There were no factories or factories in the medieval city. The various products sold in the city markets were produced in small artisan workshops.
There were no cars in the workshop; everything was done by hand, using the simplest tools. To forge a plow share, the blacksmith with tongs pulled out a piece of red-hot iron from the forge, put it on the anvil and beat it with a hammer for a long time.
In the medieval city, there was small-scale production based on manual labor.
The craft technique developed slowly. The specialty of the father was usually inherited by the son. Together with the secrets of mastery, his father passed him his simple instruments. Thanks to long-term training, vast experience and skill in manual labor, artisans achieved perfection in their work. Cloth makers learned to make thin soft fabrics and dye them in different colors, armourers made intricately decorated armor.
Who worked in the workshop
The main worker in the workshop was a master craftsman. He was also the owner of the workshop in the workshop with all its equipment and tools.
The master bought raw materials and made products from them.
1 Raw materials - leather, wool, iron and other materials from which industrial products are made
The workshop often served as a shop for the sale of ready-made things.
The city craftsman-master was the owner of the tools. Unlike the peasant, the artisan produced things to order or for sale.
In addition to the master, apprentices and apprentices worked in the workshop. The teenage apprentices did ancillary work and learned the craft. To gain experience, one had to study for a long time. Giving his son to study, the father almost sold him to the master for many years (see the agreement on the employment of the apprentice). Life was not easy for the disciples. They were forced to help with the housework, in the master's house; at the same time, abuse and beatings often rained down on them.
The master's right hand was an apprentice - a worker who had already learned the craft. From sunrise to dark, he bent his back in the cramped workshop. The journeyman received a small salary for his hard work. But after several years of work, he could become a master and open his own workshop.
In the workshop of a medieval gunsmith. A small, vaulted room on the ground floor of a craftsman's house. A ray of sun barely breaks through a small window. In the depths there is a forge, on the right a grinding wheel and a vice. On the shelves there are hand tools: hammers, drills, pliers, files. The master tries on iron armor for the knight. Students help him. At the window, an apprentice uses a hammer to trim the breastplate.
Workshops-unions of artisans
For a long time, most of the peasants still made everything they needed for themselves. Therefore, at first there were few buyers of handicraft products. To sell their products, the craftsmen had to come to terms with each other about how many goods would be produced in each workshop. Artisans of the same specialty, living in the same city, united in unions - workshops.
There were workshops for weavers, shoemakers, masons, carpenters and many others.
1 Do not confuse with modern workshops - departments of factories and plants.
At the general meeting, the foremen adopted the charter - the rules that are binding on all members of the workshop. The charter required artisans to make things according to a certain pattern, from good raw materials. The rules stated how many machines each master can have, how many apprentices and apprentices he has the right to keep in the workshop. The charter forbade craftsmen to beat off buyers from each other.
The shop was headed by foremen elected by the foremen. They monitored the observance of the guild rules and severely punished those artisans who violated the charter. For example, if a London baker was selling an underweight loaf, he was driven around town in a cage to everyone's ridicule.
The shop rules reflected the artisans' concern to attract more buyers to the city. The guilds tried to prevent rivalry between the masters, the enrichment of some artisans at the expense of others (see excerpts from the charter of the guild of Parisian weavers).
Wishing to be complete masters of their market, the guild masters persecuted and even expelled artisans who were not part of the guilds from the city. They vigilantly watched that artisans from other cities and rural areas did not sell their products in the city market.
The role of workshops in the life of the city
The whole life of artisans was associated with workshops. They organized parties together. The workshop had a cash desk from which assistance was provided to the needy craftsmen and their families. The members of the workshop made up a detachment of the city army. The artisans united in unions fought together against the enemies of the city.
For a long time, the workshops contributed to the development of the craft. In the cities, the number of artisans of various specialties increased, and new types of craft arose. In 14th century Paris there were 300 workshops and about 5,500 artisans.
But with the increase in the number of craftsmen, the rivalry in the sale of products intensified between them. Workshops began to prevent apprentices from becoming masters. Only the sons of masters freely received the title of master. The apprentices had to pass a difficult test: to make the best sample of the product out of expensive material at their own expense. In addition, it was supposed to arrange a feast for the members of the workshop and pay a large entrance fee.
In the cities, more and more apprentices became more and more, who all their lives remained workers with the masters. They were called "Eternal apprentices".
