Il setificio meridionale tra età rivoluzionaria, decennio francese e restaurazione: dinamiche di mercato e nuovi assetti produttivi[Southern Italy’s silk industry between the revolutionary age, the french decennio and the restoration: market dynamics and new productive systems]

The article describes the structure of sericulture and silk industry in southern Italy before the commercial crisis of the revolutionary and Napoleonic period. Then, traces the different stages of the crisis, which lasted 25 years but had an uneven course. Finally, it describes the consequences of the crisis on raw-silk production levels, on the diffusion of innovations and on the urban silk industry, showing that, if in a context of general decline, the crisis had different and even unexpected, favourable outcomes at a regional level.