Percepţia asupra muncii în Transilvania medievală
Perspectives on Work in Medieval Transylvania

Summary/Abstract: In order to talk about the handicraft activity, we must approach in the first line the problem of work. Let us not forget that the period we analyze is the Middle Ages in its second part, when all social realities were different. Let us not forget that we analyze a period when the church and religion played the most important role in the society, and that these dictated the way to perceive all the activities. Let us not forget that everything that surpassed the rigors established by the Catholic Church was considered to be heresy and that every side slip of the norms meant going to the stake. Work obeyed the same rigors as all the other aspects of everyday life. The time period we are analyzing, was just parting from what history calls Dark Middle Ages with all the superstitions it was carrying along. This period, on the contrary was much lighter, giving access to literacy – obviously just for some – but anyway, their percentage is rising. Reading and writing were privilege of the clergy, and Latin the communication vehicle throughout Europe. The culture these developed, contained all religious elements – vocabulary, way of thinking, esthetical and moral norms. Out of this profoundly religious culture, there were born certain material realities that entered the sphere of the handicraft, implying every-day life.

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