Workshops were not allowed to expand workshops and introduce new tools. There were cases when shop foremen destroyed valuable inventions and cruelly dealt with inventors. This caused great harm to the development of technology and began to retard the growth of the production of handicrafts in the cities.
THE DOCUMENTS
Apprentice Employment Agreement
I, Johann Toynburg, declare to everyone that I am giving to my decent husband, goldsmith Ailf Bruver, my son Tenis, to study the goldsmith's craft in Cologne. Tenis is obliged to serve by faith for 8 years without interruption.
Master Eilf is obliged to feed my son for all 8 years. I undertake to dress him.
If it happens that I, the aforementioned Tenis, run away from my master and begin to study the craft on my own before the expiration of eight years, then I am obliged to pay the master a fine (the amount of the fine is indicated).
Excerpts from the charter of the Parisian wool weavers' workshop
Every Parisian wool weaver can have two wide looms and one narrow loom in his house, but outside the house he cannot have any.
Each wool weaver in his home may have no more than one apprentice, but no less than four years of service.
All felts should be all wool and are as good at the beginning as they are in the middle.
No one from the workshop should start work before sunrise under threat of a fine.
Apprentices - weavers must leave work as soon as the first bell rings for evening prayer, but they must add up the work after the bell rings.
History of the Middle Ages (late 5th century - mid-17th century)
Donskoy, Agibalova
The production basis of the medieval city was handicraft. Feudalism is characterized by small-scale production both in the countryside and in the city. The artisan, like the peasant, was a small producer who had his own instruments of production, led his own private economy based on personal labor, and had as his goal not making a profit, but earning a livelihood. "A decent existence for his position — not exchange value as such, not enrichment as such ..." was the goal of the artisan's labor.
A characteristic feature of medieval craft in Europe was its guild organization - the association of artisans of a certain profession within a given city in special unions - guilds. Workshops appeared almost simultaneously with the emergence of cities. In Italy, they met already from the 10th century, in France, England, Germany and the Czech Republic - from the 11th-12th centuries, although the final design of workshops (receipt of special charters from kings, recording of workshop regulations, etc.) took place, as a rule , later. Handicraft corporations also existed in Russian cities (for example, in Novgorod).
The guilds arose as organizations of peasants who fled to the city, who needed to unite to fight against the robber nobility and to protect themselves from competition. Among the reasons that determined the need for the formation of guilds, Marx and Engels also noted the need for artisans in common market premises for the sale of goods and the need to protect the common property of artisans for a particular specialty or profession. The union of artisans into special corporations (workshops) was due to the entire system of feudal relations that prevailed in the Middle Ages, the entire feudal-estate structure of society
The model for the guild organization, as well as for the organization of city self-government, was the communal system (see F. Engels, Mark; in the book "Peasant War in Germany", M. 1953, p. 121). The artisans united in workshops were the direct producers. Each of them worked in his own workshop with his own tools and raw materials. It merged with these means of production, as Marx put it, “like a snail with a shell” (K. Marx, Capital, vol. I, Gospolitizdat, 1955, p. 366). Tradition and routine were characteristic of the medieval craft as well as of the peasant economy.
Within the craft workshop, there was almost no division of labor. The division of labor was carried out in the form of specialization between individual workshops, which, with the development of production, led to an increase in the number of craft professions and, consequently, the number of new workshops. Although this did not change the nature of medieval craft, it caused a certain technical progress, improvement of labor skills, specialization of working tools, etc. The craftsman was usually helped in his work by his family. One or two apprentices and one or more apprentices worked with him. But only the master, the owner of the craft workshop, was a full member of the workshop. Master, apprentice and apprentice stood at different levels of a kind of guild hierarchy. The preliminary passage of the two lower stages was mandatory for anyone wishing to enter the workshop and become a member of it. In the first period of the development of workshops, each student could become an apprentice in a few years, and an apprentice - a master.
In most cities, belonging to a workshop was a prerequisite for engaging in a craft. This eliminated the possibility of competition from artisans who were not part of the workshop, which was dangerous for small producers in the conditions of a very narrow market at that time and relatively insignificant demand. The artisans who entered the workshop were interested in ensuring that the products of the members of this workshop were provided with an unimpeded sale. In accordance with this, the workshop strictly regulated production and, through specially elected officials, made sure that each master - a member of the workshop - produced products of a certain quality. The workshop prescribed, for example, what width and color the fabric to be made should be, how many threads should be at the base, what tool and material should be used, etc.
