St Machar’s Cathedral was built in stages in the 14th and 15th centuries.ĭuring the Middle Ages, there were friars in Aberdeen. The church was very powerful in the Middle Ages and its presence was everywhere. They would have spoken French.ĭuring the Middle Ages, the people of Aberdeen lived by fishing or by weaving, and dyeing wool or by working leather (some of them were skinners, tanners, glovers, and saddlers). In the 12th century, some of Aberdeen’s inhabitants were immigrants from Flanders (roughly modern-day Belgium). There were 4 main streets in Medieval Aberdeen forming a cross. That might seem very small to us but by the standards of the time, it was quite a large town. In the late Middle Ages, they merged together physically but they remained legally separate.īy the year 1200 Aberdeen may have had a population of around 3,000. In the early Middle Ages, there were actually two settlements, Old and New Aberdeen. The first mention of a provost of Aberdeen was in 1272. Aberdeen continued to grow and by 1264 it had a castle. (A document granting the townspeople certain rights). Finally in 1179 Aberdeen was given a charter.

Then in 1137 Aberdeen was given a bishop, another sign of its growing importance.

Exports from Aberdeen included salted fish, hides, and wool. One sign of this came in 1136 when the burgesses (merchants and craftsmen) of Aberdeen were given the right to charge a tithe (a tax of one 10th of all goods) on ships entering or leaving the harbor and by then it was a busy little port. However, by the early 12th century Aberdeen had grown into a town. Aberdeen was probably founded by the 8th century AD as a fishing settlement. The name Aberdeen probably comes from the word aber (meaning mouth of the river) Don. By Tim Lambert Aberdeen in the Middle Ages

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