Jason Kingsley, the Modern Knight, discusses strange Medieval Guilds, an early form of trade association and the powerful urban system they created in medieval towns and cities. Join this channel to get access to perks: / @modernknight
I completed an apprenticeship as a painter on stained glass and porcelain. In Germany, the apprenticeship for each trade now takes three years and if you pass the final exam and the journeyman's work is accepted, you receive the journeyman's title. I am a journeyman glass painter now and although there are no longer any craft guilds here, I am entitled to use the coat of arms of the German painters' trade. This is a red shield on which three small silver shields are arranged in a triangle shape, with two at the top and the third at the bottom.
I envy you.I've been making stained glass for nearly 30 years and have done a bit of glass painting .I'm strictly self taught.It is a really difficult art to master.Unfortunately the demand for glass painting is very limited here in Australia .
That is epic! I took a blacksmithing class for a week a few years back and i thought that was pretty brag worthy🤣🤣🤣 I’m very impressed with your dedication to those trades. Please keep those skills alive in your life
@@user-zq5wp5mk4vFun fact, hatters in the 1700s and 1800s used mercury in the process of making hats which would put them at risk of mercury poisoning which causes brain damage that results in various symptoms such as twitching, slurred speech and mood disorders that made people believe they were crazy. It was called Mad Hatter Disease. Just another one of many things in history that makes you wonder what we're doing today that is harming us that we haven't yet traced the cause to out own technology, because pretty much every period in history has a great number of these.
When I was working on my genealogy I came across a case where a man died, and the people of his town were responsible for ensuring that his family survived. One of the things the town did was arrange an apprenticeship for the oldest boy with a highly regarded blacksmith. From what I've read, such apprenticeships often cost money, and in this case the town covered the cost.
I remember from my history class that later in the guild system fees to join were introduced which barred some from joining as they increased their monopoly, so that there were some that had better skills than a guild master, but were unaffiliated. I think being a freeman of the city didn't become such a big thing anymore etc, the power of a guild to stop others not doing a trade decreased and they became more exclusive.
No, no, no they were just trying to stand up to big-hat-industrial-complex and the men-in-black-hats were clearly trying to discredit these brave truth-hat-seekers!
In the kingdom of Hungary the guilds vere often in charge of maintaining a part the city walls. To this day you can find things like "tailors battlement" or "tanners tower" deriving its names from the guilds that build them and took care of them. Many churches have side altars or stained glass windows donated as a collective gift from some guild.
im a farrier. i started about 5 years ago, inspired by the master apprentice bond and living closer to ancestors as they did. its definitely a different mindset in the work environment apposed to a more modern job. theres a lot of comradery and your name means everything.
I am a tradesman, and in some trades it's feast or famine. During some times of year there's so much overtime that you'll never see your family, and during other times there's basically no work. I don't know how things were in the Medieval period, but it can't be much different for some tradesmen back then. So I can see why guilds would be valuable for their support of their members during slow periods.
I'm a gardener in the trade of growing potted plants. We have that big, but at least it's predictable. March to May it's regular overtime every week, then there's a big slump June and July, and we're basically closing down during December and January. But at least we're working in greenhouses with automated watering systems. II imagine the farmers have it considerably worse with their grain fields.
I've come across sources where they calculate the labouring people only worked (as in employment) for 14 weeks of the year and hence were available to contribute to the building of civic buildings such as churches and cathedrals. (the latter would be voluntary )
I think Jason has another video referencing 'duel traded' people, for want of a better term. Performing one trade in summer using the light and another in winter when conditions do not allow the first. Quite interesting and maybe not as common these days. Perhaps more common with young people working in holiday summer jobs and then working a ski resort in winter.
Journeymen did have to go on a journey, a Walz, to become a Master (at least in Germany). They had to work for five different Masters for a minimum of one year each, and those Masters had to be based a minimum of 50km (31miles) apart from each other. This is to give the Journeyman experiences from outside their local region and become Masters of their craft. To this day, in Germany, Craft Journeymen have to be working in their craft for 5 years before they are allowed to start the training process for becomming a Master (basically, business management school for small businesses), but for most part, they no longer have to go on the Walz. Many towns and cities still to this day have bording homes for travelling journeymen, called Kolping Haus, named after the founder of the hostel chain, who didn't want Journeymen to suffer homelessness like he did during his Walz.
