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INTRODUCTION
(CHAPTER I) CHAPTER
II
CHAPTER
III
CHAPTER IV
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The Guilds of the Armament Producers of Sibiu, Braşov and Cluj (XIVth-XVIth C.) Author: Ioan Marian
Ţiplic. ISBN 973-651-337-8, Editura
Universităţii „Lucian Blaga”, Sibiu 2001.
© copyright Institutul
pentru Cercetarea şi Valorificarea Patrimoniului Naţional în
Context European, Marian Ţiplic
Seria Bibliotheca
Septemcastrensis I, University “Lucian
Blaga” Sibiu, Institutul
pentru Cercetarea şi Valorificarea Patrimoniului Naţional în
Context European.
-
Abstract –
II. The Organisation of the Armourers Guilds 2.1.
The Leadership of Guilds. The
system of the guilds' organisation and functioning was well regulated and
proclaimed through. The statute of 1376 solved the most important economic,
political and judicial problems of the guilds, the election of guild leaders
and their relations with the members of the guild, with the management of the
town etc. The most important asembly of the members of the
guild was the annual one, which was usually held in the first week after
Christmas, on the New Year's Eve. In this assembly, the leaders of the guilds
read reports about the activity and the wealth of the guild from the previous
year. At these assemblies usually participated representatives of the local
authorities, too. The members of the guild were invited to participate
individually notices, the table of the guild. The table was provided with a
box of copper in which there was, the order of the day and the punishment for
those who will be absent from assembly. There were four ordinary assemblies a
year and whenever it was considered necessary a special assembly was held.
The leaders of the guilds were elected in the annual assemblies and they had
different roles: economic, administrative, judicial and religious. Initially
there were only two and they had different names, according to the language
in which it was called the guild, fort example: magistri fraternitaes, magistri cehae, seniores magistri, primari,
magistri, Zechmeister. The leaders had to be elected by all the members
that is why sometimes, the elections lasted longer, two or three days. The
oldest leader was called father of the
guild (senior magistrarum, Zechvater), and the others were called: the 2nd, the 3rd, the 4th leader
(according to their importance). If there were only two leaders, the older
was called the senior and the
younger the junior. Such an example
we have in the Archers` guild from Sibiu at the end of the 15th Century where
2 craftsmen are mentioned: Niclos Bogner and Jung (Junor) Niclos Bogner. The senior leader took the most important
decisions, and the others leaders, like any other member of the guild, could
not refuse any task were given by the senior. After elections, any leader had
to take an oath in front of the members of the guild; among his duties for
the community were to supervise the quality of the products, to reject the unsatisfactiory
products of low quality from the market, to keep the honesty and the honor of
the guild. He also used to keep all the registers of the
guild: such as, the register of the members of the guild and the punishments. the father of the guild was the one who accepted distributions of
the apprentices and he decided where and with whom they served their
apprenticeship. He also examined the craftsmen's works and he gave the title
of craftsmen for those who prouved
to be one. he solved some judicial problems which were not so complicated
concerning the production of the guild and personal problems of the members
as well. If the father of the guild could not solve the problem because it
was too complicated for his competence, then the case was brought to court in
a general assembly. This court could give the sentence during the trial, the
litigant was not allowed in the room so that he could not influence the
decision of the court. It is very obvious that the leaders of the guild could
not do so many tasks all by themselves, so they used to choose some
trustworthy people to help them do their jobs. These people were craftsmen,
of course. The most important man was the father of the journeymen (pater sodarium, Knechvater) who was
elected by the general assembly of the guild. He was in charge with the
journeymen and all the tasks and the problems concerning them (economic,
social, moral); he looked for job for those who had to travel to Sibiu gave
honors like the father of the guild and supervised the journeymen's work. The second most important men, after the father
of journeymen were the superviser
craftsmen (Schaumeister) and then the Council
of the Oldest Craftsmen which was a permanent council of the father of
the guild. There was also a notary
who drew out the minutes of the assemblies and the apprenticeship
certificates as well as the journeymen's moral certificates, did the book
keeping and took care of the mail. Apart from them, there was also a young
craftsman (Jungster Zechmeister) who was not elected but he was the last who
joined the guild. He had this job until he passed the craftsmanship exam when
he became a craftsman of the guild. The young craftsman took care of the
assembly of the guild, of the altar and he served at tables at the feasts of
the guild. 2.2.
