How did the profession and the status of goldsmiths change in the Middle Ages? This contribution first of all questions the relevance of the proposed chronology (11th-13th centuries) for analysing these possible transformations. After discussing the prominent position that goldsmiths are often granted among other craftsmen, the article finally invites to interpret the sources that inform us about these masters iuxta propria principia, and not only with the aim of extracting what one would like to be 'objective' data on the most illustrious of these artists