History

• Blacksmithing developed in Europe over thousands of years and dealt with many different metal technologies, such as copper, bronze and iron. The presence of sophisticated metal-working specialists was important to the survival of people in Europe because blacksmiths made every implement from simple knives for hunting and skinning to the metal-tipped plows that allowed Europeans to practice agriculture. Most of the techniques originally used by blacksmiths in the early medieval period were handed down from the Romans, but were slowly adapted and improved over the centuries. For example, an early medieval blacksmith could be a fairly versatile artisan by producing swords, door hinges, or even smelting raw ore into iron ingots on any given day.
  The name "Blacksmith" refers to the dirty, sooty nature of the craft. Because fires must be hot enough to melt iron and other metals, furnaces were stoked with either charcoal or coal, which left sooty residue on the skin, hair and clothes of the blacksmith. Burning charcoal and coal also produced black ashes and smoke, coating nearby buildings and landscape with a layer of black soot. Later technologies addressed this problem somewhat, but the name stuck. Today, the name "Smith" is common because of the proliferation of blacksmiths in European society.
  
  

Function

• In the early Medieval period, blacksmiths often smelted their own ore. Smelting is a process by which the iron ore, which is an amalgam of rock, iron and other metals, is crushed and heated to a high enough temperature to melt the iron. The result is liquid iron with a "slag" coating of cinders and other impurities which can then be removed from the iron. After smelting, the blacksmith would craft items out of the resulting iron. Everything from door hinges, to chains, to nails, to scythes were crafted by the local blacksmith. Repairs to cooking pots and farm implements were also made by the blacksmith. Most villages, let alone larger cities and towns, would not be able to function without a blacksmith. Blacksmiths were also used to make metal items for local lords and nobility, as well as for the church. The chains and winches which raised and lowered drawbridges, the gates which enclosed cemeteries, and the shoes that shod horses were all crafted by blacksmiths.
  
  

Types

• There were several different "types" of blacksmiths as the need for specialization evolved. Some blacksmiths focused entirely upon weapon manufacturing and became known as "weaponsmiths." Through their specialization, weaponsmiths could produce higher-quality weapons with much more consistency than a generalist blacksmith. Weaponsmiths were almost always employed by a local lord, noble, or king in the making of swords, pikes, arrow heads, maces, and the gears for siege engines such as a ballista, trebuchet, or siege tower.
  Another specialized subset of the blacksmith was the armorer. Beginning in the late Roman period, armor came to rely more heavily upon strips or "bands" of armor and this trend continued in the medieval period. Different kinds of armor made by armorers included so-called "plate armor," in which large sections of steel and iron were crafted to fit a knight's body and provide excellent protection, "ring" armor, a series of rings sewn into a leather tunic, which was used by crossbowmen and other light infantry, and even armor for horses called "barding." Armorers also incorporated some of the skills of tanners and leather workers in the course of their work.
  Bellmakers and bell foundries are a direct outgrowth of the blacksmithing specialty, but rely less on "forging," that is where a piece of metal is hammered on an anvil, and more on "casting," where the shape of a product is determined by the mold into which molten metal was poured. Bellmaking in turn begat metallurgy and the crafting of cannons by the end of the Medieval period.
  
  

Geography

• Some regions developed a reputation for the quality of metal products made by their blacksmiths. For example, Damascus steel was considered one of the best metals available and its manufacture was such a closely-guarded secret that historians are still not completely sure how it was accomplished. Toledo, in Spain, was also known for the high-quality steel--and more importantly, swords--that were produced by weaponsmiths. Ottoman bellmakers produced some of the most intricate, and largest, cannons in the late Medieval period and were able to finally take Constantinople in 1452 thanks in part to a cannon that shot a 1-ton boulder up to 1 mile in distance.
  
  

Expert Insight

• Blacksmithing became more of a hobby than an actual profession throughout the 20th century, especially as cheaply-made, widely-available parts produced by machines replaced blacksmiths. Blacksmithing still exists to some degree in the 21st century, though not nearly as widely as it did in the medieval era. Collectors prize replicas of swords and other weapons that have appeared in films, television shows, or video games or which are in famous museum collections.
  Ironically, medieval blacksmithing paved the way for its own demise by producing increasingly more intricate pieces and becoming a highly-specialized profession. The gears which powered the first steam engines in the early 19th century were crafted by blacksmiths, as were many of the parts that went into the manufacture of early automobiles, all of which drew upon a body of knowledge refined and proliferated in the Medieval era.