@@sebastianlucius1259 It's not. "Journeyman" comes from the French "journée" which means "whole day" because they were paid a daily wage. It has no connection to the English word "journey" and the spelling is a coincidence.
The Anglo-Saxon Frith was a way of maintaining order. Once a boy reached maturity he was initiated into his frith. This would be a group of about 10 men who were held responsible for each other. (If one misbehaved they all got punished.) They would range in age from what we could consider a child to the oldest man in the village/town. This was peer pressure used to ensure orderly conduct.
I think this idea but where everyone including the wrongdoer is also rewarded for outing them would work very well today, how could you be mad at your frith for snitching if you also profit a little in the end not so much that its encouraged ofc
@@KwadDamyjthe more apt analogy would be to the Roman _contubernium_ ,a grouping of 8 legionnaires plus two supporting slaves who all shared a tent on campaign ; the punishment of decimation involved each _contubernium_ drawing lots for the one unfortunate soul would suffer the _fustuarium_ at the hands of his tent-mates.
@@Takame7 sure, if you like authoritarian systems that tamped down anything that was considered "out of order" and maintained a status quo based on what exactly? What a bunch of old men thought was appropriate? Probably worked well enough for the period but yeah, no thanks.
Hello Jason, I know what our family role was back in Medieval Times as our surname is Sparshott. In old English it was Speresholt which means shafts which were made from wood which were used for Spears so we were Spear makers. I think this would gave been a good trade considering the amount of conflict in the Medieval times + we wouldn`t have been used for the actual fighting as we were supplying the Weaponry to our Lord. 🙂
I was not expecting to hear my job come up, but I guess it makes sense. Scrivener work has been needed as long as bureaucracy has existed and nobody wants to deal with that for free xD.
Another winner! As a Genealogists, I'm familiar with the 7-year Indentured servitude contracts and the bound apprenticeships of Colonial America. Now I know where the idea came from. Another thing that moved across the pond early on. We'll done!
My parents signed indenture for me when I started work apprentice. i was16 it lasted still I was 21 years old on reduced pay. This was back in 1971 we had to pass 2 City and guilds exams as a minimum to get full pay
@@evanray8413 they can be a thousands years old but some still operated the indenture system up into a few years ago . I've had apprentices. the best one was an adult with in a year of doing the 18 month course he had a job with the local council and 6 months later he was the supervisor. I've had a few that did make past the 3 month mark. Said it was boring they must have been watching confessions of a plumber
Many young European men who went to North America in the late 1940s and the 1950s to work for farmers were indentured servants who had to work without wages until they paid off their fare. Since the wages were very low anyway, this period was quite long, and because they didn’t speak the language and the farms were often quite remote, running away wasn’t an option.
@@geoffpriestley7310something like this still exists in some countries like Germany and Austria. For example in Germany they still have this 2-tier system, so you have to do one exam to become a journeyman (Geselle in German), which is enough to be employed in the crafty and another one to become a master (Meister) for which you also have to learn accounting and a bit of economy (but also sometimes deliver a masterpiece) and with that you can open your own company. The main difference to the old guilds is that the power of the modern equivalent is greatly reduced, especially the state regulates what they can do and what crafts they cover and how long apprenticeship takes (usually 3 or 4 years), they have no power in your private life and if they sanction you in some way (which they can do for illegal business practices) you can go to court. Also you don't vote individuals into the councils, but lists, and not only masters are allowed to vote (though 2/3 of the votes are reserved for employers, so employees are essentially powerless im them, but they have trade unions).
And over in Lübeck, the merchants guild had hired mercenary armies on their payroll and once send a raiding fleet to Copenhagen to raze the Danish king's castle.
Unlikely, as millers didn't have guilds as they were seen as outcasts, similar to executioners. Even their kids weren't allowed to join other guilds therefore ;)
I'm a member of a modern guild, The Animation Guild in Los Angeles. Started as a trainee/apprentice (after going to art school) and worked my way up to journeyman. All the big studios have contracts with the Animation Guild. The guild looks out for the artists, the studios would have us work for nothing if they could.
