The sophisticated glass vessels of the 13th century and the High Middle Ages were available only for knights and councillors, both in Central Europe and in the North. When the manufacture of green Waldglas went into quantity production in the Late Middle Ages, glass vessels spread to the tables of both peasants and ordinary town dwellers in Central Europe. In the northern regions this did not happen until the second half of the 16th century. In the Middle Ages, townspeople in the North owned maybe two or three or perhaps only one ceramic vessel and even less of glass. The rich owned more, of course, and in the 17th century probably a great deal of burghers already owned a glass beaker.