As a corporation (association) of small commodity producers, the workshop zealously made sure that the production of all its members did not exceed a certain size, so that no one competed with other members of the workshop, producing more products. To this end, the guild charters strictly limited the number of apprentices and apprentices that one master could have, prohibited work at night and on holidays, limited the number of machines a craftsman could work on, and regulated stocks of raw materials.
The craft and its organization in the medieval city were of a feudal nature. "... The feudal structure of land tenure in the cities corresponded to corporate property (Corporate property was the monopoly of the shop for a certain specialty or profession.), The feudal organization of the craft" (K. Marx and F. Engels, German Ideology, Vol. 3, ed. . 2, p. 23.). Such an organization of handicrafts was a necessary form of development of commodity production in a medieval city, for at that time it created favorable conditions for the development of productive forces. It protected artisans from excessive exploitation by the feudal lords, ensured the existence of small producers in the extreme narrowness of the market at that time, and contributed to the development of technology and the improvement of handicraft skills. During the heyday of the feudal mode of production, the guild system was in full accordance with the stage of development of the productive forces that was achieved at that time.
The guild organization covered all aspects of the life of a medieval artisan. The shop was a military organization that participated in the protection of the city (guard service) and acted as a separate combat unit of the city militia in case of war. The workshop had its own "saint", whose day it celebrated, its own churches or chapels, being a kind of religious organization. The workshop was also a mutual aid organization for artisans, which provided assistance to its needy members and their families in case of illness or death of a workshop member through an entrance fee to the workshop, fines and other payments.
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Urban craft and his workshop organization craft... Feudalism is characterized by small-scale production both in the countryside and in the city. -
Urban craft and his workshop organization... The production basis of the medieval city was craft -
Urban craft and his workshop organization... The production basis of the medieval city was craft... Feudalism is characterized by a small p. -
More and more often the peasants bought urban products, which led to an increase in domestic demand and supply. It should be noted that in Russia in the XVI-XVI! centuries almost none workshop organization handicraft production, similar to Western European ... -
Urban craft and his workshop organization... The production basis of the medieval city was craft -
Urban craft and his workshop organization... The production basis of the medieval city was craft... For feudalism, small p ... more details are characteristic. -
In the Roman Empire, occupation craft traditionally it was considered the lot of the ignorant people, and any paid work for hire or to order belonged to handicraft activities. Urban artisans, in turn, looked down on the villagers ... -
Development crafts and trade led to the growth and strengthening of cities, which turned into centers of separate territories.
The local princely administration was also concentrated in them. Urban the population began to feel burdened by the need to pay tribute and ... -
Artisan are independent. led his own household and does not need land as much as the means of production (mountains. craft having developed faster agricultural).
Tsekhovy artisan helped by 1-2 apprentices (apprentices). -
Artisans usually concentrated in tribal centers - grads or on ancient settlements-graveyards, which gradually turned from military fortifications into centers crafts and trade - cities.
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Handicraft workshops played an important role in the development of commodity production in Europe in the process of forming a new social group - the class of wage earners. The essay is of interest to students of the correspondence department when writing a test on history.
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STATE BUDGET PROFESSIONAL
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION OF KRASNODAR REGION
"ANAPSK AGRICULTURAL TECHNICUM"
MEDIEVAL CRAFTING WORKS (XIII ‒ XV CENTURIES)
Completed by: teacher of socio-economic disciplines
Eisner Tatiana Viktorovna
Anapa, 2016
Medieval craft workshops (XIII-XV centuries)
Introduction …………………………………………………………………… | |
1.The reasons for the emergence of workshops and their functions ............................................................. | |
2. Shop regulations. Master, apprentice, apprentice .. …………… .. | |
3. Decomposition of the workshop structure …………………………………………. | |
Conclusion………………………………………………………………… | |
List of sources and literature ……………………………………… ... |
Introduction.
Handicraft workshops in Western Europe appeared almost simultaneously with cities: in Italy already in the 10th century, in France, England and Germany from the 11th, early 12th centuries. It should be noted that the final design of the guild structure with the help of charters and statutes took place, as a rule, later.
