GILDS AND VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS.
At an early stage in the development of the English nation there became
manifest a tendency for persons who possessed certain interests in common,
to organise themselves into a species of club or association. To such
associations the term "gild" has been applied. Mr. Toulmin Smith maintains
that the early English gilds came into existence for the purpose of
joining all classes together, for assisting the needy and promoting
objects of common welfare. These gilds were inspired by religious motives,
and were closely associated with the Church.[418] The first three English
gilds of which records are now available, are those of Abbotsbury,[419]
Exeter, and Cambridge. The earliest available statement of the purposes of
gilds appears to date from 858, when the Archbishop of Rheims, in giving
particulars of the gilds of that date in France states that they "unite
for offerings, for mutual assistance, for funeral services for the dead,
for alms, and for other deeds of piety."[420] The number of these
associations rapidly increased. Brentano states that at one time during
the Middle Ages, there were twelve gilds in Norwich and Lynn respectively.
Gallienus counts 80 gilds in Cologne, Melle about 70 at Luebeck, and
Staphorst over 100 at Hamburg.[421] Gilds were so very numerous and so
marked a characteristic of the social life of the period that it is not to
be wondered at if exaggerated statements were made as to their number.
"In Norfolk, the most densely populated county of England, Taylor is said
to have counted no less than 909 gilds, and in Lyme Regis alone 75."[422]
It is important to remember that the most prominent characteristic of
gilds was the religious element. As a matter of fact it is impossible to
conceive of any social organisation which was entirely divorced from
religion, existing at this time. Hartshorn states "No matter what the
specific _raison d'etre_ was of any gild, it necessarily had a religious
aspect. Each had its patron, in whose honour candles were burnt. Some had
as their object the aid of poor scholars, the maintenance of schools or
the payment of schoolmasters, the presentation of religious plays, as even
to-day that of Oberammergau in South Bavaria, or the repair of roads and
bridges. The Frith Gilds had rules for helping the gild-brothers in every
need. The statutes of the English gilds frequently mention loans made to
needy brothers with but one condition, that it be repaid when there was no
more need of it."[423]
Before proceeding to consider the educational significance of the gilds,
we may refer here, for the sake of convenience, to two subsequent
developments of the gild movement--the gild-merchant and the craft gild.
In the years which immediately followed the Conquest the more important
towns of England suffered greatly, partly on account of the chances of war
and partly on account of the policy of castle-building associated with the
English kings of the Norman period. However, as soon as the Norman rule
was firmly established, an internal peace, such as had not been previously
enjoyed, was secured for this country; the towns, consequently, made rapid
progress, and in one commercial centre after another a gild-merchant was
set up.[424]
A gild-merchant came into existence for reasons similar to those which
brought into being the religious and social gilds. There was a
consciousness of a community of interest, and a common object which could
be secured more effectively through co-operation. It is foreign to our
purpose to attempt to examine critically the origin of gilds-merchant, and
so it must suffice for us simply to state that their history has been
traced back to corporations of merchants and artisans, which existed in
Rome under Numa Pompilius, and which were termed "collegia" or "corpora
opificum et artificium."[425] In France, the first gild-merchant was
formed in 1070, and came into existence for the purpose of protecting the
free townsmen against the oppression of the nobility. Gradually their
number increased, and with the growth in their number their purposes
became more clearly defined, and the custom developed that the gild should
receive formal recognition from recognised authority. Thus the traders of
Paris formed the "Hanse des marchandes de L'eau" and the privileges they
claimed were confirmed by Louis VII. in 1170.
The first purposive mention of a gild-merchant in England dates from C.
