There is a whole lot of interest in what people did in the Middle Ages.

What kinds of jobs did they have? What kind of work did they do?

Some of this interest comes from the proliferation of Role Playing video games. In a lot of these games you can be a potter, blacksmith, Armorer, Miller and much more. It is quite fascinating and there actually were a whole lot of interesting jobs in the Middle Ages. I am going to give you a list of the more popular and well known ones. Then I am going to cover some that you might not know - and they are no less interesting. I also have a list of further reading at the bottom of this page .

 

The Four Orders of Society During the Middle Ages

Of course, when you say "Middle Ages" it covers a thousand years and things changed over these centuries but generally there were four different orders during the Middle Ages:

1. Clergy
2. Nobles and Kings
3. Merchant Guildsmen
4. Craftsmen and Laborers

This article, for the most part covers the fourth category of Craftsmen and laborers.

Some of the well known Medieval Jobs

• Miller
• StoneMason
• BlackSmith
• Armorer
• Falconer
• Tailor
• Carpenter
• Plowman
• Butcher
• GoldSmith
• MetalSmith
• Groom
• Squire
• Page
• SilverSmith
• Grocer
• Draper
• Furrier
• FishMonger
• Baker
• Weaver

Lesser known but no less interesing Medieval Jobs

• Cooper - This is the profession of Barrel Maker
• Cobbler - repaired shoes
• Cordwainer - Made new shoes. Cobbler and Cordwainer were very distinct job differences.
• Cartwright - Cart Maker
• Chandler - A candlemaker. But often times in castles a chandler was also in charge of all the candles making sure they were lit and put out at appropriate times.
• Hayward or HedgeWarder - HIs duty was to inspect the fences and hedges around the meadows or gardens. And, A blast from teh Haywards horn signals the beginning of mowing or reaping.
• Bailiff - Was hired by the lord to be his general overseer
• Reeve - Was elected by the Peasants to be their representative
• Brewer - Would make various alcoholic beverages, He would hang a green branch over his door which would signify that the brew was ready. I read an interesting anecdote about a brewer who made a bad batch of brew and was punished for it. They made him drink some of his brew and they poured the rest over his head. This is an official case. I wonder if the bailiff was involved in that.

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I do have a favorite medieval job that people are not aware of

And people generally don't like to think about this job!

There was an official medieval job called "GongFarmer". Yup!

It was the person who was in charge of cleaning the latrines and toilets. I guess their word for human waste was "Gong". And well, he would farm the gong!

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