The guilds played an important role in the development of commodity production in Europe, in the formation of a new social group - hired workers, from whom the proletariat was subsequently formed.
Therefore, the study of the problem of the emergence of guilds as an organization of crafts in medieval Europe is relevant.
The purpose of this work is: to identify the main features of the guild organization of craft in medieval Europe.
Tasks:
1) disclose the main reasons for the emergence of workshops, their functions, features of workshop regulations;
2) to reveal the peculiarities of the relationship between the craftsmen, their apprentices and apprentices in the medieval guilds, between guilds and the patrician;
3) to reveal the reasons for the decomposition of the guild organization of a medieval city.
1. The reasons for the emergence of workshops and their functions.
Medieval cities developed primarily as centers of concentration of handicraft production. Unlike peasants, artisans worked to meet the needs of the market by producing products for sale. The production of goods was located in the workshop, on the ground floor of the artisan's premises. Everything was made by hand, using simple tools, by one master from start to finish. Usually the workshop served as a shop where the artisan sold the things he produced, thus being both the main worker and the owner.
The limited market for handicraft products forced craftsmen to look for ways to survive. One of them was the division of the market and the elimination of competition. The well-being of a craftsman depended on many circumstances. As a small producer, the artisan could only make as many goods as his physical and intellectual abilities allowed. But any problems: illness, mistake, lack of the necessary raw materials and other reasons could lead to the loss of the customer, which means. and livelihood.
To solve pressing problems, artisans began to unite their efforts. This is how workshops appear - closed organizations (corporations) of artisans of a certain specialty within the same city, created with the aim of eliminating competition (protecting production and income) and mutual assistance. Let us present the reasons and goals of the emergence of guilds-unions of medieval artisans in the form of a table.
Table 1.
The reasons and purpose of the emergence of workshops.
Organization of life | The need for security | Internal economic | Foreign economic |
1.Organization of everyday life | 1. Organization of city defense in case of war. | 1. Protection from competition. | 1. Development of uniform rules in the production and sale of products |
2. Mutual assistance | 2. Protection from attacks of robbers-knights. | 2. division of the sales market in a narrow market. | 2. Creation of the same conditions for all masters. |
The members of the workshop helped each other to learn new ways of craft, but at the same time they guarded their secrets from other workshops. The elected guild leadership closely monitored that all members of the guild were in approximately the same conditions, so that no one became rich at the expense of another, and did not entice customers. For this purpose, strict rules were introduced, which clearly indicated how many hours you can work, how many machines and assistants to use. Violators were expelled from the shop, and this meant the loss of livelihood. There was also strict control over the quality of the goods. In addition to production, workshops also organized the life of artisans. The members of the workshop built their own church, school, celebrated holidays together. The workshop was supported by widows, orphans, and disabled people. In the event of a siege of the city, the members of the workshop under their own flag formed a separate combat unit, which was supposed to defend a certain section of the wall or tower.
“One of the main functions of the shops was to establish monopolies for this type of craft. In most cities, belonging to a workshop was a prerequisite for engaging in a craft. Another main function of the workshops was to establish control over the production and sale of handicrafts. " 1 ... Dozens of workshops gradually emerged in cities, and even hundreds of workshops in large cities.
An important role was played by the shop charter - the rules that are binding on all members of the shop:
- Do things according to the same pattern;
- Have the allowed number of machines, apprentices, apprentices;
- Do not entice buyers from each other;
- Do not work on holidays and "by candlelight";
- Sell items at a prescribed price;
- Purchase raw materials from specific suppliers.
For the observance of the charter and the punishment of violators, the foremen served.
2. Shop regulations. Master, apprentice, apprentice.
The members of each workshop had a stake in ensuring that their products could be sold smoothly. Therefore, the workshop strictly regulated production and, through specially selected workshop officials, made sure that each master - a member of the workshop produced products of a certain type and quality.
The workshop prescribed, for example, what width and color the fabric to be made should be, how many threads should be at the base, what tool and material should be used, and so on.
The regulation of production also served other purposes: being an association of independent small commodity producers, the workshop zealously made sure that the production of all its members remained small, so that none of them would oust other craftsmen from the market, producing more products. Therefore, guild charters strictly limited the number of apprentices and apprentices that one master could have, prohibited work at night and on holidays, limited the number of machines on which an artisan could work, regulated stocks of raw materials, prices for handicrafts, and the like.