These guilds sound like state bar associations for attorneys. They seem to be exactly the same thing. Pay dues, set standards, make rules, dole out fines for noncompliance, protect the public and the profession's reputation in the community, etc.
As a law student with a deep seated fascination for medieval history this is so informative on many levels. ❤ this channel!!! Thank you so much. ❤from NZ 🇳🇿
@@MarvelDcImage In some terms yes. In Portugal the training used to be paid or unpaind. My was unpaid. The lawyers have specific social welfare, which did not cover in case if you get sick. sometimes I jock that the medivel guilds would procted more members than the portuguese welfare which are provide the welfare fund that lawyers are cumpulsory to pay every moth.
Depending on which profession you choose, you still have the opportunity to be a journeyman here in Germany. Especially woodworkers still do it, though it has become way less common nowadays, of course. They always stand out on the street because they wear their traditional black corduroy clothes. We call them "der Wandergeselle" or just "der Geselle", which equals the rank of journeyman in the trade hierarchy, though there are a couple of regional names, too. According to Wikipedia it seems to even be part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO since 2015. It can be compared to a foreign exchange year: Learning new techniques, training your social skills, making connections with people, learning independence, and so on. According to the people I've talked to, it can also be pretty straining, though. Still, it's certainly an experience that can shape the course of lives.
American Unions have them, too. I enjoyed feting a building engineer friend at his graduation to Journeyman in the International Union of Operating Engineers.
Yeah, I bet more than a few of them got a job that way - doing the Walz, train at a place, the Meister teaching yo udecides to retire and has no heir interested in taking over... and/or maybe married that way.
@@missioncomplete420 I think that may have been the case with early unions, but today I think they're more lobbyist groups that grew out of those local unions as travel became cheaper and easier. I don't think the modern iteration of unions is all that great, to be honest. They're as big a recipe for abuse of power and corruption as government itself.
Very interesting to learn about the Guilds and how important they were. As you say being an apprentice could be hard but a roof over your head and food in your belly was a big plus then I’d imagine. Gong farmer and nightsoil- how wonderfully polite terms!
Great topic to discuss!!! I love the idea of Wild Hatters making bad hats for adventurers honestly, haha! It seemed to me that if the guild system had perhaps been refined a bit more, there could have been groups like that for sell-swords and other unusual professions. I think one reason the idea of adventurer's guilds is SO popular, too, is that it gives a way for the highly chaotic effects of adventuring to NOT wreck the local countryside and local economy, haha. You bring your loot to the Guild, and *they* handle whatever needs to be done with it (whether that's acting as a fence or something simpler). I recall reading a book on 1500s France, and being astonished at the huge list of something like 75 guilds present in the city. (Can't remember now if it was Paris or not, I read this over thirty years ago!) And it made me understand even more how specialized certain things could be - that there were guilds for no less than eight different "stages" of cloth-making, which a fantasy setting would simply lump all together under "Weaver's Guild." But it was VERY plain that the people of the 1500s did not see the process of cloth making as all one big streamlined arc of industry. It really got me into examining all those things we modern folks take for granted, from the bits of lace on a garment to the shapes of candles to well - you name it, it probably has roots somewhere in the medieval/early modern transition! And the guilds must have influenced a lot of what we see as normal.
Probably Nime. Cloth manufacturer was very big there in the medieval period. And, yes, the people definitely did not view each step or process of Mali cloth as part of one big happy community.
Outstanding historic snapshot of the Medieval Guilds and their enduring influence into modern times. Thank you for the wonderfully enjoyable video presentation as well. Best regards from "across the pond". 🇺🇸 🌎 🕊
As a Master electrician, all I had to do was take another test a year after my journeyman’s test. A modern master’s license doesn’t mean anything in regards to skill, but it is importan for various business/legal purposes. I wish there were more skill based assessments for journeymen and masters. As it is, there are kids taking electrical classes I high school and graduating as journeymen with no skills or experience. Years after obtaining my master’s license, I feel like I am a master now, but there’s really nobody to assess that.
