Bakers were very important in these times.  They were one of the very few food guilds in the community,  but a very important one.  Bread was a basic part of most villages economy.  As a baker, you had to go to the miller every morning to  get your grain ground to make flour, which is used in the making of your bread.  Then, if you had an apprentice, you would have to make sure that he is awake and ready to do the day’s work (if you had an apprentice, he would live with you and you would supply him with food, shelter, and clothing).  

After the flour was done, you would open up shop, and if you had hired a journeyman you would wait for him, if he was not already at the shop.  When he gets to the shop, you would have him start by cleaning out the ovens, while you start preparing the dough to be baked.  As soon as the ovens are clean, the first few loaves of the day are ready to be cooked (above left).  One by one, customers start showing up at the shop front to get their freshly baked bread.  As the day goes on, you would keep making bread to keep a fresh stock.  At the end of the day, you would close the front of the shop, go back into the house (which sometimes was connected to the shop), have dinner, and go to bed to get ready for another day’s work tomorrow.  Although many ovens were indoors, some were built outdoors and an interesting example survives today (picture to the right).

Comments are requested, and quite welcome: Allyson Terry's email or Kacey Marton's email

  Page last updated: 04/11/2003 03:42