"The regulation of the workshop life was also needed in order for the members of the workshop to maintain its high reputation not only for the quality of manufactured products, but also for their well-behaved behavior." 1 .
The members of the workshop were foremen. They chose the head of the shop or the council of the shop. The craftsmen were assisted by apprentices. They were not considered members of the guilds, and, therefore, did not enjoy many of the advantages of the masters, did not have the right to open their own business, even if they perfectly mastered their craft. To become a master, one had to pass a serious test. The candidate presented such a product to the main foremen of the workshop, which undoubtedly testified to the fact that he had completely mastered all the tricks of his craft. This exemplary product was called a masterpiece in France. In addition to making a masterpiece, an apprentice who wanted to become a master had to spend a fair amount of money on treating the members of the workshop. From decade to decade, becoming a master became more and more difficult for everyone except the sons of the masters themselves. The rest turned into "eternal apprentices" and could not even hope to ever join the shop.
Disgruntled apprentices sometimes conspired against the craftsmen and even rebelled. Even lower than the apprentices were the disciples. As a rule, as a child, they were sent to study with some master and paid him for training. The master, however, often at first used his students as household servants, and later, without much haste, shared with them the secrets of his labor. A grown-up student, if his studies went for him for the future, could become an apprentice. In the position of apprentices, at first the features of "family" exploitation were strong. The apprentice status remained temporary, he himself ate and lived in the master's house, and marriage to the master's daughter could crown his career. And yet, "family" traits were secondary. The main thing that determined the social status of the apprentice and his relationship with the owner was wages. It was the hired side of the apprentice's status, his being as a hired worker, that had a future. Guild masters exploited apprentices more and more. The duration of their working day was usually very long, 14-16, and sometimes even 18 hours. The apprentices were judged by the guild court, that is, again, by the master. The workshops controlled the life of apprentices and apprentices, their pastime, spending, acquaintances. The Strasbourg "Regulation on wage earners" in 1465, which puts apprentices and domestic servants on the same level, instructs them to return home no later than 9 pm in winter and 10 hours in summer, prohibits visiting drinking houses, carrying weapons in the city, dressing everyone in the same dress and wear the same decals. The latter was due to fear of an apprentice conspiracy.
3. Decomposition of the guild system.
In the XIV century, great changes took place within handicraft production. In the first period of their existence, workshops played a progressive role. But the desire of the shops to preserve and perpetuate small-scale production, traditional methods and tools of labor, hindered the further development of society. Technological advances contributed to the development of competition, and workshops turned into a brake on industrial development, into an obstacle to further production growth.
However, no matter how the guild charters hindered the development of competition between individual artisans within the guild, as the productive forces grew and the domestic and foreign markets expanded, it grew more and more. Individual artisans expanded their production beyond the limits established by the guild regulations. Increased economic and social inequality in the shop. Wealthy craftsmen, owners of larger workshops, began to practice handing over work to small craftsmen, supplying them with raw materials or semi-finished products, and receiving finished products. "Thus, from among the previously unified mass of small artisans, a prosperous guild elite gradually emerged, exploiting small craftsmen - direct producers" 1 ... The entire mass of apprentices and apprentices fell into the position of the exploited.
In the XIV-XV centuries, in the period of the beginning of the decline and decay of the guild craft, the position of apprentices and apprentices deteriorated sharply. If in the initial period of the existence of the guild system, an apprentice, after completing an apprenticeship and becoming an apprentice, and then having worked for some time with a foreman and accumulating a small amount of money, could expect to become a foreman (the cost of setting up a workshop with a small nature of production was low), now access to to these students and apprentices was actually closed. In an effort to defend their privileges in the face of growing competition, craftsmen began to make it difficult for apprentices and apprentices to obtain the title of master in every possible way.
The so-called “closure of workshops” took place. The title of master became practically accessible to apprentices and apprentices only if they were close relatives of the masters. Others, in order to receive the title of master, had to pay a very large entrance fee to the cashier of the shop, perform an exemplary work that required a lot of money - a masterpiece, arrange an expensive meal for the members of the shop, and so on. Deprived in this way of the opportunity to become ever masters and open their own workshop, apprentices turned into "eternal apprentices", that is, in fact, in hired workers.
