Book Chapter

Economic and Social Aspects of the Trade of Luxury Goods between Africa and Europe: Ostrich Feather

  • Helmut Rizzolli
  • Federico Pigozzo

In Europe, in the Middle Ages, ostrich feathers were used for the decoration of military headgear, as a representation of the high lineage of the possessor and his military virtues. They were imported from the coasts of West Africa, from Egypt and Syria into Italian and Spanish ports and from there exported to England and continental Europe. Venice, at the end of the fourteenth century, began to color feathers and soon the new fashion was spread throughout Europe. During the fifteenth century, even women began to use ostrich feathers on their hats or in their fans. When European ships reached America, Central Africa and the islands of the Indian Ocean, a huge amount of exotic bird feathers became available and ostrich feather fad spread through the population.

  • Keywords:
  • economic history,
  • international trade,
  • ostrich feathers,
  • africa,
  • europe,
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Helmut Rizzolli

University of Innsbruck, Austria

Federico Pigozzo

Deputazione di Storia Patria per le Venezie, Italy

PDF
  • Publication Year: 2019
  • Pages: 507-517
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
  • © 2019 Author(s)

XML
  • Publication Year: 2019
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
  • © 2019 Author(s)

Chapter Information

Chapter Title

Economic and Social Aspects of the Trade of Luxury Goods between Africa and Europe: Ostrich Feather

Authors

Helmut Rizzolli, Federico Pigozzo

Language

English

DOI

10.36253/978-88-6453-857-0.26

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2019

Copyright Information

© 2019 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Bibliographic Information

Book Title

Reti marittime come fattori dell’integrazione europea / Maritime Networks as a Factor in European Integration

Editors

Giampiero Nigro

Peer Reviewed

Number of Pages

592

Publication Year

2019

Copyright Information

© 2019 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Publisher Name

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/978-88-6453-856-3

ISBN Print

978-88-6453-856-3

eISBN (pdf)

978-88-6453-857-0

eISBN (xml)

978-88-9273-037-3

Series Title

Atti delle «Settimane di Studi» e altri Convegni

Series ISSN

2704-6354

Series E-ISSN

2704-5668

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