Joseph the Smith and the Salvational Transformation of Matter in Early Medieval Europe

In early medieval Western Europe, Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, was identified occupationally not only as a domestic woodworker but also as a blacksmith, the most mysterious, powerful, and sacrosanct category of supernaturally endowed skilled crafting known to traditional nonindustrial societies. After reviewing skilled crafting and especially smithing as ritual processes, this essay considers typological identification of Joseph the smith as earthly parallel of the Deus artifex and as symbolic of the purifying (salvational) transformation of earthly matter (humanity) into a more rarefied (spiritual) state by fire as represented metaphorically by metallurgical processes. Aspects of the ideological climate of opinion encouraging such an identification in the early Middle Ages are also discussed.