Italian-English Glossary of 15th century trades

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Nerida Newbigin has a very helpful glossary that starts out the index in vol. 2 of her Feste d'Oltrarno: plays in churches in fifteenth-century Florence, 1995. Vol. 2 is mostly transcriptions of documents pertaining to Florentine public dramatic productions during the 15th century; of them, the vast majority are account book lists, giving who was paid how much for what in relation to some aspect of the productions. There are over 700 pages of material, mostly these lists. In the index she identifies the people by trade when possible, to reduce ambiguity in identification. As an aid to the reader, she has a glossary of the Tuscan words used for these trades along with their English equivalent, a very helpful addition considering that many of these words are not in the easily accessed online dictionaries. Since in this Forum we frequently deal with such account book or inventory lists, too, and records of who owes what to whom, this glossary is of some potential use here. For my own use I have scanned the pages, run it through an OCR program and proofread it. Needless to say, I will be looking at the Index itself for its entries labeled "cartalaio", but for now I might as well put up the glossary itself. In actual practice, spelling may vary. For example, words spelled with a hard "c" below often appear spelled "ch". (I presume that Newbigin already corrected for that in her transcriptions.) Here is Newbigin:
Trades and professions, which identify individuals in the absence of family names, are given in Italian in the Index, because it is not possible to distinguish between, for example, a wool-worker and a wool merchant, when both callings are encompassed in the term lanaiuolo. The following is a list of the trades found:

alliciatore: one who sets the warp lines on a loom; weaver

bandieraio: flag-maker or standard-bearer
banditore: town crier
battiloro: one who makes and fixes gold leaf; goldsmith
beccaio: butcher
biadaiuolo: grain-merchant
bicchieraio: maker or vendor of wine glasses; glassblower
bilanciaio: maker or vendor of scales
borsaio: purse-maker
bottaio: cooper, barrel-maker
bottegaio: shopkeeper
brigliaio: maker of briclles and similar leather goods

calderaio: cauldron-maker
calzaiuolo: shoemaker
camarlingo: bursar, treasurer
campanaio: bell-maker
capo maestro: artisan-in-charge
carrettaio: carter
cartolaio: stationer
chiavaiuolo: locksmith, ironmonger
chierico: cleric, one preparing for the priesthood
cimatore: cloth-trimmer
coiaio: leather-dresser or leather-seller
coltricciaio: feather-bed maker
correggiaio: strap-maker, harness-maker
culicaio: vendor of horse tails and the like
cuoco: cook

dipintore: painter
donzello: youth, messenger
drappiere: draper, cloth merchant

fabbro: smith, blacksmith
fa-le-seghe: saw-maker
fallefuni: rope-maker
famiglio: servant, employee
farinaiuolo: flour-merchant, miller
farsettaio: doublet-maker
ferravecchio: dealer in old iron, second-hand dealer
festaiuolo: any person involved in putting on a festa; the person in charge of putting on a festa
fiascaio: maker or seller of flasks
fittaiuolo: tenant, especially of rural property
fornaciaio: furnace-worker or kiln-worker
[end 543]
fornaio: baker
forzeraio: maker of strong-boxes and coffers
fregiaiuolo: maker of decorations, embroiderer
fregottone: wool-worker [?]
funaiuolo: rope-maker, rope-seller

garzone: lad, apprentice
governatore: administrator
guaccbieraio: fuller, one who cleanses and thickens cloth

laldiere: see laudiere
laiuolo: wool-worker, wool merchant
lanciaio: lance-maker
lanino: see lanaiuolo
lastraiuolo: paver
laudiere: salaried singer of laude spirituali
legnaiuolo: cabinet-maker, carpenter, timber merchant
linaiuolo: linen-worker, linen merchant

maestra amaca: master hammock-maker
maestro de' novizi: Novice Master
magnale: see magnano
magnano: locksmith, coppersmith
maniscalco: farrier, smith
manovale: day-labourer
maestro di murare: master builder
materassaio: mattress-maker
mazziere: mace-bearer
mercaio: mercer, one who deals in general wares
merciaiuzzo: pedlar
mugnaio: miller
muratore: bricklayer, mason

