Writer’s List of Careers in the Middle Ages

Any properly constructed and developed civilization has a lively people group with many jobs and crafts. Career is a big deal for a story and character. It sets up lifestyle, beliefs, and history. Not everyone will be a warrior, nor lawyer or artist or butcher. There’s many pieces to culture and considering careers allows your world to open up and come alive. This list comes from my favorite book, Writing Fantasy and Sceince Fiction, so everything is split into casts (huge love for medieval). Some will be beneficial and maybe others you find a new word. Either way, skim the list, consider your story, and plan wisely. Happy hunting!

Lower Class Careers

• Acrobats/Jugglers – Everyone needs a little entertainment.
• Adamist – Someone’s gotta work the gardens.
• Alchemist – These guys had a tough career because they were considered to be doing magic, however, it was probably more science and chemistry.
• Artist – While art is a given, they were also synonymous with seduction and theft. How sad.
• Barber – Anyone need a haircut?
• Bard – Also known as a minstrel, these are traveling storytellers and musicians.
• Bear Baiter – Ever seen a guy get chased by a bear? Apparently it was entertaining.
• Beggar – These people were actually handicapped and couldn’t work, so not an ordinary homeless person.
• Chamber Maid – Maids for middle and upper class homes.
• Champion – Need a replacement for a duel or trial? This is your guy.

• Churl (serf) – Low class peasant who worked a section of land and paid the owner. Sort of like owning a rental.
• Comedian – Every civilization needs a funny guy. Though comedians were known for occasionally stealing too if profits were low.
• Dancer – More performers, especially when the town is celebrating.
• Dyer – Someone’s gotta dye cloth. Not such a thing as blue sheep.
• Fishmonger – Fish salesman. Women played this role as well and were known as fishwives.
• Fools – A comedian who doesn’t have to steal because a wealthy family pads his pockets.
• Footpad – Robber, especially on roads.
• Fortune-tellers – This career gets mashed with oracles and soothsayers as all are attesting to seeing the future or speaking to spirits. There are many canons for this group, usually bedraggled, old, and somewhat blind.
• Freebooter – Pirate, because you can’t have enough scoundrels.
• Friar – Low class church folk who walked the line between faith and society. If the church denied you, a friar could help.
• Gypsy – Fortune-tellers fall with this disliked group. Since the church was huge in the Middle Ages, these nomads were seen as “sin perpetrators.”
• Heretic – Anyone who contradicted the church. For a story with a major religion that controls everything, this might be a fun plot point to push an idea.
• Mercenary – Need an army? Buy some mercenaries, but they might change loyalties.
• Midwife – Helped deliver children, but also healed other ailments of women in more humane ways.
• Pardoner – This one makes me mad; the Church licensed these men to sell indulgences, also known as absolution for sins. Normally corrupt and unlicensed, this career was considered a joke.
• Pawnbroker – Everyone’s got loan sharks.
• Peasant – Sometimes a serf or unattached to land, these were rural workers.
• Peddlar – Traveling salesman, but also messengers because of their travels.
• Pilgrim – Travelers that visited holy sites in multiple locations. Usually passing through on their way to a shrine of some sort, these people would fall into theft or have their belongings stolen so they couldn’t continue.
• Shepherd – Someone’s gotta watch the sheep.
• Spinner (spinster) – Fiber to thread and thread to textile, we now have fabric.
• Stew-holder – There are always bad apples, including these brothel keepers.
• Swineherd – Someone’s gotta watch the pigs.
• Tinker – Metal worker, usually traveling to find work, but a larger town might have a shop.
• Woodcutter – Need some wood chopped? He’s your guy.

Middle Class Careers

• Almoner – Collector and dispenser of food or money (alms) to the poor. Not always connected to the Church, these people were sometimes employed by a generous family.
• Apprentice – A child (around 5-7) learning a craft for future employment.
• Armorer – Need some armor or chain mail? Here’s your guy.
• Arrow-smith – All arrows need arrow heads. Why this isn’t part of blacksmith or something else is beyond me.
• Avener – Owner of a stable.
• Bailiff – Worst case, he runs the household of a wealthier family. Best case, he oversees law and court affairs.
• Beekeeper – Need some bees or honey?
• Blacksmith – A must-have in my opinion. These craftsmen worked with iron and black metal.
• Brewer – People like alcohol, and somebody’s gotta make it.
• Capper – Need a cap? I know a guy.

