• This afternoon I came across a footnote in an 1857 speech about the invention of the steel needle. I've not heard the following before and have a two part question.
    "The Nedro and the Needle. It in not generally known that for the orgin of the needle manufacture we are indebted to the negro. the earliest record of needle making in England is in the year 1545, in the reign of Henry VIII, and it is supposed that this useful brand of industry, was introduced BY A MOOR from Spain. The historian Stowe tells us that needles were sold in Cheapside and other busy streets in London in the reign of Queen Mary, and were at the time made by a Spanish negro, who refused to discover the secret of his art. Another authority states that the art of making steel needles was lost at the negro's death, but was afterwards revived by a German in 1566. Probably these facts may account for the crest of the needle makers' coat of arms being the head of a negro. - American Paper.
    My two questions are:

    1. Can you supply another reference to this claim that a Moor invented or made steel needles? (I'm assuming this was a needle like our sewing needle, but this is only an assumption!)
    2. Is there such a thing as a needle makers' coat of arms? Is there an image of one online?
    Thanks!


  • Thank you very much for the five-star rating and the tip! For someone like me who finds 16th century England to be endlessly intriguing, this was a really interesting search. My only problem is that now I have an insatiable desire for the book "Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd," which is quite expensive. ;-)
    ~pinkfreud


  • Several online sources say that the first steel needles were brought to England from Spain during the reign of King Henry VIII (whose first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was Spanish). Spain, and specifically Moors from Spain, are often mentioned in connection with the introduction of steel needles to England. Below I've gathered excerpts from several online articles on the subject. You may want to read these articles in their entirety; they should be of interest to anyone with an interest in the history of sewing implements.
    "Until Tudor times at least, the bronze needles used in England were made by individual craftsmen, 'needlers', in various parts of the country, and needle-making was one of the industries practised in English monasteries before the Reformation. It is unlikely that they ever made steel needles, or even knew of them; those made were from lengths of bronze wire...
    The steel needle originated in China some centuries BC, and the manufacture of needles from steel spread to the Near East. From Damascus, long famous for its work in steel, this knowledge was carried by the Moors into Spain, where during the Middle Ages Cordoba became a great needle-making centre. From there it passed slowly to the rest of Europe. During the 16th century steel needles, known as 'Spanish needles', were introduced into England. Katherine of Aragon, who arrived here with her train in the opening years of the 16th century and was renowned for her interest in needlework, no doubt brought with her a supply of steel needles from her native land."
    Sealed Knot Knowledge Base: Pins and Needles
    http://www.sealedknot.org/knowbase/docs/0010_PinsNeedles.htm

    "In the early Middle Ages steel needles were introduced into Europe by the Moors. Steel needles were first produced in England in 1545. The cases in which these needles were kept usually hung from the girdle by a cord."
    The Millinery by Michelle: Pins, Needles, and Thimbles
    http://www.bymichelle.com/HistoricalNotes.html#Pins%20Needles

    "Needles of steel were first made in Spain, perhaps by the cunning artificers who forged the famed Toledo blades. These Spanish needle-makers supplied Europe and Western Asia, and introduced their wares into England during the reign of 'good Queen Bess'; but the wily Spaniards kept the art a secret until 1650. About this time Christopher Greening of Buckinghamshire, England, discovered the process, and established the manufacture of needles in his native land, where it has been an important industry for more than 200 years; and all the stitching of the world might, even at the present day, have been done with English hand-sewing needles, had not that Yankee genius Elias Howe evolved from his teeming brain the mechanical combination known as the sewing machine."
    International Sewing Machine Collectors' Society: The Art of Needle Making http://www.ismacs.net/articles/needle.shtml

    "The Making Of Needles
    From The Encyclopaedia Britiannica, circa 1797
    Needles were first made in England by a native of India, but the art was lost at his death; it was, however, recovered by Christopher Greening in 1560."
    Wooded Hamlet Designs: The Making of Needles
    http://www.woodedhamlet.com/howto_advice/needle_making.htm

    "I have here before me The Century Book of Facts, Standard Edition, 1906, collated and edited by Henry W. Ruoff, M.A., D.C.L... Flipping through its pages, I will take the liberty of sharing a few random discoveries...
    The making of Spanish needles was first taught in England by Elias Crowse, a German, about the eighth year of Queen Elizabeth, and in Queen Mary's time there was a negro who made fine Spanish needles in Cheapside, London. At his death the secret of fabrication was lost, and not recovered again till 1566."
    Everything2: Old Encyclopedias
    http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node=Old%20encyclopedias

    "In the Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd, there is a blurb about a needlemaker in the cheapside who would take no apprentices in order to have no competition. He made needles in spanishe style, and he was also a black man."
    Florilegium: Blacks in medieval Europe
    http://www.florilegium.org/files/CULTURES/blacks-msg.text

    The book mentioned in the Florilegium quote above is available here:

    Quite Specific Media: QUEEN ELIZABETH'S WARDROBE UNLOCK'D
    http://www.quitespecificmedia.com/costume_and_fashion/queen_elizabeth_wardrobe.html
    Regarding the matter of the needlemakers' coat of arms, the profile of a Moor's head with a pearl earring is part of the crest of "The Worshipful Company of Needlemakers." Unfortunately, I could not locate an online image of the crest, but here you will find a description of it, along with an image of the Needlemakers' coat of arms:
    "THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF NEEDLEMAKERS

    Arms:
    Vert three Needles in fess Argent each ducally crowned Or

    Crest:
    [Upon a Helm on a Wreath of the Colours] A Moor's Head couped at the shoulders in profile proper wreathed about the temples Argent and Gules vested round the shoulders Argent in his ear a Pearl also proper
    Supporters:
    On the dexter side a Man and on the sinister side a Woman both proper each wreathed round the waist with leaves of the last in the woman's hand a Needle Argent
    Motto:
    They Sewed Fig Leaves Together And Made Themselves Aprons"

    Heraldic Media: THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF NEEDLEMAKERS
    http://www.heraldicmedia.com/site/info/livery/livcomps/comp065a.html

    Search terms used:

    "needlemaker" "moor" OR "moorish" OR "spanish" OR "spain"
    "needlemakers" "moor" OR "moorish" OR "spanish" OR "spain"
    "needle maker" "moor" OR "moorish" OR "spanish" OR "spain"
    "needle makers" "moor" OR "moorish" OR "spanish" OR "spain"
    "needlemakers" "coat of arms"
    "needlemakers" "crest"
    "steel sewing needle" "history"
    "steel needle" "history"

    Thanks for asking a question that was truly fascinating to research! If anything is unclear, or if a link does not function, please request clarification; I'll be glad to offer further assistance before you rate my answer.
    Best wishes,
    pinkfreud


  • Thank you! What wonderful sources. I appreciate your complete response.


  • I'd like to bet that the Chinese got there first.

    Otherwise how would they have performed acupuncture?