Barbers and Sunday Labour Regulations in the Middle Ages

The issue of whether barbers could practise their trade on holy days was discussed throughout medieval Europe. Historians have realised this fact since Henry Riley’s 1868 publication of a letter by Archbishop Thomas Arundel from 1413 encouraging the London city council to prosecute barbers who worked on Sundays. This study places Arundel’s letter in its context and follows the London Barbers’ guild’s actions in regard to holy day labour throughout the rest of the fifteenth century, showing that the guild fought for ordinances prohibiting holy day labour.