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Hemp (French: chanvre) has been grown continuously in France for hundreds of years or longer for use as a textile, paper, animal bedding, and for nautical applications.
There is archaeological evidence that Neolithic Europeans used hemp cloth in what is now Southern France 4,000 years BP.[1][2] Hemp was introduced as a crop from Central and East Asia to Europe by the Scythians during the Bronze Age, and it was cultivated in France by 1000 CE and used for a number of purposes including canvas for sails and sacks, rope, and as a textile.[3][4] William Shakespeare wrote of the quality of hemp cloth from Locronan in the tragedy Coriolanus.[5][a] The Corderie Royale was built at Arsenal de Rochefort in 1666 for hemp rope needed by the Royal (French) Navy's rigging.[7] In the 19th century, hemp production reached 200,000 hectares (490,000 acres).[8] Breton hemp (from Brittany) was considered some of the finest in the world.[9] The French Navy "always"[clarification needed] used national hemp sources for oakum necessary to seal wooden boats and ships.[10]
Production declined and nearly went extinct[b] with the introduction of other fibers, especially cotton,[12] until its reintroduction in the 1960s.[13][14] France is the only Western European country that never prohibited hemp cultivation in the 20th century.[15][16][17]
France produced more than half of the hemp in Europe most years between 1993 and 2015.[c] Most modern hemp seed cultivars originate from France and a handful of other European countries, or China.[19] Hemp fiber from France is used to make hemp paper and the hurds are used to make bedding for horses and other domesticated animals.[3][d] As of 1994, most of the crop was used to make high quality paper for Bibles, currency and rolling paper.[11][20]
Coopérative Centrale Des Producteurs De Semences De Chanvre is the main supplier of hempseed in the European Union.[21]