From Guild Welfare to Bismarck Care: Professional guilds and the origins of modern social security law and insurance law in Germany [1 ed.] 9783428581559, 9783428181551

Citation preview

Comparative Studies in the History of Insurance Law Studien zur vergleichenden Geschichte des Versicherungsrechts Volume / Band 8

From Guild Welfare to Bismarck Care Professional guilds and the origins of modern social security law and insurance law in Germany by

Phillip Hellwege

Duncker & Humblot · Berlin

Phillip Hellwege

From Guild Welfare to Bismarck Care

Comparative Studies in the History of Insurance Law Studien zur vergleichenden Geschichte des Versicherungsrechts Edited by /  Herausgegeben von Prof. Dr. Phillip Hellwege

Volume / Band 8

From Guild Welfare to Bismarck Care Professional guilds and the origins of modern social security law and insurance law in Germany

by

Phillip Hellwege

Duncker & Humblot  ·  Berlin

The project ‘A Comparative History of Insurance Law in Europe’ has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 647019).

Bibliographic information of the German national library The German national library registers this publication in the German national bibliography; specified bibliographic data are retrievable on the Internet about http://dnb.d-nb.de.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, translated, or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the expressed written consent of the publisher. © 2020 Duncker & Humblot GmbH, Berlin Printing: CPI buchbücher.de GmbH, Birkach Printed in Germany ISSN 2625-638X (Print) / ISSN 2625-6398 (Online) ISBN 978-3-428-18155-1 (Print) ISBN 978-3-428-58155-9 (E-Book) Printed on no aging resistant (non-acid) paper according to ISO 9706 Internet: http://www.duncker-humblot.de

Preface The present volume is part of a research project on a Comparative History of Insurance Law in Europe (CHILE). CHILE has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 647019). I would like to thank Michael Friedman for his critical comments on an earlier draft of this volume and for, once again, correcting the English. Augsburg, July 2020

Phillip Hellwege

Summary of contents A. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 15  I. II. III. IV. V.

Professional guilds and the origins of modern insurance and social security? .. 15  The state of research ......................................................................................... 16  Defining the research object.............................................................................. 29  Overview........................................................................................................... 34  Eight final preliminary remarks ........................................................................ 38 

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century: loans and capacity building ................................................................................... 43  I. II. III. IV. V.

Supporting master craftsmen and their families ................................................ 45  Supporting journeymen and apprentices ......................................................... 109  Supporting miners and their families .............................................................. 142  Supporting seafarers and their families ........................................................... 170  Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 178 

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries: a first phase of transformation ............................................................................ 181  I. II. III. IV. V.

Supporting craftsmen and their families.......................................................... 181  Supporting miners and their families .............................................................. 216  Supporting seafarers and their families ........................................................... 228  Contextualizing the process of transformation ................................................ 230  Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 273 

D. The evolution of Germany’s modern social security schemes in the 19th century ................................................................................................. 277  I. 19th-century developments until Bismarck’s legislation ................................. 277  II. Bismarck’s social security legislation ............................................................. 306  III. Guild welfare and modern life insurance?....................................................... 314  E. Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 317 

Contents A. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 15  I. Professional guilds and the origins of modern insurance and social security? .. 15  II. The state of research ......................................................................................... 16  1. 2. 3. 4.

Modern research on the history of professional guilds ................................. 16  Modern research on the history of insurance and insurance law .................. 20  Modern research on the history of social security ........................................ 23  Sigrid Fröhlich’s monograph on the social protection offered by master craftsmen’s guilds and journeymen’s associations ....................................... 26 

III. Defining the research object.............................................................................. 29  IV. Overview........................................................................................................... 34  V. Eight final preliminary remarks ........................................................................ 38  1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Different legal contexts ................................................................................ 38  Craftsmen, miners, seafarers, and other professions .................................... 38  No clear-cut periodization ............................................................................ 39  Incomplete primary sources ......................................................................... 40  Problems of translation ................................................................................ 40  Germany and beyond ................................................................................... 41  The concept of insurance ............................................................................. 42  A comparative history of insurance law in Europe ...................................... 42 

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century: loans and capacity building ................................................................................... 43  I.

Supporting master craftsmen and their families ................................................ 45  1. Forms of support .......................................................................................... 45  a) Financial support ..................................................................................... 47  aa) Granting repayable loans ................................................................. 47  bb) Non-repayable financial forms of support ....................................... 50  cc) Conclusion ....................................................................................... 56  b) Non-financial support ............................................................................. 56  aa) bb) cc) dd)

Caring for sick and old guild members ............................................ 56  Supporting sick guild members in continuing their businesses........ 58  Supporting widows and orphans ...................................................... 61  Non-financial support in funerals .................................................... 71 

c) Precautionary measures against risks ...................................................... 72  d) Creating an economic balance................................................................. 73  2. Beneficiaries of support ............................................................................... 74  3. Covered risks ............................................................................................... 76  4. Joining a guild .............................................................................................. 77 

10

Contents a) Admission requirements.......................................................................... 77  b) Preferential treatment of master craftsmen’s sons and of journeymen marrying master craftsmen’s widows and daughters............................... 81  5. Guild finances .............................................................................................. 83  a) b) c) d)

The expenses side.................................................................................... 84  The income side ...................................................................................... 85  The local authority’s right to a portion of the generated income ............. 90  No separate funds for financing each function ........................................ 92 

6. Legal enforceability ..................................................................................... 94  7. Conclusion ................................................................................................... 96  a) Guild support, as it had developed from the Middle Ages to the 17th century, cannot be categorized as insurance, pre-insurance, or social security!............................................................. 96  b) The legal rules on guild support, as they had developed from the Middle Ages to the 17th century, are of no importance for modern insurance law and modern social security law! .................... 99  c) A need for further research? .................................................................. 101  aa) Guild statutes being silent on self-evident customs? ..................... 101  bb) Guild office holders did not need authorization in guild statutes to grant loans ....................................................... 104  cc) Guild statutes restricting the freedom of members and burdening them with obligations .................................................................... 105  dd) Guild statutes reflecting anecdotal experience ............................... 106  ee) A principle of solidarity? ............................................................... 106  ff) Were guild statutes misleading? .................................................... 107  gg) A need for further research? .......................................................... 108  II. Supporting journeymen and apprentices ......................................................... 109  1. Support by master craftsmen ...................................................................... 110  2. Support by master craftsmen’s guilds ........................................................ 113  a) b) c) d) e) f)

Financial support pimarily in the form of a loan ................................... 115  Non-financial support ........................................................................... 121  Joining a guild ....................................................................................... 121  Financing support.................................................................................. 122  Legal enforceability .............................................................................. 124  Conclusion ............................................................................................ 124 

3. Support by journeymen’s associations ....................................................... 125  a) b) c) d) e)

Financial support primarily in the form of a loan .................................. 128  Non-financial support ........................................................................... 133  Beneficiaries of support ........................................................................ 135  The finances of journeymen’s associations ........................................... 136  Legal enforceability .............................................................................. 140 

4. Conclusion ................................................................................................. 141  III. Supporting miners and their families .............................................................. 142  1. Forms of support offered by operators of mines ........................................ 149  2. Forms of support offered by miners’ guilds ............................................... 155 

Contents

11

a) Granting repayable loans....................................................................... 158  b) Non-repayable financial forms of support ............................................. 160  c) Non-financial support ........................................................................... 162  3. Guild finances ............................................................................................ 164  4. Legal enforceability ................................................................................... 167  5. Conclusion ................................................................................................. 168  IV. Supporting seafarers and their families ........................................................... 170  1. Support offered by skippers to sailors ........................................................ 170  2. Support offered by confraternities and guilds ............................................ 172  3. Supporting seafarers’ widows and orphans ................................................ 177  V. Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 178  C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries: a first phase of transformation ............................................................................ 181  I.

Supporting craftsmen and their families.......................................................... 181  1. Confining guild autonomy ......................................................................... 183  2. Institutional changes .................................................................................. 186  3. Forms of support and insurance ................................................................. 190  a) Traditional forms of support ................................................................. 190  b) Forms of insurance ................................................................................ 197  c) Shortcomings of traditional support schemes........................................ 211  4. Admission requirements............................................................................. 211  a) Joining master craftsmen’s guilds ......................................................... 211  b) Joining voluntary death and sick boxes ................................................. 214  5. Guild finances ............................................................................................ 214  6. Legal enforceability ................................................................................... 216 

II. Supporting miners and their families .............................................................. 216  1. 2. 3. 4.

Forms of support and legal enforceability .................................................. 217  Guild autonomy and admission requirements ............................................ 223  Guild finances ............................................................................................ 224  Improvements in the support offered by miners’ guilds ............................. 225 

III. Supporting seafarers and their families ........................................................... 228  IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation ................................................ 230  1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

The developments in the crafts and in the mining sector ........................... 231  The emergence of ‘insurance thinking’ ...................................................... 232  Marine insurance ........................................................................................ 232  Fire insurance ............................................................................................. 233  Factory health insurance schemes .............................................................. 236  Widows’ and orphans’ assurances ............................................................. 238  a) Pastors’ widows’ and orphans’ assurances based on public and semi-public initiatives ........................................................................... 244  aa) The 1559 pastors’ widows’ and orphans’ box in Meißen .............. 245  bb) The 1636 pastors’ widows’ box in Brunswick-Lüneburg .............. 248  cc) The 1716 preachers’ widows’ and orphans’ fund in Brandenburg 249 

12

Contents dd) The 1719 pastors’ widows’ assurance in Baden-Durlach .............. 250  b) Pastors’ widows’ and orphans’ assurances based on private initiatives .................................................................... 250  c) Widows’ and orphans’ assurances for other professions ....................... 253  aa) The 1707 widows’ and orphans’ assurance at the university of Rostock ..................................................................... 254  bb) The 1742 civil servants’ widows’ and orphans’ assurance in Brandenburg-Ansbach ................................................................... 256  cc) The 1749 assurance for the benefit of widows and orphans of servants in the royal stables in Saxony......................... 258  dd) The 1768 civil servants’ widows’ and orphans’ assurance in Brandenburg-Ansbach ................................................................... 261  d) Private widows’ and orphans’ assurances outside professional contexts ................................................................ 263  e) State-run widows’ and orphans’ assurances outside any professional context .............................................................................. 265  f) Conclusion ............................................................................................ 266  7. Pension and invalidity funds ...................................................................... 266  8. Ransom insurance ...................................................................................... 268  9. The emergence of public savings banks ..................................................... 271  V. Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 273 

D. The evolution of Germany’s modern social security schemes in the 19th century ................................................................................................. 277  I.

19th-century developments until Bismarck’s legislation ................................. 277  1. The crafts ................................................................................................... 279  a) The legislative framework..................................................................... 280  b) Guild statutes ........................................................................................ 286  2. The mining sector....................................................................................... 289  a) The legislative framework..................................................................... 291  b) Guild statutes ........................................................................................ 296  3. Seafarers..................................................................................................... 297  4. Factory workers ......................................................................................... 299  a) Statutes of factory health insurance schemes ........................................ 300  b) The legislative framework..................................................................... 302  5. Poor relief and municipal health insurance funds ...................................... 304  6. Conclusion ................................................................................................. 305 

II. Bismarck’s social security legislation ............................................................. 306  1. The 1883 Act Concerning the Health Insurance of Workers ...................... 306  a) Gemeindekrankenversicherungen ......................................................... 307  b) Ortskrankenkassen ................................................................................ 308  c) Common Provisions for Gemeindekrankenversicherungen and Ortskrankenkrassen ............................................................................... 310  d) Betriebs- and Fabrikkrankenkassen....................................................... 310 

Contents

13

e) Innungsgkrankenkassen and Knappschaftskassen ................................. 311  f) Conclusion ............................................................................................ 311  2. The 1884 Work Accident Insurance Act and the 1889 Workers’ Invalidity and Pension Insurance Act .......................... 314  III. Guild welfare and modern life insurance?....................................................... 314  E. Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 317  Archival and printed sources ....................................................................................... 319  Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 322 

A. Introduction I. Professional guilds and the origins of modern insurance and social security? The importance of professional guilds for the development of insurance and insurance law is stressed by many German scholars in the field of insurance history.1 This asserted importance links to the narrative of the three roots of modern insurance and insurance law.2 German literature claims that commercial insurance has its origins in maritime insurance whereas life and fire insurance are rooted in medieval guild welfare and early modern state-run insurance schemes.3 The resulting three different lines of development are said to have merged only in the early 19th century when the first commercial premium life and fire insurance companies were established in Germany. It is usually implied that the evolution of insurance law followed these developments of insurance as an institution. Thus, modern German insurance history literature claims that there is a continuous development from medieval professional guilds to modern (life and fire) insurance (law). However, there is also a second narrative. The importance of professional guilds is stressed not only by German specialists in insurance history. There is a general awareness of the lasting impact which such guilds allegedly had on Germany’s modern social security schemes. The first miners’ guild, a Knappschaft,4 is said to have been established in 1260 at the Rammelsberg, a mountain outside the city of Goslar in the Harz Mountains.5 On the occasion of its 750th anniversary, a memorial stone was unveiled in Goslar. It exhibits the inscription: ‘750 Jahre Knappschaft – Rammelsberg – Wiege der Sozialversicherung’ (‘750 years Knappschaft – Rammelsberg – The cradle of social security’). This narrative suggests a continuous development from medieval miners’ guilds to Germany’s modern social security schemes.6 ___________ 1

See pp. 20 ff., below. On this narrative, see Hellwege, Germany, in: Research Agenda (2018), 172–180. 3 See, e.g., P. Koch, Versicherungswesen, in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 5 (1998), 815 f. 4 On the term Knappschaft, see pp. 31 and 143 ff., below. 5 On the first miners’ guilds, see pp. 142 ff., below. 6 See pp. 23 ff., below. 2

16

A. Introduction

II. The state of research There is an immediate problem with both narratives: the impact of professional guilds on the history of insurance and the history of insurance law as well as their importance as a root of today’s social security is commonly asserted but it has never been analytically established. 1. Modern research on the history of professional guilds Of course, there is abundant modern research on the history of professional guilds in Germany. For the purpose of this introduction, I will restrict myself to summarizing modern research on craft guilds.7 This research has focused on the different aspects of these guilds and the many functions which they served:8 ___________ 7 The research object of the present contribution will be defined on pp. 29 ff., below. Professional guilds other than craft (and merchants’) guilds will be discussed on pp. 142 ff. and 170 ff., below. 8 On what follows, see, e.g., Kluge, Zünfte (2009), passim; von Heusinger, Zunft im Mittelalter (2009), passim; idem, Geselle, in: Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 2 (2nd edn., 2012), 282–286; Oexle, (1982) 118 Blätter für deutsche Landesgeschichte 1–44; idem, Conjuratio und Gilde (1985), 151–214; H.K. Schulze, Kaufmannsgilde und Stadtentstehung (1985), 377–412; Brand, Zunft, in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 5 (1998), 1792– 1803; Schulz, Zunft, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 9 (1998), 686–690; Fouquet, Gilde, in: Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 2 (2nd edn., 2012), 383–386; Stradal, Gilde, in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 1 (1971), 1687–1692; Baum, Handwerk, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 4 (1989), 1910–1914; S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 17–21, 25–29; von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), Einleitung, 14–24, 29 f., 47–114, 119, 140; Gramich, Verfassung und Verwaltung der Stadt Würzburg (1882), 48, 55; Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 2 f., 8, 21–24, 32 f., 45–52; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 4–8, 14–41, 57–77, 133–140, 172–191; M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 17 f., 28–31; Wilda, Gildewesen im Mittelalter (1831), passim; von Hegel, Städte und Gilden, vol. 2 (1891), passim; Eulenburg, Innungen der Stadt Breslau (1892), 5, 22–35; Hemmen, (1910) 18 Jahrbuch für die Geschichte des Herzogtums Oldenburg 195–262; Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), vii–lxxix; Engemann, Gilden der Stadt Goslar (1957), passim; Fromm, (1899) Archiv für Frankfurts Geschichte und Kunst 1–103; Nigge, Gilden der Stadt Lünen (1912), 13–75; Horsch, Konstanzer Zünfte (1979), 20–62; Geering, Handel und Industrie der Stadt Basel (1886), 43–136; Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 6–222; Böhmert, Geschichte des Zunftwesens (1862), 1–30; Bergholz, Beckenwerkergilde zu Braunschweig (1954), passim; Göttmann, Handwerk und Bündnispolitik (1977), passim; Hof, Wettbewerb im Zunftrecht (1983), passim; Wege, Zünfte als Träger wirtschaftlicher Kollektivmaßnahmen (1930), passim; R. Ennen, Zünfte und Wettbewerb (1971), passim; Keutgen, Ämter und Zünfte (1903), passim; Lentze, Kaiser und Zunftverfassung (1933), passim; idem, Handwerk, in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 1 (1971), 1977–1984; Luther, Zunftdemokratie? (1968), passim; SchulzNieswandt, Gilden als ‘totales soziales Phänomen’ (2000), 13; Ehmer, Zünfte in Österreich (2002), 87–126; Müller, Frage des Ursprungs (1910), passim; Eberstadt, Ursprung

II. The state of research

17

(1) their origins and genesis; (2) their differentiation in connection with the differentiation of professions; (3) their internal constitutions; (4) their social composition, including the background of their members and the distribution of wealth; (5) their political role and their constitutional functions in medieval towns as well as the resulting conflicts; (6) their rise and fall analysed from both political and socio-economic perspectives; (7) the extent of their autonomy; (8) the extent of their jurisdiction; (9) the conflicts between the different types of professional guilds within medieval towns, especially between merchants’ guilds and master craftsmen’s guilds and between master craftsmen’s guilds and journeymen’s associations; and (10) their market-regulating functions. The marketregulating functions of professional guilds again involved numerous aspects: regulating the products, their prices, and their quality; regulating the purchase of raw materials and the marketing of end products; regulating the admission requirements for guilds and for the professions; regulating the working conditions of apprentices9 and journeymen, including their salaries; and regulating the size of businesses. With respect to the last aspect, the 1648 statutes of the bookbinders’ guild in the city of Münster, for example, stated:10 ‘Es wird einem jederen meister erlaubt, 2 gesellen beneben 1 lehrjungen zu halten und nicht darüber.’ ‘Every master craftsmen is allowed to have two journeymen alongside one apprentice, and not more.’

According to the 1678 statutes of the whittawers’ guild in the city of Wittstock as well as in the regions of Prignitz and Ruppin, no whittawer was allowed to have two workspaces in his workshop:11 ‘Keiner der Weissgerber soll weder in seinem noch in eines andern gemietheten Hause eine gedoppelte Werckstelle halten, bey Sechs Thaler Straffe […].’ ‘No whittawer shall, neither in his own nor in a rented house, have a double workspace, at a fine of six talers […].’

___________ des Zunftwesens (2nd edn., 1915), passim; Uhl, Handwerk und Zünfte in Eferding (1973), passim; Weider, Recht der Kaufmannsgilden (1931), passim; Bucher, Zunft- und Verkehrs-Ordnungen der Stadt Krakau (1889), xxviii–xxxvi; Schrader, Schleswiger Zünfte (1913), passim; Schwarz, Lage der Handwerksgesellen in Bremen (1975), passim; Mascher, Das deutsche Gewerbewesen (1866), passim. And see the accounts by Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, 6 vol. (1971–1988), passim and Gierke, Genossenschaftsrecht, vol. 1 (1868), 344–409. For the special case of Nuremberg, see, e.g., Schoenlank, Sociale Kämpfe (1907), passim. 9 On apprentices, see most recently Stöger/Reith, Actors and Practices of German Apprenticeship (2020), 138–162. 10 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 186. In addition, see the source reproduced in Nyrop, Danmarks Gilde- og Lavsskraaer, vol. 2 (1895–1904), 89 (shoemakers’ guild, Flensburg, 1437). 11 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 314.

18

A. Introduction

And the 1680 statutes of the linen weavers’ guild in the cities of Halle an der Saale, Neumarkt, and Glaucha limited the number of looms which a master craftsman was allowed to have:12 ‘[…] Soll kein Meister mehr dann drey ganghafftige Gestelle oder Stühle halten, oder soll den Meistern einen Thaler zur Straffe geben so offt Er darüber befunden wird.’ ’[…] No master craftsman shall have more than three working frames or looms, or he shall give one taler as fine to the masters, as often as he is found to have more.’

Even though the different guilds and guild statutes in one town, and also those in different towns, share common features and common characteristic elements, there are nevertheless variations and differences, and these variations and differences were dependent on numerous factors. In his study on guilds in the city of Cologne before 1500, Heinrich von Loesch, for example, observed that ‘each guild, despite commonalities in the fundamentals, designed its internal constitution and trade rules differently. In some instances, however, imitations are obvious […].’ (‘Die einzelnen Zünfte haben ihre Verfassung und ihr Gewerberecht trotz der Gemeinsamkeit der Grundzüge sehr individuell ausgebildet. In einigen Fällen aber tritt die Nachahmung deutlich hervor […].’)13 Furthermore, the different aspects of guilds, their importance, and the many functions which they served were subject to changes and developments. And again, these changes and developments exhibited regional differences: the rise and fall of professional guilds in the different German cities and principalities reflected the political and socio-economic development of these cities and territories. Karl Hartfelder, for example, observed for the city of Freiburg im Breisgau that the number of craftsmen’s guilds was reduced over the course of time from 18 to twelve,14 even though the differentiation of professions in other cities went hand-in-hand with a differentiation of guilds. Hartfelder suggests that the number of guilds was reduced for political reasons. The different guilds were represented in the city council. Lowering the number of guilds meant reducing their political influence. Each of the twelve guilds in Freiburg, thus, united different professions – professions which in other cities each had their own guild. In conclusion, the history of guilds is multifaceted. From a methodological perspective, modern research on the history of guilds has to cope with two problems in particular. On the one hand, there is a wealth of archival sources. And as guilds affected all aspects of life in a medieval town, it is often not sufficient to focus exclusively on the archival collections covering ___________ 12

Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 335. von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), Einleitung, 97. 14 Hartfelder, Zunftordnungen der Stadt Freiburg, vol. 1 (1879), 3 f. For a different motive for drawing together different crafts in one guild, see Mone, (1863) 15 Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 21. 13

II. The state of research

19

guilds; relevant materials may be scattered across the entire collection of an archive.15 On the other hand, many primary sources have been lost, and thus it may be that certain information on the history of guilds has not survived. Correspondingly, modern research on guilds will often have a local focus, and it will often examine clearly defined periods of time in order to be able to cope with the wealth of archival sources. Such research has the great advantage that many archival sources have been edited and printed – editions on which the present study has heavily relied. Nonetheless, at the same time modern research remains on many research questions simply speculative. Even though there is a vast amount of modern research on the history of guilds, their support, welfare, or insurance schemes have rarely been at the centre of interest.16 This links again to the methodological problems which I have just referred to. Specifically, while numerous guild statutes have survived in the different German archives and while they have also been edited and published, these statutes primarily address questions concerning the market-regulating functions of guilds. This focus is not surprising: modern research claims that the primary function of professional guilds was indeed to regulate markets.17 And guilds established numerous rules of conduct for their members and sanctioned non-compliance with these rules. Yet, even though the support and welfare schemes of guilds have only rarely been the focus of modern research, it is contended that these schemes have had an important impact on modern insurance, and some authors are even more concrete in alleging that guild support shaped especially modern health insurance.18

___________ 15

See Wesoly, (1984) 132 Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 405. Scherner, (1996) 18 Zeitschrift für Neuere Rechtsgeschichte 112 f. 17 von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), Einleitung, 99. 18 Kluge, Zünfte (2009), 447; Stolleis, Geschichte des Sozialrechts (2003), 76; idem, Origins of the German Welfare State (2013), 69; idem, History of Social Law in Germany (2014), 54; Wissell, (1927) 1/5 Die Reichsversicherung 138–147; Cohn, Entwicklung der Krankenversicherung (1924), 3–5. Similarly P. Koch, Von der Zunftlade zum rationellen Großbetrieb (1971), 13–17. 16

20

A. Introduction

2. Modern research on the history of insurance and insurance law Modern research on the history of insurance and insurance law stresses the importance of guilds for the shaping of today’s insurance and insurance law, but without ever analysing in detail how exactly guilds contributed to this development.19 Hans-Martin Oberholzer, for example, simply asserts:20 ‘Abschliessend kann gesagt werden, dass das Gildewesen für die Entstehung des Gedankens des Versicherungswesens ausschlaggebend war. […] Die Entstehung der Form des Versicherungswesens lässt sich aber […] auf die Seeversicherung zurückführen.’ ‘In conclusion, guilds were central for forming the idea of insurance. […] The emergence of the modes of insurance can, however, be traced back […] to marine insurance.’

The distinction between the idea and the modes of insurance remains unclear. Clemens von Zedtwitz suggests that guilds clearly exhibited the idea of insurance, but he nevertheless does not categorize guild welfare as insurance because guild members had no legally enforceable right to support.21 Harald von Waldheim claims that the moral entitlement to support from a guild was transformed into a legally enforceable right after 1500,22 and this suggests that thereafter he would categorize guild support as insurance. According to Peter Koch, modern ___________ 19 See the diverging accounts of Oberholzer, Rechts- und Gründungsgeschichte der Privatversicherung (1992), 59–66; Schug, Versicherungsgedanke (2011), especially at 141–144 (he discusses guilds throughout his monograph, but his analysis is based primarily on secondary literature); P. Koch, Geschichte der Versicherungswissenschaft (1998), 25, 98 f., 225; idem, Versicherungsplätze in Deutschland (1986), passim; idem, Geschichte der Versicherungswirtschaft (2012), 15–19; idem, Versicherungswesen, in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 5 (1998), 816; Bütow, Versicherung auf Gegenseitigkeit (1883), 9–14; P.U. Lehner, Entstehung des Versicherungswesens (1988), 13–16; Rohrbach, Versicherungsgeschichte Österreichs (1988), 64– 72; Braun, Geschichte der Lebensversicherung (2nd edn., 1963), 13–16; Bergmann, Geschichte des rheinischen Versicherungswesens (1928), 2–6; Büchner, Geschichtliche Betrachtungen (1972), 111; Hagena, Ansichten der deutschen Kameralisten über das Versicherungswesen (1910), 8. Modern literature on insurance law simply follows these accounts on insurance (legal) history, see, e.g., Bruns, Privatversicherungsrecht (2015), para. 3.17; Dreher, Versicherung als Rechtsprodukt (1991), 13; Jan Boetius, in: Langheidt/Wandt (eds.), Münchener Kommentar zum VVG, vol. 2 (2nd edn., 2017), Vorbemerkung zu §§ 192 bis 208 para. 1; Gerrit Winter, in: Baumann et al. (eds.), Bruck/Möller. Versicherungsvertragsgesetz, vol. 8/1 (9th edn., 2013), Einführung para. 1; Jürgen Rudolph, in: Wilmes (ed.), Bach/Moser. Private Krankenversicherung (5th edn., 2015), Einleitung para. 159; Manes, Lebensversicherung, in: Elster (ed.), Wörterbuch der Volkswirtschaft, vol. 2 (3rd edn. 1911), 276; Büchner, Geschichte, in: Finke (ed.), Handwörterbuch des Versicherungswesens, vol. 1 (1958), 798 f. 20 Oberholzer, Rechts- und Gründungsgeschichte der Privatversicherung (1992), 66. 21 von Zedtwitz, Rechtsgeschichtliche Entwicklung der Versicherung (1999), 75. 22 von Waldheim, Das Versicherungswesen in seiner Entwicklung (undated), 10.

II. The state of research

21

mutual insurance is based on medieval corporations and guilds,23 and he summarizes their importance as follows:24 ‘Diese Leistungen der Zünfte und Gesellenbruderschaften stehen am Anfang der deutschen Versicherungsgeschichte und leiten ihre erste Periode ein. Um Versicherungen handelte es sich deshalb, weil die Mitglieder der Vereinigungen durch die Entrichtung von Beiträgen und die Beteiligung an Umlagen einen Rechtsanspruch auf Leistungen erwarben, die zunächst gewohnheitsrechtlich feststanden und später in den Satzungen geregelt waren.’ ‘These benefits which were offered by craftsmen’s guilds and journeymen’s confraternities mark the beginnings of insurance history in Germany, and they are the start of the first period of the development of insurance. These benefits do count as insurance because the members of these associations acquired a legal right to them by paying their contributions and by taking part in apportionments – a legal right which initially derived from customary law and which was later provided for in guild statutes.’

Unlike other authors, Koch believes that a guild member had a legally enforceable entitlement to support from the very beginning, as he does not limit his finding to the later developments of guilds. For that reason, he characterizes the support offered by guilds as insurance. Yet Koch, too, does not base his conclusion on an analysis of primary sources. Even though the belief is widely shared that guilds had an important impact on the development of insurance and insurance law, this belief is nevertheless not uncontested. Victor Ehrenberg, for example, claimed in the late 19th century:25 ‘Diese genossenschaftlichen Verbände […] haben […] das spätere Versicherungswesen fruchtbringend beeinflusst, aber die eigentlichen Wurzeln der modernen Versicherung sind in ihnen nicht zu suchen. Die Geschichte des Versicherungswesens beginnt vielmehr erst mit der Entstehung eines Versicherungsgewerbes. Dieses Versicherungsgewerbe hat alsdann, zum Teil unter dem Einfluss der durch jene genossenschaftlichen Verbände gesammelten Erfahrungen eine rationellere wirtschaftliche Basis […] erhalten, um die Resultate seiner Entwickelung schliesslich wiederum den auf Gegenseitigkeit beruhenden Genossenschaften zu Gute kommen zu lassen.’ ‘These cooperative associations […] have […] fruitfully influenced the later development of insurance. However, they cannot be looked upon as the origins of modern

___________ 23 P. Koch, Geschichte der Versicherungswissenschaft (1998), 98; idem, Historische Entwicklung des Versicherungsvereins auf Gegenseitigkeit (1995), 16–18; idem, Bilder zur Versicherungsgeschichte (1978), 4; idem, Versicherungswesen, in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 5 (1998), 816. And see Frommknecht, Geschichte der berufsständischen Versicherungsvereine auf Gegenseitigkeit (1995), 76 f. 24 P. Koch, Geschichte der Versicherungswirtschaft (2012), 18. In addition, see idem, Historische Entwicklung des Versicherungsvereins auf Gegenseitigkeit (1995), 18; idem, Geschichte der versicherungsvertragsrechtlichen Kodifikationen (1976), 299. 25 Ehrenberg, Versicherungsrecht, vol. 1 (1893), 26.

22

A. Introduction insurance. The history of insurance commences only with the emergence of commercial insurance. Commercial insurance then has, in part under the influence of the experiences of those cooperative associations, developed a more rational economic basis […]; in turn the results of these developments have benefited these associations which are based on the principle of mutuality.’

Ehrenberg does not suggest a mono-causal relationship between guilds on the one hand and insurance on the other hand. Instead he hints at complex interactions. Levin Goldschmidt painted a similarly complex picture. However, in contrast to modern literature, he spoke of only two roots of modern insurance:26 ‘Das heutige Assekuranzrecht hat zwei sich mannigfach verschlingende Wurzeln: das antike Seedarlehensrecht, welchem die Seeversicherung auf Prämie[,] und das Recht der genossenschaftlichen, überwiegend germanischen Verbindung, welcher die Gegenseitigkeitsversicherung entsprungen ist; die ursprünglich reine, aber mit Assekuranzelementen durchsetzte Genossenschaft hat allmählich die schärfer entwickelten assekuranzrechtlichen Grundsätze der Prämienversicherung, umgekehrt das ursprünglich vereinzelte Spekulationsgeschäft der Prämienversicherung genossenschaftliche Elemente aufgenommen.’ ‘Today’s insurance law has two in many ways interwoven roots: the ancient laws on maritime loans, from which premium-based marine insurance sprang, and the laws on cooperative, mostly Germanic associations, from which mutual insurance developed. These associations were at first purely cooperative. They were, however, permeated by elements of insurance, and they have absorbed principles of insurance law. These principles have been more sharply developed in the context of premium insurance. And premium insurance, which had initially been in some instances a purely speculative undertaking, absorbed for its part elements of these cooperative associations.’

___________ 26

Goldschmidt, Handbuch des Handelsrechts, vol. 1/1 (3rd edn., 1891), 40.

II. The state of research

23

3. Modern research on the history of social security Finally, many modern scholars researching the genesis of Germany’s social security claim the importance of especially miners’ guilds as a predecessor institution,27 whereas others point to the significance of seafarers’ guilds. With respect to the relevance of the latter, Melanie Sulzer stated in 2012:28 ___________ 27 Jopp, Insurance, Fund Size, and Concentration (2013), 15; Peters, Geschichte der sozialen Versicherung (3rd edn., 1978), 21 f.; Düttmann, Die Sozialversicherung in ihrem Entwicklungsgange (1926), 9 f., 46–52; Bingener, Knappschaft, in: Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 2 (2nd edn., 2012), 1907; Jordan, Mansfelder Bergrevier (1905), 9; Varnas, Die Knappschaften als Vorbilder (1947), 1; Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 21; Karwehl, Entwicklung und Reform des Knappschaftswesens (1907), 1; Pietsch, Knappschaftswesen in Elsaß-Lothringen (1911), 4; Greve/Gratzel/Graf, Knappschaft als sozialer Pfadfinder (2010), 23; Börner, (1924) 98 Jahrbuch für das Berg- und Hüttenwesen in Sachsen 57; Thielmann, Geschichte der Knappschaftsversicherung (1960), 5; Köhne, Die deutschen Knappschaftsvereine (1915), 11 f.; K. Frölich, Goslaer Bergrechtsquellen (1953), 11; Langer, (1931) 61 Mitteilungen des Freiberger Altertumsvereins 18; Bergmann, Geschichte des rheinischen Versicherungswesens (1928), 9 f.; Schöpfer, Sozialer Schutz im 16.–18. Jahrhundert (1976), 71, 75; Weidner, Der lange Kampf (2016), 26; Alber, Vom Armenhaus zum Wohlfahrtsstaat (1982), 24; Schwenger, Betriebskrankenkassen (1934), 3. The standard account on the history of Germany’s modern social security schemes mentions guilds without overemphasizing their importance: Stolleis, Geschichte des Sozialrechts (2003), 10 f., 37–39; idem, History of Social Law in Germany (2014), 30; idem, Origins of the German Welfare State (2013), 44. Modern literature on social security law simply follows the predominant narrative and stresses the importance of guilds for today’s social security schemes, see, e.g., Eichenhofer, Sozialrecht (11th edn., 2019), para. 19; idem, Geschichte des Sozialstaats (2007), 25 f.; Kokemoor, Sozialrecht (7th edn., 2016), para. 9; von Koppenfels-Spies, Sozialrecht (2018), para. 25; Waltermann, Sozialrecht (13th edn., 2018), para. 54; Wannagat, Lehrbuch des Sozialversicherungsrechts, vol. 1 (1965), 44–46; A. Richter, Grundlagen des Rechts der sozialen Sicherheit (1979), 21–43 (based on a careful analysis of primary sources); Manes, Krankenversicherung, in: Elster (ed.), Wörterbuch der Volkswirtschaft, vol. 2 (3rd edn. 1911), 183; idem, Sozialversicherung, in: Elster (ed.), Wörterbuch der Volkswirtschaft, vol. 2 (3rd edn. 1911), 885; Kleeis, Geschichte der sozialen Versicherung (1928), 24, 30–35; Orda, Knappschaften, in: Finke (ed.), Handwörterbuch des Versicherungswesens, vol. 1 (1958), 1096; Trüb, Krankenversicherung, in: Finke (ed.), Handwörterbuch des Versicherungswesens, vol. 1 (1958), 1166 f.; Werth, Sozialversicherung, in: Finke (ed.), Handwörterbuch des Versicherungswesens, vol. 2 (1958), 1927. Critically Rückert, Entstehung und Vorläufer der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung (1990), 35–41; Fuchs, in: Fuchs/Preis (eds.), Sozialversicherungsrecht (2nd edn., 2009), 5 (‘Eine Bewertung der überkommenen Knappschaftskassen als Vorläufer der Sozialversicherung erscheint deshalb historisch nicht überzeugend.’ ‘To characterize the traditional miners’ guilds as predecessors to social security is, thus, historically unpersuasive.’). Also expressing a different view, P. Koch, Versicherungswesen, in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 5 (1998), 817, who looks upon the introduction of Germany’s modern social security schemes as a new development which he connects only to insurance based on state initiative, but not to guilds. Differently again Rohrbach, Versicherungsgeschichte Österreichs (1988), 74. 28 Sulzer, Sicherungssysteme in der Seeschiffahrt (2012), 9.

24

A. Introduction ‘Soziale Sicherungseinrichtungen im Bereich der Seeschiffahrt existieren nicht erst seit Einführung der Bismarck’schen Sozialgesetzgebung. Sie haben ihre Wurzeln in der seemännischen Sozialfürsorge, die unter anderem durch Schiffergilden, Schifferbrüderschaften und Schiffergesellschaften institutionalisiert wurde.’ ‘It is not only since the introduction of Bismarck’s social security legislation that institutions of social protection have existed in the maritime sector. These institutions have their origins in maritime schemes of social provision, which were institutionalized by, among others, skippers’ guilds, skippers’ confraternities, and skippers’ associations.’

With respect to the impact of miners’ guilds, in 1994 Ulrich Lauf proposed simply:29 ‘German social security originated in miners’ guilds.’ (‘In der Knappschaft der Bergleute liegt der Ursprung der deutschen Sozialversicherung.’). And Karl Rabenau stated in 1909:30 ‘Die heutigen Knappschaftsvereine, welche in erster Linie die Unterstützung der durch Krankheit und Invalidität erwerbsunfähigen Mitglieder (Bergleute), und nach deren Tod die ihrer Angehörigen (Witwen und Waisen) auf dem Wege der Versicherung bezwecken, sind hervorgegangen aus den ‘Bruderkassen’ oder ‘Bruderbüchsen’ der im Mittelalter entstandenen, längst der Vergangenheit angehörigen, organisierten Knappschaften.’ ‘Today’s miners’ associations, which primarily aim at supporting members (miners) who are incapacitated due to illness or invalidity and which aim, after their death, at insuring their dependants (widows and orphans), have evolved from confraternity funds or confraternity boxes of miners’ guilds, which were established in the Middle Ages and which long since belong to the past.’

In 2010, Georg Greve, Gilbert Gratzel, and Eberhard Graf argued that the importance of miners’ guilds went even further than that:31 ‘Die Knappschaft ist die älteste Sozialversicherung der Welt und hat das deutsche und europäische Sozialsystem geprägt wie kaum eine andere Institution.’ ‘The miners’ guild is the world’s oldest form of social insurance and has shaped the German and European welfare system like no other institution.’

However, modern research regularly points to the institutional continuity from early miners’ guilds to those of the 19th century without ever analysing in detail the support which they offered to their members in their early history. There is yet another narrative, disregarding seafarers’ guilds, but focusing on the importance of widows’ and orphans’ assurances of the 17th century and then

___________ 29

Lauf, Knappschaft (1994), 7. In addition, see idem, Knappschaftsvereine bis zur Gründung der Reichsknappschaft (2010), 268. 30 Rabenau, Das bayerische Knappschaftswesen (1909), 7. 31 Greve/Gratzel/Graf, Knappschaft als sozialer Pfadfinder (2010), 23.

II. The state of research

25

especially of the 18th century and linking them to the support schemes offered by craft and miners’ guilds. Friedrich Wilhelm Ponfick wrote in 1940:32 ‘Die Unterstützungseinrichtungen für die Knappen, Handwerker und Gesellen finden im Zeitalter der Aufklärung ihre Ergänzung in den Hinterbliebenenversicherungskassen für bestimmte Berufsgruppen. Sie stellen das Mittelglied dar zwischen dem aus dem Mittelalter überkommenen und dem neuzeitlichen Versicherungswesen. Man wird wohl annehmen müssen, daß diese Witwen- und Waisenkassen aus den Zunftkassen hervorgegangen sind, indem sie die der Zunft eigene Vielseitigkeit der Aufgaben abstreiften und die Schadensgarantie für den Fall des Todes zum alleinigen Zweck erhoben […].’ ‘Nach alledem müssen wir feststellen, daß die verbindlichen Witwen- und Waisenkassen des Zeitalters der Aufklärung sämtliche Wesensmerkmale der Sozialversicherung aufweisen, nämlich: Ausschluß eines Vertrages über ihr Zustandekommen, keine Auslese der Risiken, gesetzlich festgelegte Leistungen, Rechtsanspruch, öffentlich-rechtlich organisierte Versicherungsträger und teilweise auch Selbstverwaltung. Sie stellen damit eine weitere Wurzel unserer heutigen Sozialversicherung dar.’ ‘The institutions for the support of miners, craftsmen, and journeymen were in the age of the Enlightenment complemented by funds for the benefit of surviving dependants in specific professions. These funds are the link between insurance of the Middle Ages and that of the modern era. One has to assume that these widows’ and orphans’ assurances were developed from guild funds, without being, as guilds were, poly-functional institutions, and they made guarantied indemnity in the event of death their sole purpose […].’ ‘In all, we have to conclude that the compulsory widows’ and orphans’ assurances of the age of Enlightenment exhibit all the characteristics of social security schemes, namely membership without contract, no selection of risks, statutorily defined benefits, legal entitlement, public insurance bodies, and at times self-administration. They are, thus, one further root of our modern social security schemes.’

However, modern literature looks upon these historical institutions rather as the historical background of the genesis of modern social security in Germany. The history of Germany’s social security is seen to start only in the 19th century, and consequently literature focuses on the setting in which Otto von Bismarck established Germany’s modern social security rather than fully analysing in detail its historical predecessors in the Middle Ages and the early modern period.33

___________ 32

Ponfick, Geschichte der Sozialversicherung (1940), 66, 76. Similarly, see the criticism formulated by Tampke, Bismarcks Sozialgesetzgebung (1982), 79; Ponfick, Geschichte der Sozialversicherung (1940), 9 f., who, however, only goes back to the 17th century. See Eichenhofer, Sozialrecht (11th edn., 2019), paras. 24– 44; Waltermann, Sozialrecht (13th edn., 2018), para. 52; Hänlein, Geschichte des Sozialrechts (2018), 83–89. See also Jordan, Mansfelder Bergrevier (1905), passim (giving only a very superficial summary of the developments in Mansfeld since the 17th century); Lauf, Knappschaft (1994), passim. 33

26

A. Introduction

Accordingly, Eberhard Eichenhofer characterizes the introduction of Germany’s modern social security as a top-down development:34 ‘In der Sozialversicherung äußerte sich erneut die deutsche Tradition der “Reform von oben”.’ ‘The developments towards the creation of social security reflect once again the German tradition of a top-down reform.’

4. Sigrid Fröhlich’s monograph on the social protection offered by master craftsmen’s guilds and journeymen’s associations In essence, there seems to be only one monograph that has ever fully analysed the social protection offered by master craftsmen’s guilds (Zünfte) and journeymen’s associations (Gesellenbruderschaften) to their members. It was authored by Sigrid Fröhlich and was published in 1976.35 Fröhlich took into consideration a large number of primary sources dating from the 13th to the early 19th centuries from the entire German-speaking world. Nevertheless, from the perspective of the history of insurance and insurance law as well as from the perspective of the history of Germany’s modern social security schemes, there are some shortcomings in her book.36 First, she presents a very static picture by discussing sources from seven centuries all at the same time. The sources she discusses very effectively establish elements of continuity in the development. She gives the example of the cordovaners’ guild in the city of Bremen.37 In 1240 the guild agreed with the Commander of the Teutonic Order (Deutscher Orden: Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem) that old and sick guild brothers would be cared for at the hospital of the Order. This agreement was renewed in the following centuries, and when in 1388 the cordovaners’ guild and the shoemakers’ guild merged, the right passed over to the united guild. When in 1583 the assets of the Order in Bremen came into the hands of the town,38 it was agreed that the guild brothers would be cared for in the buildings of the former cloister of St. John (St. Johannis Kloster) which had been used as town hospital since the ___________ 34

Eichenhofer, Sozialrecht (11th edn., 2019), para. 36. Sigrid Fröhlich, Die soziale Sicherung bei Zünften und Gesellverbänden (1976). See, however, also Ponfick, Geschichte der Sozialversicherung (1940), passim. 36 Scherner, (1996) 18 Zeitschrift für Neuere Rechtsgeschichte 112 f. 37 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 79, 89 f. For an earlier treatment, see Böhmert, Geschichte des Zunftwesens (1862), 13 f. The text of the original document is reproduced in Ehmck/von Bippen, Bremisches Urkundenbuch, vol. 1 (1873), 249 f.; Böhmert, Geschichte des Zunftwesens (1862), 67. 38 For details see Schwarzwälder, Geschichte der Freien Hansestadt Bremen, vol. 1 (1975), 261 f. 35

II. The state of research

27

early 16th century.39 When the hospital was finally closed in 1820, the city of Bremen paid 4,500 talers to the guild in order to terminate the agreement dating back to the 13th century. According to Fröhlich, the proceeds were used to establish a charitable trust for the benefit of those members of the shoemakers’ guild who were in need. This example very nicely exhibits the continuity which we may find in the development of guild schemes for the support of members in need, and this continuity is an important fact which warrants being pointed out. Yet the overall picture was by no means static. There was an important development which is lost in Fröhlich’s study, though it is missing not only in Fröhlich’s book. Most modern accounts only briefly assert the importance of guild welfare for the development of modern insurance and modern social security without even hinting at any form of development and without capturing the complexity of guild support.40 Fröhlich at least hints at some important changes occurring especially in the 17th and 18th centuries: she stresses that beginning in the 17th century an increasing number of journeymen’s associations formed separate funds. These funds ceased being poly-functional in the sense that they were no longer used to finance all the different functions which guilds and journeymen’s associations served. Their sole purpose was to offer support to journeymen in need. Thus, Fröhlich focuses on one institutional aspect in the development: the forming of separate funds. However, 17th- and 18th-century Germany also saw the first widows’ and orphans’ assurances as well as the first public fire insurance schemes. Furthermore, it was the age of German cameralism (Kameralismus). German cameralism is often seen as a variation of mercantilism that corresponded to an increasing state intervention in economics.41 From the perspective of the history of insurance and insurance law, it would be interesting to put the developments of guild welfare into these broader contexts. Secondly, Fröhlich discusses social protection schemes in master craftsmen’s guilds and journeymen’s associations, as the title of her monograph already indicates: ‘Die Soziale Sicherung bei Zünften und Gesellverbänden’ (‘The Social Protection in Master Craftsmen’s Guilds and Journeymen’s Associations’). The identified forms of social protection were not the same as modern insurance. Nevertheless, her work is regularly cited in accounts on the history of insurance and on the history of insurance law without ever drawing the readers’ attention to this important point. Of course, a legal historian – Fröhlich herself is not a ___________ 39 On the cloister see Schwarzwälder, Geschichte der Freien Hansestadt Bremen, vol. 1 (1975), 293 f. 40 See the references in n. 19, above. 41 Lingelbach, Merkantilismus, in: Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 3 (2nd edn., 2016), 1466. On cameralism see Th. Simon, Kameralistik, in: Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 2 (2nd edn., 2012), 1540–1544.

28

A. Introduction

legal historian – may include in his or her research on the history of insurance law such institutions which are not covered by modern definitions of insurance for the purpose of working out the origins and genesis of ideas, rules, and institutions of insurance law. After all, such ideas, rules, and institutions may be rooted in protection schemes which themselves do not count as insurance. Yet, it needs to be clear that the guild schemes offering protection to members were, initially, not insurance. However – and this links to the first point – there was a complex progression from guilds offering mutual protection to insurance-like and pre-insurance schemes. Thirdly, Fröhlich contrasts her historical analysis ending in the early 19th century with Germany’s modern social security legislation as it was enacted in the late 19th century. That is an interesting comparison. Yet I think that she could have made more out of her analysis by also looking at the developments in the 19th century. Were the schemes offered by professional guilds transformed into Germany’s modern social security schemes in the course of that century? Fröhlich herself regularly asks the questions whether certain elements which she finds in guild support schemes were forerunners or predecessors of modern social security. However, it is only at the very end of her monograph that she points out by way of conclusion that the aforementioned separate funds, which were established in the later development especially for the benefit of journeymen, survived the ban of craftsmen’s guilds and journeymen’s associations in the 19th century and were later in that century transformed into Germany’s social security funds.42 But this point remains an assertion in her book. In order to prove it, it would have been necessary to analyse the developments in the 19th century. Finally, Fröhlich’s focus is exclusively on craft guilds to the exclusion of other professional contexts and professional associations, such as miners’ guilds, even though the importance of miners’ guilds is stressed by modern literature. However, such a narrow focus is adopted not only by Fröhlich. In general, modern research – in addition to regularly having a local focus and to being restricted to clearly defined periods of time43 – focuses either on the crafts or the mining sector or the seafaring sector.

___________ 42 43

S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 263–266. See p. 22, above.

III. Defining the research object

29

III. Defining the research object The overall aim of the present contribution is to assess what impact, if any, the social protection offered by professional guilds had on modern insurance (law) and modern social security (law) in Germany. I have already hinted in the previous sections that the focus will be on professional guilds, especially master craftsmen’s guilds and journeymen’s associations, but also on miners’ guilds as well as seafarers’ guilds. Nevertheless, the general concept of guilds, which is at the centre of the present contribution, needs clarification.44 Otto G. Oexle writes:45 ‘Bei dem Begriff der “G.” handelt es sich um einen Quellen- und einen Forschungsbegriff zugleich, eine Verschränkung, die oft verwirrend gewirkt hat.’ ‘The term “guild” is at the same time a term to be found in primary sources [Quellenbegriff] as well as a modern research concept [Forschungsbegriff], and it is this double use of the term which has often caused confusion.’

Furthermore, modern readers will first think of professional associations when coming across the term guild. Thus, in addition to the use of the term guild as Quellenbegriff and as Forschungsbegriff, there is yet another concept of the term: that of modern everyday language.

___________ 44 On what follows, see Schmidt-Wiegand, Die Bezeichnung Zunft und Gilde (1985), 31–52; idem, Zeche, in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 5 (1998), 1627; idem, Kerze, in: Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 2 (2nd edn., 2012), 1710–1713; Theisen, Bruderschaft, in: Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 1 (2nd edn., 2008), 686–689; Kroeschell, Amt, in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 1 (1971), 152; idem, Einung, in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 1 (1971), 910; idem, Einigung, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 3 (1986), 1746; idem/Cordes, Einung, in: Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 1 (2nd edn., 2008), 1306–1309; Stradal, Gilde, in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 1 (1971), 1687–1692; Luther, Innung, in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 2 (1978), 368–370; Spieß, Kaufmannsgilde, in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 2 (1978), 687–694; Brand, Zunft, in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 5 (1998), 1792; Schulz, Zunft, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 9 (1998), 687; Irsigler, Gilde- und Zunftterminologie (1985), 53–70; Kluge, Zünfte (2009), 21–34; von Heusinger, Zunft im Mittelalter (2009), 47–49; Dilcher, Genossenschaftliche Struktur (1985), 71–111; Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 19; Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), xx–xxvi; Engemann, Gilden der Stadt Goslar (1957), 9 f.; Nigge, Gilden der Stadt Lünen (1912), 13 f.; Moldt, Deutsche Stadtrechte (2009), 126–129; Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 1 (1971), 97–106; Hardtwig, Genossenschaft, Sekte, Verein, vol. 1 (1997), 25–33; von Huber-Liebenau, Das Deutsche Zunftwesen (1878), 4–6. 45 Oexle, Gilde, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 4 (1989), 1452. And see idem, (1982) 118 Blätter für deutsche Landesgeschichte 1.

30

A. Introduction

Professional associations, especially of merchants and master craftsmen, existed since medieval times. In English, associations of merchants and those of craftsmen are both regularly called guilds. In German, there are two distinct terms. An association of merchants is today referred to as a Gilde, an association of master craftsmen as a Zunft. This distinction which is drawn in modern everyday language is only partly reflected in the use of these terms in historical sources. Furthermore, a professional association was, at times and depending on local usage, also called an Innung, Einung, Amt, Zeche, or Gaffel. Yet, these terms, especially the term Amt, were again used in a variety of contexts with different connotations. The German term Gilde is in addition used beyond the context of professional associations. In fact, and contrary to the prevalent use of the word guild in modern everyday language, the term Gilde was not confined to professional associations. Associations which were established for the purpose of promising mutual help to members in the event their immoveable property was destroyed by fire are called fire guilds (Brandgilden).46 And these fire guilds were not necessarily restricted to members of certain professions. Often, they were founded for certain neighbourhoods or villages. Furthermore, there were guilds serving yet again other purposes. Marksmen’s guilds (Schützengilden), for example, had in some areas developed into associations for the purpose of defending villages and towns.47 In addition, Germany saw Bruderschaften. The English translation of Bruderschaft is confraternity, not guild.48 Confraternities were often founded to serve religious and charitable purposes. Thus, there were many Bruderschaften which were not professional associations but which existed outside any professional context. Other Bruderschaften were professional associations or existed in the context of professional associations. In some regions a Zunft of master craftsmen was simply called a Bruderschaft. And more generally, the members of professional guilds looked upon themselves as being brothers. It seems that professional guilds were simply a special form of a confraternity. Furthermore, whereas ___________ 46 On the well-researched history of the developments of fire guilds in Schleswig-Holstein, see, e.g., Kähler, Gilden in den holsteinischen Elbmarschen (1904), 71–112; Helmer, Geschichte der privaten Feuerversicherung, 2 vol. (1925), passim. 47 On their origins and development, see Michaelis, Schützengesellschaften, Schützengilden, in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 4 (1990), 1531–1535; Oexle, Schützengilden, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 7 (1995), 1595; Reintges, Ursprung und Wesen der spätmittelalterlichen Schützengilden (1963), passim. 48 On what follows see, e.g., S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 16; von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), Einleitung, 43, 134; Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), lxxiv–lxxvii; Engemann, Gilden der Stadt Goslar (1957), 63; Geering, Handel und Industrie der Stadt Basel (1886), 95; Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 87–92; Keutgen, Ämter und Zünfte (1903), 169–182.

III. Defining the research object

31

the term Zunft is used to refer to guilds of master craftsmen who had the right to run their own business, the journeymen (Gesellen), who had not yet acquired the right to run their own business and who therefore worked as employees for master craftsmen, often formed their own associations, which are regularly referred to as Gesellenbruderschaften (journeymen’s confraternities). However, also with respect to the guilds of journeymen, the term Zunft is used in primary sources. Finally, master craftsmen and merchants who were organized in guilds would often form additionally a Bruderschaft for religious or charitable purposes. Thus, professional guilds and professional confraternities existed side by side. And these confraternities, too, were at times called guilds (Gilden). Furthermore, there is the term Knappschaft.49 The term appears especially in the mining context, and Knappschaften were often nothing but miners’ guilds. Yet, some primary sources also refer to a miners’ guild as a Zunft. Finally, sometimes the aforementioned associations are today simply called Genossenschaften, a term which is often used in different contexts but which may be used to describe as a generic term the many aforementioned forms of guilds.50 In Germany, guilds thus had a variety of names and there seem to be no clearcut definitions of these different terms:51 Gilde, Zunft, Innung, Einung, Amt, Gaffel, Bruderschaft, Knappschaft, Zeche, and Genossenschaft. The use of these terms varied regionally, and their meaning developed over time.52 As much as guilds had a variety of names, they also came in a variety of forms, and their internal organization as well as the social composition of their members differed greatly. Furthermore, guilds served numerous functions. They were ‘poly-functional’ associations.53 Professional guilds regulated in particular all aspects of that profession and of the respective market. In addition, guilds often served religious and charitable functions or were founded for reasons of sociability. Another aspect of many guilds was that they offered mutual help, support, aid, assistance, or protection in cases of illness, death, unemployment, fire, old age, and other calamities. With some guilds this was the primary function, as was the case with the aforementioned fire guilds. With other guilds, the mutual assistance offered to its members was only one out of many functions which these guilds served, as was the case with professional guilds. And with some guilds other functions were ___________ 49

On Knappschaften in detail, see pp. 143 ff., below. Gierke, Genossenschaftsrecht, vol. 1 (1868), 344–409; Oexle, Genossenschaft, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 4 (1989), 1235. Compare also Gramich, Verfassung und Verwaltung der Stadt Würzburg (1882), 48. 51 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 15 f. 52 Compare, e.g., von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), Einleitung, 42 f. 53 On what follows, compare Oexle, Genossenschaft, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 4 (1989), 1235. 50

32

A. Introduction

simply prevalent. This was, for example, the case with the aforementioned marksmen’s guilds. The unifying feature of these guilds was that they were associations which were formed voluntarily by oath.54 Yet again, with respect to professional guilds this statement needs to be qualified. Especially master craftsmen’s guilds were turned into compulsory associations.55 Those who wanted to run a certain trade as master could do so only as a member of the respective guild and, thus, by submitting themselves to the market-regulating provisions of that guild. This compulsory element of master craftsmen’s guilds is described by the term Zunftzwang. It was possible for master craftsmen’s guilds to enforce the Zunftzwang because they were, to put a yet again complicated question in simple terms, recognized by public authorities as compulsory associations.56 Of course, even if it was compulsory to join a guild if one wanted to run a trade as master, the act of joining was voluntary, and it was done by oath. Furthermore, the membership in guilds generally included the obligation to participate in certain social events, such as annual feasts. Thus, the unifying feature of all guilds was that they were formed voluntarily by oath and that they included the obligation to participate in certain social events. However, for the purpose of the present contribution it would not have been workable to simply define the research object on the basis of these two unifying aspects and to include all forms of associations which exhibit these characteristics. Oexle includes in his definition of guilds even medieval municipalities and local authorities.57 To define the research object of the present contribution in these general terms would probably mean to include every aspect of medieval life. A narrower approach had to be taken. The present contribution will focus on professional guilds. Thus, I will not discuss fire guilds even though they, too, may have been of importance for the history of insurance and the history of insurance law. These guilds best receive separate treatment. Furthermore, I will disregard those confraternities which existed outside any professional context even though they, too, may have had the ___________ 54 On the formation by oath and the obligation to participate in social events, see Oexle, Gilde, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 4 (1989), 1452; Brand, Zunft, in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 5 (1998), 1793; Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 3, 11 f.; von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), Einleitung, 135; Irsigler, Gilde- und Zunftterminologie (1985), 55. 55 On what follows, S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 15; Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 45–47; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 120; Hemmen, (1910) 18 Jahrbuch für die Geschichte des Herzogtums Oldenburg 227. 56 On the different degrees of guild autonomy, see pp. 94 ff., below. 57 Oexle, Die mittelalterlichen Gilden (1979), 206. In addition, see Schulz-Nieswandt, Gilden als ‘totales soziales Phänomen’ (2000), 13 f.

III. Defining the research object

33

function of providing mutual help, support, aid, assistance, and protection to their members. Again, it is preferable that these associations receive separate treatment. Some professional guilds provided help to their members also in instances of fire. I will mention these rare instances in the present contribution. Yet it is preferable to fully analyse these instances in connection with fire guilds. Thus, the help, support, aid, assistance, and protection which professional guilds provided for their members in instances of fire will not be the main focus of the present contribution. These limitations of the present contribution are based on a number of considerations and observations. (1) The present contribution aims at analysing the development of guild support from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. Certain restrictions on the research object were simply necessary in order to be able to master the wealth of sources. (2) I have already pointed out that professional guilds exhibited in their development many variations and differences. The history of professional guilds is multifaceted. To include further examples of guilds would have added further degrees of complexity. (3) Professional guilds like merchants’ guilds, master craftsmen’s guilds, and journeymen’s associations developed mostly in a homogenous context: they existed, at least at first, primarily in towns and not in rural contexts58 – however, craftsmen close to a city might have been forced to join the master craftsmen’s guild of that city so as to integrate potential competitors into the market-regulating measures of that guild, and in the later development it may also have happened in some regions and territories that some crafts were able to establish themselves outside towns to the detriment of the crafts in neighbouring cities.59 By contrast, fire guilds seem to have first developed in the countryside. Here again, to include further examples of guilds would have made the present analysis unnecessarily complex. Nevertheless, there are two exceptions which will go beyond a purely urban context: First, I will include miners’ guilds (Knappschaften) even though they did not develop in urban contexts. Second, it will be seen later in the present contribution that starting in the 17th century and then especially in the 18th century, the different German territories enacted guild statutes which extended to the entire territory and, thus, also to rural areas. (4) Finally, the title of the present book (‘From Guild Welfare to Bismarck Care’) already indicates its conclusion: the support offered by guilds is mostly a root of Germany’s modern social security. However, this is true only for profes___________ 58

S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 23. See the examples discussed by Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 46 f.; Reininghaus, Zünfte und Zunftpolitik (2002), 76. See in general on the alleged restriction of guilds to towns, Haupt, Neue Wege zur Geschichte der Zünfte (2002), 20 f. 59

34

A. Introduction

sional guilds. The history of, for example, fire guilds followed a different development. Thus, the focus on professional guilds is based on the, admittedly tentative, conclusion in connection with preliminary research which did include other examples of guilds. This preliminary research found that these non-professional guilds led to distinct narratives. For these reasons, the present study excludes these other examples of guilds.

IV. Overview In her monograph, Fröhlich presents a static picture of guild welfare.60 It is only at the very end of her book – where, over six pages, she sketches the historical development of guild support – that she distinguishes three steps in the development.61 (1) As the first step, she discusses the development which came to see journeymen’s associations existing alongside master craftsmen’s guilds. In the beginnings, journeymen did not have their own associations. They were passive members of master craftsmen’s guilds. In addition, they already had their own confraternities. However, these served purely religious functions. The journeymen then began to realize that they were in the weaker position within master craftsmen’s guilds. Consequently, they established their own associations – in addition to the purely religious confraternities which already existed – to advocate their own economic interests. These newly established journeymen’s associations took over from the master craftsmen’s guilds the function of the social protection of their members.62 (2) According to Fröhlich, the second step of the development occurred when the costs of social protection were no longer covered by the general funds of master craftsmen’s guilds and journeymen’s associations and when separate boxes were established specifically for that purpose. These boxes continued to exist after master craftsmen’s guilds and journeymen’s associations were abolished in the course of the 19th century. (3) In the second half of the 19th century – and this is the third step of the development which Fröhlich identifies – these funds and boxes were, on a local level, turned into compulsory health insurance schemes. In addition, non-compulsory health insurance schemes were established. On the basis of these developments, the 1883 Act Concerning the Health Insurance of Workers (Gesetz, be___________ 60

See pp. 26 ff., above. S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 261–266. 62 See in detail pp. 125 ff., below. 61

IV. Overview

35

treffend die Krankenversicherung der Arbeiter) was enacted under von Bismarck’s chancellorship, establishing the first element of Germany’s modern social security. Yet Fröhlich does not offer a full analysis of the developments in the 19th century. In essence, Fröhlich focuses on two institutional aspects of the development: the establishment of separate journeymen’s associations and the establishment of separate boxes for the purpose of offering support to members in need. The following analysis will adopt a different structure: (1) In a first step, I will analyse the different means of support and protection offered by professional guilds as they existed from the Middle Ages until the 17th century.63 It will become apparent that, at least in the crafts and in the seafaring sector, these means cannot be analysed in terms of insurance. First and foremost, they were forms of capacity building as well as forms of mutual protection, help, and support – but nothing more. I will primarily speak of support and protection, but I will also use the term welfare. The term welfare is used in the present contribution in an untechnical way in order to distinguish these forms of support and protection from modern insurance and modern social security. A legal historian may include in his or her research on the history of insurance law and on the history of modern social security law such institutions which are not covered by modern definitions of insurance or social security for the purpose of working out the origins and genesis of legal ideas, legal rules, and legal institutions. After all, such ideas, rules, and institutions of modern insurance law and modern social security law may be rooted in institutions which do not themselves count as insurance or social security. Yet it will become clear that the forms of capacity building and support which existed from the Middle Ages until the 17th century in the craft and seafaring sectors did not raise any legal problems which are comparable to those faced by modern insurance and modern social security. Consequently, the legal ideas, legal rules, and legal institutions in guild statutes of these two sectors as they had developed until the 17th century are not in any form a root of modern insurance law or modern social security law. The mining sector presents itself slightly differently. From the 16th century onwards, this sector already knew forms of support which may be characterized as insurance or at least as pre-insurance. (2) In a second step, I will focus on a first phase of transformation which occurred in the second half of the 17th century and then especially in the 18th century.64 In the crafts, the aftermath of the Reichszunftordnung (Imperial Guild Ordinance) of 1731 – also known as the Reichshandwerksordnung (Imperial Craft ___________ 63 64

See pp. 43 ff., below. See pp. 181 ff., below.

36

A. Introduction

Ordinance) – will be of special interest. This ordinance marked a changed approach towards guild autonomy. Starting in the 16th century and then especially in the 17th century, complaints were raised against guilds alleging abuse of their autonomy. Since the 16th century, the sovereigns of the different German principalities and the governments of the free imperial cities had begun to interfere with guild autonomy in order to remedy the identified problems. They claimed the right to enact guild statutes. However, the different German principalities and imperial cities also saw the necessity for a joint approach. The Reichszunftordnung is the product of these joint efforts, and in its aftermath many German principalities and towns enacted revised guild statutes. Furthermore, the 17th and 18th centuries saw an emergence of ‘insurance thinking’: widows’ and orphans’ assurances as well as fire insurance schemes were established. And, the 17th and 18th centuries were the age of German cameralism (Kameralismus), which was marked by an increasing state intervention in economics. These were not separate developments.65 All of this resulted in a gradual transformation of medieval guild support. However, the old means of capacity building and support subsisted. New means of support, which may now be analysed in terms of insurance or preinsurance were simply added and gained importance. Consequently, guilds now also had to address in their statutes legal problems which are today raised in the context of insurance and social security. These developments were based on fundamental institutional changes occurring in the aftermath of the Reichszunftordnung. The support schemes were increasingly financed by special funds which were administered by guilds under state supervision. And these funds saw a gradual differentiation: separate death, sick, and poor boxes were established within professional guilds and in professional contexts. However, this process of transformation occurred mostly in the crafts and in the seafaring sector. The mining sector had already developed similar forms of insurance or pre-insurance in the 16th century. Here, existing forms of insurance and pre-insurance were simply further developed in the course of the 17th and 18th centuries. (3) In a third step, I will discuss a second phase of transformation occurring in the 19th century.66 Firstly, insurance schemes became increasingly refined. Going hand in hand with this development, the legal provisions regulating these insurance schemes became more sophisticated, too. Secondly, there was a process of expansion and imitation. The 18th century had already seen support schemes for the benefit of factory workers, and a further establishment of such factory insurance schemes gained momentum in the first half of the 19th century. ___________ 65 On the importance of cameralism for the history of insurance, see, e.g., Braun, Urkunden und Materialien (1937), 105; Schöpfer, Sozialer Schutz im 16.–18. Jahrhundert (1976), passim. 66 See pp. 277 ff., below.

IV. Overview

37

It thus seems that in the context of insurance and social security a similar development occurred as in the context of labour law: legal ideas, legal rules, and legal institutions which had been developed in the context of guilds were simply transposed to the new phenomenon of factory workers in order to fill a legal lacuna.67 My overall conclusion will be that the modern narrative suggesting a continuous development from medieval guild support to Germany’s modern social security is indeed correct. Nevertheless, this narrative needs to be qualified. Medieval guild support was not a direct model for Germany’s modern social security. It was rather that, starting in the second half of the 17th century, medieval guild support first had to undergo two phases of transformation before it was suitable as a model for Bismarck’s social security legislation. These phases of transformation took place under the influence of other insurance and insurance-like institutions of the time. It was only the end-product of these two phases of transformation that had an impact on the genesis of Germany’s modern social security. Furthermore, it will become obvious that the two phases of transformation were driven by state authorities, rather than private actors. State legislators transformed medieval and early modern guild support by reducing the guilds to their function of supporting members in need. And there was a continuous progression: guild support was initially regulated on a purely local level, then on a territorial level, and finally it was regulated through national legislation. The overall conclusion of the present study – finding that guild welfare was a direct model for Germany’s modern social security schemes – needs to be qualified also from a second perspective: this relates to the 1883 Act Concerning the Health Insurance of Workers (Gesetz, betreffend die Krankenversicherung der Arbeiter), which is deeply rooted in guild welfare as it had been transformed since the 17th century. By contrast, the Work Accident Insurance Act (Unfallversicherungsgesetz) of 1884 and the Workers’ Invalidity and Pension Insurance Act (Gesetz, betreffend die Invaliditäts- und Altersversicherung) of 1889 no longer reflect these earlier traditions of guild welfare. Furthermore, the present analysis will show that the different welfare schemes of professional guilds did not have any direct influence on modern life and fire insurance (law), even though modern German insurance history literature claims that there was a continuous development from medieval guild welfare to modern life and fire insurance (law).

___________ 67

See in detail Hellwege, (2015) 37 Zeitschrift für Neuere Rechtsgeschichte 206–226.

38

A. Introduction

V. Eight final preliminary remarks It is necessary to draw the readers’ attention to eight final preliminary remarks concerning methodological problems and problems of translation. 1. Different legal contexts The support offered to journeymen, miners, and seafarers appeared in different legal contexts. Guild support was necessary only if the employer was under no obligation to support an employee in need. Most obviously, where the employee had a right to sick pay, there was no need for further support offered by a professional guild to cover living expenses. And indeed, there are early examples of such employers’ obligations to support their employees. For a modern German lawyer, sick pay is an institution belonging to labour law. Where neither an employer nor a guild offered support, then public poor relief may have stepped in. Thus, the research object of the present contribution has not only connections with the history of insurance law and the history of social security law, but also with the history of labour law and poor relief. Of these different contexts, poor relief can mostly be neglected as it stepped in only where guild support did not apply.68 2. Craftsmen, miners, seafarers, and other professions The above summary of the state of research on the history of guild welfare in Germany has a clear focus on the support offered by craft guilds to members in need. However, it has already been hinted that the present study will also include support schemes benefiting miners and seafarers as well as their dependants. This adds further complexity to the present analysis. With respect to the history of labour law in the Middle Ages, Wilhelm Ebel concluded:69 ‘In der Einleitung ist die Frage aufgeworfen worden, ob und wieweit die mittelalterlichen Rechtsquellen ein allgemeines Arbeitsvertragsrecht enthalten. Darauf kann eine Antwort, wie sie z.B. Rothenbücher glaubte für den Werkvertrag vertreten zu können, daß nämlich das deutsche Recht ein solches Rechtsinstitut gekannt und nur nicht erkannt hätte, natürlich nicht gegeben werden. Denn wie die Darstellung der einzelnen Vertragsarten gezeigt hat, steht die Entwicklung des deutschen Arbeitsvertragsrechts durchaus im Zeichen der Sonderbildung. Die verschiedenen Typen haben sich in den

___________ 68

See, e.g., Rüger, Mittelalterliches Almosenwesen (1932), passim. Ebel, Arbeitsvertragsrecht im Mittelalter (1934), 109. And see Ogris, Geschichte des Arbeitsrechts (2003), 576. 69

V. Eight final preliminary remarks

39

einzelnen Unternehmungszweigen von völlig andersartigen Ausgangspunkten aus entwickelt, wenn auch die Formen, die sie gegen Ende des Mittelalters zeigen, nicht unerhebliche Gleichmäßigkeiten aufweisen.’ ‘The introduction has raised the question whether and to what extent it is possible to speak of general principles of labour contract law when it comes to analysing medieval legal sources. An answer such as that which Rothenbücher has developed with respect to “contracts to produce a work” [Werkvertrag] – medieval German law knew such general principles without being aware of these principles – is inapt. The analysis of the different types of labour contracts has rather proven that the development of German labour law is characterized by differentness. In the different sectors, the different types of contracts have developed from very distinct starting points, even though at the end of the Middle Ages the different aspects of these contracts exhibit substantial degrees of uniformity.’

A similar conclusion holds true with respect to the development of support schemes in professional contexts. They developed in very distinct contexts. This makes it necessary to analyse the support of craftsmen, miners, and seafarers separately. Further professional contexts will not be analysed in the present contribution, and especially the manorial system will not be discussed.70 The crafts will be the starting point of the present analyses as much as they were already the starting point of the present introductory chapter, with the developments in the mining and seafaring sectors to follow. It will become apparent that in the mining sector the support schemes had already in the 16th century been modelled into forms of insurance or pre-insurance whereas in the crafts the parallel process started only in the second half of the 17th century. In the second step of the present analysis, covering the developments in the 17th and 18th centuries, further professions will be taken into consideration: protestant pastors, university professors, civil servants, and factory workers. These professions did not form guilds in order to establish mutual support schemes. For that reason, these professions are not taken into account in the first stage of the present analysis, covering the development of guild welfare from the Middle Ages to the 17th century. However, for the benefit of these professions, widows’ and orphans’ assurances were established starting in the 16th and then especially in the 17th and 18th centuries. These schemes are part of the ‘insurance thinking’ of the 17th and 18th centuries which forms the context of the further development of guild support in these centuries. 3. No clear-cut periodization When describing a historical development that stretches over a long period of time it is necessary to break up this development into smaller periods. Such periodization has to reflect the characteristic elements of the development which ___________ 70

See Scherner, (1996) 18 Zeitschrift für Neuere Rechtsgeschichte 110–112.

40

A. Introduction

one describes. When writing on the history of guilds, different periodizations are possible depending on the specific research interest. If, for example, one was to analyse the rise and fall of guilds from both political and socio-economic perspectives, one would follow a different periodization than when analysing the development of their support, welfare, and insurance schemes. Certain characteristic elements of the history of guilds are simply of no importance when analysing the lasting impact of their support schemes. In Germany, these schemes survived the general decline of guilds in the 17th century,71 and thus their decline plays no important role in the following analysis. Furthermore, every periodization is a simplification. This holds true also in the present context. However, the present study has encountered three further problems: first, in the present context the main attributes that characterize a certain period do not simply follow one another consecutively. And the different periods do not simply overlap as is often the case. Rather, the elements of guild support from the earlier periods subsisted in later periods, and elements of insurance were only layered onto the systems. This adds further complexity to – and leads to some repetition in – the present analysis. Secondly, the developments described in the present study occurred on a local level, non-simultaneously, and in an uncoordinated fashion; they also saw numerous variances. Thirdly, the periodization of the present study follows the developments of the support schemes in the crafts. It has already been hinted that the developments in the mining sector followed a different chronology. 4. Incomplete primary sources There is agreement in modern literature that guild statutes (Zunftrollen, Zunftbriefe, Zunftordnungen, Schragen) never fully contained the legal rules for that specific guild. Self-evident rules often were not included. New statutes may have only addressed new problems and may not have mentioned existing rules which nevertheless continued to be in force.72 This creates further difficulty in fully assessing the support and insurance schemes offered by guilds in their historical development.73 5. Problems of translation The present study raised problems of translation. First, the primary sources relate to the guilds associated with many medieval and early modern crafts which ___________ 71

Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 221–232. Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 10 f. See, furthermore, Wesoly, (1984) 132 Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 405. 73 See pp. 96 ff. and 101 ff., below. 72

V. Eight final preliminary remarks

41

no longer exist. I have taken greatest care in translating these crafts into their English equivalents. Nevertheless, an expert on medieval and early modern crafts may find that my translations are not in every case the most exact translations. However, the exact English translations for specializations such as the leather tanning profession (Weißgerber, Sämischgerber, Rotgerber or Lohgerber, and Schwarzgerber or Rußfärber) are of no relevance for the overall findings of the present study. Secondly, I find it important to present, by way of example, excerpts from primary sources to the reader. Only then will the reader be able to assess him- or herself whether he or she will follow the conclusions I have drawn from these primary sources. And only then will the presentation become more illustrative. However, presenting English readership with excerpts from primary sources composed in German meant that English translations of these sources needed to be offered, too. Every translation is, of course, an interpretation. However, translating German sources from different German regions, the earliest dating back to the 13th century, raised a number of further difficulties. They are presented in a variety of dialects and West Germanic languages. Many words are no longer in use. Many words refer to purely local contexts, with a translation requiring a long explanation which may not add anything to the research question addressed by the present study. Translating the German names of the various offices and functions in the different guilds and towns proved again impossible: for each guild and town it would have rather required a lengthy explanation as the details of these offices again varied locally and developed over time. Such explanations would similarly not have added anything to the present study’s research question. And in many cases, it simply proved impossible, and also unnecessary, to capture in the translation a complicated sentence structure found in the original texts. Thus, I have often decided not to present literal translations. Furthermore, I have not always translated the entire quotation from a primary source. In each case, I have tried to reach a balanced decision whether to offer a translation closer to modern English or closer to the German original. My aim was to offer translations that are readable for a modern English readership, but that are, keeping in mind the research question of the present study, still truthful to the German original. 6. Germany and beyond The subtitle of the present volume is ‘Professional guilds and the origins of modern social security law and insurance law in Germany’. It is, of course, problematic to define the local boundaries of historical research by reference to a modern state. And indeed, the present study includes guild statutes from cities which are not, and have never been, part of Germany. The present analysis will take all guild statutes into consideration that are in the German language.

42

A. Introduction

7. The concept of insurance Furthermore, the concept of insurance needs some reflection,74 as it is the present volume’s objective to assess what impact medieval and early modern guild welfare had on modern insurance (law) and modern social security (law). Modern concepts of insurance or modern social security are, of course, inapt for a historical analysis. They are themselves the product of a historical development. And they may prove to be too narrow to describe historical phenomena. This raises the question whether one should perhaps simply refrain from using the concepts of insurance or modern social security when describing medieval and early modern guild welfare. However, then it would be in effect impossible to test the modern state of research. The approach taken in the present volume to address this problem is simple: there are a number of elements found in modern definitions on insurance and there are a number of characteristics typifying modern social security. I will point out which of these elements and characteristics are found in primary sources on guild support and whether and to what extent it is thus possible to describe guild support in terms of insurance or social security. 8. A comparative history of insurance law in Europe The present volume is part of a research project on a comparative history of insurance law in Europe. Nevertheless, the present volume’s focus will be solely on the developments in Germany. Its findings will be put into comparative perspectives in an edited volume which has been published parallel to the present study and which analyses the importance of guild welfare across Europe.75

___________ 74 75

See Hellwege, Introduction, in: Research Agenda (2018), 9–26, 25 f. Hellwege (ed.), Professional Guilds and the History of Insurance (2020).

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century: loans and capacity building In her study, Sigrid Fröhlich summarizes the mutual protection offered by guilds to their members as follows:1 ‘Jedes Mitglied der Gemeinschaft – und die Mitgliedschaft war Voraussetzung für die Ausübung des Handwerkes (Zwangsmitgliedschaft) – war verpflichtet, dem in Not geratenen Zunftgenossen zu helfen. Diese Unterstützung erfolgte nicht individuell, sondern über die Institution der Zunft als Mittler. […] Eines der wesentlichsten Merkmale der zünftigen Organisation – wenn nicht das wesentlichste überhaupt – war die Solidarität. Das Gefühl der Zusammengehörigkeit war die Grundlage der Zunftgründungen, und der Gemeinschaftsgedanke bildete die Basis der für die damalige Zeit erstaunlich umfassenden sozialen Sicherung der Zunftgenossen. Bei Krankheit, Alter, Armut, Invalidität sprang die Zunft im Notfall helfend ein. Aus dem Solidaritätsgedanken erwuchs die Pflicht, Witwe und Kinder eines Zunftmitgliedes zu unterstützen; die Zugehörigkeit von Lehrlingen und Gesellen zum Meisterhaushalt und ihre – wenn auch passive – Mitgliedschaft in der Zunft gaben auch ihnen die Sicherheit, in Zeiten von Krankheit und Arbeitslosigkeit Hilfe und Unterstützung zu finden. Das Bedürfnis nach sozialer Sicherung stellte im Mittelalter eine Einheit dar und wurde nicht, wie heute, nach einzelnen Risiken getrennt. Die Zünfte boten ihren Mitgliedern eine Globalsicherung, die alle Wechselfälle des Lebens umfaßte.’ ‘Each member of the association – and membership was a precondition for operating a craft business (compulsory membership) – was obliged to help those guild members who suffered hardship. Relief was not provided individually [by other members], but by the guild as an institution. […] One of the most significant features of guilds – if not the single most significant feature – was the principle of solidarity. The sense of belonging was the very foundation for creating guilds. And the idea of companionship was the basis for their social protection schemes – schemes which were […] surprisingly far-reaching. The guild supported its members in cases of need caused by illness, old age, impoverishment, or disability. The duty to support the widow and orphans of a deceased guild member followed directly from the principle of solidarity. With respect to apprentices and journeymen, it was their affiliation with the household of a master craftsman as well as their – albeit passive – guild membership that ensured that they were supported in the event of illness and unemployment. In the Middle Ages social protection was thought of as a unified concept. It was not – as it is today – divided into different schemes for the different risks. Guilds offered to their members an all-embracing protection that covered all vicissitudes of life.’

___________ 1

S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 38 f.

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

44

For Fröhlich, it is the principle of solidarity which is the key to explaining the support offered by guilds to their members.2 By contrast, Eduard Bodemann points to the religious foundations:3 ‘Aus dem innigen Zusammenhange der Zünfte mit der Religion ging auch die gegenseitige Unterstützung hervor. “Als Brüder um Christi willen” sollen die Zunftgenossen einander in jeder Lage und Noth zu Hülfe sein, den Erkrankten oder Verarmten milde Gaben reichen, die verarmten Gestorbenen beerdigen und der Wittwen und Waisen sich annehmen.’ ‘Mutual support was one of the features that followed from the close link which guilds had to religion. “As brothers for the sake of Christ”, guild members were supposed to help each other when they were in need, to give alms to sick and poor guild members, to bury members who had died impoverished, and to administer to widows and orphans.’

However, what were the different means of support which a guild offered to members in need? Can they be explained in terms of insurance? And is it feasible, or helpful, to reduce these means of support to a principle of solidarity? The following analysis is divided into four parts. In a first step the help and support offered to master craftsmen and their families (widows and orphans) will be discussed.4 In a second step, the case of journeymen and apprentices will be analysed.5 The reason why journeymen and apprentices receive separate treatment is that Fröhlich claims that journeymen’s associations were of special importance for the development of transforming guild support into insurance.6 In a third step, the case of miners will be outlined: surviving widows and orphans of deceased master craftsmen were primarily supported by different forms of capacity building.7 Most importantly, widows were allowed to continue their deceased husbands’ workshops. With regards to miners, it was simply not an option to allow a widow to continue her deceased husband’s profession. And this raises the question as to how miners reacted to the problem of how to provide for their dependants. And the case of miners is interesting also for another reason: whereas master craftsmen’s guilds as well as the associations of journeymen developed in urban contexts, miners’ guilds existed also in rural contexts. In a ___________ 2 The older literature used the principle of solidarity in a different sense: the marketregulating rules of guilds created an economic balance between the different master craftsmen: Mone, (1863) 15 Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 16 f. On these market-regulating measures see pp. 73 ff., below. 3 Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), lxxiv. In addition, see von Brunn, Gilden der Barbiere und Chirurgen in den Hansestädten (1921), 21; Hartmann, Handwerkerverbände der Stadt Hildesheim (1905), 87. 4 See pp. 45 ff., below. 5 See pp. 109 ff., below. 6 See p. 34, above. 7 See pp. 61 ff., below.

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

45

fourth step, the case of seafarers will be discussed.8 The greatest risk to seafarers’ dependants was that seafarers did not return from sea. In such a case, it was again plainly not an option to allow the widow to continue her deceased husband’s profession. And this again raises the question as to how seafarers reacted to this problem.

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families 1. Forms of support Some guild statutes are rather unspecific with respect to the forms of support and with respect to the requirements which had to be met for guilds to support a member in need. The 15th-century statutes of the skippers’ confraternity in the city of Strasbourg in France, for example, only specified the procedure which had to be observed when deciding how to help a member in need:9 ‘Wer es ouch das der brüder einer oder me siechtagen und krankheit halb zů armůt keme, also das er mangel an siner libesnarunge hette, bittet und begert er danne das man im durch gotteswillen uf der brůderschaft zů stüre komme, so süllent die vier büssenmeister zůsammen gon und süllent noch zwen redeliche manne oder viere zů in nemen, die ouch in der brůderschaft sint, und süllent do miteinander eins werden was sie dem armen brůder, durch got, zů stüre geben wöllent us der büssen; und was das merteil unter inen (eins) wurt, das soll vollezogen und gehalten werden.’ ‘If it happens that a brother through one or more days of infirmity or illness is half impoverished, so that he is short of food, and if he then asks the confraternity for, and requests, help through God’s will, then the four Büchsenmeister [literally: masters of the box; office holders of the guild] shall visit him, and they shall take two or four other honest guild members along. And there they shall agree what they can give from the box, through God, to the impoverished brother; and what the majority of them agrees on, that shall be done.’

A number of observations can be made. First, the skippers of Strasbourg were not seafarers; rather, we are in the context of river navigation. For that reason, their confraternity is not analysed when discussing the support schemes for the benefit of seafarers and their dependants.10 Secondly, the religious foundations of the support are wholly indisputable on the basis of the text, supporting Bodemann’s broad characterization of guild support.11 Thirdly, it is obvious that not all infirm or ill members of the confraternity received help. The infirmity or illness must have brought the brother into financial need. The requirement that a ___________ 8

See pp. 170 ff., below. Cited from Brucker, Strassburger Zunft- und Polizei-Verordnungen (1889), 439. 10 See pp. 170 ff., below. 11 See the text corresponding to n. 3, above. 9

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

46

confraternity or guild only offered helped if an infirm or sick brother was in financial need was, as will become apparent throughout this chapter, generally accepted in the respective statutes. Fourthly, it seems that a member in need did not have a legally enforceable right to support. Rather, the text demonstrates how the decision of whether and how the confraternity would help was reached; and that decision seems to have been final. The question as to whether a brother in need had an enforceable right to support will be discussed further below.12 Fifthly, it seems that the four ‘masters of the box’ and the two to four further members had some discretion as to what kind of support they would offer. The exact form of support is not made explicit. However, it seems likely that they offered a financial form of support because the text makes clear that the support came from the box and that was where the guild funds were usually kept.13 Similarly, the 1605 statutes of the carriage drivers’ guild in the city of Riga in Latvia did not specifically define what form of support the guild would offer:14 ‘Zum Zehenden, würde auch ihr einer aus dieser Gilde durch Alter oder andere Zufelle in Ahrmut gerathenn, so sollen ihme die andern Gildenbrüder aus ihrer Lade oder sonst zue Hülff kommen.’ ‘Tenthly, if somebody from the guild becomes impoverished due to old age or due to other hazard, then the other guild brothers shall help him from their box or in any other way.’

And the 1614 statutes of the shoemakers’ guild in the city of Münster stated:15 ‘Da auch jemant im amt zur armut oder unvermögenheit geraten wurde, dem soll man nach vermögen des amptes behülflich sein zu seiner notturft.’ ‘If someone of the guild has fallen into poverty or disability, he shall receive help from the guild within its capabilities.’

Even though the statutes are unspecific as to the form of support, the provision already hints at one further point which will re-appear in other guild statutes: the guild offered help and support only if it was in a (financial) position to do so (‘within its capabilities’). And this observation links again to the question of whether a member had a legally enforceable right to be supported. Even though the just-cited statutes did not specify the form of support offered by these guilds to members in need, many other guild statutes were indeed more ___________ 12

See p. 94, below. Schempf, Lade, in: Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 3 (2nd edn., 2016), 387; Ruby, Iglauer Handwerk (1887), 117. 14 Cited from Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 280. 15 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 416. In addition, see von Brunn, Gilden der Barbiere und Chirurgen in den Hansestädten (1921), 21, and the sources reproduced in Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 518 (wood carvers’ guild, Riga, 1541); Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 4 (1985), 403 f. (cloth shearers’ guild, Zerbst, 1677). 13

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

47

specific, and it is thus possible to distinguish forms of financial support, nonfinancial support, and different protective measures. a) Financial support aa) Granting repayable loans Early on, guilds knew two forms of financial support. First and foremost, they granted loans which the recipient had to repay. Guilds offered such loans, for example, to those master craftsmen who experienced financial difficulties due to illness or due to an accident.16 The 1415 statutes of the tailors’ guild in the city of Schleswig, for example, held:17 ‘were dat jement van enen krank worden unde geldes behofede, deme scal men ute der bussen lenen eine summe geldes; kumpt he up unde neset, scal he nicht ute der stat wanken, er der summe geldes betalet is; […].’ ‘if it happens that one of them falls sick and that he needs money, then one shall lend him a sum of money from the box; if he recovers, then he shall not leave the town before he has paid back the sum of money; […].’

The provision clarifies that the recipient was not to leave the town before he had paid back the sum of money which he had received as support. It is, consequently, likely that the provision primarily regulated the support offered to journeymen. They travelled in their journeyman years from one town to the next. By contrast, master craftsmen usually had permanent residence in a town. Nevertheless, loans were also the primary form of support offered to master craftsmen. The details of when a loan was granted differed greatly. Often a loan was offered only if two conditions were met, but even if these conditions were fulfilled a master craftsman did not as a general rule have a legally enforceable claim to a loan. First, a loan was only offered if the master craftsman was in financial need. Thus, he would not receive a loan if he had sufficient means to support himself. And secondly, the guild had to be in the financial position to ___________ 16 On what follows, S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 82–85; Adler, Epochen der Deutschen Handwerker-Politik (1903), 12; Jäger, Ulms Leben im Mittelalter (1831), 456; Blümcke, Handwerkszünfte im mittelalterlichen Stettin (1884), 109; Hogen, Erwerbsordnung und Unterstützungswesen (1913), 60; Breuer, Wesen der Zünfte im Mittelalter (1942), 54; Zatschek, (1955) 37 Archiv für Kulturgeschichte 50–54; Ruby, Iglauer Handwerk (1887), 164; Schirbel, Geschichte der sozialen Krankenversorgung (1929), 85; Perlitz, Geld-, Bank- und Versicherungswesen in Köln (1976), 281; Lusiardi, Caritas – Fraternitas – Solidarität (2002), 141. In addition to the examples discussed below, see the sources reproduced in Brucker, Strassburger Zunft- und Polizei-Verordnungen (1889), 83 (barber-surgeons’ guild, Strasbourg, 1487); Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 254 (beer deliverers guild, Riga, 1466). 17 Cited from Nyrop, Danmarks Gilde- og Lavsskraaer, vol. 2 (1895–1904), 28 f.

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

48

grant a loan. If the guild did not have sufficient funds at its disposal, it would not grant a loan. Some guilds explicitly developed a third, negative, requirement that the guild member had not experienced the misfortune due to his own fault, as becomes clear from the 1595 statutes of the weavers’ guild in the city of Hamburg:18 ‘Dar ock einer der ambtsvorwanten, idt were meister oder fruwe mitt livesschwackheitt beladenn und uth unvormogenheit sich de notturfft nicht beschaffen konde, demsulven schall uth der gemeinen bussenn de hulpliche hand gelehnet werdenn, jedoch so schall van densulven, wann se wedderumb genesen, und idt in ehrem vormogenn is, solchs mit dankbarkeit wedderumb erstadet werden. Averst hirvann scholen desulven, de sich sulvest dorch ehr eigen schultt unnd vororsakung ein unglugk vorhengenn […], solcher hulpe nicht werdig geachtet sondern darvonn gentzlich uthgeschlaten sin.’ ‘If a guild member, be it a master or a wife, be burdened with infirmity and if he cannot through incapacity earn his living, he shall be lent a helping hand from the common box, but if he shall recover again and if he is capable to do so, then he shall repay it with gratefulness. However, those, who suffer misfortune through their own fault or causation […], shall not be regarded worthy to receive such help, but shall be excluded from it altogether.’

The text also hints that loans could be granted to a wife of a master craftsman, and without the text making this explicit it may be assumed that it was primarily the widow of a master craftsman who continued her deceased husband’s business who was eligible to receive support from guilds, a point to which I will return at a later point.19 Furthermore, the loan came from the common guild box and not from a separate box established especially for the purpose of granting help.20 With many guilds a loan was granted only once, and the loan was limited to a pre-defined sum. However, there are also examples of guilds granting further loans where it was, for example, a lengthy illness. An example comes from the 1375 statutes of the shoemakers’ guild in the city of Riga in Latvia:21 ‘weret dat en man van unsem werke krank worde und he nicht en hedde to vorterende, deme sal de olderman don VI ore to dem ersten male, to dem andern male und to dem

___________ 18 Cited from Rüdiger, Hamburgische Zunftrollen (1874), 310. And see ibid., 196 (wheel and carriage makers’ confraternity, Hamburg, 1599); Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 2 (1974), 462; idem, Der soziale Gedanke (1930), 61 f. 19 See pp. 61 ff., below. 20 See pp. 92 ff., below. 21 Cited from Bunge, Liv-, Esth- und Curländisches Urkundenbuch, vol. 4 (1859), 315 (also reproduced with slightly different spelling in Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 531). In addition, see the sources reproduced in Nyrop, Danmarks Gilde- og Lavsskraaer, vol. 2 (1895–1904), 50 (smiths’ guild, Flensburg, 1425); Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 375 (confraternity of the holy cross and the trinity, Riga, 1252); ibid., 541 f. (shoemakers’ guild, Riga, 1615); B. Schmidt, Frankfurter Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1914), 92 (coopers’ guild, Frankfurt, 1517); ibid., 113 (coopers’ guild, Frankfurt, 1544).

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

49

dorden male. Wert he ok toreke und mach id betalen, so sal he id betalen weder dem werke; heft he is nicht, so solent almosen wesen.’ ‘If it happens that a man of our profession falls ill and if he has nothing to eat, then the Ältermann [office holder of the guild] shall give him six ore the first time, the other time and the third time. If he recovers and if he is in the position to repay, then he shall repay the received sum to the profession; if he is not, then the sum shall be considered to have been alms.’

In addition, the text makes explicit that the loan only had to be repaid if the recipient came to health again and regained the financial position to repay the loan. If the recipient did not, then the loan could be turned into non-repayable alms. Furthermore, a guild could pay, again on the basis of a loan, for care. The 1670 statutes of the carpenters’ guild in the city of Neuruppin, for example, stated:22 ‘Wan ein armer Meister oder Gesell Kranck wird, oder gar sterben möchte, sol Ihn das Handwerck auss dem Vorrath der Laden, so einiger vorhanden, pflegen und begraben lassen, Solte er aber wieder aufkommen, oder der Verstorbene hatte Vermögende Eltern, sollen die Eltern den Vorschuss zahlen, und der so genesen, sol die Helfte, so Ihm auss der Laden gereichet worden, künftig zu erstatten schuldig sein.’ ‘If an impoverished master craftsman or journeyman falls sick or if he dies, then the craft shall pay for his care and funeral from the reserves in the box, if there are any funds. If he recovers, or if the deceased had wealthy parents, the parents shall pay the advance, and the person, who has so recovered, shall be obliged to repay half of what he had received from the box.’

As the sum was given as a loan, it had to be repaid. However, the obligation to repay was again dependent on the guild member returning to health. The statutes are unusual in that the guild member coming to health only had to repay half of the sum which he had received.23 Possibly, this is explainable on the basis that these statutes appeared later in the development when guild statutes were already under the influence of ‘insurance thinking’.24 The rule seems to have been that loans had to be fully repaid if the recipient came to health again. The 1650 statutes of the bakers’ guild in the city of Ziesar, for example, stated:25 ‘Wen ein Mitmeister mit Krankheit befallen würde, vndt etwass Geldes vonn nöhten hette, So soll Ihm auf sein ansuchen nach Vermögen auss der Lahde geholfen werden, Vndt Er soll schuldigk sein, wen er wieder aufkömbt, solches nach hechster mueglichkeit wieder gut zu thun, Sollte Er aber nach Gottes willen sterben, so sollens die Seinigen erstatten vndt von seiner Verlassenschaft genommen werden, […].’ ‘If a fellow master falls sick and if he is in need of some money, then he shall be helped on his request from the box, depending on its capacity, and he shall be obliged, after

___________ 22

Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 296. According to Ruby, Iglauer Handwerk (1887), 164, a similar rule existed with the carpenters’ guild in Iglau, 1553. 24 See pp. 181 ff., below. 25 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 226. 23

50

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century he has recovered, to repay the sum according to his prioritized possibilities. If he, however, dies, then his family shall repay the sum and it shall be taken from his estate, […].’

The text does not make explicit that only a portion of the loan had to be repaid. Furthermore, the text makes clear that guilds would enforce the claim for the repayment of the loan also against the family and against the deceased’s estate.26 Similarly, the 1343 statutes of the wine tavern innkeepers’ guild in the city of Konstanz held:27 ‘Wa och ainer in der zunft siech lit und als arm ist, das er sin nordúrftig ist, dem sol man von der zunft gůt lihen, fúnf schilling oder zehen, und wenne er geniset, so sol er die pfenning gelten ze den ziln als ers erzúgen mag und als im der zunftmaister und sin sehs uflegent ze gebende und ze rihtent, ane allen fúrzug.’ ‘If a guild member lies ill and also is poor, so that he is in need, one shall lend him from the guild funds five shillings or ten, and if he recovers, then he shall repay the pennies […] if he is able to do so and as the guild master […] obliges him […].’

Thus, it seems to have been accepted that the loan did not have to be repaid if the guild member did not recover and did not regain a financial position to make repayment. This point is also exemplified by the 1375 statutes of the shoemakers’ guild of the city of Riga in Latvia.28 Furthermore, the 1343 statutes of the wine tavern innkeepers’ guild in the city of Konstanz hints that the guild master had some discretion when it came to deciding on what terms the loan had to be repaid. And there are also further examples which confirm the observation that guilds were able to enforce their claims also against a deceased’s estate.29 bb) Non-repayable financial forms of support In addition to loans which had to be repaid, guilds could exceptionally grant financial support which the recipient did not have to repay.30 It has already become clear that even a loan only had to be repaid if the recipient came to health again and if he regained the financial position to repay the loan. Any loan could thus be turned into non-repayable alms. However, there are also examples where it was clear from the beginning that the financial support did not have to be ___________ 26 In addition, see the source reproduced in Nyrop, Danmarks Gilde- og Lavsskraaer, vol. 2 (1895–1904), 51 (smiths’ guild, Flensburg, 1425). And see, furthermore, Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 2 (1974), 457. 27 Cited from Horsch, Konstanzer Zünfte (1979), 105. And see the discussion in ibid., 50. 28 See the text corresponding to n. 21, above. 29 See the source reproduced in Nyrop, Danmarks Gilde- og Lavsskraaer, vol. 2 (1895– 1904), 29 (tailors’ guild, Schleswig, 1415) and see Jäger, Ulms Leben im Mittelalter (1831), 456, discussing the 1346 statutes of the barbers’ guild in Ulm. 30 Uhl, Handwerk und Zünfte in Eferding (1973), 113; Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 2 (1974), 452; Hogen, Erwerbsordnung und Unterstützungswesen (1913), 60.

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

51

repaid. The 1670 statutes of the carpenters’ guild in Neuruppin already served as an example that a guild member returning to health only had to repay half of the sum which he had received.31 Furthermore, the 1397 statutes of the coopers’ guild in the city of Cologne point to a very early example of such a non-repayable financial form of support. It made explicit that disabled, blind, old, and sick guild members could receive some kind of pension for the rest of their lives. In addition, the statutes hint that it was possible to join the guild only for the purpose of participating in this scheme:32 ‘12. Vort of einich van den broideren lam, blint of so alt wurde, alsodat hei arm wurde […] asverre hei dat sin neit tuischlichen noch boisslichen hinbracht en hedde, so begerent ind willent si, dat man deme lamen, blinden of alden, kranken broidere van irre broiderschaf wegen us irme schrijne, of da asvil in is, of antwer van in gemeinligen zo neimen, alle dage geven ind leveren laissen soilen echt moirgin, aslange eme got des levens gan, ain eincherleie hindernisse. 13. Ind of ieman anders were ind ire broiderschaf untfangen wulde, den solen ind willent si gerne untfangen, umb alsovil der broiderschaf zo geven, as gelijche were.’ ‘12. If some of the guild brothers become lame, blind, or old and if they thereby fall into poverty […] and if it so happened without fraud and wickedness and if they so want and wish, then one shall give the lame, blind or old, ill guild brother from the box […] every day […] as long as they live […]. 13. And if someone else wants to join the confraternity, then they shall let him join, and let him give the same.’

And these statutes exhibit again the negative requirement for guild support that the guild member had not experienced misfortune by his own fault. Another example of an early form of pension is mentioned in the 1500 statutes of the tanners’ guild in the city of Lübeck:33 ‘Weret ock, jenige frouwe bynnen amptes offte lenes armodes, olders offte krankckheit halven des amptes offte lenes nichtmer bruken konde edder wolde, der schall dat ampt geven to der weken ver schillinge lubesch gelyck den mans […].’ ‘If it also happens that a woman of the guild is not able or willing to further exercise the profession […] due to old age or illness, then the guild shall give to her each week four Lübeck shillings equal to the men […].’

The fact that a pension could be paid to those male guild members who, due to sickness and old age, were not able to continue their workshop is not directly mentioned. The statutes only make explicit that the pension which is paid to men also has to be paid to women who have exercised the profession, and the statutes thereby presuppose the practice of granting such pensions to male members. ___________ 31

See p. 49, above. Cited from von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 14 f. 33 Cited from Wehrmann, Älteren Lübeckischen Zunftrollen (1864), 399. In addition, see Dalmer, Innungswesen der Stadt Zerbst (1910), 73 n. 3. 32

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

52

According to Fröhlich, the prime example of non-repayable financial support concerned the costs for a guild member’s funeral.34 Again, it seems that the family of a deceased guild member did not have a legally enforceable claim for such support. And the support was granted only if the family of the deceased guild member did not have the financial means to pay for the funeral. An admittedly nebulous example comes from the year 1397 and concerns the tailors’ guild in the city of Mainz:35 ‘Item in dem jare, do man zalte nach godez geborte 1397, da brachten meister […] in: wo ein meister unser zunfte stirbet, der nit wonhaftig by uns ist, daz dem kein dodengelt sal werden […]. Auch hat das antwer(g) in bracht: wanne unser geseln einer abe ged von dodes wegen, und sin frauwe nach im stirbet, der selben frawen erben den in sal man kein dodengelt geben.’ ‘Also, in the year, which is counted according to God’s command 1397, the masters […] brought forward: when a master of our guild dies and if he is not resident here, then he shall receive no death money. Also, the craft has brought forward: when one of our journeymen dies and if his wife dies after he does, her heirs shall not be given the death money.’

Franz Josef Mone, who was from 1838 to 1868 the director of the Baden General State Archive (Badisches Generallandesarchivs) in Karlsruhe, printed the text under the heading ‘Sterbekassen’ (‘death benefit funds’ or ‘burial funds’). Fröhlich, who argues that guilds regularly covered the costs of funerals for impoverished guild members (‘In der Regel übernahm die Zunft die vollen Begräbniskosten, wenn die Hinterbliebenen des Verstorbenen sie nicht aufbringen konnten.’36), believes that the cited source directly supports the finding that the tailors’ guild in Mainz had established already in 1397 a direct forerunner of modern life insurance. She bases her proposition exclusively on the text reproduced by Mone. However, the heading in Mone’s publication, which is placed right in front of this text, is not found in the original document;37 rather, it was Mone himself who included the heading for the sake of systematizing the materials. Thus, there is no evidence that it was an early example of a separate death benefits fund. Furthermore, the two cited texts refer only to two specific situations when the benefits were not to be paid out. The texts cited by Mone do not allow any conclusion as to the details of the benefits. In particular, they do not make explicit the exact requirements of support. ___________ 34 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 105 f. In addition, see Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 36. Martens, Toten- und Knochenbruchgilden (1967), 30 f., claims that a contribution towards funeral costs was not a common form of support. 35 Cited from Mone, (1865) 17 Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 49. 36 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 105. 37 Stadtarchiv Mainz, 21/350, 39.

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

53

Another example comes from Württemberg. The 1701 act38 regulating the passementerie craft in Württemberg stated:39 ‘Wann ein- oder anderer Meister, der sich bey dem Handwerck wohl verhalten, und das Seinige redlich gethan, auch nichts in die Laden schuldig verblieben wäre, mit Tod abgienge, und nicht sonderliche Mittel hinterliesse, daß er davon ehrlich könnte begraben werden; Solle ihme auf der Seinigen Ansuchen, aus der Handwercks-Laden mit einer Beysteuer an Hand gegangen werden.’ ‘When the one or the other master craftsman, who has always proven good conduct in the crafts, who has acted honestly in his own affairs, and who furthermore does not owe anything to the box, dies without leaving behind the means from which an honest funeral could be paid, then one shall contribute to the funeral costs from the guild box if his relatives request so.’

Still in 1701, the contribution towards the funeral costs came from the general guild funds. And they were only paid under the condition that the master craftsman had demonstrated good conduct – a requirement which is not always made explicit in other guild statutes. A more general provision can be found in the 1638 statutes of the shoemakers’ guild in the city of Münster:40 ‘Die geldere, so zu befurderung dieses schumacher amts von gutherzigen und ehrliebenden amtsbruderen und sonsten vermachet und gegeven worden sein, sollen bei dem amt vor dregliken zinsen belagt und verwarsamblich gehalten werden. Und was das interesse über die 18 Schl., so den herrn minnenbrudern und den amts botten gegeben werden, weiters betragen wird, soll under die bedurftige amtsbrudere und schwestere alles mit vorwissent und anordnung der zeitlichen gildemeister verteilet werden, so sie sich bei dieselbe offentlich oder ins geheimb angeven mögen.’ ‘The moneys, which are bequeathed or given by kind-hearted and sincere guild brothers and by others to the shoemakers’ guild, shall be loaned to others for profitable interest and shall be coffered. And what goes beyond the interest of 18 shillings, as given to the Minorites and to the town officers, shall be with the knowledge, and according to the orders, of the guild masters distributed between the guild brothers and sisters in need, if they have disclosed themselves publicly or secretly to the guild.’

The statutes simply say that certain incomes were distributed between members in need and this suggests that the moneys were not given as a loan. It thus seems likely that the received sums did not have to be repaid. However, only the income exceeding a certain sum, which had to be given to the Minorites and the town, was so distributed. It is thus likely that the amount so paid to members ___________ 38 It seems not to have been an autonomous guild statute but an act for the entire passementerie craft in Württemberg. 39 Sammlung derer samtlichen Handwercks-Ordnungen des Herzogthums Würtemberg (1758), 97. 40 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 428 f.

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

54

in need differed each year. The 1607 statutes of the carpenters’ guild in Münster point in a similar direction:41 ‘Sölle under den amtsbruderen eine gemeine beschlossene lade aufgerichtet und darinnen des amts siegel und briefe verwahrlich hingelegt, selbige lade bei dem ältisten vorweser hingesetzet und dem jüngsten vorwese die schlüssele dazu vertrauet und uberantwortet werden. Demnechst sollen alle und jede amtsbrüdere jedesmals 8 tage vor den 4 hochzeitlichen festen bei offener laden erscheinen, jeder amtsbruder in selbige lade gegen jede hochzeit 1 Sch. behuef deren meisteren, so in armuet oder krankheit geraten mögten, einlegen, sonsten auch alsdan bei offener laden alle mißverstände, da einige in amtssachen zwischen den brüderen erwachsen, in der güte hin- und beigelegt und ferne nicht gedacht werden. So aber jemant auspleiben und nit erscheinen würde, der sölle dem amt mit 6 Sch. zur straf verfallen sein.’ ‘The guild brothers shall have a lockable chest for keeping the seal and the letters. The chest shall be kept by the oldest guild administrator and its keys shall be kept by the youngest administrator. All guild brothers shall come together eight days before the four solemnities at the open chest. And each guild brothers shall pay one shilling to the benefit of poor or sick master craftsmen into the chest on each of these four occasions. At the same time, they shall settle at the open chest all conflicts between guild members and never raise them again. If a guild member misses the meeting, he shall pay six shillings as penalty.’

The statutes simply state that the payments were for the benefit of poor or sick master craftsmen. They do not make explicit that poor or sick master craftsmen received only a loan which had to be repaid. Furthermore, the statutes reveal how internal conflicts were settled, and they mention penalties which guild members had to pay. I will return to the latter point when discussing guild finances.42 Finally, the 1345 statutes of the grocers’ guild in the city of Konstanz may be interpreted as a much earlier example which possibly hints at non-repayable forms of financial support. In a provision, which specified how guild funds were to be used, it stated:43 ‘Und daz si den armen luten in ir zunft damit ze statten komment.’ ‘And that they help the poor people in their guild with it [the funds] to be in good stead.’

However, the statutes are rather unspecific as to what form financial support took and whether it was dependent on further requirements. The 1669 statutes of the barber surgeons’ guild in the regions of Altmark and Prignitz explicitly distinguish between the general case in which a loan was ___________ 41 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 446. In addition, see the source reproduced in Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 286 (glaziers’ guild, Riga, 1541). 42 See pp. 85 ff., below. 43 Cited from Horsch, Konstanzer Zünfte (1979), 109.

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

55

granted and a specific case in which financial support was given which did not have to be repaid:44 ‘So nun Irgend ein Meister oder Meisters witbe dieser Innunge zu seiner notturft ichtwas geldes benötiget wehre, soll Ihnen gegen vorhergehender Caution der Wiedererstattung, auss der Laden Vorstreckung geschehen, dem Jenigen aber, So das seinige durch fewersbrunst verdorben, Soll mit einer beysteuer Christliche Handreichung wiederfahren.’ ‘If a master or the widow of a master of this guild is in need of money, they shall receive an advance from the box on the precondition that they give surety for the repayment; those, however, who suffer loss from fire shall receive a contribution as Christian assistance.’

These statutes specify that a loan was given only if the guild member in need was able to give surety for the repayment. And it is one of the rare examples which mentions a form of financial support in the case of fire. Even though the statutes do not make explicit that the financial support in the event of fire did not have to be repaid, the text can nevertheless be interpreted in this way. Specifically, the text contrasts both cases, and in its second part it does not mention the obligation to repay the received sum. The text is an example from the later development of guild support. The late 17th century saw the birth of a number of fire insurance schemes. Again, and just like the above-cited 1670 statutes of the carpenters’ guild in Neuruppin,45 the provision can already be read in the light of an emerging ‘insurance-thinking’. The regions of Altmark and Prignitz are close to the city of Neuruppin. Furthermore, both statutes date from an era when the sovereigns of the German territories started to intervene with guild autonomy. Both statutes, thus, need to be reconsidered in the next chapter of the present contribution.46 The 1669 statutes of the barber surgeons’ guild in the regions of Altmark and Prignitz finally exhibit yet another form of financial support covering the legal costs in cases of defamation. Their wording, however, suggests that they had newly introduced this form of support:47 ‘Da sichs auch begeben, dass Jemand einen Meister dieser Innung, sowohl Kinder undt Gesinde an Ihren guten Nahmen und glimpf antatete, So sollen künftig die Unkosten, die zu Justificirung des Handwercks und deroselben Mittelss-Persohnen aufgewendet werden müssen, von dem gantzen Mittel oder Innung zugleich gegeben vndt genommen werden; […].’ ‘As it also happens that somebody infringes a master of this guild, and also children or servants, in their good name […], so shall henceforth the costs, which have to be spent

___________ 44

Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 290. See p. 49, above. 46 See pp. 181 ff., below. 47 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 285. 45

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

56

for bringing justice to the profession and its intermediaries, be given and taken from the entire […] guild; […].’

cc) Conclusion In conclusion, it seems that loans were the most common form of financial support. Cases of non-repayable financial support are mentioned in guild statutes only occasionally, with the coverage of funeral costs being the more regular example. And whereas guild statutes regulated financial support in the form of loans in a rather uniform way (at least in general terms and without negating variances in the details) with certain elements reappearing in the whole Germanspeaking world (e.g. the possibility to turn a loan into alms and the possibility to enforce the claim for the repayment of the loan against a deceased member’s estate), the exceptional examples of non-repayable forms of financial support are very heterogeneous. b) Non-financial support Alongside financial support, guilds also offered different forms of nonfinancial support to members in need. aa) Caring for sick and old guild members There are many examples of guilds from different German towns running hospitals or at least paying hospitals for caring for sick and old members.48 An example from the city of Bremen has already been mentioned.49 Other guilds organized internally for the care of sick members. For guilds, these forms of support may have involved financial investments. Thus, it is possible to characterize them as forms of financial support. Yet members did not receive financial support directly from the guild. Thus, it is equally possible to describe them as forms of non-financial support. And indeed, many statutes do not make explicit how the costs were treated, and they therefore leave unanswered the question of how to classify this form of support. The 1593 statutes of the

___________ 48 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 90 f.; Wissell, Der soziale Gedanke (1930), 61; Schulz, Handwerksgesellen und Lohnarbeiter (1985), 196; Weider, Recht der Kaufmannsgilden (1931), 309–310; Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 2 (1974), 457– 460; G.L. von Maurer, Städteverfassung in Deutschland, vol. 3 (1870), 51 f.; Stock, (1841) 4/2 Neue Jahrbücher der Geschichte und Politik 117. 49 See pp. 26 f., above.

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

57

locksmiths’, gunsmiths’, and clockmakers’ guild in the city of Riga in Latvia, for example, simply stated:50 ‘Es begibt sich oftmals, das Godt der almechtige baldt einen baldt den andern mit kranckheit zu hause suchet, so soll der altermann schüldigk sein, denselbigen krancken gesellen oder meisternn wachunge und pflegunge zu schaffen, wie das handtwercksgebrauch ist, unnd wo einer were, den der alterman hinschaffen würde, und derjenige das nicht thun würde, der soll gestrafet werden umb einen taler.’ ‘It often happens that God the Almighty attends soon the one and soon the other at his home with illness, then the Altermann [office holder of the guild] shall be obliged to organize that the sick journeyman or master is guarded and cared for, just as it is custom in the crafts, and if there is somebody whom the Altermann obliges to do so and if he declines to do so, then he shall be fined with one taler.’

However, the 1669 statutes of the barber surgeons’ guild in the regions of Altmark and Prignitz suggest that, in the special case where a journeyman had to be cared for in a hospital, he had to repay the costs of such care:51 ‘Ebener massen wenn ein Geselle oder Wochenlöhner mit einer langkwierigen Kranckheit belahden, und dem Meister seiner also zu Pflegen in die lange schwehr fiele, soll Er in das hospital oder wohin der Krancke sonst begehret, geschaffet und in wehrender seiner Kranckheit aus der Lahden verleget werden, doch dass Er solches nach der reconvalescens, wofern ihm diessfalls von der Innung keine erlassung geschicht, der Laden erstatte, stürbe Er aber, So soll der Innung zu demjenigen, so angewendet, von seinem Erbtheil durch die Obrigkeit wieder verholfen werden.’ ‘Equally, if a journeyman or a week labourer suffers from a lengthy illness and for that reason it is too burdensome for the master to care for him that length of time, then he shall be brought to the hospital or to another place where the ill person wishes to be and he shall be cared for during his illness from the guild box. But after he has recovered, he shall repay the sum to the guild box if the guild does not waive its claim. But if he dies, the authorities shall help the guild to recover the sum from his estate.’

These statutes treated the costs of hospital care as a loan, supporting the above conclusion that a loan given by a guild to members in need was the primary form of support.52 Furthermore, the 1669 statutes suggest that it was primarily the duty of the master craftsman to care for his journeyman and that the guild only stepped in subordinately, a point to which I will return further below.53 Finally, the text reaffirms the observations from above that the recipient only had to repay the loan if he came to health again, that even in that case guilds may have exercised some discretion whether they wanted to enforce their claim against the recipient,

___________ 50 Cited from Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 453. In addition, see the sources reproduced in ibid., 477 (smiths’ guild, Riga, 1578). 51 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 290. 52 See p. 56, above. 53 See pp. 110 ff., below.

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

58

and that in the case of death guilds tried to recover the loan from the recipient’s estate.54 bb) Supporting sick guild members in continuing their businesses A master craftsman who was unable to work due to illness or due to an accident could quickly experience financial difficulties. First, he lost his income to support himself and his family. And he might have had increased expenses, especially medical expenses. Different guilds developed various means to support their members in these situations. If the master craftsman did not have any journeyman working for him and if he, thus, ran his business on his own, his situation may have been especially pressing. Some guild statutes addressed this problem only in very general terms. This was the case with the 1494 statutes of the barbers’ guild in the city of Riga in Latvia:55 ‘Item würde ock ein meister kranck, den nenen knecht hadde, so schollen eme de andere meistere tho hülpe kommen, de dat beste don können sonder schaden by en liszpunt wasses.’ ‘Also, if a master falls sick who has no journeyman, then the other masters shall come to help and do their best under a penalty of one Livonian pound of wax.’

According to other guild statutes, the guild could allocate a journeyman to him who ran the business for him in order to guarantee a steady income during the time of illness.56 Examples come from Lübeck in 149257 and from Magdeburg in 1670.58 Or the ill master craftsman was, with the assent of the guild, allowed to borrow a journeyman from another master craftsman. This was, for example, the case according to the 1648 statutes of the bookbinders’ guild in the city of Münster:59 ‘Dieweil auch wegen auslehnung der gesellen und lehrjungen große irrungen und unwillen unter den meistern entstehen, so ist bei den vorstehern dieses handwerks vor gut angesehen und beschlossen, daß hinfüro kein gesell noch jung über 14 tage soll

___________ 54

See pp. 47 ff., above. Cited from Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 250. 56 On what follows, see S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 81 f.; Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 2 (1974), 466; idem, Der soziale Gedanke (1930), 86; Blümcke, Handwerkszünfte im mittelalterlichen Stettin (1884), 109; Zatschek, (1955) 37 Archiv für Kulturgeschichte 54 f. In addition to the sources cited below, see those reproduced by Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 302 (goldsmiths’ guild, Riga, 1542); ibid., 355 (hatters’ guild, Riga, 1595); Arendt, Berliner Klempner-Innung (1927), 30 (tinsmiths’ guild, Berlin, 1687). 57 1492 statutes of the goldsmiths’ guild in Lübeck, reproduced in Wehrmann, Älteren Lübeckischen Zunftrollen (1864), 218 f. 58 See the cited text corresponding to n. 65, below. 59 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 187. 55

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

59

ausgelehnt werden, es wäre dan sache, daß etwan einem meister krankheit oder anderer ungelegenheit wegen solches zugelassen würde. In welchem fall sich bei den vorstehern rats zu befragen, die strafe zu meiden und aller mißbrauch abzuschaffen.’ ‘Whether a master craftsman could contract his journeymen and apprentices out to another master craftsman is a question of great confusion and controversy. For that reason, the Vorsteher [office holders of the guild] of this profession have approved and decided that no journeyman nor any apprentice shall be contracted out for a period of more than 14 days, unless the contracting out has been approved of because a master craftsman is sick or has suffered from another misfortune. In the latter case the Vorsteher have to be consulted so that penalties may be avoided and so that all abuse will be suppressed.’

The provision has to be read in the context of the aforementioned marketregulating functions of guilds, which included the right of guilds to govern the size of businesses. Consequently, they often prescribed how many journeymen each master craftsman was allowed to have.60 If a master craftsman contracted his journeyman to another master craftsman, this was apparently looked upon as a circumvention of such regulation. Only in narrowly defined cases, such as illness, was contracting out approved of. Sigrid Fröhlich raises the question of who paid for the journeyman who assisted the sick master craftsman. She assumes that in the case of illness and accidents it was the guild which paid for the costs of the journeyman in order to safeguard that the profits of the business would fully benefit the sick master craftsman.61 However, she has to concede that the sources offer no proof for her assumption.62 And considering the fact that guilds granted financial help at first primarily in the form of a loan, it seems unlikely that guilds carried the costs of paying for journeymen in such situations. If the guild did pay for the costs of the journeyman, these costs might again have been granted in the form of a loan. Furthermore, the example of the 1648 statutes of the Münster bookbinders’ guild suggests that a sick master craftsman was allowed to borrow a journeyman from a fellow master craftsman, not from the guild. And in order to avoid penalties they were advised to consult the guild before doing so. In this setting it would be odd if the guild had to pay the borrowed journeyman. Furthermore, it is unlikely that the master craftsman, from whom the sick master craftsman borrowed the journeyman, still paid for his services. It is most likely that the sick master craftsman had to cover the pay of the journeyman. And this conclusion is confirmed by the finding that in the case of old age, the master craftsman had to ___________ 60

See pp. 16 ff., above. S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 82. 62 The 1492 statutes of the goldsmiths’ guild in the city of Lübeck, as reproduced in Wehrmann, Älteren Lübeckischen Zunftrollen (1864), 218 f., only make explicit that the journeyman had to negotiate his pay with the office holders of the guild. They do not seem to make explicit that the journeyman was paid by the guild. 61

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

60

pay for the journeyman if he had the right to hire an extra journeyman, and so did a widow if she had the right to hire an extra journeyman for the purpose of continuing her deceased husband’s workshop.63 In the case of an old master craftsman not being able to continue the craft himself, the 1544 statutes of the gem cutters’ guild in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, for example, stated:64 ‘Zum eilfften […] wan ein Maister dieser Handtierung mit seinem Leib nit mehr schleüffen oder bohren wollte, oder möchte, dass er alsdan zue einem Knecht und einem Lehrknaben noch einen Knecht an sein statt anstellen […], also dass er nit mehr als mit dreyen […] Persohnen schleuffen soll […].’ ‘Eleventhly […] when a master of this craft is not any longer capable himself to cut and polish or not any longer willing to do so, then he may hire in addition to the one journeyman and the one apprentice one further journeyman to replace his own workforce […], so that he should not cut […] with more than three persons […].’

There seems to be only one example making explicit that the sick master craftsman did not have to pay for the journeyman, and this example comes from the 1670 statutes of the soapers’ guild in the city of Magdeburg:65 ‘Desgleichen do ein Meister oder Witbe von Gott mit Kranckheit beleget würde, oder ihnen ein anderer Zufall zukähme, dass Sie ihr Siedehauss nicht warten könten und kein Geselle vorhanden where, So sollen die Meister, wan deren allhier oder an anderen Orthen, der unter dieser Lade ist, Drey oder Viere sein, einen auss ihrem mittel dahin senden, dass ihre Werckstete versehen werde, biss frembde Gesellen gewandert kommen.’ ‘Likewise, when a master or widow is burdened by God with an illness, or if another accident happens, so that they cannot care for their craft shop and if there is no journeyman, then the masters, if there are three or four of them here and in other places belonging to the present box, shall send from their own funds a journeyman to see that the craft shop is operated, until a foreign journeyman comes to this town.’

The fellow master craftsmen thus had to place a journeyman at the disposal of the ill master craftsman free of charge. However, the statutes make clear that this was an exceptional and transitional form of support: it applied only for the period of time until a new journeyman arrived in town. It may thus be assumed that the new journeyman was paid by the sick master craftsman. There is a final form of support enabling a guild member to continue his business in the case of sickness or old age. The 1606 act for the coopers’ craft in the Duchy of Württemberg, for example, stated:66 ‘Gleichfalls soll auch eines Meisters Sohn, solche drey Jahr zu wandern, verbunden sein, da er es aber, aus gewissen Ursachen, und seiner Elter Alter oder Kranckheit

___________ 63

See p. 64, below. Cited from Schragmüller, Bruderschaft der Borer und Balierer (1914), 109 f. 65 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 306. 66 Cited from Sammlung derer samtlichen Handwercks-Ordnungen des Herzogthums Würtemberg (1758), 458. 64

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

61

halber, nicht thun könnte, soll er sich doch befleissen, daheimden solche Jahr zu erfüllen, und sich auf dem Handwerck also zu üben, daß er sein Meisterstuck zu machen getraue.’ ‘Equally, the son of a master craftsman shall be bound to fulfil his three journeyman years, yet if he, out of specific reasons and due to the old age or illness of his parents, cannot do so, then he shall fulfil these years at home and shall practice the craft in such a way that he is confident to produce his masterpiece.’

According to the act, a journeyman had to fulfil three journeyman years and gain experience abroad before he could apply to become a master craftsman. If the son of a master craftsman was needed to support his father because of his father’s illness or old age, he was exempted from this requirement. cc) Supporting widows and orphans Similar means applied when a master craftsman was unable to work due to his old age or when a deceased master craftsman was survived by his widow.67 In many cases the widow was allowed to carry on her husband’s business in her own name and on her own account. And often the old master craftsman or his widow was allowed to hire a further journeyman to compensate for the loss of the master craftsman’s manpower. The specifics of the widow’s right to continue her husband’s business in her own name and on her own account differed greatly in the various guilds.68 Sometimes the right was restricted to one year. This was, ___________ 67 On what follows, Döhler, Handwercks-Rechte (1730), 150–158; Werkstetter, Frauen im Augsburger Zunfthandwerk (2001), 144–280; Krebs, Die Stellung der Handwerkerswitwe (1974), passim; S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 78, 108–111; Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), liv; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 99; Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 31; Jeroch, Innungsverfassung der Stadt Brandenburg (1927), 83; Hemmen, (1910) 18 Jahrbuch für die Geschichte des Herzogtums Oldenburg 238 f.; Geering, Handel und Industrie der Stadt Basel (1886), 58; Bucher, Zunft- und Verkehrs-Ordnungen der Stadt Krakau (1889), xxviii, xxxv; Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 2 (1974), 435; idem, Der soziale Gedanke (1930), 75–85; Schuster, Die Stellung der Frau in der Zunftverfassung (1927), 28–38; Voß, Innungen und Zünfte in Husum (1896), 28; Dannenberg, Das Handwerk und die sociale Frage (1872), 14; Scheschkewitz, Zunftwesen der Stadt Lüneburg (1966), 196–198; Potthoff, Kulturgeschichte des Handwerks (1938), 112–114. 68 Compare, e.g., the sources reproduced in Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 323 (tanners’ guild, Münster, 1553); ibid., 362 (furriers’ guild, Münster, late 16th century); ibid., 387 (tailors’ guild, Münster, 1581); Haber, Zünfte der Stadt Lauenburg in Pommern (1878), 5 (smiths’ guild, Lauenburg, 1567); von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 100 (girdlers’ guild, Cologne, 1397); ibid., 110, (hatters’ guild, Cologne, 1378); Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 250 (barbers’ guild, Riga, 1494); ibid., 434 (saddlers’ guild, Riga, 1619); ibid., 452 (locksmiths’, gunsmiths’, and clockmakers’ guild, Riga, 1593); ibid., 531 (shoemakers’ guild, Riga, late 14th century); ibid., 651 (tanners’ guild, Riga, 1579); Rüdiger, Hamburgische Zunftrollen (1874), 99 (goldsmiths’ guild, Hamburg, 1530); Philippi, Die ältesten Osnabrückischen Gildeurkunden (1890), 52 (shoemakers’ guild, Osnabrück, 1474); Zahn, (1901) 28 Jahresbericht

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

62

for example, the case according to the 1293 statutes of the cloth shearers’ guild in the city of Cologne and according to the 1592 statutes of the glaziers’ guild in the city of Greifswald.69 Sometimes she was only allowed to carry on her husband’s business if she had sons or children. This was, for example, the case according to the statutes of the bakers’ guild in the city of Lüneburg dating from around 160070 and according to the 1521 statutes of the cloth merchants’ guild in the same city. The latter stated:71 ‘Item weret dat we vorstorve und erven nalete, de nicht olt genoch weren to snidende, dewilen de erven dat wechterlohn ut to gevende geneget, so mach de frowe van des sones wegen bruken den snede so lange, dat de sone mundich wert.’ ‘Also, if it happens that one deceases and leaves behind heirs, who are not old enough to be cloth merchants […], then the wife shall use the cloth merchant business for her son until he is of age.’

Sometimes the wife was allowed to carry on her husband’s business as long as she remained unmarried or as long as she did not marry anybody from outside the guild. This was the case according to the 1650 statutes of the bakers’ guild in the city of Ziesar:72 ‘Wen ein Meister mit tode abgehet vndt lässet eine Wittibe hinter sich, so mag dieselbe so lange backen, so lange Sie in unverrückten Wittibenstande verbleibet, vndt nicht an einem anderen ausser dem Handtwerke sich verheyratet, […].’ ‘If a master craftsman dies and if he leaves behind a widow, then she may bake as long as she remains in viduity and as long as she does not marry anybody from outside the profession, […].’

And sometimes she had the right without any restrictions. This was, for example, the case according to the 1397 statutes of the bed linen weavers’ guild in the city of Cologne:73 ‘Vort sowanne einicher vrouwen man an dem vurs. ampte stirft, so sal die vrouwe bliven sitzen an dem ampte, sowe ir zogehůrt bis an ende irs levens.’

___________ des Altmärkischen Vereins für vaterländische Geschichte und Industrie zu Salzwedel 56 (butchers’ guild, Salzwedel, 1631); Sammlung derer samtlichen Handwercks-Ordnungen des Herzogthums Würtemberg (1758), 16 (act for the barber surgeons in Württemberg, 1663). 69 Reproduced in von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 189 and Krause/Kunze, (1900) 1 Pommersche Jahrbücher 149. In addition, see the source reproduced in Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 355 (hatter’s guild, Riga, 1595). 70 Reproduced in Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), 8. 71 Cited from Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), 84. 72 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 226. 73 Cited from von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 33. In addition, see the sources reproduced in ibid., vol. 2 (1907), 407 f. (shoemakers’ guild, Cologne, 1432); Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 521 (wood carvers’ guild, Riga, 1541).

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

63

‘When the husband of a wife of this guild dies, then the wife may remain in the guild […] until the end of her life.’

The statutes of the felt hat makers’ guild in Cologne of the same year was even more explicit, adding further the widow’s right to hire additional journeymen:74 ‘Vort wilch meister an irme ampte aflivich wirt, so mach sin wijf dat ampt vort oiven, aslange si left, ind neimen darzo asvele gesintz, as sij’s bedarf. Ind dieselve vroůwen solen verbunden sin gelijche den vurs. meisteren ind broderen zo allen půncten dis briefs in under allen pinen vurg.’ ‘If a master in the profession dies, then his wife may continue with the profession as long as she lives, and she may take as many servants as she needs. And this woman shall be bound to all points of these guild statutes equal to the masters and brothers […].’

A very similar position applied with the stone masons’ guild in the city of Münster according to its statutes of 1583:75 ‘Falls einer gildebruder zu sterben quem, soll dessen hinterlassene wittib frei stehen, denselbigen lehrknecht, so eingeschrieben ist, auslernen, nebens diesem noch einen gesellen, so sein handwerk verstehet, allezeit halten.’ ‘If a guild brother dies, his widow has the freedom to keep any apprentice who has already been accepted in the workshop until he has finished his apprenticeship and to take in, and keep at all times, one further journeyman who knows the profession.’

And the 1568 statutes of the barbers’ guild in the city of Greifswald held:76 ‘Wan ein meister uth der barbirer ampte verstorve, heft dessulvigen nagelatene wedwe willen und macht, sollich ampt efte handwerk tho besitten und tho gebruken, so lange her sodanns gefellig is.’ ‘When a master from the barber’s guild dies, then his widow has […] the right, to keep and use the right to the profession, as long as she wishes.’

In a similar vein, the 1648 statutes of the bookbinders’ guild in the city of Münster stated:77 ‘Es wird der wittiben zwar zugelassen und vergönnet nach ihres manns absterben, so lange sie lebet, das handwerk zu treiben und einen gesellen zu fordern, aber es wird ihr nicht gestattet, einige lehrjungen anzunehmen und zu lehren.’ ‘After her husband’s death, a widow is allowed, as long as she lives, to continue her husband’s business and to hire a journeyman. But she is not allowed to take in an apprentice.’

In this context it seems clear that the widow was burdened with the costs of the extra journeymen. And it is likely that the same principle applied when a ___________ 74

Cited from von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 113. Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 432. 76 Cited from Krause/Kunze, (1900) 1 Pommersche Jahrbücher 114. 77 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 186. 75

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

64

master craftsman was allowed to hire an extra journeyman because he was ill or had suffered from an accident.78 The 1669 statutes of the barber surgeons’ guild in the regions of Altmark and Prignitz make explicit that allowing the widow to continue her deceased husband’s business was looked upon as a form of support and help:79 ‘Die geschwohrene Eltesten und beysitzer sollen auch denen Meisters witben, so die Kunst und Handwerck fortsetzen, und umb Ihrer Kinder oder alters halber sich nicht wieder verheyrahten wollen, in gute beschützung nehmen, Ihnen beistehen und beyrähtig sein, damit die gesellen, so bey Ihnen im Dienst, Sie nicht curbiren, vielweniger neuerung aufbringen, eigennutzen suchen, und wegen Ihres Verdiensts nicht übersetzen, solche Übertreter zur gebührenden strafe ziehen […].’ ‘The sworn in Ältesten and the Beisitzer [office holders of the guild] shall protect, assist, and advise the widows of masters who want to continue the art and craft und who do not want to remarry either for their children’s sake or due to their age, so that the journeymen remain at her service, […] that they do not act selfish, that they do not take advantage of her with respect to their pay, and that those who are in breach will be punished […].’

The 1670 statutes of the carpenters’ guild in the city of Neuruppin even made clear that a widow received beneficial treatment in choosing a journeyman working for her:80 ‘Eines Meisters Witwe soll befugt sein, den besten Gesellen auss eines andern Werkstadt zu nehmen, und soll er gehalten sein, sofort in Arbeirt by Ihr zu treten. Den Lehrjungen sol sie, wo sie gesellen helt, vollents auslernen, aber Keinen mehr anzunehmen macht haben.’ ‘A widow of a master shall have the right to choose the best journeyman from any other workshop, and he shall be obliged to start working for her immediately. If she has a journeyman, she shall keep the apprentice who had already started his apprenticeship until he has finished his apprenticeship, but she shall take no further apprentice in.’

And the 1679 statutes of the tanners’ guild in the city of Halberstadt contained a very similar provision:81 ‘So auch ein Meister verfiele und stürbe, so soll dessen Witwe macht haben von einem andern meister der zwey gesellen hat, einen von beyden welchen Sie begehren wirdt, auss seiner werckstatt abzufordern undt in die Ihrige zu stellen, und soll Derselbe Meister Ihr den Gesellen ohne alles Sperren und wiederwillen alssbaldt auss undt abfolgen zu lassen, verbunden sein.’ ‘If a master […] dies, then his widow has the power to request from the workshop of another master who has two journeymen one of these journeymen, whomever she

___________ 78

See p. 59, above. Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 285. 80 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 295 f. 81 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 317. 79

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

65

prefers, and to have him in her workshop, and the other master is obliged to give her in due course the requested journeyman without any complaints and without any reluctance.’

The 1678 statutes of the whittawers’ guild in the city of Wittstock and in the regions of Prignitz and Ruppin contained another form of support:82 ‘Wann eine Wittibe Fälle in der Arbeit hätte, und keinen gesellen bekommen könte, sollen die andern Meister Ihr im Fall der Noth ohne alle entschuldigunge Zu befordern Ihre Arbeid by Einen Thaler Straffe einer nach dem Andern biss ein Geselle wieder gewandert kömbt, einen Gesellen aus Ihrer Arbeid abfolgen lassen.’ ‘If a widow has furs in her workshop, and she is not able to hire a journeyman, then the other masters shall, in a case of need and in order to advance her work, without any excuses under the fine of one taler, one after the other let one journeyman from their workshops work for her, until a foreign journeyman comes into town.’

Other guild statutes of the same area and the same time contained similar provisions,83 and these provisions run parallel to the 1670 statutes of the soapers’ guild in the city of Magdeburg, which contained a provision for the case where a master craftsman or widow was unable to upkeep his or her workshop due to illness: the fellow master craftsmen had to help out with a journeyman temporarily.84 And again, it may be assumed that only in this special case was the journeyman paid for by the fellow master craftsman. In contrast, the 16thcentury statutes of the tailors’ guild in the city of Riga in Latvia made explicit that in general the widow had to pay for the journeyman:85 ‘Es soll auch die Fraw nach ihres Mannes Tode das Ambt Jahr und Tag zu gebrauchen haben, wie es in allen Stedten üblich ist, und sollen die Alterleüte schüldig sein von einer Werckstadt einen Gesellen zu nehmen, der der Wittiben am Besten hilfft die Arbeit zu befordern, und soll ein Gesell, den man tüchtig hierzu erkennet, und sich des weigern wolte, soll ihm ferner bey keinen Meister zu arbeiten vergünnet sein, viel weniger hier gedultet werden; und soll derselbige Gesell oder Werckmeister den Montag sowol die gantze Wochen der Wittiben, so viel in müglichen ist, die Arbeit helffen befordern; hiervor soll ihm die Fraw jährliches geben fünffzig Marck; […].’ ‘After the death of her husband, a wife shall be allowed to continue the profession a year and a day, as it is custom in all towns, and the Alterleute [office holders of the guild] shall be obliged to take from one workshop a journeyman, who shall support the widow at his best to promote the work. And if a journeyman, whom one has identified to be capable for that purpose, declines to do so, then no other master craftsman shall give him work and he shall not be tolerated here any longer; and the journeyman […]

___________ 82

Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 312. See, e.g., the 1685 statutes of the potters’ guild in Halle, reproduced in M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 386. And see the sources cited in Rüdiger, Hamburgische Zunftrollen (1874), 198 f. (wheel and carriage makers’ guild, Hamburg, 1599); Arendt, Berliner Klempner-Innung (1927), 31 (tinsmiths’ guild, Berlin, 1687). 84 See pp. 58 ff., above. 85 Cited from Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 501. 83

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

66

shall work for the widow on Mondays as well as through the whole week, as much as possible; for this [work] the wife shall pay him annually fifty marks; […].’

The 1614 statutes of the Münster shoemakers’ guild add some further details:86 ‘Da eine frau ihren eheman verlieren und sich in wittiben stand das amt zu gebrauchen bedacht sein wurde, die mag einen knecht oder mehr vermöge obgesetzter ordnung zu werk stellen und ihre werkstetten unterhalten, so weit und ferne sie sich ehrlich verhalten wirt. Und so die frau einen knecht zum ehemann und mit demselben sich des amts zu gebrauchen begehrte, so solle der knecht sein meisterstück, wie davon oben vermeldet, machen, und wan das gut befunden, zugelassen werden gleich einem meisters sohne, ohne weitere beschwerung, so ferne er des amts wurdig. Und ist solches uf die amts dochter zuverstehen gleich der wittiben.’ ‘When a wife loses her husband and wants to make use of the profession in her viduity, she shall have the right to hire one journeyman, or in accordance with the above provisions more, and to continue the business, as long as she acts in honesty. When she takes a journeyman as her new husband and if she wants to make use of the profession together with him, this journeyman shall produce his masterpiece in accordance with the above provisions. If the masterpiece is approved, the journeyman shall be admitted to the guild just like the son of a master craftsman and thus without further burdens. However, he has to be worthy to be admitted to the guild. And the master craftsman’s daughter shall have the same right as a widow.’

The last sentence hints that the daughter of a deceased master craftsman had the same right as his widow. However, the 1614 statutes of the Münster shoemaker’s guild leave a number of questions unanswered. It would seem probable that the daughter only had the right to continue her father’s business if there was no surviving widow and if there was no surviving son who was capable of taking over the workshop. And it seems likely that the daughter was allowed to continue her father’s business only if she had the capacity of doing so, most importantly if she was of a certain age. Nevertheless, the statutes do not make these restrictions explicit. More generally, there are only a few guild statutes which explicitly address the question of how the children of a deceased master craftsman were supported by guilds.87 In the late 16th century, the Münster stonemasons’ guild allowed a master craftsman’s son, who had already been an apprentice and who was capable of running the business, to continue his father’s workshop:88 ‘Falls ein sohn im amt geboren, der soll 6 jahren in der lehr bei dem ampte gedienet haben bei seinem vater oder bei einem andern meistere. Im fall ihme sein vater dete absterben in der lehr und seines selig vaters werk vorstehen konte, soll ihm daran nichts verhindert werden, dan er soll seiner mutter beste damit tuen und giebt 5 Rthl. zu behuf des amts.’

___________ 86

Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 415. See S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 76. 88 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 432. 87

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

67

‘If a son is born into the guild, he shall serve for six years as apprentice either for his father or for another master craftsman in the guild. In the event his father dies while he is still an apprentice, he shall not be hindered to continue his father’s business if he is in the position to do so, and he shall do so also for the benefit of his mother, and he has to pay five imperial talers to the guild.’

The statutes suggest that a son had priority when it came to the question of who had the right to continue the deceased master craftsman’s business: the statutes make clear that it would benefit also the widow if the son took over the workshop. However, it is difficult to say how often it happened that a master craftsman died when his son had already taken up an apprenticeship and when his son was already capable of continuing the business. If there was no son to step in, then, and perhaps only then, it was the widow’s turn to take over the business. The 1544 statutes of the shipbuilders’ guild in Hamburg contained a similar provision:89 ‘Welck meister, de dar in Gott den herrn vorstervet und kinder nahlett, und effte dar een mede is, de dat ambt bruken kann, desülve schall macht hebben, dat ambt anthotastende und sine andere bröder tho lehrende […]. Und sind se so groht nicht, wenn ehr vader stervet, so schall men se tho enem andern meistern doen, dat se ehre lehrjahre holden […].’ ‘If a master dies in God and leaves behind children and if there is a girl who is able to make use of the profession, then she shall have the right to exercise the profession and to take her brothers as apprentices […]. And if they are not old enough when their father dies, then they shall be given to another master, so that they complete their apprenticeship with him […].’

The Hamburg shipbuilders’ guild allowed an orphan who was old enough to teach the craft to any siblings to run the deceased father’s business and to hire a journeyman. The 1642 statutes of the whittawers’ and leather makers’ guild in the city of Münster mentioned widows, sons, and daughters without making explicit in what order they could make use of the right:90 ‘So auch der gildebrüder einer verstürbe, soll die nachgelassene wittib bei ihrem wittiben stant 1 knecht zur werkstet halten mogen; und da sie sich hinwieder an ein andern, so das amt gelernet, verheiraten würde, solle derselbig das halbe amt mit ihr genießen. Da sie aber außerhalb des amts heiratete, alsdan davon nicht haben zu genießen. […] Desgleichen söhne und töchtere, die im amt geboren sein und das amt gebrauchen wollen, sollen tun, wie oben von den wittwen gemeldet […].’ ‘If a guild brother dies, his surviving widow shall in her viduity have the right to keep one journeyman in the workshop; and if she marries somebody who has learned the profession then he shall enjoy together with her the half business. However, if she marries outside the profession, then she will enjoy nothing thereof. […] Similarly, sons and daughters who are born into the guild and who want to make use of the profession shall do as declared above for widows […].’

___________ 89 90

Cited from Rüdiger, Hamburgische Zunftrollen (1874), 245. Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 466 f.

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

68

The 1670 statutes of the soapers’ guild in the city of Magdeburg hints at the order in which a widow and a daughter would have the right to the husband’s or father’s business:91 ‘Wan ein Meister mit dem Tode abginge, soll seiner nachgelassenen Witbe frey stehen, das Handwerck zu treiben, doch dass Sie sich diesen Articuln allen gemess verhalten soll. Da Sie sich aber ausserhalb dieses Handwercks wieder verehelichen würde, soll Sie dasselbe zu treiben nicht Macht haben, es sey dan, dass eine solche Witbe oder Meisters Tocher einen Gesellen, so vor dieser Lade lossgegeben, heyrathete, und seinen ehrlichen Geburths- und Lehrbrief gezeiget […].’ ‘When a master dies, then his widow shall be free to continue the craft, yet she has to act in accordance with the present provisions. However, if she remarries outside of the profession, then she shall not have the right to continue the craft, unless such widow or the deceased master’s daughter marries a journeyman, who has been approved by the present guild and who produces his honest certificate of birth and his certificate of apprenticeship.’

The statutes seem to suggest that the widow took preference and that the daughter stepped in only if the widow remarried outside the guild and the daughter herself married somebody eligible to become a member of the guild. A similar – but not identical – provision is found in the 1683 statutes of the butchers’ guild in the city of Halle.92 A very late example from the 18th century, the 1776 statutes of the woodworkers’ guild in the city of Lünen, suggests that the orphan son of a master craftsman who had died impoverished had to be taken as an apprentice free of charge by another guild member:93 ‘Wenn ein Lehr-Knabe so arm wäre, daß er das Lehrgeld füglich nicht sogleich aufbringen könnte, soll er vor den Magistrat gebracht, und von demselben, daß der Meister wegen des Lehr-Geldes entweder leidliche Termine setze, oder die Lehr-Jahre weiter extendire, veranstaltet werden; Wenn aber aus den Waisen-Häusern arme Kinder zum Gewerck gebracht werden, so soll jeder Meister nach der Reihe schuldig seyn, einen solchen Knaben das Handwerck umsonst zu lernen, wie es denn wegen eines verstorbenen und verarmten Mitmeisters Sohn ebenmäßig so zu halten.’ ‘If an apprentice is impoverished, so that he is not able to pay the apprenticeship charge right away, then he shall be brought in front of the magistrate and the same shall arrange that the master shall give the apprentice acceptable payment dates or that the master shall extend the duration of the apprenticeship; if impoverished children are brought from the orphanage to the profession, then each master craftsman shall in turn

___________ 91

Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 301. Reproduced in M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 357 f. 93 Cited from Nigge, Gilden der Stadt Lünen (1912), 115. The provision can be found in other Prussian guild statutes, too, e.g. in the 1734 statutes of the carpenters’ guild, Kurmark Brandenburg: Corporis Constitutionum Marchicarum, vol. 5/2/10, Anhang, 72–84, as well as in the other guild statutes of the same year that are to be found in the same collection. 92

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

69

be obliged to take such a boy into apprenticeship for free, just like it is to be done with the son of a fellow master craftsman who has died impoverished.’

