Bakers

Bakers

From Wikipedia: "A baker is someone who makes, bakes and sells breads, rolls, biscuits or cookies, and/or crackers using an oven or other concentrated heat source."

Bread has been a very important role in the human diet since the first cultivation of grains. Bakers in the Middle Ages were often millers, milling the grains on their own to prepare flour for baking.

Both milling and baking were crafts governed by local craft guilds. Each village's guild had to determinate the price of bread as well as setting the quality standards that every baker in the guild had to respect. They were usually townspeople and they were allowed  earn extra money by lending their ovens to the nobles. They were strictly controlled by the guild; every violation, like cheating to a customer or lower quality than the standard, were severely punished. During times of famine, the monarchy could force bakers to sell their product at a lower price or, in extreme situations, it were confiscated and redistribuited.

Medieval bread was unleavened (the use of yeast wasn't widespread until the Reinassance). That kind of bread was particularly difficult to digest, so was made really thin, and it was usually used as a plate to hold the rst of the meal.

During the Middle Ages, bakers developed the first biscuits: they were bread baked twice,easier to preserve, suitable for long travels, war time and stored supplies for winter.