medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Having investigated the subject a bit, "byssus" appears to be used in the textiles literature with two different meanings: (1) flax or a flax-like fiber, and (2) the silky fibers secreted by mollusks. It's often possible to guess which of the two the author had in mind, but it's certainly a confusing situation. Given that, and the complications John and others mention, I'd hesitate to hang very much textile history on a single word.
As I understand it, sea-byssus is indeed a very silk-like fiber: I'm away from my references, but IIRC it is a protein fiber. I'm told it's very difficult to tell byssus from silk by appearance, except under a microscope, and not always reliably even then, so there is apparently some dispute about whether certain objects are made of byssus or of silk.
There is an obscure book on the subject, all copies of which appear to be in the UK except one in the Bayerischen Staatsbibliotek: Die textilen Byssus-Reliquien des Christlichen Abendlandes, aufbewahrt in den Kirchen zu Köln, Aachen, Cornelimünster, Mainz and Prag. It's dated 1895 so I'm not sure how good it is. I'm sure I recall a more recent book (more of the coffee-table variety) but a quick search doesn't turn it up.
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0 Chris Laning
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+ Davis, California
http://paternoster-row.org - http://paternosters.blogspot.com
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