Comparing Medieval Green Jobs of Yesteryear with the New Millennium Green Jobs of Today!

There has been such a spate of articles written on the web recently predicting the best “green careers” of the future that it got us to thinking about the “green occupations” of yesteryear – specifically during the Middle Ages – a time in which 90% of the population were farmer peasants tied to small plots of land owned by their feudal lords. There were, however, craft guilds and merchant guilds that provided a higher status and a better way of living but at the same time there were threatening outbreaks of the bubonic plague and wars which coupled with medical ignorance made certain eco-related jobs very dangerous indeed such as the “leech collector” and the “ratoner” or “rat catcher”. Let us now take a look at some of the environmentally-conscious jobs of medieval yesteryear and see which ones are comparable in scope to those of the “green-collar jobs” of today and our sustainable future.

1- Today’s “FORESTER” is yesteryear’s medieval “VERDERER”: An Official in Charge of the Royal Forest whose main duty was to protect the habitat of deer and boar for the crown.
2- Today’s “ECO FASHION DESIGNER” is yesteryear’s medieval “CLOTHIER”: A Clothes Designer for the Nobles that required having a knowledge of various fine and expensive materials
3- Today’s “LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT” is yesteryear’s medieval “GARDENER”: The Medieval Gardener’s work was critical to the safety and protection of his lord’s castle. He was responsible for the upkeep on the infra-structure and physical appearances of the lord’s castle and estates which included digging defensive ditches and keeping the castle walls clear of ivy and or anything else that could be used to climb the castle walls.
4- Today’s “VEGAN NUTRITIONIST” is yesteryear’s medieval “HERBALIST”: The Medieval Herbalist was usually a member of a religious order such as a Monk or Friar whose work included growing, cooking, boiling, drying, and steaming plants, roots, and herbs that were natural healing agents for maintaining and improving a person’s health.
5- Today’s “CLIMATOLOGIST” is yesteryear’s medieval “ASTROLOGER”: Many medieval astrologers were highly respected scholars who carried around special almanacs and star charts from which they could predict weather systems and the growth of crops for a local area.
6- Today’s “BICYCLE MECHANIC” is yesteryear’s medieval “LORIMER”: a Maker of Horse Gear adept a making small ironware.
7- Today’s “WASTE DISPOSAL MANAGER” is yesteryear’s medieval “RAG AND BONE MAN”: A medieval person who would travel down the streets with a wheelbarrow or horse-drawn cart into which people could throw their rubbish for a small fee or favor.
8- Today’s “GREEN INTERIOR DESIGNER” is yesteryear’s medieval “GLAZIER”: A medieval stained-glass artist who would cut, fit, and paint glass into windows and doors.
9- Today’s “ENVIRONMENTAL ARCHITECT” is yesteryear’s medieval “DRY STONE WALLER”:
A medieval person who would build stone walls utilizing stones taken from the fields and fitted together tightly without any cement or mortar to make boundary markers, field walls, or enclosures.
10-Today’s “SOLAR INSTALLATION TECHNICIAN” is yesteryear’s medieval “LAMPWRIGHT”: A medieval person who made and installed lanterns and lamps in medieval castles and lodges.

Note that medieval era jobs were a reflection of medieval era measurements – in many instances measurements were the same ones used during the height of the Roman Empire – hence it would take a few more centuries before scientifically-based measurements would truly have an impact on the development of environmental careers i.e. emissions management, wastewater management, toxicology, hydrology, and pollution control. As for the next generation of green-collar jobs, nanotechnology promises to be the next breakthrough in the development of tomorrow’s sustainable way of life. We can only hope that a regulatory framework to assess and control environmental risks of this technology’s atomic and molecular dimensions will be accompanied by prudent lessons learned from our past.