Abstract
In this paper, I chose the Florentine silk industry around 1500 as a subject in order to illustrate how the Italian textile industries existed in the Renaissance period. This industry had developed during the fifteenth century and had become one of the most important industries of that city; as important as the woolen industry. Florentine entrepreneurs purchased raw materials such as raw silk and dying stuffs and sold the products in the courts and fairs all over the European-Mediterranean world, using an international commercial network constructed through the banking activities developed in the previous century. Northern markets such as Flanders and England and eastern markets such as the Ottoman Empire became the main outlets as well as the fairs of Geneva and Lyon between the late fifteenth century and the early sixteenth century.
In chapter one, the history of the Florentine silk industry, which has been known little in our country, is surveyed. It will be shown in what historical circumstances this industry had been generated and had developed into the cityʼs primary industry. In chapter two, the actual situation of this industry is analyzed on the basis of the documentary study. The Serristori family, one of the richest families in Florence, was managing two silk making companies named “Setaioli” and “Battilori”. The details of these managements are made clear with the rich documentation handed down to our generation. In this paper, the total impression of the management of the “Battilori” company which was producing high quality silks around 1500 is shown using this documentation, analyzed from the point of view of cost and profit. It will become clear from this analysis that the company was spending a lot of money for procuring the raw materials and was sending a lot of products to the market in London. The company was also sending some products indirectly to the Ottoman market, the market which was one of the most important markets opened by Florentine merchants through the fifteenth century. This paper can only refer to the economic relations between the Serristori Company and the Ottoman market. But its comparative importance in the field of the Florentine economy will be discussed next time.
