Medieval Times Blacksmith

Science and technology, that we see today has developed as a result of the immense hard work that was put in by people for many centuries together. The medieval times blacksmiths were one of the biggest contributors to the development of craft and science of metal working. The term and position 'blacksmith' evolved as a result of development of the concept of guilds. The art of blacksmiths is mastered by many people even today, however the significance of the position has reduced considerably.

In the medieval times, the blacksmiths usually served the village and fulfilled the demands of the villagers. In the feudal system, the feudal lords or their vassals. The demands of the people from the fiefs were fulfilled by the blacksmiths. A village smithy, in the medieval times, thus was a very pleasant place with hard work going on and the flame of the forge blazing all the time and the hammer and anvil shaping many objects of metal. Let's have a look at all the bustling activities that took place in the medieval times blacksmith's shop.

Forging

Forging is often defined as the act of shaping metal. The metal is usually molten in the furnace and then shaped in the small molds. This furnace was rather small and was powered by bellows and coal or charcoal. Sometimes wood was also used as a fuel. The art of forging is considered as an extremely important development as it is the basis of metal working. A huge variety of objects were forged in the blacksmith's workshop. The act or function of forging was considered to be so important that in some regional dedicates, the blacksmith's workshop was often titled as the forge. The medieval times blacksmith's workshop creatively forged a huge number of objects, that ranged from heavy plows to weapons.

Manufacture of Farm Equipment

The medieval times blacksmith played a very important role in the advancement farming techniques. A huge range of farm equipments like horse shoes, plows, irrigation equipments etc. were manufactured by the blacksmiths. Another important aspect of blacksmiths was to manufacture the tools that like hammers, spades etc that were used by most of the farmers everyday to work in the farms. One of the basic reasons that the medieval times blacksmiths were able to make advancements in the technology of their times was that they kept on perfecting and upgrading their method and process that they used in manufacturing. This not only helped the blacksmiths to prosper, but it also contributed to the output of the farmers.

Manufacture of Arms and Armor

Medieval times blacksmith had a very important task in form of manufacture of arms and armor. The middle ages were full of battles, some of them small uprisings and skirmishes and other as big as the Crusades. The feudal system also politically divided every land and every single feudal lord maintained his own army, either in the form of militia, or full-time professional knights and mercenaries. These armies constantly needed arms and weapons that were supplied by the blacksmiths. Many a times, the feudal lords paid the blacksmith more in order to have this arms and armor upgraded.

Many blacksmiths run their forges and bellows even today; however, their role in the society has changed drastically. In order to conclude this write-up, I wish to mention the last lines of a poem titled 'The Village Blacksmith', which is written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow;

"Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought."