The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-10-29

and 1000 show that money had risen In value
and lessened in quantity since the Roman Pc
Rod. The laborcr with his daily wage OF one
denier could buy a. much bread rs he could
hardly purchase now for three francs. On the
other hand the products Of industry we're
much denrer than those 81 agriculture. and this
was especially the case with the more delicate
or difficult handiorafts. few workmen being
left who were able to practise them. A cuirass,
for example. cost a sum equivalent to $50
francs. and bride cost more than horse In
the tenth century thore we're still some cities
surviving from tho Roman period which had
not lost their common property great towns
which we're strong enough to resist the aggrcs
sions OF Seigneurs and Bishops.
In tho early feudal period the communal sys-
tom was very generally encouraged among tho
serfs. In many cases the lords demanded. as
the condition Of granting certain concessions.
that tho peasants should ADOPT this institution.
1t Is u mistake to suppose that froeholds
we're universally superseded by feudal tcnures
In France. In certain provinces. ~. for in
stance. Langucdoc. Dauphny. and the Lyon
naise the freeholders long remained exempt
from quit rent. From the beginning ftho feu-
dial epoch. serfs become less and less numerous
and moro and moro closely approach the con-
dition Of freemen. From tho eleventh century
the name and status Of serf were unknown In
Normandy. In the charters Of tho eleventh
and twelfth centuries We find agreements be-
tween lord and tenant substituting themselves
for arbitrary exactions. The reorganization of
the privileged trades seems to have coincided
with the end OF domestic slavery. under which
these han dcrafts had previously been exercised
In the interior Of households. As serfs disap-
pearod. free artisans arose. and became some
what numerous toward the close OF the eleventh
century Foremost among the free hand-
craftsmen were the weavers They formed
kind of middle class between the feudnl aris-
tocracy and the bond handicraftsmen. But al
though the craft guilds arose first among
the most eminent of the free hnndicrafts-
men. yet this form OF organization was
soon made use Of by the lower members OF the
artisan class us means Of elevation With the
liberation of the bond handicrattsmen from
scrfdom proper many OF the associations In
which they had grouped themselves for self
protection became free craft guilds. These
trade corporations may be said In general to
date from the beginning OF the eleventh to the
middle Of the thirteenth century. BY 1861 the
cobbers. leather brooches makers. belt makers
and purse makers Of Paris we're all organized
In corporate bodies. and not long aftcrward we
hear OF the guild OF butchers. In the thirteenth
century 1t had become common to sec mer-
chants owning the houses in which they dwclt.
and possessing folds in the neighborhood Of
their town.
1t is noteworthy that in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries. when the landed pro-
prietors were living in great poverty. the
traders and craftsmen of towns had reached
relatively high degree OF wealth. As early as
tho period named the Inhabitants of towns
were accustomed to invest part OF their capital
in mortgages on the estates Of neighboring
landowners. BY the end Of the thirteenth CEN
fury. out Of a hundred registered guilds there
remained but twenty. in which artisans
had to purchase tho right to exercise their
craft Artisans exercising the same trade
usually lived in the same street or quarter. 1t
appears that in the south. handicraftsmen were
less Of monopolists than in the north. feudaiity
being at first less oppressive In the more thor
oughly Romanized part Of Gaul. The artisan
of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries
could hope II Industrious and thrifty. to be-
come master. little capital being required for
the practice OF most crafts. Competition among
workmen was restrained By the rigorous limita.
ton OF the number OF apprentices. Craftsmen
worked by timo or by the piece il Is hard to say
which was the more common. When by time.
the workman was hired for the day. the year. or
even for u period Of years: the working day
lasted from sunrise to sunset working by arti-
fetal light being forbidden. 1t is worth remark
that tho corporation " money coiners and GER
tain corporations of butchers recruited them
selves exclusively from certain families. and
thus formed veritable castles. The processes
OF carpentry seem to have constituted a
mysterious art. which the workmen transmit
ted from generation to generation IA sacred
deposit. and which they endeavored 10 keep IA
secret as possible.
In N tina a y rap 4 m ln for Mr.
compilation. the marked Improvement in the
condition Of tho peasants during the fourteenth
century Is shown by comparing il ia detail
with that Of previous periods. Thore seems 10
bs no doub. that at tho close OF tho Middle
ages. when definite order was established in
feudal society, agricultural production and the
we,i-being Of the rural classes had attained u
far higher level than they were able to main
tain under the centralized monarchy Of tho
seventeenth century. 1t was political events.
and especially tho well nigh incessant wars Of
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries which
INSTRUCTED the development of agriculture and
the multiplication of cattle that would have
been powerfully stimulated by the social and
economical structure OF society. Up to the be-
ginning OF the fifteenth century free artisans
and yilleins had in most parts OF France. the
right to hunt and nsh-a right which they can.
not exercise even TO this day In England.
In the fourteenth century every rich person
WAS obliged by law to Keep many domestics.
and there already existed in Paris Intelligence
offices for servant girls from the provinces.
An ordinance Of 1851 regulated the wages OF
each servant. The cowhsrd tending thirty
cows had twenty soils II year. besides certain
quantity Of linen. ChambermnidS had thirty
soils u year and their hose. Women who worked
by the day ut private houses could ask IL
deniers without food. or with. Merchants
who were only dealers and not makers. could
take q commission Of 2 sous per livre. In the
fifteenth century the Wholesale merchants had
an average income Of l. 500 livres. which would
now bo equal to Il revenue OF more than 35 900
francs The SINNERS. grocers and diapers
made 200 or 800 ivrcs equal to G 900 or 5000
francsj yearly. Masons. skaters. and carpenters
earned from to sous per day (the equivalent
OF sums ranging from Al to 6 francs). The
poorest artisan made at least q. francs day.
and when his stipend was so far reduced. he
was invariably kept by his employer
1t is now known that the development Of
peasant proprietary. which has been exclusive
iy credited to the French revolution began