[31] So poor were the mediaeval bridges that the old prayer-books contained formulas for "commending one's soul to God ere starting to cross a bridge."
[32] The peasants were of two classes: (1) serfs, who were not free and who were attached to the soil, but unlike slaves had plots of land of their own and could not be sold off the land; and (2) villeins, who were personally free, but still were bound to their lord for much menial service and for many payments in produce and money.
[33] The Church originally held many serfs and villeins, as did the nobles. It began the process of setting them free, encouraging others to do likewise. In time it became common, as it did in our Southern States before the Civil War, for nobles in dying to set free a certain number of their serfs and villeins. These went as free men to the rising cities.
[34] The mediaeval guild was an important institution, and the guild idea was applied to many forms of mediaeval associations. Thus we read of guilds of notaries in Florence, pleaders' and attorneys' guilds in London, medical guilds and barber-surgeons' guilds in various cities, and of the book-writers-and-sellers' guild in Paris. In a religious pageant given at York, England, on Corpus Christi Day, 1415, fifty-one different local guilds presented each a scene. (See Cheyney, E. P., English Towns and Gilds., Pa. Sources, vol. II, no. I.)
[35] "The ready money of the merchant was as effective a weapon as the sword of the noble, or the spiritual arms of the Church. Very speedily, also, the men of the cities began to seize upon one of the weapons which up to that time had been the exclusive possession of the Church, and one of the main sources of its power,—knowledge and intellectual training. With these two weapons in its hands, wealth and knowledge, the Third Estate forced its way into influence, and compelled the other two (Estates) to recognize it as a partner with themselves in the management of public concerns." (Adams, G. B., Civilization during the Middle Ages, 2d ed. p. 299.)
[36] In Hamburg, for example, the city council established four writing schools in 1402, to which the church authorities objected. The council refused to give them up, and for this was laid under the ban of the Church, compelled to recede, admit that it had no right to establish such schools, and pay the costs involved in the contest.
[37] For example, the three most widely read books of the thirteenth century were Reynard the Fox, a profoundly humorous animal epic; The Golden Legend, which so deeply impressed Longfellow; and the Romance of the Rose, for three centuries the most read book in Europe.
[38] Despite all the criticisms one may offer against business, commerce has always been a great civilizing force. While not anxious to pay heavy taxes, the merchant has always been willing to pay what has been necessary to support a public power capable of maintaining order and security for property. Feudal turmoil, private warfare, and plundering are deadly foes of commerce, and these have come to an end where commerce and industry have gained the ascendant.
[39] As a rule a master craftsman might teach his trade to all his sons, but could have only one other apprentice who received board, lodging, clothing, and training, as one of the family. The guild still supervised the apprentice, protecting him from bad usage or defective training by the master.
[40] This required the production of a "masterpiece." This piece of work had to be produced to prove high competency. For example, in the shoemakers' guild of Paris, a pair of boots, three pairs of shoes, and a pair of slippers, all done in the best possible manner, were required.