How busy was an average blacksmith in the high medieval period? Just a normal village smith, not a specialty smith like armorers or swordsmiths for the elite? | AskHistorians Archive Observer

How busy was an average blacksmith in the high medieval period? Just a normal village smith, not a specialty smith like armorers or swordsmiths for the elite?

by LordCommanderBlack

I was thinking like a blacksmith in rural France, Germany, England, etc in 1200. Were they constantly having to produce new tools and repair old ones?

Did they have busy work forging together old scrap for fresh stock or making objects for the market?

Did they take saint days off?

voyeur324

/u/Hergrim has previously answered If I were a blacksmith in a small village in England in the 1300's how much of my work year would actually be smithing/taking care of the business and how much would be other necessary tasks not directly related to my job?

/u/ProserpinasEdge has previously answered I’m a blacksmith in a Vandal tribe close to Rome between 400-500AD. What’s my life like?

Medieval Europe is a very big place geographically and lasted a very long time. More answers remain to be written.

EDIT: More answers from /u/WARitter: