Craftsmen In The Canterbury Tales

The Haberdasher

The “orphan pilgrims” of the Canterbury Tales appear to be quite interesting with their “geere apiked (365).” A snapshot of the guildsmen determines that the men were wealthy, apart of some type of brotherhood, and had wives that were socially upstanding. Now an argument arises when trying to decide whether or not the craftsmen were actually in a guild or not. Evidence supports my view that, not only were they in a guild, but it was legitimate, exclusive, and included only those with similar occupations.

A haberdasher was amongst the fraternity Chaucer mentions. During the medieval times, this hat maker was probably using a cloth called chaperon to make hats. Both men and women wore these types of hats; beaver hats

A haberdasher or any craftsman would join “for personal establishment” and membership also was “the most frequently employed means of claiming such status in local society (Rosser 10).” The fraternities served as a form of kinship and inclusion amongst

Due to his membership in a prestigious guild, his reputation and respect would have been commanded and expected. I would even go so far as to say that other than the knight there was no greater community or political force than those members of the guilds. Being a part of a society strengthened each one of them, especially professionally. Now, because of the fact that they are all men, Chaucer may have picked up on the issue of masculinity. However, the haberdasher would have also been a witty character. One that worked well with people and their preferences. He was a risk taker in that he did what it took to become successful. His General Prologue portrait would have gone like