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1. Definition Bleaching is the removal or destruction of organic dyes in spun vegetable fibers with the aim of making the fabric product as white as possible. The bleaching of yarns and threads was important, but so in particular was the bleaching of cloths that made linen, fustian, andcalico in particular marketable. There was no need to bleach cloths that were not intended for export. In 1564, the Zurich clothmakers’ guild stipulated that the preparation of coarse cotton was “not bleachers’ work or the work of men, but should in the main be done by women” ( nit der bleickeren als (oder)…

1. Introduction; development From the late Middle Ages, apprenticeship functioned as the first stage of professional training in trade and in crafts and trades, as well as providing a transitional period away from the family between the worlds of youth and adulthood. In craft professions, apprenticeship consisted mostly of a formal process of training. Although the training of a merchant also took place away from the family, frequently abroad, it was informal in nature, as was apprenticeship in other fields (e.g. in early modern mining) [1]; [17. 228]. Philanthropic and mercant…

1. Concept Arcanum (Latin, ‘secret’; plural arcana) is found in various contexts of meaning, firstly denoting secrets of nature, and in alchemy secret or confidential knowledge, especially as an appellation for the Philosopher’s Stone, where “arcane language” (see also Argot) refers to the language of alchemists and “arcane discipline’ to the teachings of alchemy. “Arcane discipline” (Latin  disciplina arcani) also denotes crucial and secret beliefs and cult practices in the Hellenistic mystery religions and early Christianity.Reinhold Reith 2. Religious and ph…

1. Agriculture Agricultural specialization in the Middle Ages and at the beginning of the early modern period as specialized production of agricultural products is best discussed in a regional rather than an operational context. Initially, physiographic features provided the impetus for agricultural specialization (Land use system; Ecotype). By the high Midde Ages, many regions not well suited to arable crops had already turned to animal husbandry. In the Alpine region and its foothills, so-called  Schweighöfe were established, cattle farms that specialized in dair…

In contrast to structural engineering, various types of construction involving excavation are considered aspects of civil engineering, including hydraulic engineering, the construction of dykes and tunnels, road construction, and in the 19th century the laying of railways (Rail). In the early modern period, there was especially broad activity in hydraulic engineering, with the construction of canals and irrigation systems, wells and fountains, and water supply along with associated conduits for …

1. Introduction A brickmaker (French briquetier, German Ziegler) was a maker of roof tiles and fired bricks. Production of these goods developed particularly in areas where suitable natural stone was not readily available (Flanders, eastern England, northern Germany, Netherlands; see also Building materials). Brickmakers are attested in northern Italian cities from the 11th century. From the 13th, they were organizing themselves in corporations with masons (Building trade), or forming corporations of t…

1. General In the early modern era, urban consumers spent a large percentage of their income on food. As a natural consequence, many people found employment in the foodstuffs trade. Bakers and butchers comprised the most numerous profession in the towns (including market towns); millers, brewers, and fishermen were also strongly represented. Additionally, there were numerous ancillary trades among the core professions and activities of the foodstuffs industry to supply the cities (Provisions, urban supply of[6. 35–38]).Reinhold Reith 2. Millers and bakers Given the impo…

1. Concept and terms The terms referring to the professions of cartwright, wheelwright and carter go back to the most important products of the trade: the waggon, the frame of the waggon or plow and the wheel[5. 244]. The area of work also comprised carts, sleds or sleighs, rack waggons and harrows. Christoph Weigel’s books of estates mentions in 1698 wheelbarrows and Schanzkarren, the plough and common carts as well as the four-wheel carts, “to which belong, besides the little rattling brewers’ waggons, the trucks and carriers’ carts / long distance and…

1. Origins and early examples The profession of chimney sweep (German  Kaminfeger; also: Kaminkehrer; South German for Italian  spazzacamino; Old Bavarian Kümich-/ Künikehrer, east of the Inn Rauchfangkehrer, North German Schlotfeger and Schornsteinfeger, Middle German and Saxon also Essenkehrer[3. 232 f.]) emerged in the course of the early modern era. As stone construction spread, along with multistorey houses and the use of black coal for heating (especially in London), the earlier use of open-hearth fireplaces without a flue g…

1. TerminologyThe term wages denotes remuneration for work performed for others (Wage labor), that is, for work done by an employee or the price of labor as a commodity. In the literature of industrial history, the term  wages sometimes also includes the piecework price (in the putting-out system) or the “master’s fee” (in the case of wage work), which the self-employed received from customers, merchants, or factory owners. In cases of clear dependency, however, this distinction could lose its significance in practice. In the literature of economics and industrial his…

