# What careers or trades existed in or before the Middle Ages? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 4, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153 "2013-06-04T20:53:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gratian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e56c9b/32.png) [@Gratian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gratian)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153/1 "2013-06-04T20:53:06Z")
I’m compiling a list of potential careers or trades that people from the Middle Ages and before could have been occupied with. Does anyone know of any? If you do, I’d appreciate it if the trade/career was at least of some broad practical value. In other words, a nail maker for horseshoes is definitely interesting, but a Blacksmith would be more applicable in this regard. Or, if you just have one you know of that you’d like to share, I’d appreciate it nonetheless 🙂 Thanks in advance for any replies, I really do appreciate every one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153/2 "2013-06-04T21:03:58Z")
[ul] [li]Mason[/li][li]Carpenter[/li][li]Cathedral builder[/li][li]Guillotine operator[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2013, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153/3 "2013-06-04T21:14:33Z")
Prostitute Baker Miller ---
**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2013, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153/4 "2013-06-04T21:18:06Z")
Executioner Cheese monger Fish monger Butcher (I’ll repeat Mason, just 'cause) Carpenter Fisherman Barber/doctor Soldier In sum, pretty similar to what we have today. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153/5 "2013-06-04T21:26:17Z")
> [@GiantRat](#): > > Cheese monger > Fish monger Merchant Shopkeeper ---
**Author:** ![jbaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/59ef9b/32.png) [@jbaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jbaker)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153/6 "2013-06-04T21:26:38Z")
Well, there are lots of them really (though not guillotine operators, Lukeinva). I assume that you’re using “profession” in the broad sense of any occupation, and not simply occupations that require advanced study and the use of professional judgment. Actually, I bet that, once you exclude the many professions that require post-medieval technology, most professions do date back to at least medieval times. Certainly they had bankers (by the end of the medieval period), physicians, lawyers, architects, and many of the other professions in the narrow sense. You might want to look at the dramatis personae for Shakespeare’s plays (which are post-medieval, but things hadn’t changed all that much in the century or so since the end of the medieval period). For example, in A Midsummer-Night’s Dream the lower-class characters include a Carpenter, a Joiner, a Weaver, a Bellows-mender, a Tinker, and a Tailor. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2013, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153/7 "2013-06-04T21:28:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Apothecary: A chemist, druggist, or pharmacist > Architect > Armorer > Arrowsmith: A maker of arrowheads > Assassin: A killer for hire > Astrologer: A reader of stars and fates > Baker > Barber: A surgeon, bloodletter, dentist, and haircutter > Barrister: A lawyer or one who pleads the case of another before a noble’s court > Beggar > Bellfounder: A caster of bells > Blacksmith > Bloomer: A man who work an iron smelting forge > Bladesmith: A smith who specializes in sword blades > Bookbinder: A maker of books > Bowyer: A maker of bows > Brazier: A smith who works in brass, sometimes a traveling workman > Brewer: A maker of ales, bitters, stouts, and beer > Bricklayer: A laborer who builds walls and buildings > Butcher > Carpenter > Carrier: One who hauls messages or small goods > Carter: A teamster, a hauler of goods > Cartwright: A builder of wagons and carts > Carver: A sculptor in wood > Chandler: A maker of candles > Chapman: A traveling peddler who normally frequents small villages > Churl: A freedom farmer of some wealth > Clerk: A scribe who generally handles business accounts > Clockmaker > Cobbler: A mender of old shoes > Collier: A burner of charcoal for smelting > Coppersmith: A copper worker > Cook > Cooper: A barrelmaker > Cordwainer: A shoemaker > Cutler: A maker of knives and silverware > Dragoman: An official interpreter or guide > Draper: A cloth merchant > Dyer: One who dyes clothing > Embroiderer: A needleworker who decorates fabric with intricate designs of thread > Enameler: A jeweler specializing in enamel work. > Engraver: A jeweler specializing in decorative engraving > Farrier: A maker of horseshoes > Fisherman > Fishmonger: A fish dealer > Fletcher: An arrowmaker > Forester: An official responsible for the lord’s woodlands > Fuller: A felt-maker > Furrier: A tailor of fur garments > Gardener > Gem-cutter: A jeweler specializing in gemstones > Gilder: A craftsman of gilt gold and silver > Girdler: A maker of belts and girdles > Glassblower: A maker of items made of glass > Glazier: One who cuts and sets glass > Glover: A maker of gloves > Goldbeater: A maker of gold foil > Goldsmith: A jeweler who works with gold > Grocer: A wholesaler, particularly of everyday items > Groom: A man who tends horses > Haberdasher: A merchant of small notions, thread, and needles > Harpmaker > Hatter: One who makes hats > Herald: A courtier skilled in etiquette and heraldry > Herbalist: A practitioner of herbal cures > Hewer: One who digs coal or other minerals > Horner: A worker of horn > Hosier: A maker of hose and garters > Hosteler: An innkeeper > Interpreter: A translator > Ironmonger: A dealer, not maker, of ironwork > Joiner: A cabinet or furniture-maker > Knife-grinder: A sharpener of knives > Laundress > Laborer > Latoner: A brass-worker > Leech: A nonclerical doctor > Limeburner: A maker of lime for mortar > Limner: A painter > Linkboy: A lantern- or torch-bearer > Locksmith > Lutemaker > Marbler: A cutter and carver of marble > Mason: A worker in building stone, brick, and plaster > Mercer: A cloth dealer > Messenger > Miller: One who operates a grain mill > Miner > Minstrel > Minter: A maker of coins > Nailsmith: A smith specializing in nails > Navigator: One skilled in the arts of direction-finding and navigation > Organmaker > Painter > Parchment-maker > Paviour: A mason specialized in paving streets > Pewterer: One who works pewter > Plasterer: A specialist in plastering > Ploughman: A worker of the field > Porter: A hauler of goods > Potter: A maker of