Silk Mills in the Early Modern Italy

Abstract

In early modern times, Italian silk fabrics and threads dominated European markets. One of the drivers of the success of Italian artisans was the silk mills, able to carry out some crucial phases of silk processing. Particular importance had the mill developed by Bolognese artisans, a fully mechanized mill which is considered an early example of factory system. In this paper, after presenting a brief historical overview of the silk sector in the early modern Italy, we provide a technical description of the working principles of two families of silk mills: the mulino da seta alla bolognese (Bolognese silk mill) and the mulino da seta alla milanese o alla genovese (Milanese or Genoese silk mill).