Franklin Pereira

Leather Trades in Medieval Lisbon: from the 12th Until the 16th Century Franklin Pereira

This study compiles and comments old documents scattered throughout the centuries, concerning leather and its artisans, starting in the reconquest of Lisbon from the Muslim domain. In Lisbon, capital of the new-born kingdom of Portugal, leather trade was quite important, whether for day-to-day activities or to supply luxury goods to the wealthy and the royal household; artisans ? organised in the trilogy of master-journeyman-apprentice - participated in the government of the city as well. The ordinances of the makers of saddles, shoes, leather shields, bags, belts, wall hangings and upholstery are studied, showing obligations regarding meetings of their masters, mastership exams, quality control of the production, sale of items and religious activities; archaic methods and fashions rooted in the Islamic heritage, to be slowly substituted by the trends of the Renaissance, are also taken into account.