DURING THE MIDDLE AGES. iGj 



Third of England, on which occasion the princess 

 had in attendance a thousand knights dressed in 

 cointises of silk. 



After this period, however, silk seems to have 

 been less frequently worn in Britain, but from what 

 cause we can find no account. 



Florence had attained a high degree of excellence 

 in silken fabrics so early as tlic year 1300, at which 

 time many thousands of people were employed in 

 this art. 



Venice in its turn became famous for silks, the 

 manufacture of which was considered a fitting em- 

 ployment for nobility, who thought it no disgrace 

 to assist in producing this elegant article of dress. 

 This policy is quite at variance with the modem 

 ideas of the European aristocracy, who consider all 

 employments, save war, the church, and law, as 

 degrading to their rank. 



About this time the whole of the Christians were 

 expelled from Syria, by which the Egyptian rulers 

 contrived to make that country the medium through 

 which all the silk imported westward must pass. 

 B;^ this means they added a great revenue to the 

 state, by the exaction of heavy duties, which were 

 severely felt by the Italians and other nations who 

 used foreign silk. This excited the indignation of 

 a learned and noble Venetian named Marino Sanuto, 

 who wrote a book on the subject in the year 1321, 

 and addressed it to the Pope. It bore tlie fanciful 