There are clear signs that this provision comes from a later stage of the development of guilds: the town magistrate was involved in negotiating the terms of the apprenticeship for the impoverished apprentice. Thus, the guild no longer had the autonomy to decide itself how to deal with this case. Nevertheless, it is surprising that the case which should have been of the greatest interest to the guild, that is the training of the son of a deceased and impoverished guild member, is dealt with last. However, the fact that the case of impoverished boys coming from an orphanage is equated to the case of the son of a deceased and impoverished guild member may be interpreted as suggesting that it had already been the custom in the guild that such sons were taken into apprenticeship free of charge and that this rule was later extended to other cases. According to its 1589/1598 statutes, the slipper makers’ guild in the city of Bremen even paid for the apprenticeship of impoverished orphans of deceased guild members in a different profession if the orphans did not themselves want to become slipper makers:94 ‘Des schölen ock olde und junge Meistere, wenner in dem tuffelmacher handtwercke arme olderlose Kinder vorhanden synn, twe dersulvigen up nehmen, und öhnen ahne alle wedderstadungh dat handtwerck lehren, edder averst desulvigen, dar se tho dem tuffelmaker handtwerck kein lust hedden, nah Rahde der Morgensprakesheren, der Meister und oldesten, ock öhrer negesten frunde rathsames erachten, ein ander handtwerck tho lehrenn, uth der armen lade beforderen, […].’ ‘If there are impoverished and parentless children of the slipper making profession, then the old and young masters shall take two of them in and train them the profession without any resistance; however, if they do not want to become slipper makers and if they want – after consultation of the Morgenspracheherren [office holders of the guild], the masters, the oldest, and also of their closest friends – to learn a different profession, then they shall be supported by the poor box, […].’

The same statutes obliged the master craftsmen to see after the orphans of deceased fellow craftsman and to provide for them until they were able to work and earn their own living. There are very few examples where widowers had similar rights as widows. In early times there were some professions which were predominantly or even exclusively practiced by women.95 Accordingly, women were admitted as full members to the corresponding guilds, or women were the only members of these guilds. And in these guilds, it may have been the widower who had the right to ___________ 94

Cited from Böhmert, Geschichte des Zunftwesens (1862), 85. von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), Einleitung, 45, 74 f. On women as guild members, see, in addition, von Dirke, Handwerks-Lehrlinge und Gesellen (1914), 4–6; Schuster, Die Stellung der Frau in der Zunftverfassung (1927), passim. 95

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

70

continue the business of his deceased wife in his own name and on his own accounts. The 1397 statutes of the female yarn makers’ guild in the city of Cologne, for example, provided:96 ‘Ind wilchme manne sin wijf stirft, die man sal dat ampt mit sime gesinde vort oiven.’ ‘And if there is a man whose wife has died, this man shall continue the business with the servants.’

All of these forms of support of widows, orphans, and exceptionally also of widowers relate to an observation which has been made by Herbert Engemann with respect to guilds in Goslar, relying on the earlier work by Karl von Hegel: there was a ‘development of the guild, respectively the guild right, towards a “private entitlement”. Accordingly, it can be bought, sold, bequeathed, and pledged […]’ (‘Entwicklung der Gilde bzw. des Gilderechts zu einem “Privatrecht”. Danach kann die Gilde gekauft, verkauft, vererbt und verpfändet werden […]’).97 Thus, the heirs of a deceased guild member were seen to have inherited an entitlement to exercise the profession as guild member.98 Even though the analysis of the guild right in terms of a private entitlement may help to explain the general idea and even some details of the widow’s and children’s right to continue the deceased master craftsman’s business, it seems clear that the general rules on succession were not simply applied to guild rights.99 After all, the details of the widow’s and children’s right to continue a workshop were primarily regulated in the guild statutes, and the guild statutes, thus, seem to have taken preference over the general rules of succession. As to this issue, I have not, in the first place, found any signs of any testamentary dispositions, and there was probably no possibility for such dispositions. Secondly, only widows, children, and exceptionally husbands could inherit the right to continue the workshop. Other groups of possible intestate heirs are not mentioned in the guild statutes. Thirdly, according to many territorial succession laws in Germany, widows may have only received a usufruct over certain parts of their deceased husbands’ estate. Their right to continue their deceased husbands’ business seems to go beyond a simple usufruct. Fourthly, the widow’s and children’s right to continue a business seems to have been practised throughout Germany, whereas the laws of succession were diverse throughout Germany.100 Fifthly, the many restrictions on the widow’s right to continue her husband’s business are ___________ 96

Cited from von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 49. Engemann, Gilden der Stadt Goslar (1957), 37. 98 This interpretation is, for instance, adopted by Weider, Recht der Kaufmannsgilden (1931), 477 f.; Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 2 (1974), 34–38. In addition, see Rösler, Geschichte des Zunftwesens (1912), 81. 99 On further limits to the explanatory force of guild rights as private entitlements, see p. 87, below. 100 Coing, Europäisches Privatrecht, vol. 1 (1985), 603, 607–610. 97

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

71

hardly explainable on the basis of succession law principles. Finally, if the widow’s and children’s right to continue their deceased husband’s and father’s business simply followed from the law of succession, we would expect a clear answer to the question of what happened when a master craftsman was survived by both a wife and children. Who enjoyed the right? However, unlike the guild statutes of other European countries,101 German guild statutes leave this question unanswered. Nevertheless, it is possible to say that on an untechnical level ‘succession thinking’ may have influenced the widow’s and children’s right to continue a workshop. After all, the right to exercise a profession was probably the most valuable asset which a master craftsman had, a right which he had acquired by paying an admission fee102 and thus arguably had bought, though this latter characterization conflicts with the general idea that the admission fee paid to become a member of a guild should not be understood as a purchase price of buying a license to practice a given profession. And as Dirk Heirbaut points out, the widow in any event often had a usufruct in the workshop itself and the tools in it, and it was thus only consequential to allow her to continue the business.103 However, this link again fails to explain why according to some statutes a son would be given preference over his mother when it came to continuing the business.104 Nevertheless, overall, such ‘succession thinking’ does not conflict with the overall assessment that the right to continue the workshop was a means of support. The widow’s right in her deceased husband’s estate under the law of succession was similarly nothing but a means to provide for widows. dd) Non-financial support in funerals Finally, as a form of non-financial support, guild members had to participate in a deceased member’s funeral, the guild ensured that the funeral was appropriate (providing, for example, wax for candles), and the guild held masses for its deceased members.105 von Loesch correctly observed that it is these forms of ___________ 101

Rigó, Guild Support in Hungary (2020), 253–258. See pp. 77 ff. and 85 ff., below. 103 Heirbaut, Mutual aid in the Southern Netherlands (2020), 40. 104 See p. 66, above. 105 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 101–104; Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 43; Gramich, Verfassung und Verwaltung der Stadt Würzburg (1882), 49; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 156 f.; G.L. von Maurer, Städteverfassung in Deutschland, vol. 2 (1870), 414; Tuckermann, Gewerbe der Stadt Hildesheim (1906), 82; Hermandung, Zunftwesen der Stadt Aachen (1910), 89; Hemmen, (1910) 18 Jahrbuch für die Geschichte des Herzogtums Oldenburg 249; Engemann, Gilden der Stadt Goslar (1957), 60 f.; Geering, Handel und Industrie der Stadt Basel (1886), 95–101; Scheschkewitz, Zunftwesen der Stadt Lüneburg (1966), 195. See for example the sources reproduced in Engemann, Gilden der Stadt Goslar (1957), 130 (grocers’ guild, Goslar, 1586); Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 143 (shoe 102

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

72

support which are most often mentioned and regulated in guild statutes.106 This again reinforces Bodemann’s assumption that guild support had strong religious foundations.107 However, in some cities the members’ participation in funerals seems not to have been organized and regulated by professional guilds, but by confraternities which existed alongside professional guilds.108 c) Precautionary measures against risks Fröhlich’s monograph is not about insurance. It is about social protection granted by guilds to their members.109 For that reason, it is not only forms of financial and non-financial support offered by guilds to members in need that she discusses. She also includes precautionary measures against the risks of poverty and unemployment. Just like many towns, guilds had, for example, grain stocks as a protective measure against rising grain prices due to crop failures.110 The statutes of guilds often spoke of Roggengeld (rye money) which had to be paid by its members. The 1608 statutes of the cloth merchants’ guild in the city of Münster stated, for example:111 ‘Item ein jeder amtz sohn, so in der wandsnider gilde geboren und dat amt haben will, sall geben […] dem ampte 20 Rthl., damit er alles ampts gilde-gelde […] soll fri sein.

___________ repairers’ guild, Münster, 1620); ibid., 162 (bakers’ guild, Münster, 1639); ibid., 177 (coopers’ guild, Münster, 1638); ibid., 191 (roofers’ guild, Münster, 1647); ibid., 243 (goldsmiths’ guild, Münster, 1588); ibid., 275 (grocers’ guild, Münster, 1553); ibid., 301 (linen weavers’ guild, Münster, 1613); ibid., 362 (furriers’ guild, Münster, late 16th century); ibid., 368 (smiths’ guild, Münster, 1573); ibid., 391, 395 (tailors’ guild, Münster, 1581 and 1648); ibid., 437 f. (carpenters’ guild, Münster, 1564); Haber, Zünfte der Stadt Lauenburg in Pommern (1878), 7 (smiths’ guild, Lauenburg, 1567); von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 14 (coopers’ guild, Cologne, 1397); ibid., vol. 1 (1907), 34 (wood turners’ guild, Cologne, 1179–1182); ibid., vol. 1 (1907), 65 (cloth merchants’ confraternity, Cologne, 1344); ibid., vol. 1 (1907), 100 f. (girdlers’ guild, Cologne, 1397); ibid., vol. 2 (1907), 42 f. (barbers’ guild, Cologne, 1468); Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), (bakers’ guild, Riga, 1392). 106 von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), Einleitung, 133. 107 See p. 44, above. 108 See p. 30, above. See for the city of Lüneburg the discussion of Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), lxxiv–lxxviii; for the city of Basel in Switzerland, Geering, Handel und Industrie der Stadt Basel (1886), 95–101; for the city of Freiberg, A. Möller, Theatrum Freibergense Chronicum (1653), 395. 109 See pp. 26 f., above. 110 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 57; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 154; Scheschkewitz, Zunftwesen der Stadt Lüneburg (1966), 198. 111 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 226. In addition, see the sources reproduced in ibid., 237 (goldsmiths’ guild, Münster, 1588); ibid., 270 (grocers’ guild, Münster, 1553); ibid., 363 (furriers’ guild, Münster, late 16th century) ibid., 475 (wool weavers’ guild, Münster, 1569).

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

73

Demnegst moß er und soll geben in platz des emmers und roggen geldes up dat schoehus 3 M. and 5 Schl. […].’ ‘Every guild son who is born into the guild of the cloth merchants and who wants to take up the profession in the guild shall give […] to the guild 20 imperial talers, and thereby he shall be free of all other payments to the guild. In addition to this he has to and shall give account of the emmer and rye moneys to the Schohaus [the building of the united guilds of Münster112] three marks and five shillings […].’

Furthermore, Fröhlich analyses many of the market-regulating functions of guilds as being such precautionary measures. For example, she describes the term of notice which a master craftsman had to observe if he wanted to terminate a journeyman’s contract of employment as a protective measure against the risk of unemployment of journeymen.113 d) Creating an economic balance Finally, Fröhlich analyses the market-regulating measures as a means of creating an economic balance between the different master craftsmen of one guild and thus, again, as precautionary measures against the risk of impoverishment:114 regulating the products, their prices, their quality, the purchase of raw materials, the marketing of end products, the size of businesses, and the working conditions of apprentices and journeymen (including their salaries) meant that the economic strength of the different market players within one guild were levelled out. And indeed, there is one example suggesting that these rules were applied as a means of creating an economic balance. The 1670 statutes of the soapers’ guild in the city of Magdeburg stated:115 ‘Do eine starcke Partey von Talg in eine Stadt kombt, da etliche Seiffensieder inwohnen, und einer der Seiffensieder, do Gott mit Gütern gesegent, alles wegkaufen wollte und einer oder mehr arme, nicht mehr den Drey, Vier oder Fünf Centner bezahlen könte, ist sein Mitmeister dem Armen, so es begehret, umb selben Preiss ohne profit abzulassen schuldig by strafe vier Rthlr.’ ‘If there is coming a hefty batch of tallow to town and there live a number of soapers, and one of the soapers, whom God has blessed with wealth, buys the whole batch and one or more poor soapers cannot pay for more than three, four or five centner, then the fellow master is obliged to the poorer master at his request […] to sell to him for the same price without a profit under the penalty of four imperial talers.’

___________ 112

Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 33. S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 64–69. On these termination periods, see, e.g., Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), xlvi f. 114 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 52–57; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 183–191; Rösler, Geschichte des Zunftwesens (1912), 76–79; Zatschek, (1955) 37 Archiv für Kulturgeschichte 50. 115 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 306. 113

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

74

However, it seems that an economic balance between guild members was not always achieved.116 2. Beneficiaries of support The beneficiaries of the different forms of financial and non-financial support were the guild members, above all master craftsmen.117 The different guild statutes demonstrate that master craftsmen’s widows and orphans received at least non-financial support. Furthermore, there is an example from the city of Lübeck making explicit that a master craftsman’s widow who carried on the business of her deceased husband was also entitled to financial support. The 1500 statutes of the tanners’ guild stated:118 ‘Weret ock, jenige frouwe bynnen amptes offte lenes armodes, olders offte krankckheit halven des amptes offte lenes nichtmer bruken konde edder wolde, der schall dat ampt geven to der weken ver schillinge lubesch gelyck den mans […].’ ‘If it also happens, that a woman of the guild is not able or willing to further exercise the profession […] due to old age or illness, then the guild shall give to her each week four Lübeck shillings equal to the men […].’

After all, she had to make her full financial contributions to the guild. However, beneficiaries of guild support were not only guild members and their dependants. Professional guilds served charitable functions, too. They were polyfunctional institutions. Thus, they also supported the poor people of their community.119 The 1574 statutes of the skippers’ guild in the city of Oldenburg, for example, obliged its members to make a donation for the benefit of the poor on every happy return home:120 ‘Tom vofften ist unser aller, so schipper allhie ist, bewilligung, so ein schipper mit beholdem schip und gut to hus kumpt, die schall geven in die hande der armen eine tunne fracht offt mat die gelegenheit vormach. Dat scholle die olderlüde den armen tom besten upfordren.’

___________ 116

See the analysis of the weavers’ profession in the city of Frankfurt by Fromm, (1899) Archiv für Frankfurts Geschichte und Kunst 64 f. 117 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 62 f. 118 Cited from Wehrmann, Älteren Lübeckischen Zunftrollen (1864), 399. 119 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 63; Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), Hemmen, (1910) 18 Jahrbuch für die Geschichte des Herzogtums Oldenburg 219, 249; Weider, Recht der Kaufmannsgilden (1931), 3093–311; Tuckermann, Gewerbe der Stadt Hildesheim (1906), 82 f. In addition to the sources discussed below, see the source reproduced in Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 196 (butchers’ guild, Münster, early 16th century). 120 Cited from Hemmen, (1910) 18 Jahrbuch für die Geschichte des Herzogtums Oldenburg 283.

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

75

‘Fifthly, it is all of our – that of the present skippers – will that if a skipper happily returns to home with his ship and goods, he shall give into the hands of the poor eine tunne fracht[121] […]. And the Älterleute [office holders of the guild] shall claim this for the benefit of the poor.’

According to the 1414 statutes of the rope makers’ guild in the city of Cologne, parts of the admission fee benefited the poor:122 ‘Zom iersten wilch man dese broiderschaf ind ire ampt van den seilmecheren untfangen wilt, de sall zo urber irre broiderschaf geven vunftehalve m. […] ind ses s. den armen luden des hilgengeisthuis.’ ‘First, if a man wants to join this guild and start his profession as a rope maker, he shall give to the guild five and a half marks […] and six shillings to the poor people of the Holy Spirit House[123].’

Similarly, the 1575 statutes of the smiths’ guild in the city of Lünen made clear that part of the admission fee had to be paid to the poor:124 ‘Item wehr also von vnsern Burgers Kindern zum Meister zugelassen, soll der Stadt giebenn zwei Daler vnd der gilden ein Thunne behrs, auch den armen drie schillinge. Item wehr von buthen das Ampt alhier zu thun vnd Meister zu werden begeren wurde, soll zuvor beweißlich darthuen, wohe ehr sulchs gelert vnd wie ehr von seinem Meister einenn abscheidt genommen, vnd dahe ehr dasselbe bewießen vnd darauff zugelassen, soll ehr der Stadt gieben drie Daler vnd der gilden zwei Daler, zudem den armen zukommen lassen eine halffe Marck.’ ‘Furthermore, if a child of a town citizen wants to be admitted as master craftsman, he shall give to the town two talers and to the guild one barrel of beer, and also to the poor three shillings. Furthermore, if somebody from out of town wants to pick up the profession here and wants to be admitted as master craftsman, he shall prove where he has learned the profession and how he was discharged from his master craftsman, and after he has so proven and is so admitted, he shall give to the town three talers and to the guild two talers, and in addition to the poor one half mark.’

And the 1669 statutes of the barber surgeons’ guild in the regions of Altmark and Prignitz make clear that any funds collected in the guild box should not be used for social events, but for the purpose of supporting the poor:125 ‘[…] das Geldt, so Kraft dieses Privilegy zusammengebracht wird, soll nicht zu Mahlzeiten, Wein, Bier oder Brandtwein, sondern alles zu der Armen notturft angewendet werden.’

___________ 121

Literally ‘eine tunne fracht’ could mean ‘one ton of freight’ or ‘one barrel of cargo’. Cited from von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 174. 123 On the Holy Spirit House in Cologne, see the study of Schaefer, Das Hospital zum hl. Geist auf dem Domhofe zu Köln (1910), passim. At 34, he notes that the records of the House do not include any traces of any payments coming from the rope makers’ guild. 124 Cited from Nigge, Gilden der Stadt Lünen (1912), 91. 125 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 290. 122

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

76

‘[…] the funds, which are collected on the basis of the present privileges, shall not be used for meals, wine, beer or spirits, but they shall be used entirely for the help of the poor.’

A similar and nearly identical provision is to be found in other guilds’ statutes of the same area and the same time, for example in the 1685 statutes of the woodturner’s guild in the cities of Berlin, Cölln, and Friedrichswerder.126 And also the 1683 statutes of the butchers’ guild in the city of Halle did not limit support to guild members:127 ‘Soll Schlieslichen wöchentlich und zwar alle Sonnaben ein ieder Meister Lahde legen, Selbiges Geld sol zu der Armen Abgebranten und nothdürfftigen Leüte unterhalt angewendet, und sonderlich wen Arme entweder Vertriebene oder sonst in Dürftigkeit gerathene Fleischer kähmen, odes auch wan, einige Fleischer Knechte kranck würden, und keine Lebensmittel hetten, oder gar verstürben, solches alles von bemelten Zusammen Gebrachten Gelde genommen werden.’ ‘Finally, each master shall weekly, namely each Saturday, pay into the masters’ box, and the so collected funds shall be used for the provision of the poor victims of a fire hazard and other people in need, and especially of poor butchers who are either displaced or who are for other reasons in need and come to this town, or also when some journeymen of the butchering trade fall sick and have nothing to eat, or if they die, then the collected funds shall be used.’

The funds were used for the benefit of journeymen of the guild, butchers from outside the guild, and for all other people in need. Nevertheless, the statutes suggest that there were no separate boxes for each function. Furthermore, it is the only other example which expressly mentions the risk of fire.128 Again, the text comes from a later stage of the development, from a time in which guild statutes may have been already under the influence of ‘insurance thinking’. 3. Covered risks The different forms of financial and non-financial support covered the risks of death, illness, and old age. Furthermore, there are two examples dating from the second half of the 17th century mentioning the risk of fire. However, a guild would grant financial support only if the guild member was in financial need. Thus, it is more exact to state that the covered risk was financial need caused by death, illness, old age, or fire.

___________ 126

Reproduced in M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 383. Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 364. 128 For the other example, see p. 55, above. 127

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

77

4. Joining a guild Guilds served numerous functions. They were poly-functional institutions. Professional guilds primarily aimed at regulating all aspects of the respective profession and market. And it was compulsory for those who wanted to run a certain trade as master craftsman to join the respective guild (Zunftzwang). The admission requirements for professional guilds were aligned to this primary function. However, they differed regionally and developed over time.129 Their evolution reflected the general socio-economic development of guilds. It seems that the admission requirements became stricter especially in economically difficult times in order to limit the number of competitors. a) Admission requirements Most fundamentally, a journeyman who wanted to join a guild as master craftsman had to fulfil the professional requirements of that guild: a certain number of years of professional training, an examination process, fulfilling the required journeyman years, and/or the making of a masterpiece. In addition, there were further requirements for having the ability, capability, or suitability (Fähigkeit) to join a master craftsmen guild (Zunft) and thus for having the Zunftfähigkeit. These additional requirements reflected the political functions of guilds as well as the moral and religious standards of their times. Often only ___________ 129 See for discussion of the admission requirements in different towns and territories, Eulenburg, Innungen der Stadt Breslau (1892), 13–21; P. Richter, Berliner BuchbinderInnung (1882), 12 f.; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 56, 101–117; Schulz, Handwerksgesellen und Lohnarbeiter (1985), 209–315; S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 23 f.; von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1, Einleitung (1907), 30, 70 f.; M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 8; Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 2, 12, 22 f., 25 f.; Bucher, Zunft- und Verkehrs-Ordnungen der Stadt Krakau (1889), xxiv–xxxiii; Hemmen, (1910) 18 Jahrbuch für die Geschichte des Herzogtums Oldenburg 230–236; Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), xxxix–xlii; Dörner, Das Sarworter- und das Schwertfegeramt in Köln (1915), 44 f.; Engemann, Gilden der Stadt Goslar (1957), 30–52, 91–93; Fromm, (1899) Archiv für Frankfurts Geschichte und Kunst 18 f.; Nigge, Gilden der Stadt Lünen (1912), 23–27; Eulenburg, Innungen der Stadt Breslau (1892), 13; Horsch, Konstanzer Zünfte (1979), 40–43; Geering, Handel und Industrie der Stadt Basel (1886), 53, 60, 77–83; Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 125–130: Göttmann, Handwerk und Bündnispolitik (1977), 77–90; Hof, Wettbewerb im Zunftrecht (1983), 89–109; Uhl, Handwerk und Zünfte in Eferding (1973), 72–78; Wesoly, Lehrlinge und Handwerksgesellen (1985), 239–262; Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 1 (1971), 125–273, vol. 2 (1974), 1– 33; Kulenkamp, Recht der Handwerker (1807), 82–91. In addition to the examples discussed below, see the sources reproduced in Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 392 f. (tailors’ guild, Münster, 1648); Nyrop, Danmarks Gilde- og Lavsskraaer, vol. 2 (1895–1904), 34 (bakers’ guild, Schleswig, 1418).

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

78

legitimate children were zunftfähig. Mostly, only people of free birth were suitable to join a guild. Often candidates had to be of respectable descent – and this requirement often excluded the children of parents practising certain professions.130 In addition, the candidates themselves needed to have a good reputation. Some guilds required that the candidate had to be a citizen of the respective town or that he was at least eligible to become a citizen. Sometimes a candidate had to prove that he had certain funds. And at times he had to have a certain religion or confession. As the defence of towns against external enemies was in principle in the hands of its citizens, as there was for that purpose a general obligation to have sufficient armament,131 and as the defence was thus apparently organized also through guilds, a widespread admission requirement was that new members had to prove that they were sufficiently armed. Furthermore, new master craftsmen, and with some guilds also new journeymen, had to arrange a feast for the master craftsmen of that guild. Finally, an admission fee had to be paid. The 1574 statutes of the coopers’ guild in the city of Münster, for example, provided:132 ‘Item tom verden ein knecht, de mester werden will, de hir binnen Munster gelehrt hest, soell hier deinen noch 3 jaer to sinen lehrjaeren. Averst ein knecht, de buten gelehrt hest, de soell hier deinen 4 jaer und soll geven unsen ampte 15 goelt gulden und 1 tunne koites von den besten und 1 schinken und 1 backharst und 1 kroes von 3 [Pfund] und 6 [Pfennige] up dat schohues und dem mesterlude boden 1 Sch. und vurerst ein borger und wisen dan sin harns und sin gewer und maken sin mesterstucke mit name 1 brubode von 5 fot und 1 kerne und 1 sper-legelen.’ ‘And fourthly, a journeyman, who wants to become a master craftsman and who has completed his apprenticeship here in Münster, shall serve for three years after his apprenticeship. A journeyman, who has completed his apprenticeship outside Münster, shall serve for four years [after his apprenticeship] and he shall give to the guild 15 golden florins and one cask of beer of the best kind and one ham and one roast beef and one mug of three pounds and six pennies to the Schohaus [the building of the united guilds of Münster133] and to the messenger of the master craftsmen one schilling and for now shall present a bailsman and shall show his suit of armour and his rifle and shall make as his masterpieces one brewer barrel of five feet and one butter churn and one small barrel.’

___________ 130 See, e.g., the source dating from 1405, reproduced in von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 2 (1907), 222: children of barbers and linen weavers were apparently not admitted to the goldsmiths’ guild in Cologne. 131 See in general Witte, Wehrordnung, in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 5 (1998), 1193 f. And see Welter, Geschichte des hamburgischen Zunftwesens (1895), 72 f.; Klapper, Zunftwesen der Stadt Guhrau (1936), 41. 132 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 171. In addition, see the examples reproduced in Haber, Zünfte der Stadt Lauenburg in Pommern (1878), 4 (smiths’ guild, Lauenburg, 1567); von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 8 (barbers’ guild, Cologne, 1397); ibid., 10 (bag makers’ guild, Cologne, 1397); ibid., 13 (coopers’ guild, Cologne, 1397); ibid., 44 f. (linen dyers’ guild, Cologne, 1397). 133 Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 33.

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

79

Sometimes, the requirement that guild members had to be properly armed was not phrased as an admission requirement but as an obligation to be fulfilled by all guild members.134 The 1397 statutes of the wood turners’ guild in the city of Cologne, for example, simply stated:135 ‘Vort so sall ein iederman van deme vurs. ampte sin harnesch haven na sinen staden.’ ‘Further, every guild member shall have his suit of armour […].’

And the 1396 statutes of the guild of the dyers of linen yarn, silk, sendal, and drill in Cologne made explicit the reason for this requirement:136 ‘Vort so haven wir oeverdragen, date ein ieclich van unsen broederen, de unse ampt geliche uns oeven ind hantieren wilt, haven ind halden sal, der stede ere ind vrijheit zů beschirmen, ein ganz harnesch.’ ‘Further, we have agreed that each of our brothers in our guild who wants to exercise the profession has to have and shall keep, in order to shield the honour and liberty of the town, a complete suit of armour.’

The confessional requirement becomes, by way of example, apparent from the 1620 statutes of the guild of the Bombasiedenmacher, the guild of producers of Bombasiede, Bombaside, or Bomside – a woven cloth made primarily of cotton as well as wool and used for producing bed fustians137 – in the city of Münster:138 ‘1. Erstlich soll keiner alhie zu der bombasiedenmacher bruderschaft zugelassen werden, er bekenne sich dan der katholischen religion und sei dieser stat ein geschworner burger samt seiner hausfrau, woferne er verheiratet. Und so er noch nicht verheiratet, soll er, zum fall kein bürgers kind wäre, dieselbe zu gewinnen schuldig sein. […]. 3. Wie auch drittens soll keiner zugelassen werden, welcher und auch sein frau nicht von ehrlichen eltern und aus einem christlichen ehebett geboren. 4. Zum vierten soll derjenige, so alhie meister sein und werden will, in dieser stat seine 3 lehrjahren bei einem meister ausgestanden und nach denselbigen bei selbigen meister oder mit desselbigen guten willen […] bei anderen meisteren noch 3 jahr gedienet; […]. Und soll ein lehrjunge, wan er agenommen wird, neben den einschreibensgeld der bruderschaft 1/2 Rthl. geben. 5. Die meister-kinder aber, und so sich nach ausgestandener lehr an eine verwittibte meisterin oder bruders tocher verheiraten, sollen, so es sich die gelegenheit also

___________ 134 See the sources reproduced in von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 112 (felt hat makers’ guild, Cologne, 1397); ibid., 119 (copper smiths’ guild (Kupferschläger), Cologne 1421); ibid., vol. 2 (1907), 535 (fish merchants’ guild, Cologne, 1505); B. Schmidt, Frankfurter Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1914), 2 (Frankfurt, 1382). 135 Cited from von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 37. 136 Cited from von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 43. 137 Schiller/Lüben, Mittelniederdeutsches Wörterbuch, vol. 1 (1875), 384. 138 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 179 f.

