IV.

The Craft Guild

An organization known as a craft guild in England and as corporation de métier in France, arte in Italy, and Zünft or Innung in Germany, came into existence about the beginning of the 12th century. In general, the craft guild arose when a group of artisans, imitating the example of the merchants of the city, decided to unite for mutual benefit. In some instances a group that had organized originally for religious purposes, and that had drawn its membership entirely from the artisans of one craft, began to stress aid for the economic rather than the religious needs of its members, and in time became a full-fledged craft guild. By the middle of the 12th century, craft guilds had been established in all parts of western Europe. In some cities the individual worker was permitted the right to join or remain out of the guild in his craft. In others, a guild would purchase from the municipality or the royal government the right to control its branch of industry, and in such instances everyone who desired to follow his trade in that particular city was compelled to join the guild. The members of a craft guild were divided into three classes: masters, apprentices, and journeymen. The master, who was a small-scale proprietor, owned the raw material and the tools and sold the goods manufactured in his shop for his own profit. The apprentices and journeymen lived in the master's house. The apprentices, who were beginners in the trade and learned it under the direction of the master, usually received only their board in return for the work they did. After an apprentice had completed his training he became a journeyman and was paid a fixed wage for his labor. In time a journeyman might become a master. Because it was to the advantage of those who were already masters not to increase their own number, the conditions under which a journeyman might become a master were always made difficult. After the 14th century the requirements became so severe that it was virtually impossible for any journeyman to become a master.

In the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries journeymen organized into associations of their own, the object of which was to obtain better wages and working conditions from the masters. In England such associations were known as journeyman or yeoman guilds, and in France as compagnonnages. They succeeded, sometimes by means of strikes, in somewhat improving working conditions and pay, but on the whole they did not greatly improve the economic status of their class. Because of their defense of the rights of labor, their strong control over the members, and the benefits provided, the journeyman guilds are considered the forerunners of the modern trade union.