Italian Paper Mill

Timeline

1. 1301–1304Fabriano · FabrianoIn the early 1300s, paper mills in central Italy commonly used streams to drive stamping beaters, breaking rag fibers into pulp, with output and quality superior to purely manual beating.
2. 1305–1308Tuscany and Lombardy · Italian PeninsulaPapermaking technology spread from the Marche to commercial city-states such as Florence and Venice, meeting the growing demand for cheap writing materials for bills of exchange, account books, and notarial documents.
3. 1308–1310Fabriano · FabrianoBy around 1310, Italian paper mills commonly used metal-wire watermarks during sheet-forming to indicate origin and specifications, and municipal regulations also standardized paper size and quality.