How Byzantine Monks Stole Silkworms From China

The medieval Byzantine Empire was well known for its production and use of luxurious silk, but until the mid-6th century Byzantine artisans were forced to import raw silk from China - an arduous journey which made silk incredibly expensive. It was during the reign of Justinian that the Byzantines ended the Chinese monopoly, and began to produce their own raw silk - the tale is a semi-legendary story, partially shrouded in myth: it involves two monks, the Byzantine emperor Justinian, and a daring expedition to china to retrieve silk worms. This is the great byzantine silk worm heist.
This mini-documentary gives a brief overview of how the indigenous Byzantine silk industry began in the middle ages.
All materials are used under fair use for education and commentary.
Music:
- Ascension by Scott Buckley ( / ascension-cc-by )
- The Illusionist by Scott Buckley ( / the-illusionist-cc-byy )
- Artemis by Scott Buckley ( / artemis-cc-by )
- Terminus by Scott Buckley ( / terminus-cc-by )
- The Distant Sun by Scott Buckley ( / the-distant-sun)full picture credits, as well as bibliography, can be found here: sites.google.com/view/the-his...
Timestamps:
Intro - 0:00
The Importance of Silk - 1:11
The Problems of Importing Silk - 1:43
Attempts at Alternate Trade Routes - 3:15
Justinian is Visited by Two Monks - 4:16
The Heist - 4:58
The Monks Reach Constantinople - 5:51
The Impact of Byzantine Silk Production - 6:30
Conclusion - 7:27

[@asytippyy352]

Justinian's eye for talent and opportunities is absolutely mind-blowing. The mad lad almost brought Rome back to its youth. God knows what would've happened were it not for the plague.

[@josephstalin4478]

No. Just because the map looked big under his rule doesnt mean rome was almost brought back. His campaigns to restore the west recklessly drained the imperial coffers and left the east vunerable, as well as destroying any goodwill left toward the empire in the west. The west was kind of trending towards reestablishing the empire, just with a new ruling germanic elite, kind of like how persia and china got invaded, then the invaders turned persian and chinese over time. Also remember, the east by no means had the resources avaible to secure the western conquests, even before the plague. It just was not protectable. Not to mention, if the east had the funds justianian threw away so recklessly, there is a good chance they could have defended Egypt and the levant against the muslim invasions

[@savabout6487]

​@@josephstalin4478 Its not like if Justinian hadn't invaded the west they could have stopped the arabs. Justin II breaking the peace with Persia was far worse of a factor. I agree Iberia was a waste. And he rushed too soon to take Italy. But bring North Africa back into the empire was a HUGE success. Also, those westerns provinces would be a source of tax renvue for centuries when the east had been devastated by war.

[@rileyhinshaw8659]

Underrated channel, just popped up as a suggestion the other day (have since subscribed)! Great quality videos my man! Also someone needs to make a movie/miniseries about this topic, but please God (and I can't stress this enough) LITERALLY ANYONE BUT NETFLIX!!!!!

[@2byz3]

Good production, moustaches and topic!

[@jbb4105]

I’ve heard about this story many times but always wanted to look more into it Great vid 👍🏿

[@StoicHistorian]

The greatest heist of that century? Also you have great editing skills

[@JustAnotherHistoryChannel]

I reckon! About time someone made a movie about it

[@BryantMoore87]

Great job. Good production, informative, no filler, killer mustache. One thing, the way you pronounce byzantine is strange, maybe just say Roman

[@HeduAI]

Loved it! Thank you.

[@chrisklausner4418]

Amazing video!

[@nicolobarrera9390]

Very well done and informative video! Intrigued in seeing the channel grow

[@ashurmoshe2125]

This is a great video!!!

[@JustAnotherHistoryChannel]

Thank you so much!

[@ace5065]

incredibly well made video, you deserve more recognition!

[@DesertsOfHighfleet]

oh yeah I remember subbing to you, great underrated channel unbelievable how you're still at this size, but wait patiently, it will happen o7

[@firatfirat4633]

Just finished reading Ostrogorsky's History of the Byzantine State and i was wondering about this weird story, thanks for the awesome video.

[@lucastorresmatuda7722]

What were the effects for the Chinese economy ?

[@JustAnotherHistoryChannel]

Good question, I haven't looked into that - although I would suppose that it eventually led to quite a significant decrease in demand from the West (once the Byzantine silk production really got established, which could have taken many decades).

[@elshebactm6769]

🤠👍🏿

[@Bruh-cg2fk]

Based Justinian

[@justinianthegreat1444]

You can all thank me for stealing the silk

[@Bruh-cg2fk]

Based Justinian lol

[@anoopmathen4566]

Ultimately the greatest empire fell to the Turks in a few hundred years after.

[@BoraCM]

More than a few hundred, almost 900.

[@Squirrellium]

Monks are always doing shady political work