Mulquinerie

Mulquiniers
	Le Tisserand (The Weaver), 1888, by Paul Sérusier (1864–1927); oil on canvas, 72 × 58 cm, Musée d'Art et d'Archéologie, Senlis, France.
Years active	17th–20th centuries
Country	Northern France

Last updated September 11, 2023

Mulquinerie, is a landmark of French sartorial heritage and high craftsmanship, is the art of weaving and trading fine fabrics composed exclusively of linen: whether plain flax cloth, 'linon'^[1] or batiste. A 'mulquinier' was the artisan textile designer and weaver as well as the merchant of canvases. The mulquiniers were not only a subcategorization of the tisserand(e) artists (hand loom weavers; French pronunciation: [tisʀɑ̃])^[2] but were also the traders of their own craft. This activity was predominantly developed within villages as a substantial rural proto-industry, hence mulquiniers working on métiers à tisser in their home' basement while breathing from "bahottes" or "blocures" to obtain the most propitious humidity levels.^[3]

Origins and etymology

Mulquinerie originated in the 17th and 18th centuries from metropolitan France’s Northern Departments now constituting the Hauts-de-France region (French pronunciation: [o d(ə) fʁɑ̃s], translating to "Upper France" in English; Picard: Heuts-d'Franche),^[4] following the territorial reform of French Regions (2014) from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. The activity was ubiquitous in the towns of the former Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin, the Cambrésis sub-province or the Thiérache including Saint-Vaast-en-Cambrésis, Saint-Hilaire-lez-Cambrai, Haspres, Saint-Quentin or Neuvilly. This also included Caudry, the medieval capital city of French lace, which remains (in collaboration with Calais) the only town in France where lace is still made.

Etymologically, ‘mulquinier’ is derived from the Germanic term "mollquin" meaning 'thin canvas'. First traces of the term are encountered in the 'Charter of the mulquiniers of Valenciennes' in 1413 through the use of the term 'molekinier'.^[5] Among the oldest mulquinerie ancestries are the Lecygne and Legueil families tracing back beyond the 17th century being fabric dyers, textile artists, embroiderers, patternmakers or hand-spinners.

Symbolism and patronage

The French mulquiniers' patron was Saint Veronica of Jerusalem whose representations they celebrated biannually (summer and winter) as in many pious Christian countries.

Gallery

Expertise or archival materials

Bibliography

René Debrie (dir.), La Picardie, Paris, Les Éditions d'Organisation, coll. peuple et pays de France, 1981 ( ISBN 2-7081-0422-5).
Didier Terrier, "Mulquiniers et gaziers: les deux phases de la proto-industrie textile dans la région de Saint-Quentin. 1730–1850" [article], Revue du Nord, 1983.

Related Research Articles

Nord-Pas-de-Calais ; Picard: Nord-Pas-Calés); is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais. Nord-Pas-de-Calais borders the English Channel (west), the North Sea (northwest), Belgium and Picardy (south). The majority of the region was once part of the historical (Southern) Netherlands, but gradually became part of France between 1477 and 1678, particularly during the reign of king Louis XIV. The historical French provinces that preceded Nord-Pas-de-Calais are Artois, French Flanders, French Hainaut and (partially) Picardy. These provincial designations are still frequently used by the inhabitants.

Cambrai, formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valenciennes</span> Subprefecture and commune in Hauts-de-France, France

Valenciennes is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cambrai Cathedral</span> Catholic cathedral in Cambrai, France

Cambrai Cathedral is a Catholic church located in Cambrai, Nord, France, and is the seat of the Archbishop of Cambrai. The cathedral was registered as a monument historique on 9 August 1906.

Caudry is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Its inhabitants are called the 'Caudrésiens'. The town is mostly known as the Capital City of French Lace. Caudry station has rail connections to Douai, Cambrai, Paris, Lille and Saint-Quentin.

The Polytechnic University of Hauts-de-France, previously known as University of Valenciennes and Hainaut-Cambrésis until 1 January 2018, is a French public university, based in Valenciennes. It is under the Academy of Lille and is a member of the European Doctoral College Lille-Nord-Pas de Calais and of the Community of Universities and Institutions (COMUE) Lille Nord de France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vendhuile</span> Commune in Hauts-de-France, France

Vendhuile is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It received the Croix de guerre for its suffering in World War I.

