160 Trffe HISTORY OF SILK 



these infidels. He recommended the establishment 

 of galleys to intercept smuggling. 



So rare were silks in the reign of Edward VI, that 

 Sir Thomas Gresham presented that monarch with a 

 pair of Spanish long silk hose, which the king con- 

 sidered as a high compliment, from their rarity ; and 

 that extravagant king, Henry VIII, seldom wore 

 silk stockings except upon great occasions, and these 

 he procured from Spain. Queen Elizabeth, in the 

 third year of her reign, (1.560,) was presented by her 

 silk woman, Mrs Montague, with a pair of silk 

 stockings, which so greatly delighted her, that she 

 never afterwards wore cloth hose. But we do not 

 find that the manufacture made any progress during 

 her reign. 



By slow degrees, part of Spain had now acquired 

 considerable reputation for different fabrics of silk, 

 and manufactories of some consequence had been 

 erected, particularly in the province of Granada, 

 then under the dominion of a Moorish prince. 



In France, the silk trade experienced a considerable 

 improvement during the reign of Francis I. At that 

 period Milan was under his yoke, and from thence 

 he carried weavers to Lyons, and cherished by 

 all means the progress of the trade. This gave 

 a spirit to the manufacture, and was the means of 

 spreading a taste for it in several of the neighbouring 

 provinces. And so rapidly did these arts improve 

 and extend, that they soon were enabled to export to 

 England and other countries great quantities of their 

 silken goods. 