The peasants who lost their land, as well as apprentices and apprentices, who actually turned into hired workers, were part of that stratum of the urban population, which can be called the pre-proletariat and which also included non-workshop, all sorts of unorganized workers, as well as impoverished members of the workshop - small artisans, more and more dependent on the wealthy big masters and differed from apprentices only in that they worked at home. "While not a working class in the modern sense of the word, the pre-proletariat was" a more or less developed predecessor of the modern proletariat. " He made up the bulk of the lower stratum of the townspeople - plebeianism. " 1
With the development and aggravation of social contradictions within the medieval city, the exploited strata of the urban population began to openly oppose the ruling city elite, which now included in many cities the wealthy part of the guild masters, the guild aristocracy. This struggle also included the lowest and most disenfranchised stratum of the urban population - the lumpen proletariat, that is. a layer of people deprived of certain occupations and permanent residence, who stood outside the feudal-estate structure. During the period of the beginning of the decomposition of the guild system, the exploitation of the direct producer - the small artisan - by the commercial capital developed. Commercial, or merchant, capital is older than the capitalist mode of production. It represents the historically oldest free form of capital, which existed long before capital subjugated production itself, and which arose first of all in trade. Merchant capital operates in the sphere of circulation, and its function is to serve the exchange of goods in the conditions of commodity production and in slave-owning society, and in feudal and capitalist. With the development of commodity production under feudalism and the disintegration of guild craft, commercial capital gradually began to penetrate into the sphere of production, and began to directly exploit the small artisan. Usually, the capitalist merchant acted at first in the role of a buyer. He bought up raw materials and resold them to an artisan, bought up artisan goods for further sale and often put a less well-to-do artisan in a dependent position. Especially often the establishment of such economic dependence was associated with the supply of raw materials to the artisan, and sometimes tools on credit. Such a trader who fell into bondage to a buyer or even a directly ruined artisan had no choice but to continue working for a capitalist merchant, only not as an independent commodity producer, but as a person deprived of the means of production, that is, in fact, a hired worker. “It was this process that served as the starting point for the capitalist manufactory that emerged during the disintegration of medieval handicraft production. Especially brightly, albeit in a peculiar way, all these processes took place in Italy " 1 .
Conclusion.
Having considered the problems of organizing crafts in a medieval city, the following conclusions can be drawn.
The emergence of guilds was due to the level of productive forces achieved at that time and the entire feudal-estate structure of society. The main reasons for the formation of workshops were the following: urban artisans as independent, fragmented, small commodity producers needed a certain association to protect their production and income from feudal lords, from the competition of "outsiders" - unorganized artisans or immigrants from the countryside who constantly arrived in cities, from artisans from other cities , and from the neighbors - the craftsmen. The whole life of a medieval guild craftsman - social, economic, industrial, religious, everyday, festive - took place within the guild brotherhood. The members of the shop were motivated to ensure that their products were sold without hindrance. Therefore, the shop, through specially elected officials, strictly regulated production. "The regulation of the workshop life was also needed in order for the members of the workshop to maintain its high reputation not only for the quality of manufactured products, but also for their well-behaved behavior." 1 .
With the growth of the productive forces, the expansion of the internal and external markets, the competition between artisans within the workshop inevitably increased. Certain artisans, contrary to guild regulations, expanded their production, property and social inequality developed between craftsmen, and the struggle between craftsmen and "eternal apprentices" intensified.
From the end of the XIV century. the guild organization of handicrafts, aimed at preserving small-scale production, had already begun to restrain technical progress, the spread of new instruments of labor and production methods. The shop charter did not allow the enlargement of workshops, the introduction of the operational division of labor, actually prohibited the rationalization of production, hindered the development of individual skills, the introduction of more advanced technologies and tools.
Workshops played an important role in the development of commodity production in medieval Europe, influencing the formation of social relations in the era of modern times.
List of sources and literature:
Sources of
1. Augsburg Chronicle // Medieval city law XII - XIII centuries. / Ed. S. M. Stam. Saratov, 1989. S. 125 - 126.
2. Agreements on the employment of a student // Medieval city law of the XII - XIII centuries. / Ed. S. M. Stam. Saratov, 1989. S. 115 - 116.
