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Life of a Medieval Tanner
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The Medieval Tanner
Tanners were seen as people who did menial tasks.
They were seen as dirty, even amongst the poor.
Tanners received hardly any money or free time.
Without tanners, everyone would not have leather for shoes and clothes.
A Typical Day
Morning Work for a Tanner
Cow hide
The day of a tanner could start very early, similar to other laborious jobs during medieval times in Europe.
Tanners would buy the hide of an animal from a butcher, which was exclusively left for tanners. The butcher would sell the the horns and hooves along with the hide.
Morning Work
Sheep hide
Work After Morning
After arriving back from the butcher, tanners would remove or separate the horns, and then sell them to horn-workers. They may also decide to discard the horns and hooves near a tanning pit to signify that it was theirs.
Tanners also removed any leftover flesh or fat.
The hair was also removed, but in a different fashion. The hide would be submerged in a urine or lime solution. This loosened the hair without damaging the future leather. The hide would be left in the solution until the hairs were loose.
After the hairs were loose, tanners would use a special knife used to scrape off the hairs.
Afternoon Work
Tanning
Leather
After removing the hair, flesh and fat, tanners had to free the hides from the lime used to loosen the hairs.
This can be done by placing the hides in a solution which can be made of different things. Possible items used in the solution could be dog faeces, fermented barley or rye and stale beer or urine. The soaking process could take up to a quarter of a year.
The hides were then cleansed by the nearby water.
After washing, the hides were further soaked to but this time it was to permanently change the hides in to leather, making it resistant to water and stronger. The items in the solution had tannic acids
Evening Work
Fruits rich with tannic acids
Overall Requirements
Requirements
If you wished to become a tanner, you had to live in the outskirts of the village due to the horrid smell which people didn't like.
Tanners did not have a high status and so nearly anyone could become one at a certain age.
Tanners can start work at the early age of 14 years old.
Tanners do not need much education and most medieval tanners were taught by their families.
As females tanners are unheard of during medieval times, you had to be a male to be a tanner.
Physical Requirements
Physical
They needed to work for hours, doing hard work.
Tanners had to have extreme stamina, endurance and perseverance to withstand hours of hard work, each day.
Otherwise they will not be able to finish the work.
Tanners had to make sure that their body especially the foot, did not have any open cuts on them as the bacteria from the faeces may infect the wounds which was almost incurable during medieval Europe.
Open wounds could take the life of a tanner and those close to him.
Mental Requirements
Mental
It is no question that tanners had to have a strong will and determination.
Walking into a tannery is a challenge in itself, due to the putrid smell. Anyone living and working there, had to have a great will power to overcome the smell, especially when working with urine and faeces.
If someone could not deal with the smell of the items they use, how are they ever going to complete any work?
Tanners had to work very effectively under uncomfortable conditions. They had to complete the work without any hesitations.
This is because tanners were on a strict schedule where they had to complete all the work.
Equipment used by Tanners
Equipment
fleshing blade
Tanners used many knives to complete the tanning process. They needed special knives to do their job. Those types of knives are still around. The predominant tool a tanner used was called a fleshing knife. Contrary to the name, the fleshing knife was used for many purposes; dehairing, fleshing, removing fat and 'squeezing' the liquid from a hide. A fleshing blade should have a sharp side (for getting rid of flesh) and a dull side (dehairing and getting rid of liquids from hide). To perform tanning you also need a tanning board to rest the hide on.
Tanners belong to the second lowest level as they are above peasants or serfs. Tanners are apart of the same category as craftsmen.
Feudal System Role
Do Tanners still exist in 2020?
2020 Tanning
Tanning still exists in 2020 as anyone can do tanning if they are allowed to, however the actual occupation exists but is decreasing due to synthetic fabrics and the protection of animals. Many people also chose not to do tanning as a occupation as they can only get a maximum of 5 dollars a day.
There does not seem to be any roles which have stemmed from medieval tanning.
Positives and Negatives of Tanning
Positives and Negatives
Positives: You can get leather and other animal fabrics.
Negatives: The job smells very bad, you live away from everyone else, it is very hard work and you get hardly any money.
Would I Want To Become a Tanner
Opinion
No. As seen on the above slide the negatives of a tanner out number the positives and are much more significant. I would hate the smell and wouldn't be able to work, I would also not get a lot of money and not a high status.
Bibliography
Rendfeld, K, 2016, Odd Jobs - Tanning: A Medieval Dirty Job, The Ashes Of Heavens Pillar, Viewed on May 27 2020
Carson, G, 2017, The Medieval Tannery, The Ancient World Review, Viewed on May 27 2020
Unknown, 2017, Leather tanning - Medieval to Edwardian, mediea, Viewed on May 27 2020
SkillCult, 2018, Fleshing Knives 101: THE Tanning Tool, for Scraping, Dehairing & Scudding Hides and Skins, Viewed on June 8 2020
Weaver Leathercraft, Tour of Hermann Oak® Tannery, 2012, Viewed on May 27 2020
Victory Leathercraft, Britain's Last Remaining Traditional Oak Bark Leather Tannery, 2015, Viewed on May 29