as scavengers. The holes in the pavement collected all manner of filth, and the unpaved lanes, in wet weather, became deep pits of mud. We can understand why the townspeople wore overshoes when they went out, and why even the saints in the pictures were represented with them on. The living were crowded together in many-storied houses, airless and gloomy; the dead were buried close at hand in crowded churchyards. Such unsanitary conditions must have been responsible for much of the sickness that was prevalent. The high death rate could only be offset by a birth rate correspondingly high, and by the constant influx of country people. Numerous petty regulations restricted the private life of the townspeople. The municipal authorities sometimes decided how many guests might be invited to weddings, Civic how much might be spent on wedding presents, regulations what different garments might be owned and worn by a citizen, and even the number of trees that might be planted in his garden. Each citizen had to serve his turn as watchman on the walls or in the streets at night. When the great bell in the belfry rang the "curfew," at eight or nine o'clock, this was the signal for every one to extinguish lights and fires and go to bed. It was a useful precaution, since conflagrations were common enough in the densely packed wooden houses. After curfew the streets became deserted, except for the night watch making their rounds and the presence of occasional pedestrians carrying lanterns. The municipal government spent little or nothing on police protection, so that street brawls, and even robbery and murder, were not infrequent. The inhabitants of the city took a just pride in their public buildings. The market place, where traders assembled, often contained a beautiful cross and sometimes a Public market hall to shelter goods from the weather. buildings Not far away rose the city hall,2 for the transaction of public business and the holding of civic feasts. The hall might be crowned by a high belfry with an alarm bell to 1 French couvre feu, "cover fire." 2 In French hôtel de ville; in German Rathhaus. summon citizens to mass meeting. Then there would be a number of churches and abbeys and, if the city was the capital of a bishop's diocese, an imposing cathedral. Municipal government few included as many as The small size of medieval cities ten thousand inhabitants-simplified the problem of governing them. The leading merchants usually formed a council presided over by a head magistrate, the burgomaster or mayor, who was assisted by aldermen. In some places the guilds chose the officials and managed civic affairs. These associations had many functions and held a most important place in city life. Formation of guilds 194. Civic Industry: the Guilds The Anglo-Saxon word "guild," which means "to pay," came to be applied to a club or society whose members made contributions for some common purpose. This form of association is very old. Some of the guilds in imperial Rome had been established in the age of the kings, while not a few of those which flourish to-day in China and India were founded before the Christian era. Guilds existed in Continental Europe as early as the time of Charlemagne, but they did not become prominent till after the crusades. A guild of merchants grew up when those who bought and sold goods in any place united to protect their own interests. The membership included many artisans, as well as professional traders, for in medieval times a man often sold in the front room of his shop the goods which he made in the back rooms. He was often both shopkeeper and workman in one. Merchant guilds The chief duty of a merchant guild was to preserve to its own members the monopoly of trade within a town. Strangers and non-guildsmen could not buy or sell there except under the conditions imposed by the guild. They must pay the town tolls, confine their dealings to guilds Commercial monopoly 1 German bürgermeister, from burg, "castle." men, and as a rule sell only at wholesale. They were forbidden to purchase wares which the townspeople wanted for themselves or to set up shops for retail trade. They enjoyed more freedom at fairs, which were intended to attract outsiders. arose the craft guilds, composed of weavers, shoemakers, bakers, tailors, carpenters, and so on, until almost every form of industry had its separate organization. The names of the various occupations came to be used as the surnames of those engaged in them, so that to-day we have such common family names as Smith, Cooper, Fuller, Potter, Chandler, and many others. The number of craft guilds in an important city might be very HOUSE OF THE BUTCHERS' GUILD, Hildesheim, near Hanover, is perhaps the richest of all German towns in fine woodenframed houses. The house of the Butchers' Guild has been recently restored, with all its original coloring carefully reproduced. large. London and Paris at one time each had more than one hundred, and Cologne in Germany had as many as eighty. The members of a particular guild usually lived in the same street or quarter of the city, not only for companionship but also for better supervision of their labor.1 Just as the merchant guild regulated town trade, so the craft guilds had charge of town industry. No one could engage in any craft without becoming a member of the guild Industrial which controlled it and submitting to the guild monopoly regulations. A man's hours of labor and the prices at which 1 A map of London still shows such names as Shoe Lane, Distaff Lane, Cornhill, and many other similar designations of streets. he sold his goods were fixed for him by the guild. He might not work elsewhere than in his shop, because of the difficulty of supervising him, nor might he work by artificial light, lest he turn out badly finished goods. Everything made by him was carefully inspected to see if it contained shoddy materials or showed poor workmanship. Failure to meet the test meant a heavy fine or perhaps expulsion from the guild. Thus the industrial monopoly possessed by the craft guild gave some protection to both producer and consumer. Full membership in a guild was reached only by degrees. A boy started as an apprentice, that is, a learner. He paid a Organization sum of money to his master and agreed to serve of craft guilds him for a fixed period, usually seven years. The master, in turn, promised to provide the apprentice with food, lodging, and clothing, and to teach him all the secrets of the craft. At the end of the seven years the apprentice had to pass an examination by the guild. If he was found fit, he then became a journeyman and worked for daily wages. As soon as he had saved enough money, he might set up as a master in his own shop. A master was at once workman and employer, laborer and capitalist. Activities of craft guilds Like the old Roman guilds, those of the Middle Ages had their charitable and religious aspects. Each guild raised large benefit funds for the relief of members or their widows and orphans. Each guild had its private altar in the cathedral, or often its own chapel, where masses were said for the repose of the souls of deceased members, and where on the day of its patron saint religious services were held. The guild was also a social organization, with frequent meetings for a feast in its hall or in some inn. The guilds in some cities entertained the people with an annual play or procession. It is clear that the members of a medieval craft guild had common interests and shared a common life. As the craft guilds prospered and increased in wealth, they tended to become exclusive organizations. Member 1 The civic procession in London on Lord Mayor's Day is the last survival in England of these yearly shows. Dissolution of craft ship fees were raised so high that few could afford to pay them, while the number of apprentices that a master might take was strictly limited. It also became increasingly difficult for journeymen to rise to the station of masters; they often remained wage-earners for life. The mass of workmen could no longer participate in the benefits of the guild system. In the eighteenth century most of the guilds lost their monopoly of industry, and in the nineteenth century they gave way to trade unions. 195. Trade and Commerce Nearly every town of any consequence had a weekly or semiweekly market, which was held in the market place or in the churchyard. Marketing often occurred on Markets Sunday, in spite of many laws against this desecra tion of the day. Outsiders who brought cattle and farm produce for sale in the market were required to pay tolls, either to the town authorities or sometimes to a neighboring nobleman. These market dues still survive in the "octroi" collected at the gates of some European cities. People in the Middle Ages did not believe in unrestricted competition. It was thought wrong for anyone to purchase goods outside of the regular market ("forestalling") "Just price" or to purchase them in larger quantities than nec essary ("engrossing"). A man ought not to charge for a thing more than it was worth, or to buy a thing cheap and sell it dear. The idea prevailed that goods should be sold at their "just price," which was not determined by supply and demand but by an estimate of the cost of the materials and the labor that went into their manufacture. Laws were often passed fixing this "just price," but it was as difficult then as now to prevent the "cornering of the market" by shrewd and unscrupulous traders. Fairs Besides markets at frequent intervals, many towns held fairs once or twice a year. The fairs often lasted for a month or more. They were especially necessary in medieval Europe, because merchants did not keep large |