This book examines the significance of the cotton trade in the Mediterranean traffic in the Later Middle Ages and evaluates its effects on the economy of the Occident. It covers all aspects of the production of, commerce and trade in cotton. The merchants of Venice, Genoa, Barcelona and Florence played the most important role in the cotton trade in the Mediterranean. The massing of supplies of raw material by the merchants of the four maritime cities led to the mass fabrication of cotton products. In this way Western society saw a remarkable growth in the consumption of cotton products in the Later Middle Ages.