1093.[426] The general line of development seems to have been that such
associations gradually came into existence at various centres; they
defined their purposes, their claims, and the exclusive privileges they
desired. When a favourable opportunity presented itself, they secured from
the king or other lords the grant of a charter which was necessary for
legal recognition. Henry I. seems to have been the first king who
systematically granted these charters; during the reign of Henry II.,
charters were obtained by many of the principal towns of the country,
notably Bristol, Durham, Lincoln, Carlisle, Oxford, Salisbury, and
Southampton; in each of these charters the recognition of a gild-merchant
was an important feature.[427] Ashley writes: "In spite of the paucity of
evidence, the existence of a merchant gild can be definitely proved in 92
towns out of the 160 represented at one time or other in the parliaments
of Edward I. No considerable name--with two exceptions, namely London and
the Cinque Ports--is wanting from the list. It is impossible not to
conclude that every town, down to those that were not much more than
villages, had its merchant gild. This fact of itself is enough to prove
the great part it must have played in the town life of the time."[428]
A third type of gild--the craft gild--begins to appear early in the
twelfth century. These gilds become more numerous as the century advances.
In the thirteenth century they are a common feature of industrial life.
The circumstances which gave rise to the origin of gilds of this character
are still in dispute. The popular view is that the gilds-merchant came
into existence, first of all, in order to secure protection against the
feudal lords. Gradually they became exclusive and so rendered necessary
the formation of craft gilds for the protection of the common interest of
those who were engaged in crafts in opposition to the interests of those
who were concerned in the sale of the commodities produced.
Ashley points out the difficulties involved in this theory,[429] and
suggests an alternative hypothesis. He states that originally membership
of the town assembly was bound up with the possession of land within the
town boundaries, and that membership of the gild-merchant was practically
identical with citizenship. In course of time, there came into existence a
class of landless inhabitants of the town, who consequently could not be
regarded as burgesses, and therefore could not be admitted into the
gild-merchant without the payment of fees. Some of these people would turn
to handicrafts. The same spirit of community of interest which produced
the religious gilds and the gilds-merchant respectively would also operate
to induce the craftsmen to form a guild of their own.[430]
The first craft gilds which come into notice, were those of the weavers;
the weavers of London date their charter from the reign of Henry I. There
were also gilds of weavers in London, Lincoln, and Oxford in existence
before 1130.[431]
Just as the gild-merchants obtained a legal recognition of their
existence, so the craft gilds also in course of time received recognition
from the king, whilst those gilds which were not authorised were amerced
as "adulterine." No attempt, however, seems to have been made forcibly to
dissolve the adulterine gilds.
The only definite provision contained in these charters of recognition
was, that no one within the specified area should follow the craft unless
he were a member of the gild. This provision, however, involved the
imposition of conditions of membership, and a general power of supervision
over the members of the craft.
We are concerned in this thesis only with the educational significance of
the gilds; hence we need not discuss further their economic aspects. It
is, however, interesting to note that the social value of these gilds
survived their economic functions. Judged from an economic standpoint,
they began to degenerate during the fourteenth century. They had come into
existence in response to the impulse arising out of a vague sense of the
value of association of membership in a corporate body; against this
spirit, the sense of individualism, which particularly manifested itself
at the time of the Reformation, asserted itself and ultimately triumphed.
The gild system was of considerable importance from the point of view of
education. We may note that the gild spirit manifested itself among
teachers. They organised themselves into a form of association. Gradually,
they laid down the conditions of membership of their body. In course of
time, legal recognition was received from pope or emperor or king, and the
embryo university gradually obtains general recognition. "The rise of the
universities," says Rashdall, "was merely a wave of that great movement
towards association which began to sweep over the cities of Europe in the
course of the eleventh century."
We may next note that the gilds we have described proved to be the means
by which the growing social consciousness of the nation evinced an
interest in education. The term "social consciousness" is vague, and is
capable of being variously defined. The origin of the phenomenon may be
traced to the gregarious instinct, when the resulting consciousness is
merely the "consciousness of kind," to use Professor Giddings' phrase. A
higher stage of development is reached when an individual member of a
group recognises the relationship in which he stands to the other members
of the group, together with a realisation of the duties which such
relationship involves. A still higher degree of development of the social
consciousness results when the group as a whole recognises that it
possesses social duties and responsibilities.
