Mining and Metallurgy in Medieval Europe - Smiths and Miners Within Medieval Society

Smiths and Miners Within Medieval Society

Metallurgists throughout medieval Europe were free to move within different regions. German metallurgists in search of rich precious metal ores, for instance, took the leading part in mining and affected the course of metal production, not only in East and South Germany, but in almost all Central Europe and the Eastern Alps. As mining was gradually became a task for specialized craftsmen, miners moved in large groups and they formed settlements with their own customs close to mines. They were always welcome by the regional authorities, since the latter were interested in increasing the revenue and the exploitation of the mineral-rich subsurface was quite profitable. The authorities, lay and ecclesiastical, claimed a part of the output and smiths and miners were provided with land for cottages, mills, forges, farming and pasture and they were allowed to use streams and lumber (Nef 1987, 706-715).

Progressing to the high and late Middle Ages, as smelting sites became geographically independent from mines, metalworking was separated from ore smelting. The urban expansion from the 10th century onwards and the dominant role of towns provided metallurgists with the right environment to develop and improve their technology. Metallurgists got organized in guilds and, usually, their workshops were concentrated in town peripheries (McLees 1996).

In medieval societies liberal and mechanical arts were considered as totally different from each other. Metallurgists, as all craftsmen and artisans, lacked the methodical intellectual background but they were the pioneers of causal thinking, based on empirical observation and experimentation (Zilsel 2000).