Throughout human history luxury textiles have been used as a marker of importance, power and distinction. Yet, as the essays in this collection make clear, the term 'luxury' is one that can be fraught with difficulties for historians. Focusing upon the consumption, commercialisation and production of luxury textiles in Italy and the Low Countries during the late medieval and early modern period, this volume offers a fascinating exploration of the varied and subtle ways that luxury could be interpreted and understood in the past.

Bart Lambert is a Lecturer in the History of Renaissance and Reformation Europe at Durham University. His research interests focus on the history of international trade and banking in late medieval Europe and the history of immigration in England during the later Middle Ages. Katherine Anne Wilson works as a Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Chester. She is a specialist in the history of tapestry production and consumption, cultural history, material culture and gift-exchange relations in the Burgundian Dominions.

Contents: Preface; Introduction: Luxury textiles in Italy, the Low Countries and neighbouring territories (14th to 16th centuries): a conceptual investigation, Bart Lambert and Katherine Anne Wilson. Part I Consumption of Luxury Textiles: 'In a chamber, in a garderobe, in a chest': the possession and uses of luxury textiles. The case of later medieval Dijon, Katherine Anne Wilson; 'o per honore, o per commodo mio': displaying textiles at the Gonzaga court in the 15th and 16th centuries, Christina Antenhofer; Between mass and 'mystère': the Life of Saint Remigius and the ceremonial function of choir tapestries, Laura Weigert. Part II Commercialisation of Luxury Textiles: 'Se fist riche par draps de soye': the intertwinement of Italian financial interests and luxury trade at the Burgundian court (1384-1481), Bart Lambert; Florence, Nuremberg and beyond: Italian silks in central Europe during the Renaissance, Francesco Guidi-Bruscoli; Trading silks and tapestries in 16th-century Antwerp, Jeroen Puttevils. Part III Production of Luxury Textiles: The move to quality cloth. Luxury textiles, labour markets and middle class identity in a medieval textile city. Mechelen in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, Peter Stabel; Woolen luxury cloth in late medieval Italy, Franco Franceschi; A luxury industry: the production of Italian silks 1400-1600, Luca Molà; Centres, peripheries and the performative textile: by way of conclusion, Graeme Small; Index.