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

80

begiebt, mit den 3 lehrjahren frei gelassen und angenommen werden, doch wie vor sein meisterstück zu machen schuldig sein. 6. Wan nun einer die bruderschaft […] angenommen worden, soll er mögen einen meister erwählen, bei welchem er sein gehörendes meisterstück machen wolle […]. 9. Wan aber einer eine wittibe oder meisters tochter heiratete, sonsten auch eines bruders sohn wäre, soll derselbe wie bei andern ämpteren oder brüderschaften bräuchlich die halbscheit zu geben schuldig sein.’ ‘1. First, no one shall be admitted to the confraternity of the Bombasiedenmacher other than those who are of the Catholic faith und who are citizens of this town, and the same applies to his wife if married. If he is unmarried, he shall, if he is not a citizen, be obliged to acquire citizenship. […]. 3. And thirdly, no one shall be admitted who, including his wife, is not born from respectable parents and from a Christian marital bed. 4. Fourthly, he who wants to become a master craftsman shall have completed his three-year apprenticeship with a master craftsman within this town and he shall have worked after the completion of the apprenticeship for a further three years for the same master craftsman or for another master craftsman with the first master craftsman’s good will […]. And the apprentice shall, on being accepted, pay next to the registration fee a half taler to the confraternity. 5. The children of master craftsmen, and also those who after the completion of the apprenticeship will marry a master craftsman’s widow or the daughter of a member of the confraternity, shall, if there is the opportunity, be freed after the three years apprenticeship and shall be accepted, yet they still have to complete their masterpiece. 6. If somebody has been accepted as member of the confraternity […], he shall choose a master craftsman with whom he will complete his masterpiece […]. 9. If somebody marries a widow or the daughter of a master craftsman, and also if somebody is the son of a brother, he shall, as is common also with other guilds and confraternities, have to pay only half [of what is usually owed].’

The 1609 statutes of the grocers’ guild in the city of Bad Salzuflen, which also included the saddlers, girdlers, lorimers, and whittawers, had the opposite requirement. The applicant had to be Protestant, not Catholic:139 ‘Zum ersten welcher unser Krammer Ampt gewinnen will […] soll zuförderst sein guhter reiner evangälischer Lehre, zeigen für, ein besiegelt Uhrkundt seiner freyen und ehelichen Gebuhrt […].’ ‘First, he, who wants to be admitted to the grocers’ guild, […] shall primarily prove his good and pure Protestant faith, shall prove by sealed certificate his free and legitimate birth […].’

The 1613 statutes of the guild of the makers of Saye – Saye was a specific wool fabric140 – in the city of Hamburg suggest that the requirement of having a ___________ 139

Cited from Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 74. Allgemeine Schatz-Kammer der Kauffmannschafft Oder Vollständiges Lexicon Aller Handlungen und Gewerbe, vol. 4 (1742), 79. 140

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

81

specific confession was introduced to safeguard the internal peace within a guild:141 ‘Zudem soll auch nicht weniger die Einigkeit der Religion in Acht genommen werden. Den weil dieselbe ein gewisses Band des Friedens ist, dadurch aller Hader und Widerwillen gewehret und auffgehoben wird, […].’ ‘Furthermore, the unity[142] of the religion shall not be taken less into consideration. Because it is a bond of peace by which all discord and unwillingness will be repelled and set aside, […].’

Finally, it is worthwhile mentioning that it occurred that one and the same person was a member of two guilds. Herbert Engemann has found that in Goslar this happened in the late 15th and early 16th centuries: members of the guild of merchants in the wholesaling sector were at times also members of the guild of grocers in the retailing sector.143 b) Preferential treatment of master craftsmen’s sons and of journeymen marrying master craftsmen’s widows and daughters The 1620 statutes of the guild of the Bombasiedenmacher144 in the city of Münster already proved that the admission requirements for children of guild members and for journeymen who married a master craftsman’s widow or daughter were less strict than for other candidates.145 In particular, these individuals often had to pay a lower admission fee than external applicants when joining

___________ 141

Cited from Rüdiger, Hamburgische Zunftrollen (1874), 219. Rüdiger, Hamburgische Zunftrollen (1874), 219 n. 1, adds that the original could also read ‘Reinigkeit’, which would not translate as unity (‘Einigkeit’), but as purity. 143 Engemann, Gilden der Stadt Goslar (1957), 116. For further examples see Geering, Handel und Industrie der Stadt Basel (1886), 49–52; von Heusinger, Zunft im Mittelalter (2009), 264. And see the discussion of Fricke, Grundsätze des Rechts der Handwerker (2nd edn., 1778), 74. 144 See p. 79, above. 145 See the text corresponding to n. 138, above. On what follows, S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 25; Bucher, Zunft- und Verkehrs-Ordnungen der Stadt Krakau (1889), xxix–xxxiii; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 112 f.; Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), xliii; Nigge, Gilden der Stadt Lünen (1912), 25; Bergholz, Beckenwerkergilde zu Braunschweig (1954), 19–21; Uhl, Handwerk und Zünfte in Eferding (1973), 73 f.; Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 2 (1974), 34. In addition, see the sources reproduced in Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 445 (carpenters’ guild, Münster, 1607); Haber, Zünfte der Stadt Lauenburg in Pommern (1878), 5 (smiths’ guild, Lauenburg, 1567); von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 99 (girdlers’ guild, Cologne, 1397); ibid., 119 (copper smiths’ guild, Cologne, 1421). 142

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

82

the guild. Guild statutes exhibit a number of differentiations. The 1620 statutes of the shoe repairers’ guild in Münster, for example, stated:146 ‘Es soll niemand in die brüderschaft angenommen werden, es sei dan ein burger, oder daß er anlobe, erster tagen die burgerschaft zu gewinnen, sonsten zu der bruderschaft nicht verstattet werden, auch 2 jahr in der lehr und 2 jahr nach der lehr alhier binnen Munster gedient. Aber so außerhalb der stat gelehret, und die bruderschaft gewinnen wollte, soll geben 2 Rthl. und 2 [Pfund] wachs; es sei dan, daß er sich an eine wittib würde verheiraten, alsdan soll er geben 1½ Rthl. und 1 [Pfund] wachses.’ ‘Nobody shall be admitted to the confraternity unless he is a citizen or unless he promises to acquire citizenship on the first days; otherwise he will not be allowed into the confraternity; and he also has to have completed a two-year apprenticeship and to have served two years after the apprenticeship in Münster. However, if he has learned the profession outside Münster and if he nevertheless wants to be admitted to the confraternity, he has to pay two imperial talers and to give two pounds of wax; unless he will marry a widow, then he only has to give one and a half imperial talers and one pound of wax.’

The 1650 statutes of the wood turners’ guild in Münster had a special provision for foreign journeymen who wanted to be admitted as master craftsmen:147 ‘Wo ein fremder gesell des dreierhandwerks ankäme und meister zu werden begert, solle derselbige seines redlichen handels und wandels, auch genommenen abschiedes glaubwürdigen schein und beweistum vorbringen, seine lehr- und 1 wanderjahr aufrichtig erweisen und alsdann ferner bei einem meister alhie sich noch 1 jahr lang in seiner arbeit fleißig und ohne klag verhalten, in demselbigen jahr die amtsgesinnungen tun und sein meisterstück, wie oben steht, bei einem unparteilichen meister machen und dasselbige den vorwesern vorzuzeigen verbunden und schuldig sein. Dan furters zu unterhaltung der bruderschaft 5 Rhtl […] zu geben verhaft sein; und darauf ins registerbuch sich einschreiben lassen, jedoch daß selbiger die bürgerschaft alhie wirklich gewonnen haben solle, darthun.’ ‘When a foreign journeyman of the wood turning profession comes to Münster and wants to be admitted as master craftsman, he shall prove his honest dealings and conduct and he shall present a credible certificate and proof of his last position, he shall honestly prove his years as apprentice and one year as journeyman. In addition, he shall serve a local master craftsman for one further year hard working and without any complaints. Within this year he has to apply to be admitted to the profession and he has to complete his masterpiece, as aforementioned, with an impartial master craftsman. And he shall present his masterpiece to the administrators of the confraternity. Further for the support of the confraternity he has to give five imperial talers […]; then he will be enrolled in the registry book, yet he has to prove that he has acquired citizenship.’

And the late 16th-century statutes of the Münster furriers’ guild made clear how the guilds distinguished between, on the one hand, journeymen marrying a ___________ 146 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 144. In addition, see the source reproduced in von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 10 (bag makers’ guild, Cologne, 1397). 147 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 193.

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

83

master craftsman’s widow or daughter as well as the sons of master craftsmen and, on the other hand, all other journeymen:148 ‘So ein knecht angenommen wirt, soll unsem ampte als vort 12 goltgulden, 1 schussel von 4 [Pfund] getekent tinnen, 1/2 Rthl. zu roggen, 3 tunnen keuts und ein fet schaf zu gelegener zeit; noch auf das schohaus 6 Sch. zu roggen und 1 lederen eimer, der meisterleuten boten 3 Sch. und unses amts boten 2 Sch. Wofern aber ein knecht eine wittfrau oder eines meisters tochter […] zur ehe greifen würde, derselbe soll das amt geld als die 12 golt gülden allein gefreiet sein, und zu dem ampte, wie vorgemeldet, gestattet werden. Die söhne, so in unser gilde geboren und die gilde gesinnen, sollen dem ampte 1/2 Rthl. zu roggen, 1 schutzel von 4 [Pfund] teken tinnen, 1 tonne keuts, 1 [Pfund] wasses, noch auf das schohaus 1 ledderen emmer, der meisterleuten botten 3 Sch. und unses amts botten 2 Sch. zu verrichten verbunden sein.’ ‘If a journeyman is accepted, he shall give immediately to the guild twelve gold florin, one bowl of four pound marked pewter, one half imperial taler for rye, three casks of beer and later on one fat sheep, in addition to the Schohaus [the building of the united guilds of Münster149] six shillings for rye and one leather bucket, to the master craftsmen’s messenger three shillings and to our guild messenger two schillings. However, if a journeyman marries a widow or the daughter of a master craftsman […], he shall be relieved of the twelve gold florin for the guild, and nevertheless be admitted to the profession. The sons who are born into the guild and who apply to be admitted to the guild shall give to the guild one half taler for rye and one bowl of four pounds marked pewter, one cask of beer, one pound of wax, to the Schohaus one leather bucket, to the master craftsmen’s messenger three shillings and to our guild messenger two shillings.’

One possible explanation for the preferential treatment seems to be again that the guild right was seen as a private entitlement that could be passed on to widows, sons, and daughters.150 And as master craftsmen often had to pay also a fee for their children, these children were already members of the guild, even if they were not full members. 5. Guild finances The guild funds were coffered in the guild box.151 It was standard that the guild box could only be opened with different keys which were kept by different persons, often different masters. The 1580 statutes of the bookbinders’ guild in the city of Frankfurt, for example, stated:152 ___________ 148 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 361. In addition, see the example reproduced in ibid., 413 (shoemakers’ guild, Münster, 1614). 149 Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 33. 150 On guild rights as private entitlement, see p. 70, above, and p. 87, below. 151See, e.g., the source reproduced in Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 349 (hatters’ guild, Riga, 1595). 152 Cited from Bücher, (1888) Archiv für Frankfurts Geschichte und Kunst 255.

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

84

‘Zum 6. sollen zwen eltesten HandtwercksMeister erwehlt, denselbigen ein beschlossene Laden mit zweien schlüsseln, jedem der schlüssel einen, zugestellt werden, dem Handtwerck brieff vnd anders zu verwaren.’ ‘Sixthly, two eldest master craftsmen [presumably the title of an office] shall be elected and the guild box together with two keys, each to receive one key, shall be delivered to them in order to keep the deed of the profession and other things.’

And a similar provision was included in the 15th-century statutes of the skippers’ confraternity in the city of Strasbourg in France:153 ‘Zům ersten, so süllent alle die die in dise brůderschaft begerent zů kommen, ingeschriben werden, und weller als brůder wurt, der soll alle fronfast 3 [Pfennige] geben, das ist zům jor 1 [Schilling Pfennig]. Do soll man nů vier erber redeliche manne, die in der brůderschaft sint […] (setzen), die solich fronfastgelt von der brůdern enphohent, jeglicher ein fronfast, und süllent das, by iren eiden, getruwelich in ein büsse stossen, und soll dieselbe büsse vier slüssel han, so sůllent dieselben vier büssenmeister jeglicher einen sundern slüssel han, und soll keine on den andern darüber gon.’ ‘Firstly, all of those who wish to join this confraternity have to be enrolled, and those who have become brothers shall give on all four ember days three pennies, that is per year one shilling. And four respectable and honest men who are members of the confraternity shall be chosen who collect, each of them at one of the four ember days, these ember day moneys from the brothers, and they shall, by oath, faithfully put the moneys into the box, and the box shall have four keys, and the same four Büchsenmeister [literally: masters of the box; office holders of the guild] shall have each one key, and no one shall open it without the others.’

The existence of more than one key and the fact that the guild box could only be opened jointly with all existing keys was most probably introduced to prevent fraud and to enhance the trust in the management of the guild.154 a) The expenses side Professional guilds were poly-functional institutions, and they had to cover the costs which they incurred fulfilling the different functions which they served.155 First, there were the costs for their manifold religious and charitable functions. With respect to the costs for religious functions, the 1570 statutes of the Münster cloth merchants’ guild, for example, stated:156 ___________ 153

Cited from Brucker, Strassburger Zunft- und Polizei-Verordnungen (1889), 439. See Heirbaut, Mutual aid in the Southern Netherlands (2020), 36. 155 On what follows, S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 40, 51; von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), Einleitung, 93, 133–135; Gramich, Verfassung und Verwaltung der Stadt Würzburg (1882), 49; Hartfelder, Zunftordnungen der Stadt Freiburg, vol. 1 (1879), 3 f.; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 164 f.; Kulenkamp, Recht der Handwerker (1807), 80–82. And see the source reproduced in von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 16 (brewers’ guild, Cologne, 1497). 156 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 219. 154

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

85

‘Item als de selemisse ute is, so geven die scheffers den pastor to sünte Lambert 9 [Pfennig] unde den vicarien unde officianten malk 6 [Pfennig] in de hant. Item den offerkoster geven die scheffers ock 6 [Pfennig] unde den underkoster 3 [Pfennig] in de hant.’ ‘When the requiem has finished, then the Schaffer [office holders of the guild] will give to the pastor of St. Lambert nine pennies and to the vicars and the priests celebrating the mass each six pennies into their hands. And to the senior sacristan they will give also six pennies and to the junior sacristan three pennies into their hands.’

There were also the costs for a guild’s social functions, including the maintenance of a guild house, if the guild had such a house. Furthermore, there were the costs for fulfilling the market-regulating functions. In addition, some funds could simply be divided between the members of a guild.157 And finally, guilds had to finance their support schemes for members in need. As long as the financial support took the form of a loan, only relatively minimal funds were likely necessary to finance these support schemes. If a guild maintained a hospital or paid for having beds in a hospital, the costs for these support schemes were, of course, higher. However, it seems that it is not always possible to reconstruct exactly how guilds used their funds.158 b) The income side Guilds generated their income to cover these different costs from admission fees, fines, periodic contributions, and other charges.159 Originally, journeymen and apprentices were also obliged to pay admission fees. However, primarily those who wanted to become a master craftsman had to pay such fees.160 The admission fees differed regionally and between the individual guilds. And often there were differentiations: sons of master craftsmen, journeymen marrying a master craftsman’s widow or daughter, and journeymen who were native in the city often had to pay less than others. The 1639 statutes of the bakers’ guild in the city of Münster, for example, provided:161 ___________ 157 See the example reproduced in von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 2 (1907), 190 (cloth merchants’ guild, Cologne, 1388–1404). 158 Compare for the city of Lünen, Nigge, Gilden der Stadt Lünen (1912), 56. 159 On what follows, S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 39–51; von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), Einleitung, 70, 94; Huth, Wollenweberzunft in Herborn (1910), 76 f.; Gramich, Verfassung und Verwaltung der Stadt Würzburg (1882), 49, 56; Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 2 f., 23, 28 f., 35; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 90, 112 f.; Geering, Handel und Industrie der Stadt Basel (1886), 114; Engemann, Gilden der Stadt Goslar (1957), 67. 160 See the examples reproduced in von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 3 f. (shoe repairers’ guild, Cologne, 1483); ibid., 34 (wood turners’ guild, Cologne, 1179–1182). 161 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 161. In addition, see the examples reproduced in Haber, Zünfte der Stadt Lauenburg in Pommern (1878), 5

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

86

‘Im fall aber ein knecht sich an eine wittfrau oder beckers tochter verheiraten wird, derselbig soll nur die halbscheidt des vorerzehlten geldes und gebühr […] zu bezahlen schuldig und von dem übrigen befreiet sein.’ ‘However, where a journeyman will marry a widow or the daughter of a baker, he shall only be obliged to pay half of the aforementioned moneys and fees […] and he shall be free from paying the other moneys and fees.’

And the 1330 statutes of the braziers’ or bronze casters’ guild in the city of Cologne clearly distinguished between local applicants and those coming from outside Cologne:162 ‘3. Inde sowe ir ampt der brůdere ůven wolde, de sulde ir brůdershap winnen inde umbe seeven s. inde neit min; des sůlde wir dit ampt dri s. hain inde die brůdere der brůderschaph veir s., zů nutze der brůdershap dey ze keren. 4. Weir ever sache geweist, of enich vremde man van inbusen Kolne kůmen weir, de ir ampt ůven wolde, de sůlde ire brůderschaph winnen umbe eyne m. inde neit min, so sůlde man eme dan dey brůdershaph lenen. Dat halfscheit dat sůlde uns deme ampte ervallen inde dat ander halfscheit den brůderen der brůderschaph inde zů nutze der brůdershaph.’ ‘3. And if somebody wants to exercise the profession, he shall win the confraternity and pay seven shillings […]; and from these the guild shall have three shillings and the brothers of the confraternity shall have four shillings to the use of the confraternity […]. 4. […] if a foreign man from outside Cologne comes and if he wishes to exercise the profession, then he shall win the confraternity and pay one mark […] and then one shall allow him to the confraternity. Half of it shall be for the guild and half for the brothers of the confraternity and to the use of the confraternity.’

According to Leonard Ennen, there were twelve shillings in one mark in 1347 in Cologne.163 Accordingly, an external applicant had to pay twelve shillings as admission fee as compared to the seven shillings which had to be paid by a local applicant. A similar distinction is drawn by the 1397 statutes of the wood turners’ guild in Cologne:164 ‘1. In deme eirsten sowilch man dit vurs. ampt winnen ind sich daan setzen vur meister ind geneiren wilt, die sal geven zwene rinsche gl. ind zwei virdel wins. 2. Vortme eins meisters son mach ind sall dit vurs. ampt winnen umb half gelt. 3. Vortme ein leirknecht, die in unser stat van Colne gedient hait, die sal ind mach dit vurs. ampt ind broiderschaf winnen vur einen rinschen gl. ind ein virdel wijns ind sal drij jaire lank leren.’

___________ (smiths’ guild, Lauenburg, 1567); von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 8 (barbers’ guild, Cologne, 1397); ibid., 27 (bed linen weavers’ guild, Cologne, 1320). 162 Cited from von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 20. 163 L. Ennen, Geschichte der Stadt Köln, vol. 2 (1865), 398. 164 Cited from von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 36.

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

87

‘1. Firstly, if one wants to win the guild and wants to become a master, he shall give two Rhenish gulden and two quarters of wine. 2. Furthermore, the son of a master shall give half of the sum in order to win the guild. 3. Furthermore, an apprentice, who has served in our town Cologne, he shall, in order to win the confraternity, give one Rhenish gulden and one quarter of wine and he shall learn for three years.’

The fact that not only the sons of master craftsmen but all local applicants had to pay a lower admission fee puts a question mark behind the proposition that the guild right was seen as a private entitlement which could be passed on to heirs.165 On the basis of this explanation, only sons should have received a preferential treatment. Fines had to be paid by master craftsmen if they were in non-compliance with the guild statutes. The primary example is the non-compliance with the numerous market-regulating provisions which were enacted by guilds. von Loesch argues that market-regulating provisions were in essence penal provisions, with predefined fines being the primary form of sanction.166 However, fines also had to be paid if guild members did not participate in the different social functions of guilds, such as when a master craftsman did not attend the funeral of a fellow master craftsman.167 Furthermore, if it was not from the outset an admission requirement that a master craftsman had to be armed,168 a master craftsman was fined if he failed to comply with a respective obligation. The 1397 statutes of the goldsmiths’ guild in the city of Cologne, for example, stated:169 ‘In wilch broeder zo gadom sitzet of sitzen will, die sall haven sijn eigen harnasch in urber der herren v. r. ind der gemeinden van Coelne. Ind we hierweder dede, die sall zo boissen gelden ein vierdunk silvers.’ ‘Each brother […] shall have his own coat of armour […]. And they who infringe this provision shall pay […] one Vierding [the fourth part of a mark of170] silver.’

Periodic contributions seem to have appeared later than admission fees. With some guilds they had to be paid annually.171 Often, however, they had to be paid

___________ 165

See the discussion on p. 70, above. von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), Einleitung, 99. 167 See, for example, the source cited in Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 143–145 (shoe repairers’ guild, Münster, 1620). 168 See pp. 78 ff., above. 169 Cited from von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 81. 170 A. Suhle, Mark, in: von Schrötter (ed.), Wörterbuch der Münzkunde (2nd edn., 1970), 372. 171 See the source reproduced in Nyrop, Danmarks Gilde- og Lavsskraaer, vol. 2 (1895–1904), 55 (smith’s guild, Flensburg, 1425). 166

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

88

quarterly, as was, for example, the case with the 1483 statutes of the shoe repairers’ guild172 and the 1516 statutes of the curriers’ guild in the city of Cologne,173 or with the 1560 statutes of the slipper makers’ guild in the city of Greifswald.174 The 1665 statutes of the whittawers’ guild in the city of Königsberg in today’s Russia, for example, stated:175 ‘Es sollen Meister und Gesellen alle Quartal als Weihnachten, Fastnacht Johann und Michaelis zusammenkommen, die Meister zwölf und die Gesellen sechs Groschen jeder zum Quartal ablegen bei Strafe einer Marck.’ ‘All master craftsmen and all journeymen shall meet each quarter, on Christmas, Shrove Tuesday, Saint John’s Eve, and Michaelmas, and each master shall pay twelve and each journeyman six pennies at each quarter, at the fine of one mark.’

According to the 1669 statutes of the barber surgeons’ guild in the regions of Altmark and Prignitz, the periodic contributions had to be paid on a weekly basis:176 ‘Soll ein Jeder Meister sein und seiner gesellen stam- oder aufschlagegeldt, also wächentlich ein Meister 6 [Pfennig] ein Gesell 6 [Pfennig], Eine Meisters witbe 6 [Pfennig] ein Wochenlöhner 3 [Pfennig] einem Ehrsahmen Handtwerck der Lade einliefern, von welchem Meister aber solches nicht geschicht, deme soll Kein geselle oder Wochenlöhner, biss Er sich desshalbe mit dem Mittel abgefunden, zu fordern gestattet werden, Weigert sich aber ein Geselle oder Wochenlöhner solcher Zahlung, soll ihm aller ohrte nachgeschrieben werden, biss Er sich desswegen abgefunden.’ ‘Every master shall pay his […]-moneys and those of his journeymen, thus each week a master six pennies, a journeyman six pennies, a master’s widow six pennies, a week labourer three pennies […] to the box. However, a master who does not do so shall not have the right to claim a journeyman or a week labourer, until he is in compliance with these provisions. If a journeyman or a week labourer refuses to pay, then all places shall be informed, until he is in compliance with these provisions.’

Other charges could be imposed for fulfilling special services. The 1648 statutes of the bookbinders’ guild in the city of Münster, for example, stated:177 ‘Wan ein gesell, der allhier das handwerk gelernet, sich anderwärts niederlassen und meister werden wollte, soll ihm auf billiges ersuchen und begehren sein lehrbrief vom handwerk mitgeteilt und gegeben werden, doch soll er dem handwerk für das signet 14 Schl. erlegen.’

___________ 172

Reproduced in von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 3 f. Reproduced in von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 2 (1907), 539. 174 Reproduced in Krause/Kunze, (1901) 2 Pommersche Jahrbücher 128. 175 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 255. 176 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 285 f. 177 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 187. Sometimes the guilds of the towns where a journeyman originated from were asked to certify that he had fulfilled the admission requirements of the guild; see the examples reproduced in von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 2 (1907), 217 f.; ibid., 222 f., 246. And see the examples reproduced in ibid., 223–225, 227, 229 f., 242–244. 173

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

89

‘If a journeyman, who has completed his apprenticeship here, wants to settle and to become master craftsman abroad, he shall receive on his request and demand a certificate of apprenticeship, but he shall pay for the signet 14 shillings.’

And often an apprentice had to pay a fee on completion of his apprenticeship. With the so-called Lossprechung or Freisprechung, the apprentice officially acquired the status of a journeyman. The 1607 statutes of the carpenters’ guild in Münster, for example, stated:178 ‘Solle kein junge seiner lehrjahren losgesprochen werden, es geschehe dan vor den semtlichen meisteren und gesellen, und solle alsdan der losgesprochener junge in der meistern büchs 2 Sch. wie auch in der gesellen büchs ebenmeßig 2 Sch. zu geben und darzulegen verhaft sein.’ ‘No apprentice shall be freed from his apprenticeship, but in the presence of all master craftsmen and all journeymen, and the freed apprentice shall be obliged to pay two shillings into the box of the master craftsmen as well as two shillings into the box of the journeymen.’

A similar provision can be found in the 1680 statutes of the ropemakers’ guild in the Duchy of Magdeburg:179 ‘Item, wann Ein LehrJunge seine Lehr ausgestanden hat, und der Meister ihn lossgesagt, alda soll der Junge dem Meister alss der Zunfft Achtzehn groschen Losszahlegeldt […] neben Zween groschen schreibegeldt entrichten […].’ ‘Furthermore, when an apprentice has completed his apprenticeship, and he is freed by his master craftsman, then the apprentice shall give to the master as well as to the guild 18 groschen for being freed […] alongside two groschen writing fees […].’

And the 1696 statutes of the tailors’ guild in the city of Friedrichsstadt stated:180 ‘Soll ein Lehrjunge, wenn er wirdt lossgesprochen seyn undt einen Lehrbrieff begehret, wegen der Meister Zusammenkunfft dem Gewercke 12 gr. erlegen. Den Lehrbrieff muss er auch auf seine eigene Kosten schreiben lassen, wegen der Ausfertigung giebet er der Gülde 2 thal. die Meisters Söhne sindt hiervon befreyet.’ ‘When an apprentice is freed and when he requests his certificate of apprenticeship, then he shall pay to the profession twelve groschen for the masters coming together. He must have the certificate of apprenticeship written at his own expense and for the copy he has to pay two talers to the guild, the sons of master craftsmen are exempt from this.’

___________ 178

Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 448. Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 325. 180 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 506. 179

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

90

A further example of such other charges are court fees. Guilds often had jurisdiction over internal matters,181 and when a guild brother filed a claim, he had to pay a fee.182 Another source of income was the possibility to apportion special expenses between members. If a guild had to incur expenditures which could not be covered by the existing funds, for example if the guild gave some kind of financial support to a guild member in need, it could apportion these costs between its members. An example comes from the 1668 statutes of the carpenters’ guild in the city of Havelberg:183 ‘Do aber solch Geld aus der Lade durch den Kranken verzehret würde, und nicht mehr vorhanden were, damit man dem Kranken zu Hülfe kommen möchte, alssdann sollen die beyden Jüngsten von Hause zu Hause gehen, undt von einem jeglichen 4 [Pfennig] fordern, darmit der arme Kranke erhalten undt nicht noth leiden möge.’ ‘If, however, such funds from the box have been used up by the sick and if consequently no funds are left to help the sick, then the two youngest shall go from door to door and request from everybody four pennies, so that the sick in need receives [help] and so that he does not have to suffer need.’

The article preceding the cited provision dealt with a fund which was financed both by the journeymen and the master craftsmen, but which was used only for the support of sick journeymen. Thus, it may be assumed that according to the cited provision both master craftsmen and journeymen were requested to pay four pennies but that the collected funds were again only for the benefit of sick journeymen in need. Finally, guilds may have received donations and they could give loans on interest to members and also to external persons, and they might have had property which they rented out. The generated interest and rents were yet another – and with some guilds a very substantial – source of income.184 c) The local authority’s right to a portion of the generated income In some areas, the local authority received a certain portion of the admission fees, other fees, and fines.185 With respect to fines, Hans Hemmen explains this ___________ 181

See pp. 94 ff., below. See the examples reproduced in von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 79 (goldsmiths’ guild, Cologne, 14th century); ibid., vol. 2 (1907), 538 (curriers’ guild, Cologne, 1516). 183 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 263. In addition, see Kluge, Zünfte (2009), 330; Kulenkamp, Recht der Handwerker (1807), 77. 184 See the source reproduced in von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 2 (1907), 269. 185 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 25, 44, 48; von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), Einleitung, 94; Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 182

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

91

on the basis that a violation of the guild statutes was at the same time a violation of the town laws,186 and this explanation links to the complex relationship between guilds and towns, reflecting how guilds were embedded in a town’s constitution and how far-reaching their autonomy was. The 1327 statutes of the girdlers’ guild in the city of Cologne, for example, stated with respect to fines:187 ‘Inde wat danave ervelt van boyssen, des solen die burgermeystere haven eyn dirdeyl inde die broderschaf zwey deyl.’ ‘And what accordingly accrues as fines, the mayor shall have thereof one-third and the confraternity two parts.’

