[CONTENTS]
| PAGE | |
| [Introduction.] By G. D. H. Cole | ix |
[CHAPTER I] | |
| Origin and Geographical Distribution | 1 |
[CHAPTER II] | |
| The Organization of the Guilds | 6 |
| 1. Various types.—2. The simple Guild and the complexGuild.—3. The half-democratic Guild.—4. Theapprentice.—5. The compagnon.—6. Women in theGuilds.—7. The capitalistic Guild. | |
[CHAPTER III] | |
| The Administration of the Guilds | 27 |
[CHAPTER IV] | |
| The Aims and Methods of the Guilds | 32 |
| 1. Economic aim.—2. Social and moral aim; thefraternity.—3. Political aim. Classification of theGuilds; their internal disputes. | |
[CHAPTER V] | |
| The Merits and Defects of the Guild System | 68 |
[CHAPTER VI] | |
| External Causes of Decay | 73 |
| 1. Change in economic conditions. The extension ofthe markets and large-scale production; division of producersinto classes; compagnonnage.—2. Change inintellectual conditions. The Renaissance. The Reformation.—3.Change in political conditions. The centralauthority is driven to interfere: (a) through politicalinterest; (b) through fiscal interest; (c) through publicinterest. | |
[CHAPTER VII] | |
| Internal Causes of Decay | 107 |
| 1. Division at the heart of the Guilds: (a) separationof the members; (b) subjection of inferiors to superiors.—2.Division between the Craft Guilds.—3. Vexatiousregulations. | |
[CHAPTER VIII] | |
| The Death of the Guilds | 116 |
| 1. Their suppression in the different countries ofEurope. They become the victims of: (a) “great”commerce and “great” industry; (b) the law of thereduction of effort; (c) science; (d) fashion; (e) neweconomic theories.—2. Action against them in England,France, and other European countries.—3. Survivals,and attempts to restore the Guilds. | |
| [AUTHOR’S BIBLIOGRAPHY] | 137 |
| [EDITOR’S BIBLIOGRAPHY] | 140 |
[INTRODUCTION]
TO THE ENGLISH EDITION
It is a curious gap in our economic literature that no simple introductory study of Mediaeval Guilds has yet been published in England. The subject is, of course, dealt with in passing in every text-book of economic history, and there have been several admirable studies of particular aspects of Mediaeval Guild organization, particularly of the period of its decay; but no one has yet attempted to write a short account of the system as a whole, such as might serve as a text-book for those who desire to get a general knowledge of the industrial system of the Middle Ages.
This is all the more remarkable, because to an increasing extent in recent years men’s thoughts have turned back to the Mediaeval Guilds in their search for solutions of present-day industrial problems. Nor is this tendency entirely new, though it has recently assumed a new form. The earlier Trade Unions often sought to establish their direct descent from the Guilds of the Middle Ages: one of the most ambitious projects of the Owenite period in British Trade Unionism was the “Builders’ Guild” of 1834; and, a generation later, William Morris, and to a less extent John Ruskin, constantly strove to carry men’s minds back to the industrial order which passed away with the first beginnings of modern capitalism.