The Secrets of Medieval Candle Making
During Medieval times, candle making was an important art. Since electricity had not yet been invented, the only interior light available came from torches, oil lamps, and candles. Cavernous castle rooms were sometimes lit by chandeliers fitted with candles.
Recent times have seen a renewed interest in the Middle Ages and Medieval times. It seems there is a great fascination these days with everything related to knights and their ladies and the renaissance
Candle Making During Medieval Times
Medieval candle making meant dealing with beeswax. Candles made during medieval times were made of beeswax secreted by bees as they built their honeycombs. Previously, candles had been made with animal fat, or tallow. The major disadvantage of using tallow was that it generated a lot of smoke as it burned. You could tell the minute you walked into a room whether the room was lit with tallow candles, because tallow-lit rooms were smoky rooms.
With beeswax candles, rooms could be brightly lit without being filled with smoke. Beeswax candles were a major advancement in interior lighting, and we owe today's beeswax candles to the medieval candle making craftsmen of the Middle Ages.
Make Your Own Candles - Medieval Style
If you want to make candles like the craftsmen who practiced medieval candle making, you'll need beeswax, a length of wool string for a wick, a stick to suspend the wick from, a drop cloth, a knife, a ladle or large spoon, and a cookie sheet.
Work outside if possible, because medieval candle making can make a medieval mess. Cover your work area with a drop cloth and melt the beeswax over a double boiler. Cut the wick to the length of your finished candle plus four inches. Tie the wick to a stick and balance the stick across two chairs or sawhorses so it can hang down into the wax pot.
Place a cookie sheet under the wick to catch wax drips. Using the spoon or ladle, dip the melted beeswax out of the melting pot and pour wax down the sides of the wick. Coat the entire length of the wick with wax. Let the wax cool slightly, and then repeat the process until the candle is the diameter you want.
Manipulate the wax while it's still warm to create a pleasant tapered shape. Be sure the wax is cool enough so you don't burn your hands. After you are happy with the shape of your medieval candle, hang your candle by the wick so the wax can harden. Medieval candle making included a bleaching process where the finished candle was hunt out in the sun where it faded naturally.