We may trace roughly four stages in the growth of a national social
consciousness. First, there is the stage at which the individual cares
only for himself, a second stage is attained when family claims are
recognised, a still higher stage when a duty to a social group is
perceived, a fourth stage is reached when social organisations are formed
for discharging more effectively social duties.
The earliest of these social organisations in point of time--and the most
important from the standpoint of education--were the social gilds. These
gilds, as we have shown, were essentially religious. They were a
manifestation of what may be described as a "democratic religious
impulse." The term is admittedly clumsy, but it denotes a desire
proceeding from the people to carry out religious duties apart from the
official requirements of the Church. On a large scale we can see this
force at work in the movements initiated by St. Francis of Assisi and St.
Dominic respectively, or, to take a more recent example, in the Methodist
revival in the Church of England. To return to our period, we find that
men and women, impelled by a spirit of association, formed themselves into
a gild in order to carry out more effectively their religious and social
responsibilities. We particularly wish to note that, in some cases, these
responsibilities included the making of provision for the education of the
young.
It is not possible yet to indicate the full extent to which these social
gilds made such provision, but it is probable that they did much more for
education than is commonly conceived. Our chief means of discovering what
was accomplished, is by an examination of the returns which were made when
the gilds were being dissolved. From an examination of these records, we
are led to the conclusion that, after an association or gild had been
formed for specified purposes the general method of procedure was, that
the members of the gild made certain payments to secure the services of
one or more priests, who were to devote themselves to carrying out such
objects as the gild had in view. These aims frequently included the
keeping of a school.
We can find this illustrated by a consideration of the information
available[432] with regard to the Gild of Kalendars, Bristol. In 1318 the
Bishop of Gloucester issued an inquisition as to the rights and privileges
of this gild. The report of the commissioners states that "the beginning
of the fraternity exceeds the memory of man," and it was established that
it existed before the Conquest. The gild was formerly called the "Gild or
Brotherhood of the Community of the clergy and people of Bristol" and
received a licence from the Cardinal-legate Gualo in 1216. Among other
works carried out by this association is mentioned the maintenance of "a
school for Jewes and other strangers, to be brought up and instructed in
christianitie under the said fraternitie."[433] Here then is established
the fact that gilds, as apart from churches, conceived themselves as
responsible for education at least as early as the thirteenth century.
We may also consider the Palmers Gild which was founded in 1284. This gild
supported a "warden, 7 priestes, 4 singyng men, twoo deacons, syx
Queristers, ... 32 pore Almes people" as well as a schoolmaster to teach
Latin.[434]
As additional instances of schools which were established through the
agency of gilds we may enumerate the school at Maldon which is supposed to
have been founded by the Fraternity of the Assumption of the Virgin,[435]
and the school at Raleigh, which was founded by the Trinity Gild in
1388-9.[436] The chantry certificate relating to this gild states that
"lands were put in feoffement by diverse and sundry persons to ffinde a
prieste ... to teach a fre schole their to instruct youth. Which seide
town of Raleigh is a very greate and populous towne."[437] These instances
readily demonstrate the democratic appreciation of education, and that
among the purposes for which people joined themselves together in
voluntary association was the provision of facilities for education.
We pass to an important topic when we consider the work of the
gilds-merchant and the craft gilds. If we can trace any educational
activities on the part of these associations then we can trace the origin
of the interest taken by the civic communities and by organised labour
respectively in education.
