Quote by Leo Africanus: “All their women from childhood are accustomed to spinning cotton and weaving cloth.”

This observation highlights the practical skills and economic contributions of women in the African societies Leo Africanus visited. It reveals a culture where productive labor, especially textile craftsmanship, was an integral part of female upbringing and communal life, starting at a young age, contributing to the household and community economy.

Leo Africanus documented various aspects of daily life, economy, and social structures in the regions he visited, providing valuable ethnographic details to a European audience largely unfamiliar with these cultures.

Andalusian-Moroccan diplomat and author born around 1494, originally named al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan. Captured by Spanish pirates and presented to Pope Leo X, he converted to Christianity and produced his Description of Africa in 1526, the most comprehensive European account of Africa for over a century. He later returned to the Islamic world.