Saint-Python is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It was named after Piatus of Tournai. Its inhabitants are called Saint-Piatiens or Piatonnais.

Saint-Vaast-en-Cambrésis is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is named after the 6th century Saint Vedast.

Augusta Viromanduorum is an ancient Gallo-Roman settlement, corresponding to the modern city of Saint-Quentin.

The European Doctoral College Lille Nord-de-France is part of the Community of Universities and Institutions (COMUE) Lille Nord de France. It is a European research centre supporting academic and industrial research institutions in the north of France. Associated with it are six doctoral schools in the region, for 3,000 registered PhD students in 139 research labs. The University of Lille is the main component.

The Community of Universities and Institutions (COMUE) Lille Nord de France was a French Groups of Universities and Institutions (COMUE) spread over multiple campuses and centered in Lille. It included a European Doctoral College and federated universities, engineering schools and research centers. With more than one hundred thousand students, it was one of the largest university federations in France. The University of Lille, with nearly 70,000 students, was its main component. The COMUE stopped its activity in 2019 and its activities were transferred to its founding institutions.

Alain Bocquet is a French politician.

Hauts-de-France is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. The new region came into existence on 1 January 2016, after regional elections in December 2015. The Conseil d'État approved Hauts-de-France as the name of the region on 28 September 2016, effective the following 30 September.

Frédéric Barbier was a French historian and research director at Centre national de la recherche scientifique. Barbier was born on 27 August 1952, and died on 28 May 2023, at the age of 70.

Communauté d'agglomération Valenciennes Métropole is the communauté d'agglomération, an intercommunal structure, centred on the city of Valenciennes. It is located in the Nord department, in the Hauts-de-France region, northern France. It was created in December 2000. Its area is 263.5 km². Its population was 192,787 in 2018, of which 43,405 in Valenciennes proper.

The Lamour Watermill(French: Le Moulin Lamour) is a museum and arts centre located in Briastre, Hauts-de-France, France. The water-powered mill and its edifices were built in the year 1800. It was originally used for milling grain, but stopped its operations in the 1930s before being converted into a museum by the Belleval family in the late 1990s.

Communauté d'agglomération du Caudrésis et du Catésis is the communauté d'agglomération, an intercommunal structure, centred on the towns of Caudry and Le Cateau-Cambrésis. It is located in the Nord department, in the Hauts-de-France region, northern France. Created in 2011, its seat is in Beauvois-en-Cambrésis. Its area is 372.7 km². Its population was 64,124 in 2019, of which 14,121 in Caudry.

The Nord-Pas-de-Calais cuisine is a French regional cuisine, whose specialties are largely inherited from the county of Flanders. The region has always been at the intersection of Europe, and traces of its history can be found in its specialties, such as the English influence on the Côte d'Opale, or dishes of Polish origin in the mining basin.

References

↑ "Linon: Merriam-Webster Dictionary". MERRIAM-WEBSTER DICTIONARIES. 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
↑ "Tisserand - Cambridge French to English dictionary". Cambridge University Press - Dictionary. 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
↑ Terrier, Didier (1983). "Mulquiniers et gaziers : les deux phases de la protoindustrie textile dans la région de Saint-Quentin. 1730-1850". Revue du Nord.
↑ ""La Région a voté et s'appelle désormais Hauts-de-France" [The region has voted and is now called Hauts-de-France]". La Voix du Nord Newspaper Online (in French). 15 March 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
↑ Malotet, A. (1910). "L'industrie et le commerce des toiles fines à Valenciennes dans les temps modernes". Revue du Nord. 1–4: 281–320 – via Persée.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Linon: Merriam-Webster Dictionary". MERRIAM-WEBSTER DICTIONARIES. 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.

[2] "Tisserand - Cambridge French to English dictionary". Cambridge University Press - Dictionary. 2018. Retrieved 7 October 2018.

[3] Terrier, Didier (1983). "Mulquiniers et gaziers : les deux phases de la protoindustrie textile dans la région de Saint-Quentin. 1730-1850". Revue du Nord.

[4] ""La Région a voté et s'appelle désormais Hauts-de-France" [The region has voted and is now called Hauts-de-France]". La Voix du Nord Newspaper Online (in French). 15 March 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2018.

[5] Malotet, A. (1910). "L'industrie et le commerce des toiles fines à Valenciennes dans les temps modernes". Revue du Nord. 1–4: 281–320 – via Persée.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]