Woad

Woad (Isatis tinctoria L.) was not grown on a large scale in the Low Countries (except for Lille) between the thirteenth and the sixteenth century. Processed woad was therefore one of the most imported goods during this period.( De Nie, De ontwikkeling, 135.) Woad could be transported either in the form of Groene baelweedt (green woad balls) or couched woad in the form of cakes. Couched woad was preferred by Burgundian blue dyers due to its relative easiness to ferment and because it had a higher yield of the sought after blue pigment. Couched woad was produced in Thüringen and Jülich (Germany), Somerset and Lincolnshine (England), Languedoc, Somme, and Normandy (France), and Florence (Italy), the latter producing woad to satisfy their own regional consumption while also importing indigo pigment from the middle east.