Fragkou, P., et al. (2025). “Tangible evolutional dynamics of silkworm’s introduction in Europe.” Mediterranean Historical Review 40(2): 141-190.
This manuscript is a critical inquiry into the origins of the introduction of the silkworm, Bombyx mori, in Europe.
By scrutinizing ancient texts and scripts and also presenting them as evidence, this research shows that the introduction of the silkworm in Europe was not a single event but the result of multiple introductions in various sites in the Mediterranean Sea.
The conducted research disproves any suggestions that the silkworm was first introduced in the Byzantine Empire and shows that Arab immigrants have introduced the silkworm in southern Spain (Al-Andalus) and southern Italy (Calabria) before its introduction in Greece, northern Italy and France later.
The manuscript also presents evidence about the production scale of silk in Europe from the 11th century onwards.
Although the silkworm was introduced in Europe as a consequence of human migration, its spread in Europe was not through human migration but rather as a result of commercial exchanges and invested interest in silk production.
The origins of introduction of the silkworm in Europe serves as a paradigm to examine whether the spread of silkworm rearing from China to Europe was not a consequence of commercial interest on silk but rather the product of human migration enforced by either conflicts or the need by immigrants for a better place to live and prosper.
Skarlatos Dedos
(Corresponding author)