1. Earliest formsSince around 1200, people would lay hemispheres of glass or gemstone (rock crystal, beryl) directly on a text to magnify it. As early as the 13th century, these reading stones developed into magnifying glasses, convex lenses with a handle held up before a reader’s eye. Despite durable legends and historical falsifications, the date of the invention of spectacles and the identity of the inventor are still unknown. At the end of the 13th century, spectacles were already being manufactured in Venice, distinguished as Latin  oculare (Italian  occhiale) from  lapides…

1. Concept and backgroundDiscussing the urban conflicts of the 14th and 15th centuries, 19th-century historiography, especially after 1848, coined the terms Zunftrevolution and Zunftunruhen, meaning “guild revolution” and “guild unrest” respectively (Guild). Gustav Freytag conjured the image of bourgeois guild craftsmen rebelling against the aristocratic patriciate [1. 116]. This perception of a democratic constitution replacing an aristocratic one implied the emergence of democracy from a revolution of the bourgeoisie [13]; [10. 51–53]. Marxist historiogr…

1. Definition Physically speaking, glass is a frozen, supercooled liquid. Its viscosity makes it easy to shape but susceptible to breakage. Its most important property is its translucency. Natural or mineral glass (obsidian) is produced by volcanic activity. Artificial glass is made by fusing a mixture of sand, potash and lime at a temperature exceeding 1,400 C (2,550 F) and then shaping it while it is hot and viscous. Small decorative items were already being cast in Egypt by around 3000 BCE, and…

1. Concept Innovation may be defined as a voluntary break with habits by the use of new processes or objects. Underlying it is a considered procedure that, being the result of an idea put into practice, also harbors a certain risk in regard to efficiency. Originally an English expression defined as follows by Joseph A. Schumpeter: “Innovation is a process by which new products and techniques are introduced into the economic system,” the word was borrowed into German as  Innovation, and in the 1960s it became distinct from the older  Neuerung (“renewal”, “improvement”) and the Latin  inve…

A graphite pencil for writing and drawing consists of a lead core inserted or glued into a wooden holder. During the Renaissance, artists were already using an elongated writing instrument alongside chalk, ruddle, and charcoal: a pointed wire made of an alloy of lead and tin, curved at the top – a precursor of the pencil. In 1540 the Italian calligrapher Giovambattista Palatino provided an illustration of “all the tools a good scribe uses” – including dividers and metal pens, but no pencils [3. 49]. In 1562, in his  Sarepta oder Bergpostill, a collection of 16 sermons preached …

1. Concept and research: Stoppage and strikeThe word “strike” was first used to denote a work stoppage in London in the mid-18th century, when sailors expressed solidarity with public demonstrations by “striking” (i.e. taking down) the topgallant sails of merchantmen in port. German borrowed the English word as  Streich (also referencing the verb streichen, “to withdraw” [labor]) in the 1860s. In both cases, however, the phenomenon predated the terminology. Collective work stoppages within an occupation, profession, or business with the aim of ex…

In the late Middle Ages and the early modern period, the major building materials were timber, stone, lime, sand, and clay. Their availability substantially influenced construction technology and architectural style (Architectural theory); over the long term, a shift from timber to stone (or brick) can be observed. The uneven geographical distribution of building materials and the high cost of transporting them made early modern construction heavily dependent on the particular  milieu naturel[12]. The surrounding countryside constituted the primary source of supply…

1. Products and distribution Tin was worked in Central Europe from the 13th century on by tinsmiths or “pewterers” (German  Zinngießer, “tin casters”;  Kannengießer “jug casters”). The foundation of the first pewterers’ corporations is documented in the 14th century (Guild). This small trade, which took hold only in cities to begin with (Crafts and trades), was often associated with ironsmithing (Smithy; e.g. the Kannengießer of Zürich from 1336). From the 15th century on, however, it tended to organize in its own corporations, for example, in Vienna (…

1. Concept and definitionThe importance of metals in the history of material culture is apparent from the very fact that several epochs of human history are distinguished according to the use of various metals. The Stone Age gave way to a “Metal Age,” which is in turn subdivided into the Copper Age (Chalcolithic), Bronze Age, and Iron Age. Periods or phases of marked prosperity are called Golden Ages, and the ancient poets Hesiod and Ovid already distinguished a “Golden” and a “Silver Age.” Metals …

1. Procedures and centersBecause leather has so many applications (especially for apparel, but also for technological purposes, for example in mining), it was in great demand in the early modern period, which led to the development of extensive leather production in Europe. Beginning in the late Middle Ages, the process of tanning (i.e. treating hides mechanically or biochemically to render them durable while also preserving their material properties) spawned important forms of specialization. Init…