secrets. [5]For this reason, a large number of Byzantine silks ranging in date from the ninth to twelfth centuries have been preserved in Western European treasures.
However, silk had always been for the richest people in the Empire. Common people hardly wear it; the common citizen usually preferred linen for dressing.[6] Subsequently, most of garments recovered from late antique Egyptian and Syrian sites were made of linen. The linen made cloths had been used and produced not only in Syria and Egypt but in everywhere inside of Imperial borders. In fact, Byzantine linen tunics were as popular as Byzantine silk cloths; for example, the same Roger II of Sicily wore often a white Byzantine tunic. [7] As a result Byzantine linen was a niche textile product and thus produced commonly anywhere in the Empire. For example, in late ninth-century’s Constantinople, the guild of linen merchants imported linen fabrics from different provinces of the Empire and Bulgaria.[8]
Textile production in Byzantine Empire was not only urban production. Most probably, the rural women weaved flax wool and cotton in their own looms However, the preference among these materials dependant on the availability. Flax (linos, linarion) is a plant widely grown in Italy, north Greece and Asia Minor, Strymon River, Pontos and Kerasous, from late antiquity. According to a survey of a survey of 1073, the Proasteion of Baris witnessed that villagers stored wheat, barley, beans and flax.[9] Flax yarns should have been trashed before processing. These flax processed in the workshops, called as linobrocheia, usually located on the banks of water supply.[10]One of the linen’s uses was on the undergarments; best of them are made of it.[11]
More pastoral product was wool. Wool as the nature requires sheep herding. Sheep herding had always been common in Anatolia. For example there was sheep herding in Cappadocia from late Roman Empire.[12]As Braudel states sheep herding was related to transhumance, because sheep should be put out to graze in the higher planes. [13]Especially in Byzantine Cappadocia, the principal kind of sheep may well have been the White Karaman which is fat tailed sheep that produce good yields of milk, meat and wool.[14] Most probably, the wool production should widespread in 11th century. The number of sheep should be increased in Anatolia after Turkish intrusion to Anatolia. However, in Byzantine Empire, it was not the nomads dealt with sheep herding, also the monasteries settled in the higher grounds possessed sheep.[15] Most probably, many monasteries were involved in sheep herding and wool weaving. It is highly possible that monasteries sold these woollen products for proving extra resource.[16]These woollen fabrics and yarns had a variety of use. Wool was used by mountainous people, monks and villagers as winter cloth. However, urban people should have acquired woollen cloth for keep themselves in cold seasons by trade. However, most distinguish product of wool is tapestry. For example, it is reported that Cappadocia, famous for its wool and sheep herding was also famous for its local rugs and tapestries since antiquity.[17]
Another material commonly used in textile was cotton. Unlike the previous materials, cotton was marginally produced inside of the borders of the Empire, but exported from east. It was not sure exactly when the cotton production begun inside of the Empire but it is certain that there was cotton cultivation in 1118 in Crete.[18] By 14th century, Crete succeeded in exporting cotton even to Venice. In addition to Crete cotton was also seeded in Cyprus and the Near East in the late-Empire.[19] As the production, the usage of cotton was limited. One of the most common use of textile products were women’s headscarves (veleria), most of which was woven in cotton, rarely in silk.[20] In the tenth century, Byzantine soldiers were issued cotton jackets as basic uniforms like similar kind of protective clothing stuffed with cotton was worn by military classes on Malta in the late Middle Ages.[21]
Final material to discuss is leather and fur. For centuries Mediterranean craftsmen had being made flat sandals, lace shoes and work boots out of tough animal hides. Leather belts and fur cloaks became increasingly popular features of urban costume. In addition to this, the workshops of Constantinople turned out special fashions for court society including elegant dyed shoes and high, fur lined boots.[22] Another area of usage of leather is monasteries. According to the archaeological evidence, leather items related with the monastic habit in addition to belt, there are numbers of other rectangular objects which depicted Golgotha cross on it.[23]
Textiles for Objects
As expected, the use of Byzantine textile products was not limited to clothing humans, but also objects. According to De Cerimoniis, the aristocratic fashion for silk went up to covering Imperial thrones,[24] cushions, beds, blankets[25] and other home materials. It is important to keep in mind that rituals and ceremony had dominated Byzantine public life. Consequently, performative characters of Byzantine ceremonies shaped the usage of textile product in empire. For example in the prokypsis (platform) ceremony at the imperial palace, the emperor stood on a dais behind the curtain. At a certain point in the ceremony, the curtain suddenly opened to reveal him, lights were focused on him and he was acclaimed by the court in chants.[26]Not only imperial ceremonies but also Byzantine churches were adorned with hanging for special occasions, as noted in a tenth century source describing the decoration of Hagia Sophia for the visit of an ambassador Theophanes Continuatus[27]: “They decorated Hagia Sophia splendidly and hung it all about with gold cloth.”
In addition to the ceremonies, the textile was important part of everyday life. Since there are plenty examples for that I will mention some. For example, it was mentioned that the cushions were covered with a fabric which continued down the front and the back of the seat. They used pillow like mattresses, made of wool or cotton. As to covers such as blankets and possibly quilts these too would have been made of wool or cotton while for the more expensive ones silk was employed.[28] The more elaborate examples were made of silk and bore embroidered decoration. That at least some of these silk fragments originally formed part of wall hanging as distinct from curtains is suggested by their great dimensions.