In 947, Roger, the first King of Sicily, invaded Greece, and having sacked the cities of Athens, Thebes, and Corinth, led into captivity a considerable number of silk-weavers, whom he forcibly settled at Palermo, obliging them to instruct his subjects in the art, and in twenty years, the Sicilian silks are said to have attained great excellence, from the variety of patterns in which they were wrought. The manufacture of this important article, gradually spread through the whole of Italy and Spain, but it was not until the beginning of the sixteenth century, in the reign of Francis the First, that it was introduced into France. In 1554, while its manufacture was yet but little known in England, a curious law was passed by the tyrannical Mary, for the purpose of assisting the consumption of home productions, by which it was enacted, "that whoever shall wear silk, in or upon his or her hat, bonnet, or girdle, scabbard, hose, shoes, or spur-leather, shall be imprisoned during three months, and forfeit ten pounds," making, however, a few exceptions in favour of persons of distinction. The manufacture of stockings from silk, appears about this time to have been making some progress, although, in this country at least, they were considered a peculiar rarity, for that luxurious and expensive Prince, Henry the Eighth, was obliged to wear cloth hose, except when, by great chance, he was able to obtain from Spain, a pair of silk stockings for gala days.
The Broad-Silk manufacture in England, had its origin in the following occurrence. In the year 1585, the Duke of Parma, governor of the Netherlands, then in the possession of Spain, having taken the city of Antwerp, where a large and flourishing manufactory existed, consigned it during three days, to unchecked plunder and destruction: the ruin of this noble city was a death-blow to the commerce of Flanders, and its flourishing manufactures were dispersed over different countries. A large portion of the manufacturers and merchants, employed in the silk trade, took refuge in England, where they ultimately settled, and taught the art they had imported. For many years, however, foreign goods were preferred to those of English make, but still improvements were constantly and steadily taking place, and, at the present time, the fabrics of this country are fully equal, if not superior to those of any other nation.