Cleric, Knight, and Workman Representing the Three Classes from Li Livres dou Santé (The Book of Health)

Maker Credits: Unknown French Artist

Date: 13th Century

Location of Production: France

Links:

• Cleric, Knight, and Workman Representing the Three Classes - World History EncyclopediaLinks to an external site.
• Links to an external site.- The Three Orders of Medieval Society: Those who Pray, Those who Work, Those who Fight - Medievalists.netLinks to an external site.

Examining The Questions:

• How was information design practiced and understood before printing?
• How do design choices influence societal perceptions of socioeconomic classes?

Examination:

Before printing became widespread, information design was commonly practiced through handwritten manuscripts that utilized symbols, illustrations, text, and visual organization to communicate information. Cleric, Knight, and Workman Representing the Three Classes demonstrates this by separating medieval society into three recognizable social groups: the clergy, nobility, and the working class through organized and structured images separated by distinct visual elements. It was used by the people of Medieval times to distinguish people into different classes based on occupation. Being from a Book of Health, which were commonly used to advise households on proper health management, it can be deduced that this work was included for all owners of the manuscript to have a similar understanding of how people should be divided by class.

Rather than relying on written explanations, this piece uses appearance and symbolism to communicate which societal class each figure fell into. The cleric is identified through religious clothing, the knight through his bold colors, armor, and shield, and the worker through his simpler clothing and tool. These visual choices allowed information about the structure of society to be quickly communicated through recognizable imagery. The placement of all three figures together turns the illustration into a visual information system through which people could be categorized. 

This connects directly to how design influences societal perceptions of socioeconomic class. By reducing society into clearly defined visual categories, the manuscript shows social hierarchy as an organized and understandable structure. Each class is associated with specific imagery and occupation, which could reinforce expectations about where certain people "should" be placed within society. This image shows that even before printing, information design was used not only to organize information but also to reinforce stereotypes and public perceptions around different topics.