194. CIVIC INDUSTRY: THE GUILDS
FORMATION OF GUILDS
The Anglo-Saxon word "guild," which means "to pay," came to be applied to a club or society whose members made contributions for some common purpose. This form Of association is very old. Some of the guilds in imperial Rome had been established in the age of the kings, while not a few of those which flourish to-day in China and India were founded before the Christian era. Guilds existed in Continental Europe as early as the time of Charlemagne, but they did not become prominent till after the crusades.
MERCHANT GUILDS
A guild of merchants grew up when those who bought and sold goods in any place united to protect their own interests. The membership included many artisans, as well as professional traders, for in medieval times a man often sold in the front room of his shop the goods which he made in the back rooms. He was often both shopkeeper and workman in one.
COMMERCIAL MONOPOLY
The chief duty of a merchant guild was to preserve to its own members the monopoly of trade within a town. Strangers and non-guildsmen could not buy or sell there except under the conditions imposed by the guild. They must pay the town tolls, confine their dealings to guildsmen, and as a rule sell only at wholesale. They were forbidden to purchase wares which the townspeople wanted for themselves or to set up shops for retail trade. They enjoyed more freedom at fairs, which were intended to attract outsiders.
[Illustration: HOUSE OF THE BUTCHERS' GUILD, HILDESHEIM, GERMANY Hildesheim, near Hanover, is perhaps the richest of all German towns in fine wooden-framed houses. The house of the Butchers' Guild has recently been restored, with all its original coloring carefully reproduced.]
CRAFT GUILDS
After a time the traders and artisans engaged in a particular occupation began to form an association of their own. Thus arose the craft guilds, composed of weavers, shoemakers, bakers, tailors, carpenters, and so on, until almost every form of industry had its separate organization. The names of the various occupations came to be used as the surnames of those engaged in them, so that to-day we have such common family names as Smith, Cooper, Fuller, Potter, Chandler, and many others. The number of craft guilds in an important city might be very large. London and Paris at one time each had more than one hundred, and Cologne in Germany had as many as eighty. The members of a particular guild usually lived in the same street or quarter of the city, not only for companionship but also for better supervision of their labor. [12]
INDUSTRIAL MONOPOLY
Just as the merchant guild regulated town trade, so the craft guilds had charge of town industry. No one could engage in any craft without becoming a member of the guild which controlled it and submitting to the guild regulations. A man's hours of labor and the prices at which he sold his goods were fixed for him by the guild. He might not work elsewhere than in his shop, because of the difficulty of supervising him, nor might he work by artificial light, lest he turn out badly finished goods. Everything made by him was carefully inspected to see if it contained shoddy materials or showed poor workmanship. Failure to meet the test meant a heavy fine or perhaps expulsion from the guild. Thus the industrial monopoly possessed by the craft guild gave some protection to both producer and consumer.
ORGANIZATION OF CRAFT GUILDS
Full membership in a guild was reached only by degrees. A boy started as an apprentice, that is, a learner. He paid a sum of money to his master and agreed to serve him for a fixed period, usually seven years. The master, in turn, promised to provide the apprentice with food, lodging, and clothing, and to teach him all the secrets of the craft. At the end of the seven years the apprentice had to pass an examination by the guild. If he was found fit, he then became a journeyman and worked for daily wages. As soon as he had saved enough money, he might set up as a master in his own shop. A master was at once workman and employer, laborer and capitalist.
ACTIVITIES OF CRAFT GUILDS
Like the old Roman guilds, those of the Middle Ages had their charitable and religious aspects. Each guild raised large benefit funds for the relief of members or their widows and orphans. Each guild had its private altar in the cathedral, or often its own chapel, where masses were said for the repose of the souls of deceased members, and where on the day of its patron saint religious services were held. The guild was also a social organization, with frequent meetings for a feast in its hall or in some inn. The guilds in some cities entertained the people with an annual play or procession. [13] It is clear that the members of a medieval craft guild had common interests and shared a common life.
DISSOLUTION OF CRAFT GUILDS As the craft guilds prospered and increased in wealth, they tended to become exclusive organizations. Membership fees were raised so high that few could afford to pay them, while the number of apprentices that a master might take was strictly limited. It also became increasingly difficult for journeymen to rise to the station of masters; they often remained wage-earners for life. The mass of workmen could no longer participate in the benefits of the guild system. In the eighteenth century most of the guilds lost their monopoly of industry, and in the nineteenth century they gave way to trade unions.