Though it is an error to conceive of the gild-merchant as identical with
the municipal authority yet as Gross points out the distinction between
them was barely perceptible. Now, if we can show that the gilds-merchant
in some cases supported schools, then we have shown the interest of the
civic community (as apart from the work of the Church) in educational
matters. The only specific case of a gild-merchant taking an interest in
education which we have been able to find is that of the gild-merchant of
York. The chantry certificate of the city of York states that "the
governour and kepers of the mysterye of merchauntes of the cytie of York,"
co-operated in the foundation of a hospital which had as one of its
objects the maintenance of "two poore scolers."[438]
Our difficulty in dealing with this topic arises from the fact that the
"founder" of schools mentioned in the available documents is so very
frequently not the real founder. It is for this reason that Edward VI.,
Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, and others have been regarded as the founders
of schools which cannot in any real sense be attributed to them. In the
case of gilds, we find the names of certain persons mentioned as the
founders of various charitable trusts without a distinct statement of the
fact that they were acting simply as representatives of an association.
We are, therefore, driven to consider the full objects of the charitable
trust under discussion. If the objects mentioned are mainly religious or
eleemosynary, then it is probable that the trust created was
ecclesiastical in its origin, but if these characteristics are not
definitely present, or if the purposes specified by the trust include
duties which should form a part of the duty of the municipality, then we
consider that the gild should be classed under the municipal gilds.
With this object in view, we may examine the chantry certificate for the
town of Wisbech, one of the fullest and most complete of the chantry
certificates and one which would have well served as a model to others who
had the duty of drawing up these returns. In answer to the question of the
founder of the gild, the certificate states the gild was founded in the
reign of Richard II. by certain clerks whose names are specified "with
other mo." This last phrase is significant as it supports the inference
that the gild was formed by the citizens of the town, but that the clergy,
as the natural leaders of the community, would append their names first to
the document.
The objects of the gild, which are specified in this return may be briefly
summarised--
(1) The maintenance of Divine service.
(2) Prayer for the souls of the faithful departed.
(3) Maintenance of a Grammar School.
(4) Relief of the Poor.
(5) Maintenance of almshouses.
(6) Repair of the church.
(7) Maintenance of dykes "for the sauftie bothe of the sayd towne and
14 other towns."[439]
Here we have an effective enumeration of the duties of a municipal
authority, and when the date of the founding of the gild and the absence
of any legislation which compelled the carrying out of such tasks are
considered, then the duties specified point to a high degree of social
responsibility having been attained at Wisbech at this date. We may,
therefore, conclude that the gild at Wisbech was not simply a religious
association for purely spiritual purposes, but was an association of the
civil community for municipal purposes. That these purposes included
certain religious functions is not a matter of surprise. Religion in the
Middle Ages was more closely interwoven with the life of the people than
it is to-day.
The gild existing at Stratford-on-Avon seems also to have been a citizen
gild. Its origin can be traced to a date earlier than 1295. In the return
made to the sheriff's proclamation in 1389, it was stated that the gild
was begun at a time beyond the memory of man. The affairs of the gild were
administered by two wardens who were elected by the members. The main
objects of the gild seem to have been the maintenance of priests to
celebrate divine service and the keeping of a grammar school.[440]
The chantry certificate of the city of Worcester further supports the
contention that the municipal authority provided a school. The certificate
referred to was signed by the master of the gild, two bailiffs of the
city, an alderman, a citizen, and two stewards of the gild. It is notable
that not a single ecclesiastic signs the return. The school, moreover,
was kept in the Gild Hall of the city, and was apparently a successful
one, as there were over 100 scholars who attended it. This return, coupled
with the fact that Worcester was a cathedral city, raises several points
of interest which it is hoped that future research will elucidate. From
whom was the necessary authority to establish the school derived? Was the
school the outcome of a dispute between the civic and the ecclesiastical
authorities, as was the school at Exeter in the seventeenth century?
_Prima facie_, facts certainly point in that direction.[441]
We have quoted the case of these three gilds to support the contention
that it had begun to be realised that it was the duty of the municipal
authorities to make provision for education. A full investigation into
this subject can only gradually be made, as the various municipal
documents are examined with this object in view. We may, however, note
here that the "Gilds of Holy Trinity and St. George" in Warwick were
responsible for the continuance of Warwick School,[442] that the burgesses
of Coventry seem to have maintained a school,[443] that a grammar school
at Ipswich was founded by the municipality,[444] that the civic
authorities at Bridgenorth were in charge of the schools,[445] and that
the school at Plymouth was founded by the corporation.[446]
The work of the craft gilds for education still remains to be considered.
