The actual history of the rope making industry in medieval times is very scant, to say the least. One of the most comprehensive works on the history of rope, “ROPE a history of the Hard Fibre Cordage Industry in the United Kingdom”, has very little to say about the craft during this time period. In 1393 we have a representation of the first stage of rope making - that of spinning the yarn-taken from the Mandelshes Portrait Buch in Nuremburg. So little difference from what was practiced for the next five hundred years in Europe is shown that this may serve as a text for a fairly full description of the art during the period indicated. The first real improvement in the craft came with an invention in 1792 called the Cordelier, invented by Edmund Cartwright, (1743–1823).