Artisans lived a decent life in medieval as they had stable work and made good income. The challenges were to become one in the first place:
- born in a town or city with many artisans; or if born in a village, willing and able to move to a nearby town or city
- need to be skilled or at least have the ability to learn the skills required to be an artisan
- find an established artisan willing to take you in as an apprentice
- join the local guild and be recognized as an artisan
- stay on the good side of the local noblemen, officials and church leaders as they will be your customers!
and the other ans about working with bad tools as well