What is a cooper in the middle ages?

Answer 1

They made barrels.

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Answer: a cooper made a wide range of containers including vats, buckets and casks. These were all "coopered", meaning that they were constructed of shaped staves of timber held together with a binding.

In the medieval period coopered vessels were not held together with iron straps but with "withies" - split thin branches of willow or other supple wood which was used something like rope to hold the wooden uprights tightly together. These withies would be pegged through into the timber to prevent them slipping out of place.

The bottoms of vats and buckets were closed with disks of timber fitted into internal groves cut in the staves; casks had these at both ends.

Many coopered medieval buckets have been recovered from wells in castles and other sites: sometimes larger coopered vessels were used to line the walls of these wells.

The main wood used in medieval coopered vessels was oak, but some beech, European fir and yew was used. In order to produce the familiar "barrel" shape the staves were soaked or steamed, producing only slightly curved sides on most medieval casks - later the technique of constructing the casks around a burning brazier was used to create a frar more curved outline (like modern barrels).

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Answer 2

A cooper was a craftsman who made and repaired barrels and casks.

Answer 3

Coopers still exist - they make barrels.

Answer 4

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