[TheForge] historcial blacksmith status in the community

[Andrew Vida]

On 10/12/2012 12:06 AM, terry l. ridder wrote:
> hello;
>
> given what i have been reading and from the numerous examples of highly
> detailed iron work throughout the UK and Europe, what was the status of
> the blacksmith in the community.

Generally speaking, he would have been viewed as just another craftsman 
- a respectable but low trade, just as was the case with painters, wood 
carvers, carpenters, gold smiths, glass makers, and so on.

If you were not aristocracy, you were chud.
>
> we may infer that the blacksmith had to be able to read and write which
> set him apart from most of the local community. the serfs and feudal
> tenants on the nobels lands were probably not able to read nor write.

I seriously doubt that, save perhaps in the freakishly exceptional case.
>
> we may also info that the blacksmith had to be knowledgable in math and
> geometry. we may be pushing it a bit to infer that the blacksmith had a
> working knowledge of trigonometry.

Methinks your opinion is based on a wildly incorrect set of assumptions.
>
> given this knowledge what was the social status of the blacksmith in the
> local community? the nobels may have had a love/hate relationship with
> the blacksmith. they needed the blacksmith to make new weapons, armor
> and to maintain the old weapons and armor. they did not like the fact
> that he could read and write. that would appear to be a threat to the
> nobels.

He did not need to read and write to do what he did.  I have never seen 
any indication that the smith was anything but the same brand of 
illiterate brute as the rest of the serfs.  Once again, he was not 
aristocratic and therefore not of the body.  In the bad old days the 
vulgar were not encouraged to become literate and were often forbidden 
from doing so.  The Roman Catholic church had (has since Vatican II???) 
the Vulgate - the common book - with the prayers, rites, and so forth 
for the commoners.  Most of meat of the faith was left out and even this 
tome was forbidden to commoners - for centuries the church forbade the 
teaching of reading/writing to anyone outside the clergy.  They were not 
even thrilled about kings becoming literate because literate people at 
those times were more difficult to control.
>
> given the blacksmith's relationship with the nobels, the peasants
> probably did not like the blacksmith very much.

Upon what do you base this assertion?  Once again I have yet to see any 
evidence of this.  If you were a good smith and came to the attention of 
the local lord, you may have been made an offer you could not refuse to 
become the armorer or what have you.

I also suspect that you may be considering medieval relationships with 
twenty first century eyes.  Whether we like it, we see things through 
the lens of the contemporary culture and today that culture is very 
different in terms of interpersonal relations.  There is actually a lot 
less respect for the individual today in certain ways than there was 
then between individuals, but that is a discussion for another day.

Consider also this: life was a whole hell of a lot different then than 
now, materially speaking.  Most labor was done by hand - there was 
nothing even remotely resembling modern manufacturing.  There was no 
such thing as standardization of parts.  Everything was custom made, but 
more importantly, the blacksmith was the source for things without which 
one's survival could possibly come into question.  An implement as 
simple as a shovel could mean the difference between living and dying. 
Ever try digging a hole with just your fingers?  I have, just to 
understand the significance of the lowly shovel.  They are miraculous 
things, as are hammers and every other tool that most people treat with 
a certain disregard.

Given this, I would say that in general the blacksmith probably enjoyed 
respect on par with that of any other person, and perhaps even more than 
some.  He was the SOLE source of life-sustaining tools and IMO was 
respected for their abilities.  Hating skillful and successful men is a 
phenomenon of late 20th century origins in progressivism.  Such people 
used to be admired.