The Silk of Granada: Spain's Lost Luxury Industry

When we think of Spain's wealth in the 15th and 16th centuries, we think of silver from the Americas, or perhaps the wool trade. But before Columbus, one commodity made Granada the envy of Europe: silk. The Nasrid Kingdom of Granada was a thriving center of sericulture—silk production—with mulberry groves, advanced irrigation, and a skilled workforce of Muslims, Jews, and Christians. After the conquest of 1492, the Catholic Monarchs initially preserved the industry, even taxing it to fund their wars. But as the Morisco population was persecuted and expelled, the knowledge vanished. By the 17th century, Spain's once-lucrative silk trade was a shadow of itself. This episode explores the rise and fall of Granadan silk, the role of the Alpujarras mountains in its production, and how religious intolerance destroyed an economic powerhouse. We also touch on the broader impact: silk from Granada once rivaled Chinese imports, and its loss shifted the center of European silk production to Italy and France. A story of golden threads and unraveled prosperity. #GranadaSilk #NasridKingdom #Morisco #Sericulture #Alpujarras #MulberryGroves #CatholicMonarchs #SilkTrade #LuxuryHistory #MedievalSpain #EconomicHistory #Reconquista #FexingoHistory #SpainHistory #TextileHistory #MoriscoExpulsion #Alhambra #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo