ABSTRACT
The fashion for printed, painted or dyed cotton fabrics, originally imported from the Indies and later manufactured in Europe, spread quickly throughout France during the last decades of the seventeenth century. However, following pressure from silk and wool manufacturers, bans on imports, manufacture and wearing of cotton were introduced in the kingdom between 1686 and 1759, as in most parts of Europe. During the eighteenth century, two regions, Dauphiné and the Lyonnais which lie on France’s frontier with Savoy and the principality of Dombes, provided smugglers with an ideal opportunity for bringing in cotton canvas produced in large quantities by factories in Geneva and the Swiss Cantons, or imported from the Indies. Despite court orders and arrests, smuggling remained endemic, at least until 1759. The objective of this chapter is to identify, at a macro level, the network of cities where smugglers and major buyers (merchants) operated and the measures seeking to reinforce the presence and authority of the state in these border provinces.
