Drapery in Exile:EdwardIII,Colchester and theFlemings, 1351–1367

Résumé En

Throughout the fourteenth century, Edward III issued several letters of protection encouraging Flemish textile workers to establish their trade in England. During the centuries that followed, historians have disagreed about the newcomers' contribution to the development of English drapery. Lacking in each debate were quantifiable data related to the presence of Flemish cloth-workers on English soil. This article argues that, between 1351 and 1367, over 100 immigrants from the Low Countries settled in Colchester, twentyseven of whom were Flemish textile manufacturers exiled from Flanders and welcomed by Edward III in 1351. Attracted by excellent natural conditions for clothmaking, a shortage of manpower following the Black Death and an open economic environment, they made a vital contribution to the town's development as an internationally renowned centre of textile production that was able to withstand the pattern of urban decay so prevalent in other parts of late medieval England. IS oon after the start of his personal rule, in 1330, the English king Edward III reinvigorated his father's campaign for the promotion of a native textile industry. Every man or woman in the realm was allowed to produce cloth, no foreign textiles were to be imported except for the royal family, the nobility or the rich, and suitable franchises would be conceded to all alien cloth-workers wishing to establish themselves in England. 1 Putting the third spearhead of his policy into practice, Edward granted letters of protection to the Flemish weaver John Kempe and his men to exercise and teach their trade in the kingdom in 1331. 2 Collective grants to all textile workers from Flanders and Brabant moving 1 Embraced by parliament in 1333, this programme was first enacted in the Statute of 11 Edward III. Chris Given-Wilson et al. (eds),