notaio: notary

oliandolo: oil-seller
ogafo: goldsmith
orpellaio: tinsel-worker, one who applies a fine copper or brass sheeting to create sparkling effect
ossaio: worker in bone or ivory
ottonaio: brass-worker, brazier

paragliasini: donkey-saddler (?)
pelacane: tanner
pellicciaio: furrier
pesciaiuolo: fishmonger
pettinagnolo: comb-maker
pianellaio: roof-tiler
piffero: piper
pizzicagnolo: shopkeeper
seiling porkbutcher
pollaiuola: poulterer
portatore: porter
procuratore: procurator, the person administering the temporal affairs of a religious house
provveditore: steward
ragioniere: accountant
razzaiuolo, razziere: rocket-maker, master of fireworks
renaiuolo: sand-merchant
ricamatore: embroiderer
rivenditore: second-hand dealer

Sant'Abate: the festaiuolo in charge of a team of festaiuoli, with responsibility for one of the major areas of the play, at various times Heaven, Paradise, the rood screen, Earth, the Nugala
saponaio: soap-maker, soap merchant
sarto: tailor
scarpellatore: stonemaso[n]
segatore: sawyer, one who saws wood
sellaio: saddler
sensale: broker
setaiuolo: silk weaver, silk merchant
sonatore di suoni grossi: musician playing «loud» (brass) instruments
sonatore di suoni sottili: musician playing «soft» (woodwind and string) instruments
speziale: apothecary, dealer in herbs and spices
spia: spy, guard
stagnataio: tinsmith
stovigliaia: potter, dealer in earthenware pots

tess'-e-drappi: brocade-weaver
tessitore: weaver
tessitore di drappi: brocade-weaver
tiratoiaia: one who works stretching newly-dyed cloth
[end 754]
toppalachiave: locksmith
toppaiuolo: locksmith
torniaio: turner
trecca: costermonger, woman hawking cooked and fresh food
treccone: costermonger, man hawking cooked and fresh food
treganaio: hawker
trombetto: trumpeter

vaiaio: furrier, dealing especially in vair or squirrel fur
vende-l'-aceto: vinegar-seller
vinattiere: wineseller
In case there is something you want to check, here are the pages involved: https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BwSUHsN3rKQ/ ... ssons1.jpg; https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1bGQrU-7rr8/ ... sions2.jpg. I apologize for the way the scanner cut off the margin on the second one, but I think it is still readable.

No doubt there are other trades not listed, e.g. "cofanaio" (I assume someone who makes boxes that are stronger than those made by a forzeraio, which are pretty strong themselves; the word "cassone", of course, did not exist in the 15th century). Feel free to add to this list. Even other useful words that aren't names of trades.

Re: Italian-English Glossary of 15th century trades

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This list of names (boys, girls and family names) and there incidence from 15th-16th century Pisa also includes a list of trades at the end:

http://heraldry.sca.org/kwhss/2014/Juli ... y_Pisa.pdf

(Names and father's occupations from the baptismal records of 43,537 people baptized in the town of Pisa between 1457 and 1557)

You can browse the online archive here:
http://battesimi.sns.it/battesimi/

Including searhes on profession, for example 18 were returned for a search of paper sellers (cartaio), from 1477 to 1537, and 50 for painters (dipintore), including 4 records for the childdred of a Master Painter of Florence called Benozzo (name seems familiar for some reason ??? Oh, yes, the Magi Painter ?)

example of result for search on Father's name = Benozzo & profession = Dipintore:
Attachments
Benozzo.jpg Benozzo.jpg Viewed 4047 times 89.13 KiB

Re: Italian-English Glossary of 15th century trades

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Thanks. The database is too late for the time of interest, but I am struck by how rare the name "Dino" was: only 9 occurrences between 1457 and 1557, with none 1457-1461. It is not the rarest, as there are names with only 1 occurrence, but it is fairly rare.

Regarding the translations of the terms for trades, the discrepancies are of interest. "Banditore" means "town crier" in Newbigin and "auctioneer" in the other. I suspect the word applied to both. The terms are probably more general than either list would indicate. So a "cartolaio" would be a stationer, a maker of stationery, a card-seller, and a maker of cards. Maybe even, at this time, a maker of paper, i.e. a paper mill operator? Or a printer, early on?
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