Guilds also played an important role in medieval militaries. Guild members formed the town militias and armed themselves according the the requirements of their guild. When towns fulfilled their military obligations to their ruler (king, duke, count, prince), the guild members went to war. The guild members of some towns would hire themselves out as mercenaries to fulfill the obligations of another town.
In many cases Journeymen were supposed to travel for a few years and learn new stuff, see new things. This tradition still exists to this day for some crafts especially in Germany where is called Wanderjahre.
I’m a drain tech, a roto-rooter guy if you will. My profession is definitely a descendant of the gong farmers. We still do well. The guys who deal with septic tanks are the true heirs though.
@Modern History TV - Canadian high school teacher: LOVE your videos. I use them in many of my school lessons. This one is wonderful as I don't have one for guilds. Going to use this video. THANK YOU!
A mages' guild actually makes perfect sense in worlds where wizards do work for hire. It's a highly skilled job that provides extremely well paid services. And it probably is full of huge egos and pride, combined with the ability to cause considerably damage to the city. It's absolutely in the wizards' best interest to enforce regulations to prevent wizard feuds giving a bad reputation to the entire profession. "Thieves' Guild" probably started as a euphemism for organized crime. They don't have masters and apprentices, councils, or regulations for work standards. It's simply about "you got to give the local boss a cut of your earnings or you'll get shanked in the gutter".
We had a similar system in German towns too. Although Gilde (guild) refered only to merchants, while a craftmen's union was called Zunft (medieval expression for "something done the proper way", "fitting" or simply "according to the rules"). In the 19th century the Zunftzwang ("guild obligation", you couldn't work in your profession unless you were a member of your local Zunft) was lifted and since then trade unions are called Innung (an old expression for connection). Many craftsmen like plumbers or electricians still organize in a local Innung. The controlling instance (aprentice and master exams, work quality) is done by so called chambers (Kammer) on a regional or federal state level.
It’s always fascinating taking stock of how far worker conflict with “foreigners” goes back…even when said foreigner was some bloke a half-day’s journey up north
I have been watching this channel for a long time and watching it grow too! I am so thankful for the history you teach, your positive, uplifting attitude and just the overall enjoyment of the channel!
My Scottish ancestors were Rankins as part of the MacLeans, not sure about my English side but I DO know they were the Horne surname. The Rankins were distillers of fine whisky and it seems the Hornes did just about every profession from cobbler to soldier and everything in between. All in all, good "salt of earth" folk, craftspeople and humble tradesfolk, I have nothing but pride in thinking of them. I'm an amateur smith, and spent a good chunk of my life as a fishmonger/butcher and baker as well as my best years as an Army Ranger, Pity I never picked up candlestick making, could have scored the Holy Trifecta! Hopefully my ancestors look upon me with pride for carrying on in their fashion. The closest "Guild" I've found in modern times was the training I went thru as a butcher, we had the classic Apprentice/Journeyman/Master rankings years ago, but nowadays everything is pre-cut and packaged, the young guys don't even know how to pull the chain on a tenderloin or remove the silverskin, let alone know how to skin a salmon without a knife (sigh). I'll always be thankful to the old neighbor I had who taught me the basics of smithing, that mentor/apprentice relationship is a special one.
As you were describing guilds in the medieval times I am reminded of modern labor unions (at least in America, where I live). Except having armies. But the similarities are great. Establishing a standard of quality, promoting training of members and apprentices, negotiating with "royalty," insuring their own members, civically engaged, and so on.
Well, the armies was probably about the Hanseatic League, where they ran the cities (a city had to leave the League when the local noble/bsihop took it over again).
Unions are very different from guilds. (Despite some American unions calling themselves guilds.) A union is an association of employees for collectively bargaining for acceptable labor conditions. A guild is an association of business owners for suppressing competition from outsiders and fixing prices.
