What status in society did cobblers have?

Answer 1

Cobblers are craftsmen who make and repair shoes. We know from a number of surviving tax and other legal documents from the period that this was a very common profession among town and city dwellers. Shoes were a universal need and likely wore out sooner than other clothing.

A cobbler would likely have been in the "middle class" of skilled craftsmen. A master cobbler would have a shop, likely rented, that was both his work room and store. Living quarters for him and his family would have either been room(s) above the shop or a house connected to the shop. While certainly not wealthy, they would have been secure and had steady income.

Journeyman cobblers would be cobblers who had finished apprenticeship but did not operate their own business, but rather worked for a master in exchange for a wage. They may have rented a simple house, shared a house with another family, or rented a room or floor in a larger house. While they were certainly not wealthy, by virtue of their trade and guild membership they would have had some security and a fairly stable, if basic, income. They would have been better off than those who did day labor, worked as porters or carters, or who lacked a trade and did unskilled or semi-skilled labor for a shop master.