Byzantine Silk Workshops

Timeline

1. 1071–1073Constantinople · ConstantinopleAfter the Battle of Manzikert, eastern raw silk supplies were cut off; the imperial workshops in Constantinople sustained production using stockpiled raw silk and sericulture districts in Thrace and Greece, prioritizing military donatives, ecclesiastical liturgical silks, and imperial consumption.
2. c. 1074–1078Golden Horn trading port · ConstantinopleVenetian merchants enjoyed trading privileges in Byzantium, obtaining surplus imperial workshop silk and imported silk textiles through the Golden Horn port and re-shipping them to Western Europe; silk exports became a key channel for the empire to obtain Western military aid and hard currency.
3. 1078–1080Imperial palace workshop district, Constantinople · ConstantinopleAfter acceding to the throne, Alexios I reorganized the imperial workshops, cracked down on private weaving and smuggling, and restored exclusive production rights for certain imperial goods such as purple brocade; he also used silk as diplomatic gifts to gain room for maneuver with the Normans and on the Seljuk frontier.