Designing Your Character & Other Handy Things 2

Medieval Service Occupations

Common Service Occupations

            

Maidservant

Barber - one who cuts hair, also performed surgery and pulled teeth.

Restaurateur - one who owns or runs a restaurant

Water carrier

Laundress - also known as lavendar

Porter - one who carries burdens, or one who waits at doors. Probably the former

Doctor

Bather - owner of a bath

Copyist - one who copies books and documents -- not all of them can read

Less Common Service Occupations

            

Accomptant - an accountant

Accoucheur - midwife

Accoucheus - midwife

Accountant - man who does financial bookkeeping

Actuary - man who does financial bookkeeping, clerk

Attendent

Bagger

Bailiff - the man who makes arrests and executions. Bailiff was not primarily used for the office of policeman. Etymologically, bailiffs were those in charge of the bailey - in effect, manager of the craftsmen and servants in a castle or manor house.

Barrister - solicitor or lawyer

Bath attendent

Bather - owner of a bath

Bodyservant

Butler - one in charge of the buttery (where alcohol was kept)

Carman - one who drives a vehicle for transporting goods

Carter - one who drives carts

Cartier

Carver - the servant who cut the meat

Ceiler - one who installs ceilings

Cellarer - one in charge of the wine cellar

Chamberlain - a private attendant who waits on his lord in his bedchamber

Chimney sweep - one who cleans chimneys and smokestacks.

Chirurgeon - surgeon

Clouter - one who fixes things, a tinkerer

Cook - one who cooks, especially food.

Cowherd - one who looks after a herd of cows. A medieval cowboy, as it were.

Currier - see tanner

Dairymaid

Dapifer - a servant who brings the meat to the table

Dentist

Ditcher - one who digs ditches

Diver - one who dives for a living.

Dog trainer

Drayman - cart driver

Dung carter

Executioner

Famulus - "a servant or attendant, esp. of a scholar or a magician" (Random House Dictionary of the English Language)

Farrier - maker of tack, esp. horeshoes; also a horse-veteranarian

Groom - one who takes care of the horses

Harlot - vagabond, beggar, rogue, 14th century male servant, attendant or menial, and 15th century, loose woman

Horseleech - veterinarian, farrier

Hurdle maker - made 'wattle fences' for sheep

Lawyer - a master of the law.

Link boy - boy who will carry a torch to guide people through the night

Link man - like a link boy, only older

Maid - a female household servant. A maid is always female; the word literally means virgin.

Marshal - a horse tender

Midwife - humorously known as a babycatcher

Miller - the person who turns grains into flour.

Napier - the person who manages royal linens

Nurse

Panter - keeper of the pantry

Paperer - needlemaking industry -- inserted needles into paper to prepare for selling

Pavior - one who lays pavement

Pavyler - put up pavilions/tents

Pissprophet - doctors who would diagnose disease from a patient's urine, specifically from the sight, smell, and taste of the urine.

Potboy - cleans out chamber pots

Privycleaner

Procurator - or proctor, this is a kind of legal agent or representative

Prostitute - one who sells sex

Quartermaster

Ragpicker - sorts through leftover rags, find re-usable ones

Raker - street sanitation worker

Riveter - one who rivets (a rivet being a nail designed to secure metal to metal)

Scullion - the bottom-rung servant in a household

Seneschal - senior steward

Solicitor - lawyer

Sperviter - a keeper of sparrow-hawks

Stainer - one who stains wood

Stillroom maid

Surgeon

Tapster - one who draws ale, etc. at an inn; innkeeper/bartender/barmaid

Teamster - one who drives a team of oxen or horses

Trencherman - carver, trench-digger

Userer - a moneylender, specifically a Jewish moneylender (the only people allowed to hold such a job in the Middle Ages)

Wagoner - wagon or cart driver

Waller - one who builds walls

Wattler - made 'wattle fences' for sheep

Weeper

Wetnurse

(Found on http://www.svincent.com/MagicJar/Economics/MedievalOccupations.html#Entertainers)