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Despite the common belief that rowers on medieval galleys were slaves, criminals, or prisoners, this view is more consistent with the Renaissance period.
Until the mid-16th century, the crews of rowers on warships sailing the Mediterranean were predominantly free men, called "Bonevoglie" in the Maritime Republics and Italian powers, and "Buenasboyas" in Spain. Initially, the Bonevoglie were young volunteers, between 18 and 40 years old, but as it was an incredibly tiring, burdensome, and dangerous job, which also required staying at sea for long periods, their recruitment became increasingly complex.
In Venice, when volunteers began to run short, they started recruiting rowers called Zontaroli, citizens conscripted by drawing lots among those who were members of the Trade Guilds (Corporations), with the obligation to serve for at least six months. However, the Zontaroli, coming from realities that had little familiarity with life at sea, proved to be particularly poor personnel and never fully established themselves. The guilds, rather than accepting being subjected to the random drawing of Zontaroli, agreed to pay an annual tax, and Venice often resorted to recruiting Bonevoglie in the Venetian possessions along the Dalmatian coast.
In any case, a general increase in the average standard of living made it increasingly difficult to find personnel willing to be hired for rowing, and those responsible for the Mediterranean navies began to employ a clever expedient.
"Raker" is a term that appears in 14th-century England to indicate a person whose job was to clean cesspits. The absence of a functioning sewage system made it necessary to periodically empty the cesspits to avoid the onset of diseases, and in the mid-14th century, at least one Raker was assigned to each district of London, who, after emptying the pits, was responsible for disposing of the excrement in the Thames or outside the city perimeter (cf. C. Sweet, "Richard the Raker", in A. Zimmer and L. Rathie (eds.), "Encyclopedia of Consumption and Waste").
The occupation of Raker could be very dangerous, both for the possibility of contracting diseases and for the state of the cesspits, which probably did not receive frequent maintenance. In London's Coroner Rolls of 1326, the death of a certain Richard the Raker is reported, who, while using the latrine he was working on, had fallen into the cesspit below following the breaking of the floorboards, ending up drowning in the excrement. Another term by which the Raker's trade was known was "Goungfermour", or "Gong Farmer".
ALEWIFE
In 13th-century England, legislative documents regulating the beer trade present terms with exclusively feminine endings to define the brewer, such as Pandosatrix, used instead of the masculine forms Pandoxator or Braciator. In the entry dedicated to the city of Hereford in the Domesday Book, there is also a reference to the tax to be paid "by anyone whose wife produced beer" ("cuiuscumque uxor braziabat"), implying that it was a predominantly female occupation.
The evolution that had led women to deal with beer fermentation probably stemmed from the fact that it could be a non-totalizing, non-specialized activity, easily performed at home along with all other household chores, originally carried out to satisfy only the needs of one's own family.
Any excess beer production had led some enterprising women to propose its occasional sale, giving rise to a trade that had turned into an additional source of income for the household economy.
TOWN CRIER
The town crier is an institutional figure that has its origins in various ancient world cultures, but our imagination certainly links it to the Middle Ages.
Over the centuries, various figures have had the task of informing the population of a settlement, in the shortest possible time, of important news and especially of the deliberations of the leaders of society. In the medieval context, very often the town crier was an officer of the city guard, whose task was not limited to loudly proclaiming deliberations and news but also patrolling the streets at night, making them safe, acting as a deterrent and vigilante, ensuring that the curfew, if there was one, was respected.
WATER CARRIER
During the Middle Ages, drawing from wells and drinking water springs in small villages was framed among the domestic activities performed by women or children, but in the larger centers of the Late Middle Ages, the increasing population density together with the arrangement of the sources useful for supply led to the birth of the trade of water carrier, whose job was to bring water from the nearest source (be it an artificial conduit, a cistern, or the river) to the homes of private individuals.
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