Silk production in Byzantium
Sericultura en Occidente (Bizancio)
- Date
- 552 · confidence high
- Place
- Constantinople, Byzantine Empire
- Credited to
- Justinian I and Nestorian monks (smuggling of silkworm eggs)
- People
- 👤 Justiniano I482–565
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
The clandestine introduction of silkworm eggs and mulberry seeds from Central Asia, breaking the Chinese and Persian monopoly. The first silk industry outside East Asia.
Procopius's account of the monks is possibly legendary; silk was already being reared in Central Asia and Syria.
What it led to
- the Byzantine imperial silk monopoly as a diplomatic instrument
- Islamic (al-Andalus, Sicily) and Italian (Lucca, 12th century) silk cultivation
- the silk industry of Lyon and Europe
Built on
- Opening of the Silk Roadc. 130 BCE
- Chinese sericulture
Made possible
- European silk draw loom
- Lucca silk industry