The Functions of the Guilds. The
strict and complex organization of the guilds had as its purpose the strict
control of their functions that the entire society demanded at that time. Due
to this strict organization they were able to accomplish their roles: economic, social, political
and military and religious roles. A. The
Ecomonic Functions. The first
preoccupation of the guilds as well as their leaders' was to produce enough
products of good quality and at a fair price. That is why the guilds were
very careful with the products that were sold at great distance. This was not
a only a matter of honor of the guild but also an very important economic
matter: the craftsmen and the guilds had a good profit if they were better than their competitors. in
order to be sure of the good qualitiy of their products they took different
measures: some general measures for all the guilds and some special ones for
some of the guilds (such as the imprint of the craftsman's signature or of
the guild's seal. The producers of armament of Sibiu were not obliged to have
a personal mark that is why we know only three signatures of this kinds and
we do not know to whom they belong to. B. The
Social Functions. The social
relations between the members of the guild were very tight. They used to
organize parties to welcome the apprentices or the new members of the guild
and it was a very good occasion to have fun and be happy. The nicest feast
was when the guild leaders were elected and all the members of the guild and
their wives participated. When a member of the guild was short of money the
guild helped him giving him a loan or raw materials. When a member of the
guild fell ill, the guild payed him and his familly some money during his
illness until his recovery. Afterwards, he was obliged to give the money
back. The guilds were very strict concerning the character of its members;
they were very careful when choosing the apprentices or the new members so
that no one would disgrace them; they were very cautions when checking their
character. They demanded discipline, honesty and loyalty. The one who
destroyed the harmony within the community, accused another member of
cheating or offensed somebody else was severly punished with a fine of 4
kilos of wax. C. The
Political and Military Functions.
Once the guilds developed from economic point of view, they became powerful
political and military forces. Starting with the end of the 16th century when
Sigismund of Luxemburg (1387-1437) demanded the consolidation of the towns
and defence walls surrounding them, the guilds were in charge with the
preservation, the arming and the defence of the towns. The guilds were the
most indicated for the defence and the consolidation of towns as its members
were obliged to learn how to use and to practice every day bow and crossbow
shooting. The interest for practising was due to the organization of contests
where the award was materials and money. In addition, once a year they made a
mention of all the members of guild who were able to carry arms and who were
obliged to be equipped with bows, crossbows, swords and spears or gun and
armours. All the equippment cost 8 florini: a spear 45 denari, a sword 1, 90
florini, a helmet 20 denari and the rest was spent on guns. The craftsman was
obliged by law to be ready to fight anytime. For example in the code of law
of the producers of arms, in 1514, it was written that the one who wanted to
become a craftsman had to prove that he possessed a gutte pux zwm czyll. The guilds had military functions but they had
political functions as well. Unlike in Germany, in Transylvania, the
citizen's influence, that is the craftsman's influence on the political
administration was permanently maintained more powerful as the relations
between guilds became closer. This is due to the fact that in the guilds'
regulations from 1376 there was a law concerning the political influence of
the guilds. This document attests clearly that of the influence guilds's was
beyond the boundaries of the field, as the craftsmen had the duty to
participate to the court assemblies four times a year; they did not take part
in solving only the economic problems but also the social problems that were
concerned with the public welfare. This power became bigger at the end of the
15th century and along the 16th century when all the German territories
united politically and the guilds created an organic unit as a result of a
similar economic life. D.
