I have been interested since dissertation days in whether Protestant parents and godparents of the mid-1560s were able to sign their names or only make a mark, as a rough measure of their "literacy." But it took me a long time to realize that the marks I had found in the acts of the notaries of Amiens for certain weavers were actually identical to the "trademarks" they had inscribed in the Registers of Trades alongside the acts recording their reception as master weavers!

Reflecting on this discovery and considering my interest in linking biographical facts to actual "traces" made by the Protestants I was studying, it seemed to me that I should try to bring to light these trademarks, even if I had not yet found or could not find documents that showed whether the weaver was subsequently able to sign his or her name.

This "book of trademarks," made from digitized images from the Register of Trades, is based on this concept. It opens up potentially another set of stories, focused on the experience of weavers (sayeteurs) within the Protestant movement in Amiens.  I mostly bring to light the trademarks of weavers who were parents or godparents on the Protestant Register of Baptisms, 1564-65 and who acceded to their masterships from the late 1540s to the early 1560s. I also included a few but by no means all of the weavers who were "non-decorators", i.e. persons who failed -- intentionally for the most part  -- to decorate  their houses for the passage of the Catholic processions in May 1562 and who were jailed or fined for their non-compliance.  Further inspection of the trade registers would certainly turn up still more  early Protestants and their trademarks -- especially among the 100 plus non-decorators;  but the field of subjects for whom we have "traces" has already been considerably expanded by means of this constructed "book." Moreover, a central finding of my previous research, that weavers (contrary to claims) were significantly attracted to the new religion, finds additional corroboration.