Commerce

       When focusing on this experience I took on the eye of someone whose focus is in Humanities & Social Sciences. When looking at it from a Sociologist point of view you would have to look at the people who closely participated in this, like the Artisan. Commoner’s participation in commerce during this era all depended on what skills a person had in able to become an artificer. One of the main ways one could learn a trade was to become an apprentice or learn through the family business, a forced apprenticeship. Many took up the title of apprentice because in order to run a business one needed to be a free man and in order to be a freeman one “had to be the son of a freeman, serve an apprenticeship, or pay a hefty fine of £1-£5” (Mortimer 40).  While at the Faire we witnessed glass blowers, goldsmith, blacksmith, and thread-maker/weaver. While speaking to these men they both said that it had taken them years to master their craft and even after becoming a master at were still learning new methods to become more efficient. 


The thread-maker sat and spun without once looking down at his work while he spoke to us about his different methods. As he sat there speaking to us a woman sat next to him, his apprentice, looking at his hand movements and occasionally adding comments on how she was picking up the craft. While reading about commerce during this time, there were the wealthy merchants who were sometimes knighted or came to have political pull in the town. At the other end of this spectrum were the working class that consisted of “merchants who were destitute, and shopkeepers and artificers who struggle to earn £8 per year.” (Mortimer 39) 

Blacksmith

Leather Mask crafter

 Blacksmith and glassblowers sweat throughout their days work and could potentially become seriously injured and earned next to nothing compared to the merchants who sold their work. After reading about the injustice that was taking place it was hard not to be empathetic towards these craftsmen. I came to appreciate the hard work of the people in this time more than I had ever done so before.

Mask makers finished products