The medieval butcher played an essential role in daily life, providing communities with fresh meat and preparing it according to local customs and seasonal availability. Beyond slaughtering animals, butchers were responsible for dividing cuts, maintaining hygiene, and sometimes even curing and preserving meats. Their trade was vital in markets and towns across the Middle Ages.
Historians can trace this transformation back to the first medieval butchers shops in Austria in the 13th century
In our quest to learn about the life and working conditions of a medieval butcher, one thing is clear, the elites of the medieval period ate more exotic meats and had a wider choice of food and spices than the lower classes.
All types of meat, poultry and fish were sold to the wealthy people who lived in castles and cities. A wide array of fish was also consumed by the inhabitants of a castle or city.
Butchers, Butchery & Guilds
The trade of butchery is one of the oldest official trades to form a guild. The guild, like most other trades, had an apprenticeship system. For at least six months, the apprentice was taught the skills of a butcher by watching and assisting the master butcher.
After that time period was over, the apprentice would be asked to show his skill by performing various tasks including skinning and dressing beefs, cutting up hogs and pigs in pieces, preparing ducks or chickens for cooking or sale.
The Butchers Slaughter House
As the medieval period progressed sanitation became more important, new rules and regulations were introduced and Butchers became members of a Guild (a medieval association of craftsmen or merchants, often with alot of power) During this period animals were slaughtered at designated slaughter houses that operated under specific rules and regulations.
The Butchers Shop
A Butcher might have a market stall in a designated area of a city or town, as towns and cities became more popular butchers would open shops that became important and thriving businesses. Commonly a Butchers shop would have a Guild sign denoting his profession above the shop entrance.
Preparing the Meat
The life of butchers in the Middle Ages was far from easy. It was not only physically demanding and dangerous, but also quite complicated, requiring sharp observation and careful precision.
Tools used by the Butcher
Medieval Butchers used Cleavers, Knifes and Stakes to prepare Meat for consumption
Popular Meats Prepared by Butchers
- Beef
- Chicken
- Lamb
- Pigeons
- Veal (Calves)
- Herring (Fish)
- Lamprey (Fish)
Poultry & Game Birds
Meat and fish could be expensive, commonly only the wealthy were able to afford it. This is why butchers would prepare poultry or game birds for people who were less fortunate. The weathly commonly ate meat such as beef or veal while the meat served to the peasantry class could be pigeon or chicken.
Meat of the Medieval Elite vs Meat of the Peasantry Class
The elite of medieval society would eat meat while the peasantry class commonl ate bread, cheese and pottage. If the poor could afford meat it would often be the cheaper cuts whilst the wealthy were served the top cuts.