We find that at Shrewsbury, the Drapers' Gild, the Mercers' Gild, the
Shermen Gild, the Shoemakers' Gild, the Tailors' Gild, and the Weavers'
Gild, each supported a chantry priest at either the church of St. Mary, or
St. Chad, or St. Julian. By analogy with other cases, we assume that these
chantry priests acted as schoolmasters to the children of the members of
the craft gilds.[447]
A new departure was instituted when a successful member of a craft gild
bequeathed money to it for the purpose of endowing a school at a specified
place. Thus, in 1443, John Abbot made the Mercers' Craft the trustees of
a school to be founded at Farthinghoe in Northamptonshire.[448] A school
at Lancaster was founded in 1469 by John Gardyner, burgess and probably
miller, of Lancaster.[449] In 1487, Sir Edmund Shaw or Sha "cytezen
goldsmyth and alderman and late mayer of the citee of London" devised
money to the Goldsmiths' Company for the purpose of establishing and
maintaining a grammar school at Stockport.[450] Then, in 1505, another
Lord Mayor, Sir Bartholomew Read, founded by will a school at Cromer and
also appointed the Goldsmiths' Company as trustees.[451]
The general conclusion we seem to be justified in drawing from these
instances is, that the value of education was being more and more
realised, and that the duty of making provision for education ceased to be
regarded as exclusively the function of the Church. This does not mean
that there existed an idea that education was not still regarded as
something which should be closely associated with the Church, but rather,
that the idea had originated and developed that organisations which
represented the municipality and handicrafts respectively, also possessed
a responsibility in making provision for the education of the young.
In addition to making provision for schools, the gilds were important
educative forces in other directions. They constituted one of the most
important agencies for breaking down social exclusiveness and "in
transmitting social manners and ideals from a narrower to a wider circle."
As the gilds had increased in number, so they increased in wealth and
importance. They built halls which were the external testimony to the
position they occupied. At times they entertained kings and other magnates
of the realm and admitted persons of standing to honorary membership.
Music and the drama were also fostered by the gilds. Several gilds existed
in England[452] with the object of developing an interest in music. The
performance of dramatic representations was a common feature of the
gilds.
Membership of the gilds also proved to be a training for the performance
of the duties of citizenship and of society, as the members of such
organisations were brought into intimate relation with a wider circle than
their own individual interests would furnish, and they would be required
to take part in the transactions of the business of the gild. It is
noteworthy that gilds were organised on a social basis, and that women
were admitted to the membership of the merchant and craft gilds, as well
as to that of the social and religious gilds. Thus at Kingston, the Gild
of the Blessed Virgin Mary was founded in 1357 by 10 men and 13
women,[453] and the Gild of Corpus Christi founded in the same town in
1338 included 18 women among its 43 founders.[454] The sons and daughters
of these founders might be admitted to membership of the gilds without
initiatory payment.[455] Again, at Coventry, the names of women as well as
men are mentioned in the Charter of the gild merchant.[456]
One other point may be mentioned, a point which has been described as "the
most important educational service of the gilds." This service was the
growth of the system of apprenticeship. Originally, apprenticeship was
merely a private contract between an individual and his prospective
master. With the development of gilds, regulations specifying the
conditions of such apprenticeship began to be issued, _e.g._ the master
craftsman might teach his art to as many members of his family as he
pleased, but he could only have one other apprentice. Moreover, from the
outset, the apprentice was under the special protection of the gild which
was practically a court of appeal in the event of any serious complaint on
the part of the apprentice. Important, however, as this topic is, a
further consideration of it would lead us beyond the special limits of our
investigation.