The individual tradespeople initially each produced small quantities for individual customers. Preproducing larger quantities would have been an excessive financial investment. Financially strong merchants oversaw and controlled the production process to increase production volumes. This organizational form – the so-called putting-out system – first became established in Flanders in the 13th century.

Agents advanced money for raw materials and coordinated all subcontractors tasked with the production of cloth. In return, they had the exclusive right to sell the wares. This made it possible to deliver large and affordable quantities of wares within short time – cloths and fabrics became a top export and sold like hot cakes in far-flung regions too.

In return, agents paid contracted tradespeople a set price. This made producers dependent on their agents, though. Rather than producing for the local market, they were reliant on sales and business cycles in foreign markets. If one of the agents’ advances was not paid, not only was production halted but producers’ livelihoods were also threatened. Considering that over 50% of the approximately 30,000 residents were employed in the cloth industry in a city such as Ypres in Flanders, a center of European cloth production, such a missed payment could have dramatic consequences.

Starting in the 14th century, urban agents had increasingly employed labourers who worked at home in the areas around cities and demanded lower wages or unit prices. This practice, which persisted up into the 18th century, is particularly discernible in the production of linen cloths. Linen weaving constituted an additional source of income for many peasant families. They were also reliant on an agent’s facilitation and dependent on them. Agents ultimately pooled production, opened access to urban markets and thus facilitated sales. 

Textile producers dependent on an agent sometimes worked under very adverse conditions. Although an effectively 5-day week had established itself at the end of the 15th century, tight delivery deadlines and poor pay repeatedly spawned complaints. Social motives were not behind bans on nighttime work in some cities, either. They were rooted in concerns about poor product quality – much of the work in the textile industry requiring fine motor skills could ultimately not be done by candlelight. 

The desire for fair living wages particularly ignited conflicts time and again. Strikes, boycotts and the destruction of production facilities had accompanied the development of a textile industry based on the division of labour and operating throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. Cities repeatedly responded to such disturbances with laws as well as force.