metal or, alternatively, clay pots > Poulterer: A dealer of chickens or other forms of poultry > Pursemaker > Quarrier: One who digs and cuts stone > Saddler: A maker of saddles > Sage: A scholar > Sailor > Saucemaker: A cook who specializes in preparing sauces > Scribe: A secretary or one who can write > Scrivener: A copyist > Seamstress: One whose occupation is sewing > Shearman: A man who trims the loose wool from the cloth to finish it > Sheather: A maker of scabbards and knife sheaths > Shepherd > Shipwright: A builder of ships and boats > Skinner: A butcher who prepares hides for tanning > Soapmaker > Spurrier: A maker of spurs > Spy > Swineherd: A keeper of pigs > Tailor > Tanner: A leather-maker > Teamster: A hauler of goods by wagon or cart > Tilemaker > Tinker: A traveling craftsman who repairs tin pots and similar items > Tinner: A tin miner > Trapper > Vintner: A maker of wines > Waller: A mason who sets stones and brick for walls > Waterleader: A water hauler > Weaver: One who makes fabric > Wheelwright: One who makes and repairs wheels > Wiredrawer: A maker of wire > Woodturner: A lathe-worker From some Dungeon Master’s Guide or another. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153/8 "2013-06-04T22:06:59Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > [ul] > [li]Guillotine operator[/li][/ul] You’re a few centuries too early. Or too late. 😕 The guillotine wasn’t invented yet in the middle ages, is what I’m saying. > **[Guillotine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine)** > > A guillotine (/ˈɡɪlətiːn/ GHIL-ə-teen /ˌɡɪləˈtiːn/ GHIL-ə-TEEN /ˈɡijətin/ GHEE-yə-teen) is an apparatus designed for effectively carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with a pillory at the bottom of the frame, holding the position of the neck directly below the blade. The blade is then released, swiftly and forcefully decapitating the victim with a single, clean p... ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2013, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153/9 "2013-06-04T22:34:54Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > You’re a few centuries too early. Or too late. 😕 > > The guillotine wasn’t invented yet in the middle ages, is what I’m saying. > > [Guillotine - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine) The Halifax guillotine was in use early in the 13th C. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153/10 "2013-06-04T22:40:06Z")
Why hasn’t anyone mentioned bankers? ---
**Author:** ![jbaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/59ef9b/32.png) [@jbaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jbaker)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153/11 "2013-06-04T22:48:52Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Why hasn’t anyone mentioned bankers? > [@jbaker](#): > > Certainly they had bankers (by the end of the medieval period), physicians, lawyers, architects, and many of the other professions in the narrow sense. Your premise fails. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153/12 "2013-06-04T22:58:19Z")
Good thing you you noticed it. You have a sharp eye. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153/13 "2013-06-04T23:04:21Z")
All ye of little faith. No mention of friars, priests, bishops, archbishops, cardinals, popes and all their hangers on, without whom everyone would have died and gone to hell. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2013, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153/14 "2013-06-04T23:38:59Z")
Good list **Alessan** , but you left out the most impotant one. Fool. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hawkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@Hawkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hawkins)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2013, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153/15 "2013-06-04T23:43:02Z")
Pimp, highwayman, constable, pickpocket, soldier, gravedigger, valet, shepherd, teacher, actor, bell ringer, prostitute, hunter, trapper, cattle drover and others. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153/16 "2013-06-05T01:15:26Z")
> [@jbaker](#): > > You might want to look at the dramatis personae for Shakespeare’s plays (which are post-medieval, but things hadn’t changed all that much in the century or so since the end of the medieval period). For example, in A Midsummer-Night’s Dream the lower-class characters include a Carpenter, a Joiner, a Weaver, a Bellows-mender, a Tinker, and a Tailor. Also, review the professions listed in _The Canterbury Tales_, for some like Summoner and Reeve that have fallen into disuse lately. Does Boccaccio’s _Decameron_ list the professions of the tale teller’s? Because that’s likely a bigger list, and isn’t confined to English professions. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153/17 "2013-06-05T01:45:14Z")
> [@Arkcon](#): > > Also, review the professions listed in _The Canterbury Tales_, for some like Summoner and Reeve that have fallen into disuse lately. You still have Sheriffs in the US, and that is a contraction of Shire Reeve. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153/18 "2013-06-05T02:11:04Z")
Canada still has [**reeves.**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Township_%28Canada%29) > [@](#): > > In some places, usually if the township is in a county rather than in a regional municipality, the head of a political township is called a reeve, not a mayor. However, this distinction is changing as many rural townships are replacing the title reeve with mayor to reduce confusion. Sheriffs here, too. ---
**Author:** ![Gratian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e56c9b/32.png) [@Gratian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gratian)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153/19 "2013-06-05T07:46:07Z")
Wow guys, this has been more than exquisite. Thank each and every one of you for your absolutely diligent responses. You’ve covered more than what I could have hoped to expect. I will take a look at the literature suggested- thank you very much for those! This has been more than sufficient and enlightening. Thank you for your long list and short contributions alike; I appreciate all tremendously! 😃 /bows in reverence ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153/20 "2013-06-05T08:01:37Z")
Afore ye go: [http://arcana.wikidot.com/list-of-medieval-european-professions](http://arcana.wikidot.com/list-of-medieval-european-professions) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-careers-or-trades-existed-in-or-before-the-middle-ages/660153.md?page=2)