Lots of death+Lots of wool+Lots of Linen A 1665 law about burial shrouds

I solemnly swear that this dead person was not wrapped in anything “made or mingled with Flax Hempe Silke Haire Gold or Silver,” but rather in a shroud “made of Sheeps Wooll onely …” This strange and specific oath was taken by witnesses to English burials for more than a century, by order of Parliament. As of March 25, 1667, everyone in the country had to be buried in woolen (rather than linen) shrouds—on pain of a hefty £5 fine taken from the deceased’s estate or his or her associates.

Here’s what Parliament saw in 1665: lots of sheep, lots of imported linen, and lots of death. Lots and lots of death, actually, as it had been a particularly bad time for bubonic plague, which contributed to 219,601 registered deaths by year’s end. Most of those corpses, by custom, would have been buried in linen shrouds. This was of great benefit to England’s cross-Channel rival, France, which provided a third of all the country’s linen. It was England’s second-biggest import, after groceries.


https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/england-wool-burial-shrouds