Abstract
After a definition of technical innovation in the Middle Ages and it’s relationship to industry, this paper explores it’s characteristics in the fi eld of iron and silver (silver-bearing lead and copper) metallurgy from the 13th to the 15th centuries in the western Mediterranean area. The exploration opens with a synthesis of the circulation of iron and steel products, with special care taken over the definition of their respective qualities, in particular the distinction between iron and steel; the exploration continues with an introduction to specific technical territories related to industrial “districts”, which allows the author to present the study of the circulation of technical knowledge. The paper concludes with a study of notables (Catalan in particular) as rural entrepreneurs who invested in the technical innovation of their time.
Highlights
After a definition of technical innovation in the Middle Ages and it’s relationship to industry, this paper explores it’s characteristics in the field of iron and silver metallurgy from the 13th to the 15th centuries in the western Mediterranean area
The exploration opens with a synthesis of the circulation of iron and steel products, with special care taken over the definition of their respective qualities, in particular the distinction between iron and steel; the exploration continues with an introduction to specific technical territories related to industrial “districts”, which allows the author to present the study of the circulation of technical knowledge
The paper concludes with a study of notables (Catalan in particular) as rural entrepreneurs who invested in the technical innovation of their time
Summary
Des produits sidérurgiques de formes et de qualités variées circulent sur les rives nord de la Méditerranée: du fer en barre ou en lingot, de l’acier en vergelle. À la fin du Moyen Âge, sur les quais de la capitale de la chrétienté et selon un assemblage que la lecture des sources rend pittoresque, toutes sortes d’objets finis et semi-finis, en fer et surtout en acier, qui aboutissent également, pour la plupart d’entre eux et à la même période, dans le grand port de la couronne d’Aragon qu’est Barcelone. La redistribution par cabotage de fers d’origines variées sur les rives de la Méditerranée permet de poser l’hypothèse selon laquelle le «fer d’Espaigne», ainsi désigné lorsqu’il quitte l’espace hispanique dans les navires basques et rejoint, entre autres, le port de Londres ou les villes et provinces du nord du Royaume de France où il est redistribué[22], pourrait rassembler, sous cette dénomination générique, des fers originaires de l’ensemble de la péninsule ibérique et non exclusivement de Biscaye, de Guipuzcoa ou de Navarre.
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