Primerement al honourance de Dieu et touz ses Seyntes et pur excitac͠on les c͠oens des gentz a bien faire et perseverance avoir et bien faitz. . . . .
Firstly to the honour of God and all his Saints, and to stir up the commons of the people to do well, and to have perseverance in well doing. . . . .
Regulations were made enjoining charity, attendance at funerals and obits, against the enticing away of the servants of others, providing for the amicable settlement of disputes, and the like.
The articles above briefly referred to, contain nothing in particular as to trade regulation or inspection, leaving a pretty certain inference that they were made for the governance of a social and religious guild or fraternity. We shall presently see that in 1308, the Company partook of the nature of a trade guild, and we may therefore reasonably presume that the articles made in the time to which memory in 1388 did not run, were drawn up previous to 1308, and therefore without much hesitation we may assign the origin of the Barbers’ Company to at least the xiijth. century.
In the early part of the reign of Edward II, and indeed for a long while previously, the Barbers were practitioners in the art of Surgery; at all events they performed the minor operations of that craft, such as bleeding, tooth-drawing, cauterization, and the like.
The Barbers having been accustomed to assist the monks in the surgical operations performed by them in early times, acquired a degree of proficiency which enabled them to practise as Surgeons themselves. Up till about the xijth. century the practice of Surgery and Medicine was however almost wholly confined to the Clergy, who seem to have enjoyed the double privilege of curing men’s bodies as well as their souls. In 1163 the Council of Tours, under Pope Alexander III, considering that a practice which involved in its operations the shedding of blood, was incompatible with the holy office of the clergy, forbad them to interfere in any matter of Surgery; the consequence of this edict was that they gave over the operations of Surgery but continued to practise the healing art of Medicine.
As already said, the Clergy very frequently employed the Barbers as their assistants, and committed to them the preparation of the medicated baths and the performance of sundry minor surgical operations. No doubt the Edict of Tours was hailed with joy by the Barbers, who thus found a lucrative practice thrown in their way, and seized the opportunity of practising as Surgeons “on their own account,” calling themselves Barber-Surgeons, and practising both Barbery and Surgery.
c. 1307. The archives preserved at the Guildhall have many entries concerning the Barbers’ Company, and in Letter-Book D. 157B. there is an ordinance concerning the Barbers of London, which shows that at this time they were occupied in Surgery, and advertised their profession in an objectionable manner, which was very properly forbidden by the City authorities.
De Barbours. Et que nul barbier ne soit se ose ne si hardy qil mette sank en leur fenestres en apiert ou en view des gentz, mais pryvement le facent porter a Thamise sur peine des doux souldz rendre al oeps des Viscountz.
Concerning Barbers. And that no barbers shall be so bold or so hardy as to put blood in their windows, openly or in view of folks, but let them have it privily carried unto the Thames, under pain of paying two shillings to the use of the Sheriffs.