1. Medieval Candlemaking

2. The Candle Maker
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 rushes
Around the 1200 candle making became a guild
The 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.

3. The Chandler’s Guild
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

4. 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

5. The Beeswax Candle Beeswax 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