D for Dinanderie

Since the fourth millennium BCE, copper, the oldest metal used by man, has been worked and considered a guarantee of prosperity for the areas lucky enough to possess it. However, copper alone is not enough: several factors must come together to transform it. In the 11 th century, the production centers of Bouvignes and Dinant in present-day Belgium’s Meuse Valley were so proficient that dinanderie became the French word for copper and brass craftsmanship. The banks of the Meuse contained large amounts of zinc, a metal indispensable for making brass, and the river provided access to the Hanseatic ports and their economic outlets. In addition, the presence of derle, a type of clay ideal for making crucibles, gave the Meuse Valley a near-monopoly on production in Western…