English Linen History: Middle Ages

After the Romans left England, much of the civilization which they had introduced followed in their train, and again went with them. The natives relapsed into at least semi-barbarism. After the retreat of the Britons into Wales and Cornwall, and the establishment of the Saxons in England as masters of the country, greater attention began to be paid to the arts of peace, and particularly to trade and commerce. The retrograde movement which began with the withdrawal of the Roman legions was stopped, and a gradual improvement manifested itself in the country. Macpherson in his " Annals of Commerce " says, that about A.D. 500, it appears from the chronicles of the period fine Linen, (probably imported), was possessed by the inhabitants of Britain and Ireland. The bodies of the dead, at least those of eminent rank, were wrapped in fine Linen.

WALES

By the ancient laws of Wales, all the officers of the household were appointed to be clothed twice every year, the King furnishing the woolen and the Queen the Linen cloth for that purpose. The several parts of the dress of the King and nobility are enumerated, among which are sheets, stockings, shoes, and boots. The stockings were of woolen or Linen cloth wound round the legs and feet, and fastened in different ways.

Before the end of the 7th century, the art of weaving had attained remarkable perfection in England, for in a book written by Bishop Aldhelm, about A.D. 680, in praise of virginity, he speaks of " webs woven with shuttles, filled with threads of purple and many other colors, flying from side to side, and forming a variety of figures and images in different compartments with admirable art." These figures were sometimes embroidered upon the cloth with threads of gold, silver, and silk of purple and other colors, as the nature of the figures to be formed required; and to render them the more exact, they were first drawn with coloring matter by some skilful artist. They were commonly executed by ladies of the highest rank and greatest piety, and were designed for ornaments to the churches, or for vestments to the clergy. The garments of the Anglo-Saxons were Linen and woolen, and the Flax and the fleece were spun in winter by the females of every family, from the highest to the lowest rank. From this universal practice the term spinster came to be applied to an unmarried woman, and the trace of this custom still remains. The Saxon ladies were very skilful with their needles, particularly in embroidery and ornamental work, and celebrated events were often represented by them with great truth on tapestries hangings and similar works. The four princesses, daughters of King Edward the Elder, and sisters of King Athelstane, are highly celebrated by historians for their assiduity and skill in spinning, weaving, and. needlework, which was so far from spoiling the fortune of these Royal spinsters, that it procured them the addresses and the hands of the greatest princes then in Europe. William of Malmsbury, mentions that Harold, King of Norway, sent to Athelstane of England a fine ship, with a gilded stern and purple sails.