Religions Functions. The guild didn't mean only a handicraft
community but also a religions community. Ist religion and moral influences
were as important as the economic ones. A great number of wax fines for various crimes of little importance
prove the relation of their own with the church. They burned candles and they
sang religions songs at the mass on hollidays especially on the Saint
Protector's day. What we know about the guilds from Sibiu is that they had
altars but we know nothing about a Saint Protector. The participation in the
masses was compulsory, each guild had a separate pew of its own where the
craftsmen had to sit in the rows according to their rank. Various statutes of the guilds consist of strict
instructions concerning the occasions when the mass had to be read. All the
members of the guild participated in the procession which was another religious
activity. It was also a tradition for all to accompany their deceased mate in
great retinue. The uncomplishment of this obligation was punished with a wax
fine. The first rule of this kind we find in the regulations of law of the
blacksmiths' guild and of the tanners' guild. The religious issue becames less and less
important as the years went by and the economic, social and political
problems became more important. As the guilds developed, their interests were
different from those of the church; the guilds try to become independent from
this institution that was the church. 2.3
Apprentices, Journeymen and Craftsmen. To join a guild and to became a member was not a simple thing at all;
it took long and hard years of preparation, deprivation and humiliation. The
sons of a craftsmen were educated in such the way to take over their father's
workshop since early childhood so they were used to work in a workshop of a
guild. We do not have specific information about the age when a young man was
to become an apprentice, but all we know from the documents is that he had to
be old enough; he could be probably
10 or 12. Before a youngman was received as an apprentice by a craftsman he
had to work part time in the workshop for almost 2-3 weeks in order to prove
his skills. No craftsman had the right to keep an apprentice without paying
him more than the time established by law; if he did, he was obliged to pay
the guild 1 florin and 2 kilos of wax. Another condition for a youngman to become an
apprentice was to belong to an honest family and from legitimate marriages.
First of all the apprentice needed two witnesses to prove that he belong to vero et legittimo thoro habeatur
matrimonium, as it was specified in the law on November, 12th, 1484 of
the United Guild of Archers, Sword Makers, Shield Makers and Saddle Makers
from Cluj. Their code of law had as model the one of the guild of spur makers
and sword makers from Sibiu. These years of apprenticeship were not very easy
because in the law was mentioned that during thew period of 4 years the apprentice could be used
for some other jobs outside his work two hours a day. When the youngman finished his apprenticeship he
was given a certificate that proved he learned the trade only after he had
payed a tax of 25 denari. Having this certificate he had the right
qualification to become a journeymen. The new journeymen was welcomed by his
felow-jorneymen with a ritual that ended with a feast that was called the drink of friendship. This feast
was rather expensive: fifty cracknels, bread, steak and 10 liters of wine.
Once he was accepted by them he had two possibilities: either to keep working
at the craftsmam where he learned the trade or to leave on his own, to travel
to other towns where the trade he was interested in was more developed. There
he would have the opportunity to learn much more about the trade and become
an expert. Nürnberg was the town where the trade of arms was well - developed
where we have information from the 16th century, more exactly 1530, of a craftsman
Valentin Transilvăneanul. He may have decided to stay and settle in this
town and marry the daughter of his craftsman Wilhem Worms as a result of
performing the guild journey. After travelling so long, the journeymen had to
give a craftsman exam and they were obliged to present also the birth
certificate, in order to prove that they came from a legitimate marriage,
apprenticeship certificate; moral certificate and a journey certificate. With
all these proofs, the craftsman was declared citizen of the town and he could
go in for the proper exam which consisted of a practical exam that
represented the making of crafty work or a masterpiece. In order to be received in a guild and to have all the rights that a member of a guild had, the candidate had to do some other things, some of them rather expensive. First of all he had to invite the members of the guild to dinner. We have some information about the meal. It consisted of many dishes: 4 dishes, the first one: caraway cake and 2 capons of rice; the second: different steaks (stuffed pork, goose capon, 4 stuffed chicken, 5 slices of pork, 8 slices of beef and a half of rabbit; the third: meat and cabbage; the fourth: milk and rice and scraps and at the end fruit were served. If the new member was not able to prepare such a dinner he had to pay 12 florini and the craftsmen prepared their dinner themselves. There was one more condition for a craftsman to
become a member of the guild, that is
marriage. This was compulsory because of two reasons: on one hand in order to
secure the tranquility of the craftsmen's families and on the morality of the
guild and the other hand, in this way the other craftsmen could marry their
daughters. |
