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During various periods of religious persecution Dutch speaking Flemish weavers fled Belgium to take refuge in England, bringing their weaving skills with them. They tended to settle in areas closely associated with textiles: East Anglia, on the eastern side of the country, and Lancashire in the North West. Cotton, commonly cultivated in the 10th century by the Islamic world (though unsuited to more Northern climatic conditions), was first introduced to the Iberian peninsular by the Moors in the 9th century where Andalucia, in southern Spain, and the Algarve, in southern Portugal, offered favourable growing conditions for the crop. At this time Spanish cotton was exported to the North African coast and to other parts of Spain. Cotton from the area of Seville seems to have been much prized and by the 12th century was being widely exported to other parts of the known world. A 12th century Islamic writer noted that '...rich people wear cotton clothes and short cloaks, while wool is worn by the poorest people.' Wool, silk and linen were still the chief textile industries of Europe by the time of the Industrial Revolution. However, Europe was quick to capitalise on the new technology of and develop its own cotton industries. World factory spindleage tables show the Continent as having 2.8 million spindles in 1832 which had risen almost tenfold to 28.2 million by 1895. Continental cotton industries were more protected from external price fluctuations by internal tariff protection than the English cotton industry and so did not suffer as much during trading depressions; although this did not prevent them from being affected by the over production crisis of 1860. After the 1870s Europe imported more cotton from India; especially France which, initially more dependent on American cotton than England, adapted its spinning machinery after the Cotton Famine and imported Surat raw cotton through the Liverpool Cotton Exchange. However American cotton imports still played a major part in European manufacturing economy and in 1888, for the first time, Europe imported more American cotton than England. Europe peaked in 1781-82 (early in the Industrial Revolution period) in importance as a market for British cotton piece-goods. English cotton yarn exports to Germany replaced Germany's linen yarn exports to England and by 1792 Germany had become the largest European importer of English cotton yarn. In 1820 the percentage of cotton goods exported to Europe was 58.23%; but by 1896 this had dropped to just 7.19%. For Europe as a whole actual imports of cotton piece-goods peaked in 1887; but trade with individual countries suffered; especially with France and Italy. Despite the Cobden-Chevalier Treaty of 1860 (lessening trade restrictions between France and Britain) being renewed in 1873, French imports of piece-goods declined from 1874 onwards and French yarn imports from 1883; while Italian piece-goods imports declined by 65% in 1888 from their peak level in 1887. The quality production areas of South East Lancashire and Preston suffered particularly from the reduction of cotton exports to Europe. GG View the Europe collection to find out more > |
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