De huisnijverheid in de textielsector tussen Vaals en Eijsden rond 1800

Samenvatting

In the eighteenth century the economic region comprising the city of Aachen and the towns of Eupen and Verviers (now in Belgium) was a centre of European importance for the production of fine woollen fabrics. The traditional view is that everywhere spinning and weaving were largely subcontracted to a rural cottage industry, as a parttime occupation. This article concentrates on a small rural region to the west of Aachen, now the most southern part of the Netherlands, and investigates what the actual contribution of the local cottage industry was to textile production, mainly on the basis of census lists from the period around 1800. Its findings show that weaving was not an activity of any importance in this rural area, whereas spinning was a fulltime occupation for many women as well as men. The first conclusion is also applicable to the rural communities around Aachen, while the second is not, as spinning was concentrated in the city