Medieval Candlemaking

Candles have been used as a light source for at least 5,000 years.

Early candles were usually made from animal fat called tallow

Early candle wicks were made of rushesAround the 1200 candle making became a guildThe candle maker or chandler made candles for

people of all levels of society.Noble households would have their own chandler

responsible for wax and candles, as well as a special room called the chandlery where the candles were kept.

The Candle Maker

When candle making became a guild, candle makers would make candles from tallow

Around 1300 people found they could use beeswax to make candles

As time went on tallow chandlers and beeswax chandlers broke into 2 separate guilds

Both guilds were very completive and very secretive about their methods

Both types of candles had pros and cons

The Chandler’s Guild

The Tallow Candle•Tallow Pros • Ingredients were

easy to obtain• Ingredients were

cheap• Because they were

cheaper make more people could afford to by them

•Tallow Cons• Smelled like

cooking meat all the time• Burned quickly • Very smoky

The Beeswax CandleBeeswax Pros• Smelled sweet like

honey• Burned slower and

lasted longer• Not as smoky as

tallow candles• A better candle

meant you could charge more

Beeswax Cons• Difficult to obtain• Expensive

ingredients• Only rich families

and kings could really afford them