3. Book of customs // History of the Middle Ages. Reader. In 2 hours, Part 1, M., 1988, p. 178 - 180.
4. Message of the Constance City Council // History of the Middle Ages. Reader. In 2 hours, Part 1, M., 1988, p. 167 - 168.
5. A call to strike addressed by the apprentices - furriers of Wilstet to the apprentices - furriers of Strasbourg // History of the Middle Ages. Reader. In 2 hours, Part 1, M., 1988, p. 165.
6. Guild charter of silk weavers // Medieval city law XII - XIII centuries. / Ed. S. M. Stam. Saratov, 1989. S. 113-114.
Literature
7. City in the medieval civilization of Western Europe / Ed. A.A. Svanidze M., 1999-2000. T. 1-4.
8. Gratsianskiy NP Paris craft workshops in the XIII - XIV centuries. Kazan, 1911.
9. Svanidze A. A. Genesis of the feudal city in early medieval Europe: problems and typology // Urban life in medieval Europe. M., 1987.
10. Stam SM Economic and social development of the early city. (Toulouse X1 - XIII centuries) Saratov, 1969.
11. Stoklitskaya-Tereshkovich V.V. The main problems of the history of the medieval city of the X - XV centuries. M., 1960.
12. Kharitonovich D.E. Craft. Guilds and myths // City in the medieval civilization of Western Europe. Moscow, 1999. Pp. 118 - 124.
13. Yastrebitskaya AL Western European city in the Middle Ages // Questions of history, 1978, no. S. 96-113.
1 Stam S. M. Economic and social development of the early city. (Toulouse X1 - XIII centuries) Saratov, 1969.
Craftsmen were an important ever increasing stratum of the urban population. From the VII-XIII centuries. due to the increase in the purchasing power of the population, the growth of consumer demand, there is an increase in urban crafts. From work to order, artisans are moving to work for the market.
The craft is becoming a respected and profitable occupation. People of construction specialties - masons, carpenters, plasterers - enjoyed special respect. The most gifted people with a high level of professional training were engaged in architecture then. During this period, the specialization of crafts deepens, the range of products expands, craft techniques are improved, remaining, as before, manual.
The technologies in metallurgy, in the manufacture of woolen fabrics, are becoming more complex and more effective, and in Europe they begin to wear woolen clothes instead of fur and flax. In the XII century. mechanical watches were made in Europe, in the XIII century. - a large tower clock, in the 15th century. - pocket watch. Watchmaking is becoming the school in which precision engineering technology was developed, which played a significant role in the development of the productive forces of Western society.
Artisans united in workshops that protected their members from competition from "wild" artisans. In cities, there could be tens and hundreds of workshops of various economic orientations - after all, the specialization of production took place not inside the workshop, but between workshops.
So, in Paris there were more than 350 workshops. The most important safety of the shops was also a certain regulation of production in order to prevent overproduction, to maintain prices at a sufficiently high level; the shop authorities, taking into account the size of the potential market, determined the quantity of products produced.
Throughout this period, the guilds fought with the upper classes of the city for access to management. The city leaders, called patricians, united representatives of the landed aristocracy, wealthy merchants, and usurers. Often the actions of influential artisans were successful, and they were included in the city government.
The guild organization of handicraft production had both obvious disadvantages and advantages, one of which was a well-organized apprenticeship system. The official training period in different workshops ranged from 2 to 14 years, it was assumed that during this time the artisan must go from apprentice and apprentice to master.
The workshops developed strict requirements for the material from which the goods were made, for the tools of labor, and production technology. All this ensured the stability of work and guaranteed excellent product quality. The high level of medieval Western European craft is evidenced by the fact that an apprentice who wanted to receive the title of master was obliged to complete his graduation work, which was called a "masterpiece" (the modern meaning of the word speaks for itself).
The workshops also created the conditions for the transfer of the accumulated experience, ensuring the continuity of artisan generations. In addition, artisans participated in the formation of a united Europe: apprentices in the process of training could wander around different countries; masters, if they were recruited in the city more than required, easily moved to new places.
On the other hand, by the end of the classical Middle Ages, in the XIV-XV centuries, the guild organization of industrial production more and more obviously begins to act as an inhibiting factor. Workshops are becoming more and more isolated, stop in development. In particular, it was almost impossible for many to become a master: only the master's son or his son-in-law could actually obtain the status of a master.
