Peak of the Flemish Textile Trade

Timeline

1. 1451–1460Ghent · FlandersGhent was one of Europe's largest wool-weaving centers, and Ypres was renowned for fine cloth. Guilds strictly regulated weaving processes, dyes, and widths; products were famed for high quality and exported in large quantities to France, the German lands, and the Mediterranean coast.
2. 1451–1460Bruges · FlandersEnglish wool crossed the Channel to the Low Countries, and Hanseatic and Italian merchants traded raw materials and finished cloth in ports such as Bruges. The Dukes of Burgundy levied tariffs and excise duties on trade, and the textile boom became an important source of ducal revenue.
3. 1453–1460Ypres · West FlandersAlthough the duke tightened control over the cities after the Ghent revolt of 1453, Flemish weaving guilds still played a central role in organizing production, quality inspection, and apprenticeship, sustaining the most developed textile industrial cluster of the late Middle Ages.