Glassmaking in medieval technical literature in the Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper examines glassmaking in medieval Iberia from the point of view of technical literature, especially recipe books and alchemical treatises, in an attempt to assess to what extent this literary genre (if it is to be defined as such) may have affected, or have been affected by, technological developments in glassmaking between the eighth and sixteenth centuries. Iberian technical literature on the making of glass is put in connection with broader European and Mediterranean trends in the transmission of technical knowledge, the nature of scribal culture and the impact caused by the dissemination of the printing press. Ultimately, the paper aims to review the relationship that exists between the authors of technical literature and contemporary workshop practice, not only taking the written word as evidence, but also using the understanding provided by other fields of research, such as the study of the chemical characterization of medieval glass.