Enterprising Craftsmen in the Wool Industry. From the Workshop to the Market: The Case of Bernat Martí, Carder of Concentaina (1469-1482)

Abstract

This article studies the role of a group of craftsmen in the development and consolidation of the woolen towns of the southern interior of Valencia during the second half of the fifteenth century. In certain towns of this area (Vall d’Albaida, Alcoià and el Comtat, and other smaller towns such as Ontinyent, Bocairent, Alcoi and specifically Cocentaina which will be the focus of this study) a small group of craftsmen were able to centralize management of textile activities through direct participation in the wool, dye and oil market. They also controlled the different phases of processing of the cloth (shearing, fulling, and dyeing) as well as the sale of the textiles without the intervention of merchant capital from outside of the sector. With the example of Bernat Martí, woolen carder from Cocentaina, and using a prosopographical methodology, it is possible to study their coordinated action and management of local industrial capital and its progressive shift towards the field of commerce.