During the Medieval period, a new social class emerged to help give shape to the era. This class was known as the tradesmen, or people of a certain trade. These tradesmen specialized in one specific area; for example, of one of these occupations might be that of a baker or a carpenter. When young, merchant-class men were growing up, they would decide what trade they were interested in and then go to be an apprentice of that trade. Usually taught under someone who had a lot of experience with the job, the apprentice would learn all of the skills required of him before taking over the job himself. Another aspect of the tradesmen is that they all united under a guild. You could not perform your job unless you were a legitimate member of the coinciding guild; someone could not forge swords unless they were a member of the blacksmith guild. These jobs quickly gained in popularity because you could live healthily under the wages earned while doing a job that catered to your personal and highly specialized skills. An example of a piece of art that helps to portray the tone of this way of life is called “Village Feast” by Gillis Mostaert. In this painting, we see the tradesmen joyfully selling their goods in a farmer’s-market-type atmosphere. This satisfied, delighted life was viewed as a tradesman’s life, and the serfs who led a very destitute existence held the tradesmen in high esteem. It made the life of the specialized tradesmen seem vibrant and important. Ultimately, the tradesmen started expanding the division of labor, a crucial aspect of human society that has helped us get to the place where we are today.
- Seth Moore, James Kawakami, Max White, Adrian Little
Wylie. Period 5. Team 5. Medieval Response.
ReplyDeleteby Lorena Huang Liu, Diana Huang, Isabel Kim, Rachel Yeo.
This team summarizes very well one of the most prominent differences between the Anglo-Saxon era and the Medieval times. The class that called themselves the tradesmen became more prominent in society. Although this class is relatively new and marks a difference between the two ages, it is very interesting to observe that there are still many similarities between this new class of tradesmen and the social division that characterized the Anglo-Saxon society.In the Anglo-Saxon period, people who were born into a certain social class, would stay in that same step of society forever, unless they became heroes, like Beowulf did. Otherwise, if people are born poor, they remain poor and if they are born rich, the usually remain rich. Similarly, when the class of tradesmen surged, people could only trade certain items if they were legitimate members of the coinciding guild. It was generally considerably difficult to change membership of guilds because other members had already taken over the market. Therefore, many of the people who started off as members of the blacksmith guild would stay in this guild because it was hard to enter another guild, and also because another set of skills would be needed for this new guild. Also, since the members of a guild only had a determined set of skills specific for that guild, it would be likely that the sons of the member would also become members of the same guild. This is because, parents tended to teach their skills to their sons; therefore, many times, the sons ended up in the same occupation. Some chose to become apprentices in another business or guild, but this was fairly rare compared to the amount of people who followed the fathers' footsteps into the same occupation.