Guild

“ Very soon the little group from Sachs's reached the fête, and there they found a gala sight.
Many guilds had arrived and were constantly arriving. Colours were planted upon the raised benches which each guild occupied by itself. A little stream ran through the meadow, and upon its waters boats were continually being rowed, full of laughing men and women, girls and boys. As each new guild disembarked, it planted its colours. Refreshment stands were all about, and apprentices and journeymen were having great sport. ”

“ The only possible way to give a reasonably good idea of the spirit of the old-time guilds which succeeded in accomplishing such a wonderful social revolution, is to quote some of their rules, which serve to show their intents and purposes at least, even though they may not always have fulfilled their aims. Their rules regard two things particularly—the religious and the social functions of the guild. ”

“ In the outset, I beg to remind you that every important occupation has been made what it is by a guild--by an ancient guild whose history stretches back in direct or indirect succession to the farthest antiquity. Every such historic guild of artisans, scholars, lawyers, prophets, what not, rose, one may be sure, to meet some deep social necessity. ”

“ Numerous books and documents throw much interesting light on their professional ability and productiveness. The guild's moneys and important documents were kept in a safe—called the guild's chest—usually under double lock. There also the old seals of the guild were preserved, which bore inscriptions in German, Latin, or Polish, and, in the middle, the guild's arms, with the tools and insignia of the trade. ”

“ In the erudite and instructive work of Wilda on the Guild System of the Middle Ages (Gildenwesen im Mittelälter) will be found to be stated that guilds were associations of various kinds,—convivial, religions, and mercantile, and so on; and that places of assembly were adopted by them. A guild-house where eating and drinking took place, was to be met with in most villages in early times: and these, I fancy, were the guild-halls. On this head consult Hone's Every-day Book, vol. ii. p. 670., and elsewhere, in connexion with Whitsuntide holidays. ”

“ Thus the craft guild arose, not in antagonism to the merchant guild, but as a special agent of it. So, in the reign of Henry I., there came about the associations of the weavers, cordwainers, and fullers. By the end of the fourteenth century craft guilds were numerous, and in some places the merchant guild was superseded by them. In their composition the guilds were made up of masters, journeymen, and apprentices, from whom were elected the officers and assistances. Women were members of these craft guilds, although they do not appear to have taken part in the business administration. ”

“ In fact, every London trade of twenty men had its own guild. The guild secured good work for its members and the members maintained the reputation of the work standards of the guild. Bad work was punished and night work prohibited as leading to bad work. The guild exercised moral control over its members and provided sickness and death benefits for them. There was much overlapping in the two forms of association: the craft guild and the religious fraternity. Apprentices were taken in to assure an adequate supply of competent workers for the future. ”

“ The Armourers were one of the smaller companies of the city of London, yet the above-mentioned guild was not, I conceive, a trade guild. Most of those associations of artisans combined with the regulations respecting their craft or mystery others that made them partake also of the nature of the religious guilds which were then so numerous, and resembled benefit clubs in modern times; [2] but I think we shall see reason to believe, that this fraternity or guild of St. George was in reality a religious guild, though there may be some obscurity about the matter. ”

“ We shall only notice one guild more—the corporation of Printers, to whom we, in common with every Briton, owe such a debt of gratitude. A free press has always been acknowledged, and we trust ever may continue, the palladium of British liberty!
This guild, forming a magnificent and extended cavalcade, made a grand and interesting display; their ancient banners and standards borne in the van were tri-coloured, crimson, light-yellow, and blue. The first banner bore the legend, or motto, "Rex et Lex;" ”

“ The merchant guild could admit into their guild country villeins, who became freemen if unclaimed by their lords for a year and a day. Every merchant who had made three long voyages on his own behalf and at his own cost ranked as a thegn. There were also some craft guilds composed of handicraftsmen or artisans. Escaped bonded agricultural workers, poor people, and traders without land migrated to towns to live, but were not citizens. ”

“ The head officer of the guild usually controlled the borough, which excluded rival merchant guilds. A man might belong to more than one guild, e.g. one for his trade and another for religion.
Craft guilds grew up in the towns, such as the tanners at Oxford, which later merged with the shoemakers into a cordwainers' guild. There were weavers' guilds in several towns, including London, which were given royal sanction and protection for annual payments (twelve pounds of silver for London) . They paid an annual tribute and were given a monopoly of weaving cloth within a radius of several miles. ”

“ Every guild possessed, in one of the numerous churches, a chapel or at least an altar of its own, maintained and adorned at the guild's expense. Control was exercised over the members' regular attendance at divine service, and neglect of this duty was severely punished. At religious processions, like that on Corpus Christi Day, all craft guilds displayed extraordinary splendour; the members appeared corporately, in holiday clothes, and armed. The seniors, with badges and maces, marched ahead, followed by the brethren of the guild, in closed ranks, with ensigns spread and swords drawn. ”

“ The magnificent guild halls that remain in our day are monuments of the power and splendor of these organizations that made the towns of the later Middle Ages flourishing 4 centers of trade, of handicrafts, and of art. ”

“ Guilds formed a very important element in the town life of the Middle Ages, as almost all professions and occupations had guilds.
The craft guild embraced all the members of a craft—the apprentice, who was bound for service for a number of years to learn the trade; the journeyman, or skilled laborer, who received wages for his work; and the master, who controlled the journeyman and the apprentice. The function of the guild was to regulate and protect the craft and also to help one another and to care for the orphan and the widow and [Pg 275] the aged. ”