This led to the emergence of a significant layer of "eternal apprentices" in the cities. In addition, the strict regulation of crafts begins to restrain the introduction of technological innovations, without which progress in the sphere of material production is inconceivable. Therefore, the workshops are gradually exhausting themselves, and by the end of the classical Middle Ages a new form of organization of industrial production appears - manufactory.
The manufacture assumed the specialization of labor between workers in the execution of any product, which significantly increased the productivity of labor, which, as before, remained manual. Wage laborers worked at factories in Western Europe. The manufacture was most widespread in the next period of the Middle Ages.
Medieval cities developed primarily as centers of concentration of handicraft production. Unlike peasants, artisans worked to meet the needs of the market by producing products for sale. The production of goods was located in the workshop, on the ground floor of the artisan's premises. Everything was made by hand, using simple tools, by one master from start to finish. Usually the workshop served as a shop where the artisan sold the things he produced, thus being both the main worker and the owner.
The limited market for handicraft products forced the craftsmen to find a way to survive. One of them was the division of the market and the elimination of competition. The well-being of a craftsman depended on many circumstances. As a small producer, the artisan could only make as many goods as his physical and intellectual abilities allowed. But any problems: illness, mistake, lack of the necessary raw materials, etc. could lead to the loss of the customer, and, accordingly, the means of subsistence.
To solve some of the main problems, they began to unite their efforts, organizing workshops - closed organizations (corporations) of artisans of one specialty within the same city, created with the aim of eliminating competition (protecting production and income) and mutual assistance.
The members of the workshop helped each other to learn new ways of craft, but at the same time they guarded their secrets from other workshops. The elected guild elite carefully monitored that all the members of the guild were in approximately the same conditions, so that no one became rich at the expense of another, and did not entice customers. To this end, strict rules were introduced, which clearly indicated: how many hours you can work, how many machines and assistants to use. Violators were expelled from the shop, and this meant the loss of livelihood. There was also strict control over the quality of the goods. In addition to production, workshops were organized and the life of artisans. The members of the workshop built their own church, school, celebrated holidays together. The workshop was supported by widows, orphans, and disabled people. In the event of a siege of the city, the members of the workshop under their own flag formed a separate combat unit, which was supposed to defend a certain section of the wall or tower.
The production basis of the medieval city was made up of handicrafts and handicrafts. A characteristic feature of handicrafts and other types of activity in many medieval cities of Western Europe was corporate organization: the association of persons of certain professions within the city into special unions - workshops, guilds, brotherhoods. Handicraft workshops appeared almost simultaneously with the cities themselves from the 11th - early 12th centuries. Workshops arose because urban artisans needed a certain association to protect their production and income from feudal lords, from the competition of "outsiders". The main function of the shops was to establish a monopoly on this type of craft. In most cities, belonging to a workshop was a prerequisite for engaging in a craft. Another main function of the workshops was to establish control over the production and sale of handicrafts. Initially, each apprentice could eventually become an apprentice, and an apprentice could become a master. The guild organization of handicrafts until a certain time, it created the most favorable conditions for the development of urban commodity production, until the end of the XIV century. workshops played a progressive role.
The shop took part in the defense of the city and acted as a separate combat unit. Each workshop had its own patron saint, its own church or chapel; the workshop was a mutual aid organization. The upper, privileged stratum was a narrow, closed group - the hereditary urban aristocracy (patrician), the City Council, the mayor (burgomaster), the judiciary (sheffens, eshevens, skabinets) of the city were chosen only from among the patricians. But, as the craft developed and the significance of the guilds became stronger, the artisans entered into a struggle with the patriciate for power in the city. In the XIII-XIV centuries. this struggle, the so-called guild revolutions, unfolded in almost all countries of medieval Europe. In some cities, where handicraft production was greatly developed, workshops won (Cologne, Basel, Florence, etc.). In others, where large-scale trade and merchants played a leading role, the urban elite emerged victorious from the struggle (Hamburg, Lubeck, Rostock and other cities of the Hanseatic League).
Already in the XIV-XV centuries. the role of workshops has changed significantly. Their conservatism impeded development, competition between artisans within the guild inevitably increased, property and social inequality developed between masters, and a wealthy guild elite gradually emerged. The division of workshops also went into stronger, richer and poorer workshops. The older shops began to dominate and exploit the younger ones.
