| Περίληψη: | <p>The thesis is an attempt to study the place of textile materials and furs in the life of the court of Edward I. The expenditure on such materials was considerable. In order to achieve a regular provisioning, the king relied on the great fairs but, increasingly, on merchant companies. This accompanied a shift of the ‘trade in luxury goods from the fairs to London and it is probable that the purchasing policies of the royal household had a major role in this evolution. The range of techniques involved in the transformation of materials was very wide, and various craftsmen worked for the royal court. Many of them were members of the household, but the great wardrobe also had privileged connections with urban workshops.</p>
<p>Costume and furnishings had a significant function in aristocratic economy and society. The king and his family appeared to their entourage in an apparel stressing the specificity of the royal lineage. Costume also occupied a major place in the exercise of the king’s largesse by way of alms, gifts and liveries. Most members of the royal household were entitled to liveries of robes, in money or in kind. When given in kind, liveries had a specific function as status- or group-sign. Members of the same office, or servants of the same rank would be given cloth of the same colour. It is not certain, however, that colours were fixed, and that liveries were used as a means of recognition in the world of politics and retaining.</p>
<p>The patronage of the king was also marked by the distribution of cloths of gold, in the form of oblations to churches and shrines and of gifts to aspirants to knighthood. Finally, textiles and hides played a major role in the logistics of war and on the battlefield. They were naturally used for the making of tents and other military equipment. But they were also the materials used for the display of emblems.</p>
<p>The symbolism of power has recently received renewed attention from historians, as has the study of the places of power and of the anthropology of power. The history of material culture is one way in which to approach medieval power-structures and, within this context, the study of textile materials and furs may prove to be a valuable approach.</p>
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