• Chandler – Candles, anyone? Probably not scented, but it won’t be dark at night.
• Clockmaker – Every story has time, so the characters need clocks.
• Clothier – Meet the person who makes clothes.
• Cobbler – Shoe repair. Not creation, repair.
• Cooper – These guys are cool; barrels, pails, baskets, and more are made and repaired by coopers.
• Constable – They don’t oversee a town, but handle the security and affairs of a household.
• Confectioner – Even fictional characters have a sweet tooth.
• Cordwainer – Now here is the shoemaker.
• Cutler – Need a knife? Cooking knife, not the other kind.
• Fletcher – Need archery equipment? We’ve got bows and arrows being made by this career.
• Glassblower – Glass products and windows.
• Glover – Need some gloves?
• Goldsmith – Similar to how a blacksmith works with metal, these guys work with gold.
• Groom – Stablehand, so they work under an Avener.
• Hayward – These guys maintain and construct enclosures for animals. That means fencing and pastures.
• Herald – While known as messengers, this career also focused on identifying and designing a coat of arms for a family.
• Housecarl – Need a bodyguard named Carl? I’m kidding, his name isn’t Carl.
• Jewelers – Design and sale of jewelry.
• Knight – We all know knights in shining armor. Move on.
• Leech – Letting of blood was common practice for curing disease, and this monk specified in this procedure. Yuck.
• Mercer – This is someone who works in the field of silk and velvet, usually sale.
• Merchant – Same as a vendor, it’s the buying and selling of goods. Onward.
• Miller – Ground corn or other crops for meal or flour.
• Monk – While not technically a career, this “club” of poor, celibate men is a good example of how different beliefs work in a community and perform different tasks within society.
• Physician – Here’s your trained doctor, though the good ones were paid handsomely by the wealthy to be personal doctors.
• Poulterer – Poultry, anyone?
• Prefect – This is a governor of a manor or some sort of village.
• Priest – Think of a preacher; public acts of religion.
• Scribe – This career has a few options, from written translator to secretary to interpreter of law.
• Senechal – Someone of noble birth or a governor who oversaw judicial duties.
• Shepster – Need a dress? Look no further.
• Sheriff – Now we’re talking; this is your modern cop, keeping an eye on a village or town and ensuring the law is upheld.
• Squire – This kid is a step down from knight and served the armored soldier. Usually of noble birth, so it’s an exclusive club.
• Steward – Similar to a governor, the steward oversees a castle or property of land.
• Surgeon – If you need teeth pulled or other gruesome procedures, this is your guy.
• Tailor – Known for cutting cloth. Sounds like an easy career.
• Tavern/Innkeeper – Every worlds gotta have a place where strangers can stay. Inns and taverns (or a combination of the two) are owned by an innkeeper.
• Weaver – Known for weaving cloth. Not sure if it’s easy, but it sounds fun.

Upper Class Careers

• Abbot/Abbess – Whether a monastery or nunnery, these people run the place and are normally of noble birth.
• Archbishop – The Church had a few key positions, and this was the highest of bishop.
• Banneret – I had never heard of this one; a military commander who leads an army of knights under his own coat of arms.
• Baron/Baroness – Normally coming in pairs, this couple took charge of a portion of land for the king. Note that women in these higher-classes weren’t just ornaments; in the event of their husband’s death, they kept their name and took over all operations.
• Baronet – It seems like this poor fellow is on a similar level to the baron, but he doesn’t have a title to flaunt.
• Bishop – Director of a diocese, which is part of the church. I believe modern Catholics still have dioceses, so there’s some examples available for further research.
• Cardinal – The Pope’s council is made up of three cardinals: Cardinal Bishop, Priest, and Deacon.
• Chieftan – Anyone else picture Tiger Lily from Peter Pan? Here’s the ruler of the clan.
• Earl/Countess – This couple has the pleasure of being the highest of the nobility. Not sure if the countess has to be of noble birth also, but it seems she can just marry in.
• Duke/Duchess – Relatives to the royal family, but again, a duchess could be lower class and just marry in.
• Jarl/Jarless – Common in Norwegian areas, this couple was considered underneath a king. A sort of step down.
• King/Queen – All hail the king and queen.
• Knight-errant – This one’s interesting; a questing knight would be considered an “-errant” one.
• Lord/Lady – These titles don’t come in pairs, but both are of noble birth and receive this title just for being related to the king or queen.
• Laird/Lairdess – In Scotland, this term was used for a couple who held lands for the king directly. No middle man.
• Pope – Everyone meet the head of the Church, past and present (Catholic Church).
• Prince/Princess – Son and daughter of the big two, but they could marry in, prince to queen and princess to prince. How the prince and queen thing works is beyond me.

Final Thoughts

I said it once and I’ll say it again, you have to consider the story you’re writing before you throw in a melting pot of people groups and careers. You might not even add these. Especially within royalty and nobility, there’s a lot of structure to ensure relatives get respect from people. Maybe you take that idea, condense it, and use different words. This is a database of words to get your mind spinning and considering what will work to create an immersive world in your story.

Citation:

Card, Orson Scott, Philip Athans, Jay Lake, and the Editors of Writer’s Digest. Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction: How to Create Out-of-this-World Novels and Short Stories. United States of America: Writer’s Digest Books, 2013. Print.