CHAPTER III.
GILDS AND VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS.
At an early stage in the development of the English nation there became manifest a tendency for persons who possessed certain interests in common, to organise themselves into a species of club or association. To such associations the term “gild” has been applied. Mr. Toulmin Smith maintains that the early English gilds came into existence for the purpose of joining all classes together, for assisting the needy and promoting objects of common welfare. These gilds were inspired by religious motives, and were closely associated with the Church.[418] The first three English gilds of which records are now available, are those of Abbotsbury,[419] Exeter, and Cambridge. The earliest available statement of the purposes of gilds appears to date from 858, when the Archbishop of Rheims, in giving particulars of the gilds of that date in France states that they “unite for offerings, for mutual assistance, for funeral services for the dead, for alms, and for other deeds of piety.”[420] The number of these associations rapidly increased. Brentano states that at one time during the Middle Ages, there were twelve gilds in Norwich and Lynn respectively. Gallienus counts 80 gilds in Cologne, Melle about 70 at Lübeck, and Staphorst over 100 at Hamburg.[421] Gilds were so very numerous and so marked a characteristic of the social life of the period that it is not to be wondered at if exaggerated statements were made as to their number. “In Norfolk, the most densely populated county of England, Taylor is said to have counted no less than 909 gilds, and in Lyme Regis alone 75.”[422]
It is important to remember that the most prominent characteristic of gilds was the religious element. As a matter of fact it is impossible to conceive of any social organisation which was entirely divorced from religion, existing at this time. Hartshorn states “No matter what the specific raison d’être was of any gild, it necessarily had a religious aspect. Each had its patron, in whose honour candles were burnt. Some had as their object the aid of poor scholars, the maintenance of schools or the payment of schoolmasters, the presentation of religious plays, as even to-day that of Oberammergau in South Bavaria, or the repair of roads and bridges. The Frith Gilds had rules for helping the gild-brothers in every need. The statutes of the English gilds frequently mention loans made to needy brothers with but one condition, that it be repaid when there was no more need of it.”[423]
Before proceeding to consider the educational significance of the gilds, we may refer here, for the sake of convenience, to two subsequent developments of the gild movement—the gild-merchant and the craft gild.
In the years which immediately followed the Conquest the more important towns of England suffered greatly, partly on account of the chances of war and partly on account of the policy of castle-building associated with the English kings of the Norman period. However, as soon as the Norman rule was firmly established, an internal peace, such as had not been previously enjoyed, was secured for this country; the towns, consequently, made rapid progress, and in one commercial centre after another a gild-merchant was set up.[424]
A gild-merchant came into existence for reasons similar to those which brought into being the religious and social gilds. There was a consciousness of a community of interest, and a common object which could be secured more effectively through co-operation. It is foreign to our purpose to attempt to examine critically the origin of gilds-merchant, and so it must suffice for us simply to state that their history has been traced back to corporations of merchants and artisans, which existed in Rome under Numa Pompilius, and which were termed “collegia” or “corpora opificum et artificium.”[425] In France, the first gild-merchant was formed in 1070, and came into existence for the purpose of protecting the free townsmen against the oppression of the nobility. Gradually their number increased, and with the growth in their number their purposes became more clearly defined, and the custom developed that the gild should receive formal recognition from recognised authority. Thus the traders of Paris formed the “Hanse des marchandes de L’eau” and the privileges they claimed were confirmed by Louis VII. in 1170.
The first purposive mention of a gild-merchant in England dates from C. 1093.[426] The general line of development seems to have been that such associations gradually came into existence at various centres; they defined their purposes, their claims, and the exclusive privileges they desired. When a favourable opportunity presented itself, they secured from the king or other lords the grant of a charter which was necessary for legal recognition. Henry I. seems to have been the first king who systematically granted these charters; during the reign of Henry II., charters were obtained by many of the principal towns of the country, notably Bristol, Durham, Lincoln, Carlisle, Oxford, Salisbury, and Southampton; in each of these charters the recognition of a gild-merchant was an important feature.[427] Ashley writes: “In spite of the paucity of evidence, the existence of a merchant gild can be definitely proved in 92 towns out of the 160 represented at one time or other in the parliaments of Edward I. No considerable name—with two exceptions, namely London and the Cinque Ports—is wanting from the list. It is impossible not to conclude that every town, down to those that were not much more than villages, had its merchant gild. This fact of itself is enough to prove the great part it must have played in the town life of the time.”[428]