Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online

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Linen
(1,277 words)

1. Concept

The linen industry produced textiles from flax and hemp (Fiber plants). Linen was the staple product, alongside the luxury goods damask and lace. Because flax and hemp were widely cultivated in the peasant domestic economy, the linen industry was able to develop in many areas of Europe on the basis of the subsistence economy. Quality improvements and specialization by the “commercialization of peasant technologies” [4] saw th…

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Pfister, Ulrich, “Linen”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 01 April 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_COM_023322>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20190801



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