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Common Jobs in a Medieval City

medievalists.net

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141–150 of 193 posts

Re: Common Jobs in a Medieval City

#141

Post by otabdeveloper4 »

pessimizer wrote: post #120
hef19898 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And where generally closer to our modern day MDs then real mediaval MDs. As those where theologists coming from christian universities where they received basically zero true medical training.

Secular doctors were also terrible: before the late-19th century, seeing a doctor was more likely to shorten your lifespan than lengthen it. Unless you needed surgery, which meant that you were in serious trouble anyway, so even with the extreme likelihood of infection your odds were a bit better than just leaving it alone. As far as I can tell, before like 1880 they prescribed mercury for everything. Even though the…

> before the late-19th century, seeing a doctor was more likely to shorten your lifespan than lengthen it

Medical malpractice is the third-leading cause of death. (After cancers and cardiovascular problems, aka "old age".)

This is inevitable as we can't really experiment on people and do real science.

Re: Common Jobs in a Medieval City

#142

Post by phonebanshee »

seanhunter wrote: post #132
stevenjgarner wrote: post #55

It surprises me that all 10 jobs still exist, while there are several more recent occupations that no longer exist (albeit they were not that common): Milkmen, Elevator operator, Switchboard Operator, Ice Cutter, Bowling Pin Setter, Film projectionist, Lamplighter, Leech collector, Alchemist, Bematist, Redsmith, Daguerreotypist, Town crier

Milkmen 100% exist in the UK. Even though I don't drink actual milk they have a massive range of products they will deliver, so I get fruit juice, various foods and oat milk delivered by my milkman.

Milkmen 100% exist in the US also. Several houses close by have delivery coolers for https://www.smithbrothersfarms.com/ and their trucks appear regularly.

Re: Common Jobs in a Medieval City

#143

Post by phonebanshee »

credit_guy wrote: post #98
dotancohen wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of extraordinary interest is the fact that the blacksmith made his own charcoal and presumably other consumables and tools. From whence his anvil? Would you mind sharing some more details, such as where was the village? This is exactly the type of history story that I enjoy telling my children. If you'd prefer to share privately, my Gmail username is the same as my HN username. Thank you!

I'm not sure if the blacksmith was making his own charcoal, or exchanging the wood for charcoal from someone who specialized in that. My Dad's village was about 250 km from this village [1] where people make charcoal even these days (one of the last remaining charcoal burning sites in the world). It's possible back in the day there were much more numerous such sites, so one would not have to travel far. But even if t…

While it might be one of the last charcoal burning sites locally, large-scale charcoal burning is an active problem - https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/charcoal-burning....

Re: Common Jobs in a Medieval City

#144

Post by cafard »

bluGill wrote: post #54
StupidOne wrote: post #39

I'm surprised blacksmiths didn't cut to the top 10. Almost everyone would need some kind of metal tool(s) to do their job in medieval time.

Blacksmith wasn't a major job until the 1800s when industrial revolution made the job possible. In the 1800s a blacksmith should made nothing: everything was made in a factory and the blacksmith just did the final fitting or repair work. Sure they could and did do some custom decorative stuff, but only the rich could afford that. Before then a city might have a couple in employee of the noble to make armor or swords,…

In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales there is a smith in the Miller's Tale, who worked on farming equipment: plow harness, shares, and coulters. (Unless my Middle English is more forgotten than I thought.)

Re: Common Jobs in a Medieval City

#145

Post by mrlonglong »

Xylakant wrote: post #77
kingcharles wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never met a non-native speaker who used the word "cobble", and successfully too. Props to you!

Why I missed that is not the meaning of the phrase "to cobble something together", but its root in "cobbler", which is - at least for me - something I rarely use.

Also Cockneys in old London would say cobblers if you were talking out of your hat. Also balls to refer to the pawnbrokers on account of their three ball shop signs.

Re: Common Jobs in a Medieval City

#146

Post by catlikesshrimp »

bluGill wrote: post #59
drcode wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Likely not too surprising, given that most people were illiterate. Probably they also helped with letter writing/reading?

I've seen arguments that most people were literate. Learning to read and write is not hard, and it is a useful skill. Of course literate was relative: before the printing press there wasn't much to read (book took months to copy by hand). You were reading and writing short notes. Spelling wasn't standardized so you phonetically spelled things and had to figure out what the other person meant. Good enough for letters,…

Learning to write is difficult. You need paper and pen, and free time, and some reference, and probably a teacher

Re: Common Jobs in a Medieval City

#147

Post by irrational »

It's interesting to think about what my life might have been like if I had been born 500 years earlier. I think carpenter or stonemason are what I would have been most interested in. But I really love books, so maybe I would have ended up in the clergy. Thank goodness I was born now.

Re: Common Jobs in a Medieval City

#148

Post by lokimedes »

irrational wrote: post #147

It's interesting to think about what my life might have been like if I had been born 500 years earlier. I think carpenter or stonemason are what I would have been most interested in. But I really love books, so maybe I would have ended up in the clergy. Thank goodness I was born now.

You would very likely have ended up with the same profession as your father (assuming you are male).

Re: Common Jobs in a Medieval City

#149

Post by bagacrap »

stevenjgarner wrote: post #55

It surprises me that all 10 jobs still exist, while there are several more recent occupations that no longer exist (albeit they were not that common): Milkmen, Elevator operator, Switchboard Operator, Ice Cutter, Bowling Pin Setter, Film projectionist, Lamplighter, Leech collector, Alchemist, Bematist, Redsmith, Daguerreotypist, Town crier

most of those didn't exist in medieval times either. Is it surprising that most common are also most timeless?

Re: Common Jobs in a Medieval City

#150

Post by josh8042 »

StupidOne wrote: post #39

I'm surprised blacksmiths didn't cut to the top 10. Almost everyone would need some kind of metal tool(s) to do their job in medieval time.

Same, also surprised there how highly butcher ranks with baker not even in the to 10. I had the impression that meat was a luxury in Medieval times
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