@@walkir2662not just. In cities with guilds, at least in the holy Roman empire, the guilds had to be part of the cities military. Sending members as soldiers or paying mercenaries to do so. Often they had a specific part of the city wall they had to care for and defend. That's why citizen in "German" cities (and even wealthy farmers outside) were armed to the teeth. Depending on income there were regulations on what type of armor and weapons they had to own. Those times were even for all female guilds, like the weavers in Cologne or Frankfurt I think. Even though they didn't had to fight themselves, they were expected to pay soldiers
Guilds in the HRE and modern Germany As for social stuff I know about their HRE versions, they organized Masses for the members and had their own tavern (rooms), which often (it's the HRE...) even served as organizational sub units. And also meant traveling guild members (apprentices, for example - you occasionally see someone go so traditional they travel the country in the guild’s “uniform” to learn from different masters. Obviously hasn’t been required for a century, but it’s apparently still useful as it became relevant again in the 80s?) didn't need a "public" tavern. Crossing the Guilds... yeah, some places lost influence because industrialization was prevented *way* too long. Even in Germany today, the old guild structure still partially exists - and not just in the entire vocational training with apprenticeships being at least as important as universities. The ranks of apprentice (Lehrling), journeyman (Geselle - which is when you travel for 3 years or so. I though that’s were English “journey” in journeyman comes from; sometimes had their own unions to balance out the masters) and master craftsman (Meister) are very relevant; you need to pass your apprenticeship to become a Geselle, then graduate a special school that includes business and legal training to become a Meister and train apprentices. It even counts as a bachelor’s degree and some jobs even require being a Meister to open a business today - and after liberalization, it was recently agreed to reimplement it for a dozen jobs because quality suffered too much. ...you could argue goldsmiths turned into bankers? The master goldsmiths would be very intrigues by that idea...
Preston, Lancashire has been holding a Guild Fair since 1179 and since 1542 it settled to approximately every 20 years except for 1942 when the war intervened and the Guild was moved to 1952. The Guild Court still convenes every 20 years and freemen confirm their name on the roll and also included the names of their offspring in a new roll. The town has a Guild fair in September when the Guild court is officially opened for 2 weeks when many attractions and functions take place including trade floats in large processions. The Guild courts closure is announced after two weeks and the process of arranging the next Guild starts again.
Thanks, great video! I like how you slowly introduce us to your castle 😃 You have a beautiful chair, quite like it was made by a talented member of the Throne Makers Guild. I just wanted to add that the various guilds also had defensive duties to the city and their members were required to do military exercises. In medieval Krakow, each guild was assigned a piece of the city walls, which it had to defend in the event of war or armed invasion. Particularly powerful guilds even had their 'own’ towers within the city walls: the Shoemakers‘ Tower, the Saddlers’ Tower, the Needle-makers‘ Tower, the Passamonics’ Tower.... Some of these have survived to this day.
Sure there were abuses and injustices according to the modern view but there were strict rules against them. Regarding the "guilds" in Italy that had other names, I have read many times about a motto "Burdens and honors". ( "Oneri e onori" it's difficult to translate. Burdens in the sense of duties of the leaders and honors in the sense of money and power) As you said the leaders had the duty to educate and support apprentices and members and only if their actions were "right" could they have the honors. At least in theory. Nowadays we might need to move things towards this type of balance again.
Perhaps apprentices didn't get paid by their masters, but still got an allowance from their families? Most guild apprentices came from guild families, and so I imagine many of them would have enough money to let their kids have spending cash.
I recently watch a video about the Goldsmiths Guildhall in London. It went over the history of the site and that three subsequent buildings have been built on it over the years. Then they gave a tour of some of the rooms in the current building, which were quite spectacular! And it was my understanding that in addition to being the site of their regular business, the rooms can be rented for events like weddings. It was a very interesting history.
You might just be someone they outsourced the production. If I correctly remember they started outsourcing spinning and maybe weaving very early on. They basically bought the stuff from farmers directly. Where probably the women did the spinning as a past time, as the saying was "the fingers off a woman should never stand still" :D
Warden: "Mr Hatter, we've had a complaint about this terrible hat. Are you responsible for this? What is your excuse?" Bad Hatter (with hang over): "It wasn't my fault, sir! I was working in the dark." Warden: "I see. It sounds like we need a new regulation to ensure this cannot happen again..."
This is really cool. I served a 5 year commercial/industrial electrical apprenticeship and can identify with the frustrations and also people having their apprenticeship extended 😆. We did get paid though, and once we were close to finishing we made really good money. It’s the original trade school, a system that works well and that I wish would attract more young people looking for great careers!
