Page:The history of medieval Europe.djvu/383

 THE RISE OF TOWNS AND GILDS 333 only enough to recompense him for the cost of the raw material and to provide a decent wage for his time and labor. As most workmen sold direct to the consumers and towns were small and individuals well known, this ideal was comparatively easy to enforce. It was strongly sup- ported by public opinion, and butchers or fishmongers who tried to elevate prices without necessity were liable to find themselves in serious trouble. Hours of labor were regu- lated by the gilds, and as a rule the medieval artisan had a long working day, far exceeding the present eight-hour standard. But besides Sundays there were numerous reli- gious holidays, in fifteenth-century France as many as fifty a year. It was usual for the gilds to restrict the number of their apprentices, partly because a master-workman could not teach the trade as well to a number of boys as he could to one or two, partly because the members did not wish to admit more men to the exercise of their craft than employ- ment and a sufficient livelihood could be found for. In most towns only gild members could engage in those occupations which were represented by gilds, and articles made outside the town were heavily taxed before they could be sold within its limits. In short, the gilds were protected industries. The gild system was not universally adopted, just as all the land was not divided into fiefs and manors. In Brittany and central France, for example, it took little Number hold, and some large towns of southern France, tanceof° r ~ like Lyons, Narbonne, and Bordeaux, had no the gilds gilds. In such cases, however, the town governments regu- lated the various crafts and trades in much the way that gilds did elsewhere. There were still other parts of France where gilds existed, but where it was possible for a laborer to exercise his craft without joining the gild. Furthermore, not all occupations in a town necessarily formed gilds. Crafts in which there were not enough workmen engaged in that town to form a gild might either remain unorganized or attach themselves for the sake of protection and associa- tion to a gild representing another trade somewhat similar to their own craft. The number and size of the gilds varied