engleski

Development of Sericulture in the Eastern Adriatic during the Austrian Administration

The production of silk, the queen of natural fibers, began in ancient China and was a well-kept secret for millennia. As silk found wide purpose, not only in making luxury clothes, wallpapers or other expensive fabric items, but was also used as papermaking material and in the production of musical instruments and fishing gears, it became a very valuable good, which Chinese exported along the Silk Road routes all the way to the Mediterranean. After seedlings of mulberry trees, silkworm eggs and the knowledge of silk craftsmanship were transferred to Constantinople in the 6th century, the tradition of sericulture and silk craftsmanship spread to numerous Mediterranean territories, as for example Greece, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and the Eastern Adriatic. Based on relevant literature and some previously unexplored archival sources this paper presents the development of sericulture (cocoon or pupa production) and silk craftsmanship (making silk products) in the Eastern Adriatic region during the 18th and 19th century. In the focus of the research is the territory of Croatia, that at that time was under the domination of the Habsburg Monarchy and divided into two parts – the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (with the capital in Zagreb) and the Kingdom of Dalmatia (with the capital in Zadar).

sericulture ; silk craftsmanship ; white mulberry ; 19th century, ; Eastern Adriatic ; Kingdom of Dalmatia ; Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia

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