Great timing. I was wondering when you would post again. I have missed your informative episodes. My parents were both apprentices - my dad as a joined, I have his journeyman papers, and my Mum apprenticed to her father as a hairdresser.
This is very timely! Yesterday was opening day of Blade Show in Atlanta, Georgia, where bladesmiths present knives to a panel of 7 master bladesmiths to decide if they receive journeyman or master smith ranks in the American Bladesmith Society.
In Germany something like those guilds still exists today- they are called "Innung", and there is one for most traditional crafts (like carpenter, blacksmith, baker, etc), and they are in charge of the regulations for the apprenticeships in their craft.
As part of my degree, I did a course on the History of Irish Labour, taught by Emmett O`Connor. A fascinating gallop through 900 years of one aspect of social history. I learned that the guilds system was originally organised in Ireland. The idea being taken to London by the Normans who spread the idea around Europe. The later idea of Trades Unions began in a similar way in Ireland and followed the guilds to England. The old Empire taking both ideas around the world. The later part of the course focussed on the Irish Labour Party and how it bargained for the social wage of health and welfare through the first fifty years of the Republic. What you said about the merchant guilds in Italy explains why/how the Medicis became bankers after owning a woollen mill. Did I mention that I really enjoyed this video?.😅
Bonjour Chevalier ! In France in the middle age we had the famous "Compagnons du tour de France" mostly in the Construction field. They still exist today as Builders, Carpenters, Joiners, Plasterers ... They are a kind "secret society", I like to call them a sort of "working class aristocracy". During the 18th and 19th centuries they were known to often have between them, violent and dangerous fights sometimes leading to the death of one of them ! Lots of police reports attest that. Voilà !
I began my apprenticeship 43 years ago and became a journeyman 4 years later. I appreciate the many close connections between guilds, unions and fraternal organizations and how they created the middle class of society. Terminology from naval guilds in particular permeated the industrial revolution as maritime engineers turned their skills towards steam and rail. Thanks for this fascinating look at medieval guilds.
After returning from WWII (Navy bomber in the Pacific) my father apprenticed to become a meteorologist. Always found that fascinating. He ended up running experiments in situation where everyone else was a PhD. The Middle Ages have long been a sort of hobby for me in part because they are so important to the development of modern history. Though it really started as a child reading the Robin Hood stories and stories of Arthur. When my sister insisted on playing princess I invented female medieval knights, lol. Princesses were boring…who wants to wait for rescue? Not moi.
Very interesting, thanks! Here in Beverley there's a medieval guilds trail with 40 sculptures depicting the different guilds. I'll have to check them all out!
Thanks, Jason - a wonderful survey of guilds! The mercantile guilds were indeed 'international', e.g. the Lombards for the area in Northern italy. Others, in germany, were so rich that they indeed financed the German emperor. Also, a certain feature of a specific guild in germany - carpenters - is being revitalised: the journeymen, or 'Gesellen' were expected to go 'on a journey' and learn from masters in different towns. They wore a specific outfit which they still wear today, so that their status was visible at a glance. Here's a wiki in english, with image: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journeyman_years
What a great video. I’ve always been fascinated by the Guilds, specifically after living in the City of London many years ago. There are references everywhere to Guilds. I also loved that aspects of the content made you, and us, laugh. It makes history so much more relatable and enjoyable.
Thank you very much for another great watch! I'm from the UK and my family name is 'Frith', and I romantically think it's dated back to 6th Century 'Peacemakers' but much more likely, like you said, Swordsman Guilds from the Medieval times. Thanks again.
I've been fascinated with guilds since I got into genealogical research. My several greats grandfather was a master of the linen weavers' guild in Weiler.
Surprising to hear that the hostilities between fishmongers and goldsmiths go so far back in time. I thought it all started in the 1963 goldfish scandal.
I found this to be an incredible interesting video and topic, would love to learn more about guilds and their activites. I'm somewhat familiar with the hanse, as it had a big impact on swedish and baltic sea history (myself being swedish), which was potentially one of if not the largest and most 'extreme' (for lack of better words) version of what a guild system could evolve into. Love from sweden!
