Department of Economics and Institute for Policy Analysis University of Toronto 150 St. George Street Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G7 Canada 6 July 2005 Revised 14 October 2005 Revised 14 April 2006 Revised 23 June 2006 The Anti-Red Shift – to the Dark Side: Changes in the Colour Patterns and Market Values of Flemish Luxury Woollens, 1300 - 1550 WORKING PAPER No. 25 Repec Handle: tecipa-201 by John Munro Copyright © by John Munro 1999 - 2006 Department of Economics University of Toronto Author's e-mail:
[email protected] http://www.economics.utoronto.ca/munro5 On-line version: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/ecipa/wpa.html JEL Classifications: F10; L11; L15; L67; M30; N63; N93; O52. Key words: wool, cloth, woollens, worsteds, scarlets, dyes, colours, Flanders, Brabant, civic governments, fashions, markets, Industrial Revolution Abstract: The Anti-Red Shift – to the Dark Side: Changes in the Colour Patterns and Market Values of Flemish Luxury Woollens, 1300 - 1550 John Munro Department of Economics, University of Toronto This study documents, though it cannot fully explain, the striking shift in the spectrum of colour patterns in woollen textiles, from those of the Black Death era in the mid to late fourteenth century to those of the fifteenth and the first half of the sixteenth century, in the southern Low Countries: a radical shift from bright red and vivid colours, especially scarlet, or mixed colours (in medley and striped woollens) to much darker, blue-based colours, ending up with overwhelmingly black colours. The evidence is taken from the annual purchases of high-grade luxury quality woollen textiles for the upper echelons of the civic governments of Bruges (from 1302 to 1496) and of Mechelen (1361-1415, and 1471 - 1550): for the burgermasters or mayors, the aldermen (schepenen), and the upper clerks.