European horizontal treadle loom
Telar horizontal de pedales europeo
- Date
- c. 1100 · confidence low
- Place
- Flanders, Belgium
- Credited to
- Weavers of the Southern Netherlands (medieval guilds)
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A horizontal-frame loom with treadles that raise and lower the heddles, leaving both hands free to throw the shuttle and beat. It doubled output per weaver and allowed the wide Flemish broadcloths.
Treadle looms existed in China centuries earlier; transmission to Europe is debated and the European date (11th-12th century) rests on iconography and guild references.
What it led to
- male, guild-based professionalisation of wool weaving
- Flemish and English cloths as Europe's main export product
- mechanical basis for Kay's flying shuttle