“ Leete, "if the workers had any suffrage to exercise, or anything to say about the choice. But they have nothing. Just here comes in a peculiarity of our system. The general of the guild is chosen from among the superintendents by vote of the honorary members of the guild, that is, of those who have served their time in the guild and received their discharge. As you know, at the age of forty-five we are mustered out of the army of industry, and have the residue of life for the pursuit of our own improvement or recreation. ”

“ But after the Conquest guilds began to multiply, and were established for the purpose of promoting religion, charity, and trade. There were the frith guilds, formed for the promotion of peace, and the establishment of law and order: [Pg 121] the religious guilds, which used to hold a festival on the day of the patron saint of the guild, attend church, and perform a miracle play. In the Liber Niger, or Black Book, of the Corporation of London, there is a description of the anniversary feast of the guild of the Holy Cross at Abingdon. ”

“ Division between the craft guilds.—One is sometimes tempted to say that the guild system had no worse enemies than the guilds themselves, so much bitterness did they display in their quarrels and recriminations. Town fought with town, and in spite of the efforts made by the central authority to unite them they had no idea whatever of agreeing or combining among themselves. Every one has heard of the interminable disputes which dragged on between the Hanses of Paris and Rouen concerning the navigation of the Seine. ”

“ Then, too, it was quite a common thing for the various trade guilds in a town to have a little chapel, or an aisle, or an altar in the parish church, which the guild undertook to keep up. One guild tried to outdo the others in this matter. All the craftsmen of those days belonged to a trade guild of some sort, and much good artistic work was done, which found a place in the churches.
99 People took a keen interest in their churches, and we find them leaving money towards their upkeep, towards making a statue, or doing some carving, or even keeping a light burning. ”

“ Ecclesiastics and women might also be members of the guild, but they were, of course, debarred from becoming burgesses.
The exclusive tendencies which the merchant guild developed made it really an oligarchy, and so there grew up [pg 175] in the towns an ever increasing population that did not share the guild privileges. As the town and its trade developed, the complexity of trade regulations made it a convenience to have guilds with specialized functions, to which the merchant guild might deputize its powers. ”

“ Each member of the guild was alike under the obligation to labour, and to labour in accordance with the rules laid down by his guild, and at the same time had the right of equal enjoyment with his fellow-guildsmen of all advantages pertaining to the particular branch of industry covered by the guild. Every guildsman had to work himself in propriâ personâ; no contractor was tolerated who himself "in ease and sloth doth live on the sweat of others, and puffeth himself up in lustful pride". ”

“ But it has always encountered obstacles which have arrested its progress. First there have been disagreements between those who favour the idea. Should the guild be optional or compulsory, open or closed? What share should masters and workmen take in it? Should it aim only at mutual assistance, or should it be competent to act in disputes between members? On the one hand there were those who were afraid of reviving the tyrannical monopoly of the old wardenships and on the other those who were afraid of forming, without meaning to do so, the framework for a socialistic organization of labour. ”

“ Thus, through their own failings, quite as much as through the action of unfavourable surroundings, the guild system dwindled away, till, near the end of the seventeenth century, it was little more than one of those worn-out institutions which live on from force of habit; [Pg 115] institutions which one hesitates to help in destroying, because it is difficult to know how they can be replaced, but so weak and tottering that they are at the mercy of the first shock. ”

“ This tendency to preserve craft monopoly led to other practices, and we find each guild jealously guarding its particular province against all intruders. Doubtless in those days an article was as a rule wholly produced in a single workshop, but it sometimes happened that an article had to pass through the hands of more than one craft guild ”

“ The guild of armourers are with us to a man; and we have been able to supplement our secret stores with all the treasure in the magnificent armoury which Messire van Beveren has placed at our disposal in the name of his guild. Aye! we are well armed and well manned! There are two thousand of us, seigniors, and our numbers will be doubled before noon to-morrow. The Duke hath brought ten thousand soldiers with him! well! it will be a three-to-one fight ”

“ These, too, after the Black Death period, increased in power and wealth. Each guild looked well after the interests of its own craft. It regulated the number of apprentices which a craftsman might have, the hours of work, the rate of pay; it made provision for helping its members in sickness and need; and it saw to burying them decently when they died. Guilds took a lively interest in their parish churches, helped sometimes in forming new schools, hospitals, and alms-houses, and had regular times for meeting together for business and for [Pg 143] feasting. ”

“ All the workmen, according to their trades, had to belong to companies called "guilds." Each guild had its own officers and made its own rules for looking {45} after its members; and it had to see not only that these members knew how to do their work, but also that they did it properly and charged a fair price for it. ”

“ If a member falls into misfortune his guild is expected to succor him and especially, if he dies, to look after his widow and assist his orphans to learn their father's craft. Each organization also has its own banner, very splendid, hung ordinarily beside the guild's altar, but in the civic processions proudly carried by one of the syndics, the craft's officers. To be a syndic in an influential guild is the ordinary ambition of about every young industrialist. ”

“ That “Necton guild” is considered as a superior establishment to a rustic fair, or other merry-making, by the numerous, respectable, and fashionable companies who generally attend from all parts of the neighbourhood. ”

“ They were, almost all of them, tall, sturdy boys, fine strapping dark fellows, recruited from all the castes of the island, from the farms of Zoudbertinge as well as the kennels of Klaarvatsch. The guild, being of a very democratic nature, mingled the sons of the most respectable citizens with the male offspring of plunderers of wrecks and shore vagabonds. ”

“ One of the most powerful and best organized guilds is that of the porters. The interior commerce of the country being almost 395entirely on the backs of men and pack horses, these people have the monopoly of it. They number about ten thousand, and are divided by provinces and districts under the orders of chiefs and inspectors. They have very severe rules for the government of their guild, and crimes among them are punished with death at the order of their chief. They are so powerful that they pretend that even the government dare not interfere with them. ”