I gelsi, i bachi, la seta in Lombardia nell’età moderna e contemporanea

The evolution of the silk sector (from silkworms breeding to silk weaving) is described with reference to Lombardy since the first steps made in the sixteenth century until the en d of this peculiar sector happened in the first half of the XX century. It is highlighted that the silk sector has become the engine of the economy of Lombardy with much wider implications in terms of capital accumulation and creation of an entrepreneurial culture that will be applied in many other sectors during the XIX and XX centuries. The unstoppable decline of the silk industry in XX century is also investigated in detail