Why Is Silk Important In The Middle Ages

Silk was a luxury, once only for the upper class, but as time went on, silk became more easily available to many other people. The Chinese were the brilliant inventers of silk. Silk originated in the Medieval Era and started in Asia. It eventually made its way to Europe with the creation of the Silk Road. Silk was used for many reasons like trading, clothing, weapons, payment, and even to just earn money. When silk was first invented, there were no machines to make silk items. The first producers of silk made everything by hand, or using a loom. Silk was a luxurious fabric invented in the Medieval Era for trading, clothing, and profit, which eventually grew more assessable with the start of the Silk Road. While silk spread to all of Europe, and its popularity grew with the help of the Silk Road, it originated in Asia. In the Medieval Era, one of the most elite fabrics was created: silk. Silk was first invented in the fifth century. The silk industry became a huge part of many countries’ wealth, such as in Venice during the Renaissance. “A sizeable part of its wealth came from manufacturing, and silk was one of the most important industries in Italy” (The Silk Industry of Renaissance Venice, 2000). Silk was such …show more content…
Silk was the luxurious fabric of the Middle Ages. Silk was a fabric that had many effects on daily lives and economies. “Silk became a precious commodity highly sought after by other countries at a very early time, and it is believed that the silk trade was actually started before the Silk Road was officially opened in the second century BC” (History of Silk, n.d.). The origin of silk and how it came to be was also developed by the early Chinese. They figured out how to make it by working with silkworms. Silk was a very useful invention in the Medieval Era because it was a product of hard work and