Explore historically accurate guild wages, apprenticeship costs, and career earnings from 1200–1500 AD
Medieval guilds were among the most powerful economic institutions in Europe from the 11th to 16th centuries. An apprentice typically served 7 years — the biblical "perfect number" — before advancing to journeyman status. This term was codified in England's Statute of Artificers (1563), but the 7-year custom predates it by centuries. Wages were set not by market forces alone but by guild ordinances, town councils, and royal statute. In 14th-century England, an unskilled laborer earned roughly 1 penny per day; a journeyman mason earned 3–5 pence; a master craftsman could earn 6–12 pence. After the Black Death (1347–1352) killed 30–50% of Europe's population, surviving workers demanded — and often won — dramatically higher wages, triggering the Statute of Laborers (1351) which attempted (and largely failed) to cap wages at pre-plague levels.
Select your guild trade, region, historical era, and career stage. Adjust the slider to set how many years you want to calculate. Check the board & lodging box if the master provided housing (common for apprentices). The tool outputs total wages earned, equivalent modern purchasing power, and a full career cost breakdown.
Understanding medieval guild wages puts history in vivid human terms. A blacksmith's apprentice in 1400 England earned virtually nothing in coin — perhaps 1–2 pence per week at most — but received food, shelter, and invaluable training. By contrast, a journeyman after completing his term might earn 4–6 pence per day, enough to rent a modest room and eat well. Historians use these figures to reconstruct living standards, social mobility, and economic inequality in pre-modern Europe.
For historical novelists, game designers, educators, and students, accurate wage data is essential. A blacksmith master in late-medieval Cologne earned roughly 3–4 times what his journeymen made — not unlike modern skilled trades. The guild system created both economic security and rigid barriers: you could not simply hang out a shingle and call yourself a goldsmith. Mastery required fees, examinations, and a "masterpiece" — a work demonstrating your skill to the guild council.
The Black Death of 1347–1352 is the single most important event for medieval wages. In its aftermath, English mason wages nearly doubled within a decade, and the purchasing power of surviving craftsmen rose dramatically — a rare case of catastrophe improving workers' material conditions.
This calculator uses base wage rates drawn from primary historical sources including the English Building Accounts (1350–1450), Florentine guild records, and the work of economic historians E.H. Phelps Brown and Sheila Hopkins (wage series 1264–1954).
Formula:
Total Wages = Daily Rate × Working Days/Year × Years at Stage
Working days are set at approximately 250 per year (excluding Sundays and ~50 religious feast days — the origin of the word "holiday"). Board & lodging value is estimated at 30–40% of a journeyman's daily wage equivalent. Modern purchasing power uses the multiplier that 1 shilling in 1400 England ≈ £60–80 in 2024 terms (derived from the RPI deflator and wage-basket comparisons).
Most guild apprenticeships lasted 5–9 years, with 7 years being the most commonly stipulated term in English and German guild charters. Some elite trades like goldsmithing or surgery could require up to 10 years. The apprentice typically lived in the master's household, worked in exchange for training and upkeep, and could not marry or enter business for himself until the term was complete.
In some trades and cities, yes — particularly in silk-working, brewing, and certain textile trades. Paris had several all-female guilds in the 13th century. However, women were generally excluded from the more prestigious and lucrative guilds such as goldsmiths or stonemasons. Widows of master craftsmen often had the right to continue their husband's business and employ journeymen.
In medieval England, the standard currency was pounds, shillings, and pence (£ s. d.) — 12 pence to a shilling, 20 shillings to a pound. Most daily wages were expressed in pence (d., from Latin denarius). In France, the livre, sou, and denier were used; in Italian city-states, the gold florin and silver grosso were dominant. This calculator outputs in pence and shillings for consistency.
Guilds came under increasing pressure from the 16th century onward as market economies, printed trade manuals, and eventually industrial machinery undermined their monopoly on skilled knowledge. In France, guilds were abolished during the Revolution in 1791; in England, compulsory guild membership declined after 1624. They were often accused of price-fixing and blocking competition — charges not entirely unfair, as guild ordinances explicitly restricted entry to the trade.