The history of dyeing

London was a great dye trade port by Norman times (dyers were imported from France in Anglo Saxon times). William of Malmesbury (1095-1143) frequently mentions dyeing of fabrics in his writings. By the latter part of the twelfth century a guild of dyers of London is recorded. By this time dyeing became a substantial trade; Chaucer mentions dyers in his Canterbury Tales.

Dyeing in the Middle Ages was rigidly controlled by the dyers' guilds. By the eleventh century Florence became a centre of the dyeing industry. A dyers' guild was established in Florence in 1377 but was quickly dissolved in 1382, causing many dyers to emigrate. The ones who remained attempted to guarantee a high standard of quality with rigid checks to each process, to prevent the town acquiring a bad name. The dye most commonly used at this time was woad, superseded by indigo, then saffron.