Worst Jobs in the Middle Ages
The Treadmill OperatorThis job was mainly for the blind and you didn't want to be scared of heights with this job. The treadmill operator would walk in a hamster wheel-like structure on the tallest point of the construction site which is being built. This could be a cathedral or a castle. This job was so dangerous as the weather could affect this very easily depending how well it was constructed if it's a half-hearted job it will come crashing down.
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The Lime BurnerWhen building a mortar to build a cathedral lime is used. The lime burner was in charge of heating up the kiln which reached 1,100 degrees. When heating the chalk dust appears that can burst into flames. This dust can also suffocate you and this is especially dangerous when your with the kiln for 48 hours at a time.
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The FullerThe Fuller was a job in the middle ages where "the Fuller" cleaned wool to prepare it to be created into cloth. They would pound the with sticks or walk on it while is was wet to cleanse it and whiten the fibers. After this they would walk on this which gave them their other name of the walker. The reason this job was so unpleasant as the ammonia used in this process came from the urine in the fluid. More materials were added like fullers earth (ammonium silicate). This fulling process thickened the cloth as it felted the cloth which made it waterproof.
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The Leech CollectorDo you ever feel sick and mum comes and gives you some panadol? Well in the middle ages if you felt sick these so called doctors would normally stick a leech on you and call it a day. But how do you think they got so many leeches? Well for those unlucky people all they had todo was walk around in a stream until their legs were covered in leeches and just pull them off and put them into a bucket. These people were practically leech bait
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