And the 1650 statutes of the wood turners’ guild in the city of Münster made explicit:188 ‘Die strafgelder belangend, so aus verbrechung dieser ordnung herkommen, sollen deren halbschied zur kämmerei einzuliefern, die andere halbschied der bruderschaft zum besten kommen.’ ‘Half of the fines, which are due for being in non-compliance with the present statutes, have to be paid over to the town treasury and the other half will benefit the confraternity.’

At times guilds even had to pay over to the town the entire admission fee and at times also certain other incoming funds. The 1644 statutes of the Münster heckling guild provided:189 ‘Die strafgelder belangend, so aus verbrechung dusser ordnung herkommen, sollen denen aus des ratsmittel vorgesetzten vorsteheren eingeliefert werden, umb deren halbscheid für sich und ihre muhe zu genießen, die andere halbscheid zur kämmerei einzuliefern.’ ‘Fines, which are due for being in non-compliance with the present statutes, have to be paid over to the officials of the town council, and they may enjoy half of them for their troubles and they have to pay over the other half to the town treasury.’

___________ 35; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 150; Hemmen, (1910) 18 Jahrbuch für die Geschichte des Herzogtums Oldenburg 225; Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), xii, xxviii; Nigge, Gilden der Stadt Lünen (1912), 25. In addition, see the sources reproduced in Rüdiger, Hamburgische Zunftrollen (1874), 5 (bathers’ guild, Hamburg, 1375); ibid., 191 (passementeries’ guild, Hamburg, 1587). 186 Hemmen, (1910) 18 Jahrbuch für die Geschichte des Herzogtums Oldenburg 225. 187 Cited from von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 96. 188 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 194. In addition, see the sources reproduced in ibid., 136 (Münster, 1631); ibid., 303 (linen weavers’ guild, Münster, 1617); von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 7 (bakers’ guild, Cologne, 1397); ibid., vol. 1 (1907), 42 (linen dyers’ guild, Cologne, 1392); ibid., vol. 2 (1907), 53 (coopers’ guild, Cologne, 1450). 189 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 249. According to Eulenburg, Innungen der Stadt Breslau (1892), 7, 13, in Breslau the city had a right to the entire admission fee and also to the entirety of penalties.

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

92

d) No separate funds for financing each function It seems that at first there were no separate funds for financing each function. Instead, the generated income went into one fund and all expenses were paid out of this fund. The 1516 statutes of the curriers’ guild in the city of Cologne, for example, stated that the periodic contributions were simply used for the benefit of the craft:190 ‘Item ist eindrechtlich verdragen, das jeglicher bruder und suster zu nutz und underhaltung dieser bruderschaft alle quatertemper geben und bezalen sollen zween albus colnisch.’ ‘It is agreed, that each brother and sister shall give and pay for the use and maintenance of the guild each quarter two Cologne Albus [silver groschen191].’

The 1648 statutes of the bookbinders’ guild in the city of Münster similarly stated that the periodic contributions were used for the enhancement of the craft:192 ‘Auch sollen die sämtliche meister auf erforderung des jungmeisters wie gebräuchlich alle quatertember […] auf eine darzu bestimmente zeit in des altmeisters behausung bei der laden zusammen kommen […] und ein jeder zu des handwerks verbesserung 1 Schl. in die laden legen.’ ‘Also all master craftsmen shall come together on request of the junior master craftsman as is common on the Ember days […], at a time to be determined, in the house of the senior master craftsman at the guild box […] and each shall pay for the enhancement of the craft into the box one shilling.’

With respect to how the fines were to be used, the 1396 statutes of the guild for the dyers of linen yarn, silk, sendal, and drill in Cologne stated in equally broad terms:193 ‘Ind dese vurs. boiessen sůlen wir keren in gotz ere, in der stede ere ind in ein gemeine beste uns amptz vurs.’ ‘And these fines shall be used to God’s Glory, to the honour of the town and to the common best of our guild.’

However, a certain differentiation took place in the course of the development. At times guilds simply had separate funds for fulfilling their religious functions. In 1620 the shoe repairers’ guild in Münster explicitly set out that a specific sum was to be collected from guild members for the purpose of paying for the baldachin sheets and candles for funerals.194 According to the guild statutes, the guild ___________ 190

Cited from von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 2 (1907), 539. See A. Suhle, Albus, in: von Schrötter (ed.), Wörterbuch der Münzkunde (2nd edn., 1970), 18–20; Fengler/Gierow/Unger, Numismatik (3rd edn., 1982), 19. 192 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 183. 193 Cited from von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 44. 194 Reproduced in Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 143 f. 191

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

93

not only supported the funeral of a full guild member, but also that of their wives and children. And for that reason, the fee had to be paid for each full guild member, each wife, and each child. However, many guilds established separate religious confraternities which took over the religious functions and consequently also the corresponding expenses. According to von Loesch, this development occurred in Cologne in the 14th and 15th centuries.195 Here again, members had to pay admission fees, periodic contributions, and penalties when they, for example, missed attending the funeral of a fellow member. According to the 1391 statutes of the Saint Agatha confraternity of the girdlers in the city of Cologne, the admission fee was, for example, four marks; the fine for missing the procession in honour of Saint Agatha and for missing the funeral of a fellow member was two shillings; and the quarterly contribution was again two shillings.196 However, it seems that with these confraternities the collected moneys were only used for religious purposes, not for the support of members or for charity.197 For example, the 1448 statutes of the Saint Eligius confraternity of the goldsmiths in Cologne – Saint Eligius is the patron saint of goldsmiths – held that those funds which were not used for religious functions had to be evenly divided between the confraternity members.198 Furthermore, separate poor boxes (Armenkassen) were developed.199 These funds had the sole purpose of supporting impoverished members or the poor of the community. Examples come from the city of Hamburg in 1587, 1592, and 1593 as well as from Lüneburg in 1557.200 The 1589/98-statutes of the slipper makers’ guild in the city of Bremen, for example, stated:201 ‘Wurde sick averst ein frembder befrien an eines Meisters dochter […] de schölen geven viff mark, halff in des handtwerkes, und de ander helffte in der armen laden […].’ ‘If it happens that a foreigner frees the daughter of a master craftsman […] he shall give five marks, half to the crafts and the other half to the poor box […].’

The statutes not only prove the existence of a separate poor box, they also show that half of the admission fees had to be paid to the guild and the other half ___________ 195

von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), Einleitung, 93. Reproduced in von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 2 (1907), 263–265. 197 See the sources reproduced in von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 2 (1907), 308–312 (confraternity of the furriers, Cologne, 1323); ibid., vol. 2 (1907), 349–352 (confraternity of the Riemenschneider, Cologne, 15th century). 198 Reproduced in von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 2 (1907), 232. 199 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 61. 200 See the sources reproduced in Rüdiger, Hamburgische Zunftrollen (1874), 38 (bookbinders’ guild, Hamburg, 1592); ibid., 108 (butchers’ and cooks’ guild, Hamburg, 1593); ibid., 191 (passementeries’ guild, Hamburg, 1587); Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), 29 (barbers’ guild, Lüneburg, 1557). 201 Cited from Böhmert, Geschichte des Zunftwesens (1862), 82. 196

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

94

to its poor box. Further provisions of the statutes make clear that both boxes were kept separately but that they were administered in the same way. 6. Legal enforceability A guild granted financial support only if it was in the financial position to do so. If the guild did not have sufficient funds at its disposal, it would not grant any financial support. It follows that there was no enforceable legal claim against a guild for support. And indeed, it is stressed in modern literature that guilds were only under a moral obligation to support their members in need.202 The observation that members in need had no legally enforceable right to support is closely linked to the question of guild autonomy.203 Guilds often had the autonomy to enact statutes regulating their internal affairs. And even where the guild statutes were formally approved or enacted by public authorities, these often did not influence their content. Furthermore, guilds often had jurisdiction over their internal matters, as the 1270 statutes of the guild of the cloth shearers in the city of Cologne exemplify.204 And the 1642 statutes of the whittawers’ and leather makers’ guild in Münster stated:205 ‘Auch ist verordnet und vorsehen, daß ein amtsbruder den andern keineswegs an das […] statgericht wegen scheltworte […] vorbetagen lassen, sondern die klag vermöge der policei erst an das amt bringen […] werden solle.’ ‘It is also ordered and provided for that a guild brother shall not bring another guild brother to the […] town court for abusive words, but the suit shall first be brought […] before the guild […].’

___________ 202 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 75; Lusiardi, Caritas – Fraternitas – Solidarität (2002), 143. 203 On what follows, von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), Einleitung, 88– 93, 99; Kluge, Zünfte (2009), 357–363; Dirr, (1913) 39 Zeitschrift des Historischen Vereins für Schwaben und Neuburg 186–188; Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 35–37; Dettmering, Zunftgeschichte der Stadt Strassburg (1903), 31–59; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 140–149; M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 31; Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), xxiv– xxxviii; Engemann, Gilden der Stadt Goslar (1957), 16 f., 24–27; Fromm, (1899) Archiv für Frankfurts Geschichte und Kunst 3; Nigge, Gilden der Stadt Lünen (1912), 16, 37–41, 56–58; Geering, Handel und Industrie der Stadt Basel (1886), 43, 118–132; Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 2 (1974), 177–257; Mone, (1863) 15 Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 25 f.; Frensdorff, (1907) 13 Hansische Geschichtsblätter 10–17; Dieling, Zunftrecht (1932), 10–37. And see the sources reproduced in von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 21 f. (braziers’ or bronze casters’ guild, Cologne, 1330); ibid., 73 f. (goldsmiths’ guild, Cologne, 14th century). 204 Reproduced in von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 187. 205 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 467.

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

95

Finally, the 14th-century statutes of the fishers’ guild in Strasbourg in France stated that guild members who brought guild issues to the jurisdiction of the town council and not to the guild jurisdiction were to be punished:206 ‘Wer es das keinre unsers antwerckes für den rot ginge umbe deheinre hande sache zů vordern oder zů clagende, die das antwerck anegige oder antreffe, es were denne das man ime nüt rihten wolte vor des antwerckes gerihte von den sachen also er denne zů vordernde oder zů clagende hette; wer das breche, der bessert dem antwerck 1 […]; […].’ ‘Nobody of our profession shall appear before the council in order to claim or sue in a question which concerns the profession, unless it concerns a matter in which the court of the profession does not adjudicate the member’s claim or suit. Whoever is in breach shall pay one […]; […].’

Again, the extent of guild autonomy and guild jurisdiction differed regionally and developed over time. There were some cities where the guilds seemed not to have had any autonomy or any jurisdictional power. This seems to have been the case, for example, in Würzburg and Lüneburg.207 Similarly, Württemberg enacted territorial guild statutes for the different crafts already in the 17th century.208 In other cities, such as Goslar, guild statutes seemed to have been approved by the city without the city exercising any influence over the content of the statutes.209 And again in other cities, such as Frankfurt am Main, guilds seemed at first to have enacted their statutes without any participation of the city authorities.210 And the extent of guild autonomy and guild jurisdiction may have even differed between the individual guilds of the same city.211 Guild autonomy together with guild jurisdiction meant that it was in the hands of the guilds to decide whether their members had a right to financial support.

___________ 206

Cited from Brucker, Strassburger Zunft- und Polizei-Verordnungen (1889), 182. See the analysis of Gramich, Verfassung und Verwaltung der Stadt Würzburg (1882), 50–54; Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), xv. For the position in Aachen, see Loersch, (1891) Zeitschrift des Aachener Geschichtsvereins 234. 208 See the statutes collected in Sammlung derer samtlichen Handwercks-Ordnungen des Herzogthums Würtemberg (1758). In Prussia, such an intervention of the state legislature occurred only in the 18th century following the Reichszunftordnung or Reichshandwerksordnung of 1731, see pp. 183 ff., below. 209 See the analysis of Engemann, Gilden der Stadt Goslar (1957), 16 f. 210 See the analysis of Fromm, (1899) Archiv für Frankfurts Geschichte und Kunst 3. For examples from other cities, compare Geering, Handel und Industrie der Stadt Basel (1886), 43 f. 211 See the examples discussed by Fromm, (1899) Archiv für Frankfurts Geschichte und Kunst 7 f. 207

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

96

7. Conclusion a) Guild support, as it had developed from the Middle Ages to the 17th century, cannot be categorized as insurance, pre-insurance, or social security! According to a widespread view in modern literature, the support offered by professional guilds to members in need is a root of modern insurance.212 Other authors claim that it is Germany’s modern social security that is rooted in medieval guild welfare.213 However, at least until the 17th century the support offered by professional guilds to master craftsmen and their dependants in need cannot be described in terms of insurance, pre-insurance, or social security.214 First, professional guilds were poly-functional institutions. Their primary function was to regulate the respective professions. Furthermore, they served social and religious functions. And finally, they supported guild members in need as well as the poor of their respective communities. The mixing of these functions becomes obvious from the fact that at first no separate contributions were raised from members specifically for the purpose of offering aid and help to members in need. Instead the support schemes seem to have been financed through the general funds which a guild had at hand.215 For scholars of the history of insurance, this is an important observation: in the context of maritime insurance it is stressed that one can only speak of insurance once the insurance aspect in the sea loan contract was isolated and transformed into a separate contract.216 Furthermore, if one assumes that one ingredient in the definition of modern insurance is that it is contribution based – the premium paid by the policy holder is the price for receiving the insured sum from the insurer once the risk, against which insurance was taken out, eventuates – then it is impossible to characterize guild support as a form of insurance as long as no separate funds for financing the support schemes existed. Secondly, the different forms of support that guilds offered had nothing to do with insurance. They cannot be characterized as any form of insurance product. And it is simply impossible to speak of any sort of pre-insurance, even if one adopts a wide understanding of this nebulous term. The most common financial form of support was a loan which may have been offered to a master craftsman

___________ 212

See pp. 20 ff., above. See pp. 23 ff., above. 214 See the analysis of Lusiardi, Caritas – Fraternitas – Solidarität (2002), 142 f. 215 See pp. 92 ff., above. 216 Compare P. Koch, Versicherungswesen, in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 5 (1998), 818. 213

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

97

in need.217 Or the widow of a deceased master craftsman had the right to continue her husband’s business on her own account with the help of a journeymen.218 Orphans of master craftsmen were accepted as apprentices by the guild brothers of their deceased father.219 Or where a master craftsman was unable to run his business due to illness, the guild could install a journeyman to maintain the business for him in order to secure his income, and the guild may have also supervised the journeyman.220 It is possible to put the different forms of support offered by guilds to members in need in the following order. The market-regulating provisions in guild statutes which governed, for example, the sizes of businesses guaranteed that each guild member had a fair chance to earn his living.221 If a guild member was in need, the guild could support him by granting him a loan. It was a form of capacity building: the guild member was to receive the loan in order to bridge a time of hardship like illness, infirmity, or general financial need. The conditions for repaying the loan were flexible: the guild member only had to repay the loan once he had come to health again and had reacquired the financial position to repay.222 If the guild member did not regain his health, the loan could be turned into non-repayable alms.223 And it seems that the office holders of the guild often had some discretion when it came to decide whether and how much the guild member had to repay.224 Nevertheless, guild statutes clearly suggest that loans were not written off too quickly: guilds may have asked for surety before granting a loan.225 And if an ill master craftsman died before he had regained the financial position to repay the loan, the guild may have turned to the deceased’s estate or sometimes also to the next of kin.226 Other forms of support which at first sight appear to be of a non-financial character were granted on the basis of a loan, too: ill guild members were cared for in hospitals. If they came to health again, they had to repay the costs which the guild had incurred for paying for the hospital care.227 Or to put it differently:228 ‘Was sie gibt[,] ist nicht das früher einbezahlte Geld des Betroffenen, sondern ein Teil des Gesamtvermögens der Gemeinschaft. […] Dieser Anteil ist […] bestimmt, den

___________ 217 See pp. 47 ff., above. In addition, see the conclusion reached by Ponfick, Geschichte der Sozialversicherung (1940), 35. 218 See pp. 61 ff., above. 219 See pp. 67 and 68 f., above. 220 See pp. 58 ff., above. 221 See pp. 17 f. and 73 ff., above. 222 See pp. 47 ff., above. 223 See pp. 48 ff., above. 224 See p. 50, above. 225 See pp. 55 f., above. 226 See pp. 49 f. and 57 f., above. 227 See p. 57, above. 228 Wernet, Soziale Handwerksordnung (1939), 63. And compare Breuer, Wesen der Zünfte im Mittelalter (1942), 54.

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

98

Empfänger in den Stand der Arbeitsfähigkeit zurückzuführen, damit er alsdann seine Schuld zurückgeben kann.’ ‘What they [the guilds] gave were not the contributions which the member had paid earlier, but what was given was part of the association’s total assets. […] This portion [the amount of the total assets given to a member in need] was […] intended to bring the recipient back to a condition in which he was able to work again so that he then was able to pay back his debt.’ Another form of capacity building was that a widow and orphans had the right to continue her husband’s or their father’s workshop. A final form of capacity building was that a master craftsman who due to illness or old age was not able to continue his profession may have been allowed to hire an additional journeyman. The same right may have been exercised by a widow who continued her deceased husband’s business. All of the aforementioned forms of support cannot be classified as insurance or preinsurance. They were simply different forms of capacity building enabling the supported member to earn his or her own living or to bridge a time of financial hardship. At first, non-repayable financial forms of support seem to have been the exception. There are only rare examples of such forms of support. And in these examples, capacity building measures were simply not an option. For instance, if a guild member died impoverished, then the guild may have paid for the funeral.229 Or an impoverished guild member was due to old age or illness not any longer in the position to continue his workshop. Then the guild may have made periodic payments as a kind of pension.230 However, it seems that these forms of financial support were granted only if the guild had additional funds which it did not need for fulfilling its other functions. Thus, it is primarily the payment of the funeral costs for impoverished guild members which could possibly be characterized as a pre-form of life insurance. And it is only two guild statutes which may be interpreted as exhibiting a pre-form of pension insurance.

Thirdly, guild support was not granted whenever a risk eventuated. Many guild statutes only offered subsidiary help and assistance. The guild member had to be in need. Thus, if the guild member had sufficient funds to support himself, the guild would not step in.231 Again, this is not in line with modern insurance thinking. Another requirement that is alien to modern insurance is that a guild member received support only if he was worthy of it.232 Thus, help could have been refused if the guild member did not live a life that was in accordance with the principles of the guild. A detail which, however, loosely mirrors modern insurance thinking is that a guild member did not receive support if he was sick due to his own fault. But this requirement also applied to granting a loan to a member in need.233 ___________ 229

See pp. 52 f., above. See pp. 50 ff. and 74, above. 231 See p. 76, above. 232 See p. 53, above. 233 See pp. 48 and 51, above. 230

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

99

Fourthly, the decision whether a guild would grant help to a member was often in the hands of the office holders of the guild, and it seems to have been a discretionary decision.234 Furthermore, it seems, that guilds were at first only under a moral obligation to grant help and support.235 Again, this is not in line with modern insurance. According to modern understanding, an institution only counts as insurance if the insured has a right – an enforceable legal right – to the insured sum as consideration for paying premiums. With respect to England, Patrick Wallis points to a fifth reason why it is impossible to analyse guild support in terms of insurance,236 and the same holds true for Germany. Insurance is contribution based. On the one hand, this implies that those who pay their contributions buy a right or at least an expectation of receiving support when they come into need. On the other hand, it should follow that support is financed solely by contributions. However, guilds also benefited from donations and legacies, and they used these respective funds also for the purpose of covering the costs of supporting members in need. Consequently, support so financed should rather be described in terms of charity. Finally, it seems that whether a guild would offer support was always dependent on the current financial capacity of the guild.237 b) The legal rules on guild support, as they had developed from the Middle Ages to the 17th century, are of no importance for modern insurance law and modern social security law! The fact that it is impossible to analyse guild support as it had developed from the Middle Ages to the 17th century in terms of insurance, pre-insurance, or social security does not necessarily imply that the rules on guild support did not have any impact on the development of insurance law or social security law. A legal historian may include in his or her research on the history of insurance law or social security law those institutions which are not covered by modern definitions of insurance or social security for the purpose of working out the origins and genesis of ideas, rules, and institutions of modern insurance law and social security law. However, even from this perspective, an analysis of guild support as it had developed from the Middle Ages to the 17th century proves to be of no avail.

___________ 234

See p. 45, above. See pp. 94 ff., above. 236 Wallis, Guilds and Mutual Aid in England (2020), 103–109. 237 See pp. 47 ff., above. 235

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

100

First, professional guilds primarily aimed at regulating a profession and its respective market. But as poly-functional associations, they served further functions, for example religious and charitable functions. And they offered help, aid, assistance, and support to members in need. Nevertheless, the admission requirements did not aim at controlling the composition of the risk pool. There were, for example, no admission requirements with regards to the state of health or the age of candidates. By contrast, according to modern life and health insurance law a duty of disclosure will apply with respect to the state of health and the age of the insured. However, one should not draw the conclusion that guilds were underdeveloped in this respect. The primary form of financial support was that the guild offered a loan to a member in need. And the claim for the repayment of the loan could also be enforced against the estate of a deceased master craftsman. Thus, the need to have admission requirements that controlled the risk pool was less evident. Secondly, one could say that the problem of moral hazard had been addressed in guild statutes: some guild statutes explicitly excluded the support of the guild if the member in need had caused the illness by his own acts or by his own fault.238 However, one has to concede that the idea of excluding help in such situations is self-evident and that the rules found in guild statutes were not very sophisticated. Whether these rules were a root of modern insurance law or social security law is, thus, an open question. Thirdly, there are no rules to be found in guild statutes addressing problems of fraud – i.e. a guild member fraudulently demanding the support of the guild without being in need. It seems probable that it was not a problem likely to arise in guilds. Guilds were small associations, and in medieval and early modern towns the members of one profession often lived in the same street. Means of social control were most probably sufficient to prevent such fraudulent behaviour. Finally, rules defining the risk covered by guilds were underdeveloped and provisions addressing the question of how to deal with increased risk did not exist. In conclusion, up to the 17th century guild support cannot be classified in terms of insurance, pre-insurance, or social security, and the legal rules on guild support as found in the guild statutes did not address any problems resembling those witnessed in modern insurance law or modern social security law.

___________ 238

See pp. 48 and 51, above.

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

101

c) A need for further research? The above analysis has been based on guild statutes found in different German-speaking territories and towns, with the statutes relating to different professions and covering a time period between the 13th century and the 17th century. Even though the numerous guild statutes present – despite variations in the details – a uniform picture of guild support, there is one problem with them: these statutes primarily address the market-regulating aspects of guilds, and they only rarely mention the different forms of support.239 And the one point which is most regularly addressed in the context of guild support is the non-financial support as regards funerals – guild members had to participate in a deceased member’s funeral – and it is this form of support that is most irrelevant for the purpose of the present contribution. The majority of guild statutes are silent on other forms of support. Does this mean that the above-analysed forms of support were the exception rather than the rule?240 aa) Guild statutes being silent on self-evident customs? Robert Krumbholtz suggests that guild statutes had always been incomplete and that they had never fully contained the customs of a guild.241 They may not have contained self-evident rules – rules which would have been observed as a matter of course. And revised statutes may have only included new rules and may not have mentioned old rules which nevertheless continued to be in force. And indeed, the guild statutes themselves hint that Krumbholtz’s suggestion is correct. The 1645 statutes of the weavers’ guild in the city of Salzwedel, for example, does not make explicit that a widow has the right to continue her deceased husband’s business. Yet they make explicit that the widow has the same duties and obligation if she does continue the workshop. They thus presuppose the widow’s right:242 ‘Zum Sechsten Soll eine jede Meisters Wittibs, wann Sie das Ambt gebrauchet, dass volle gelach in den Pfingsten mitzuehalten schuldigk sein, Sie komme oder komme nicht, Wan Sie aber das Ambt nicht gebrauchet, vnd dennoch die Pfingsten mithalten will, soll Sie dass halbe gelach zu zahlen schuldigk sein.’

___________ 239 von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), Einleitung, 133 f.; Lusiardi, Caritas – Fraternitas – Solidarität (2002), 140. 240 See, e.g., Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 110. And compare the conclusion reached by Kluge, Zünfte (2009), 329 f. 241 Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 10 f. In addition, see Hohmann, Zunftwesen der Stadt Fulda (1909), 20. 242 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 185.

102

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

‘Sixthly, each master’s widow shall, if she continues the profession, be obliged to host together with the guild the feast at Pentecost. She may be present or not. If she, however, does not make use of the profession, and if she nonetheless wants to host the feast together with the guild, she only has to pay half of the contribution.’

Similarly, the 1648 statutes of the brewers’ guild of the city of Gardelegen do not expressly grant a master craftsman’s widow the right to continue her deceased husband’s brewery. Yet they again presuppose this right when they regulate how the widow may participate in guild meetings:243 ‘Eine Jede Witfraw, so in der brawergulde ist, undt brawen thut, soll bey einer Jeglichen zuesahmenkunfft Ihren kriegerischen Vormundt oder sonsten einen auss Ihren Freundschafft der die brawergulde hatt, mit zuer stellen haben, undt sich von demselben unterrichten lassen, wie Sie sich bey Ihrer nahrung denen Artikeln gemess zue bezeigen, Vnd soll darnach mit praetentirter Vnwissenheit nicht gehoret werden.’ ‘Each widow, who is a member of the brewers’ guild and who brews, shall attend each guild meeting together with her guardian or with one of her friends from the guild who shall advise her how to comply with the guild articles and thereafter she shall not be heard with the assertion that she was not aware of her duties.’

And in a provision on apprentices, the 1665 statutes of the leather tanners’ guild in the city of Königsberg in today’s Russia again presuppose the widow’s right to continue her deceased husband’s business:244 ‘Da auch ein Mstr nach seinem Tode Jungen in die Lehre verlassen möchte sollen dieselbe bei der Wittwe verbleiben und follends auslernen dazu sie denn einen tüchtigen Gesellen an Meisters Stell halten soll. Wann nun ein oder der andere Junge ausgelernet soll die Wittwe denselben durch ihren Kriegischen Vormund oder einen Meister des Handwercks beim Aeltermann ansagen und wenn Ein Gewerck ihr Quartal halten an offener Lade freysprechen.’ ‘If a master craftsman leaves behind upon his death young lads in their apprenticeship, then they shall remain with his widow and complete their apprenticeship with her. And for that purpose, she shall have an able journeyman. When the one or the other young lad has completed his apprenticeship, then the widow shall declare him through her guardian or another master of the same profession to the Ältermann [office holder of the guild] and shall free him at the open guild box at the quarterly guild meeting.’

Finally, there is only a small number of guild statutes from the city of Cologne that were edited by Heinrich von Loesch that make the widow’s right to continue her deceased husband’s business explicit. Yet the widower’s right to continue his deceased wife’s business in the female yarn makers’ guild is clearly spelled out in the 1397 statutes.245 One may assume that the widow’s right was regarded as being self-evident so that it was not necessary to make this right explicit, whereas ___________ 243

Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 216. Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 258. 245 Reproduced in von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 49. See p. 70, above. 244

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

103

the case of a widower continuing his deceased wife’s business was regarded as unusual, and it was therefore worth regulating. Is it, thus, possible to argue that the above-analysed forms of support were commonly offered by guilds to members in need even if these forms of support were only rarely made explicit in guild statutes? Prima facie, there is a problem with answering this question in the affirmative. The conclusion drawn from the above analysis of the different guild statutes was that non-repayable forms of financial support were the exception and that financial support was primarily granted in the form of a loan. But there was one example which, even though it did not directly mention that a non-repayable pension could be paid to a male member of the guild, made explicit that such pension could also be paid to female members. The 1500 statutes of the tanners’ guild in the city of Lübeck stated:246 ‘Weret ock, jenige frouwe bynnen amptes offte lenes armobes, olders offte krankckheit halven des amptes offte lenes nichtmer bruken konde edder wolde, der schall dat ampt geven to der weken ver schillinge lubesch gelyck den mans […].’ ‘If it also happens that a woman of the guild is not able or willing to further exercise the profession […] due to old age or illness, then the guild shall give to her each week four Lübeck shillings equal to the men […].’

Can one draw from this example the conclusion that non-repayable pensions must have been widespread because the text takes it for granted and presupposes that male members received such pension and because the text only extends this form of support to female members? If such a conclusion is valid with respect to the widow’s right to continue her deceased husband’s business, is such a conclusion not equally valid with respect to non-repayable pensions paid to old and sick members? And if it is assumed that loans were regularly granted to members in need even though such loans are mentioned only in a small number of guild statutes, can one not assume that the same holds true for non-repayable pensions? One has to be cautious in answering these questions in the affirmative for the simple reason that there is less evidence of non-repayable pensions than of repayable loans. Furthermore, a loan had to be repaid. Loans, thus, did not reduce the total assets of a guild. Nevertheless, loans are mentioned more often in guild statutes than non-repayable pensions which reduced guild funds. For that reason, one would expect that pensions would have been mentioned in guild statutes at least as often as loans if there had been a practise to grant non-repayable pensions as regularly as loans. Furthermore, it has been pointed out above that with respect to loans, guild statutes exhibit, despite many variances in the details, some uniform elements that reappear in the entire German-speaking world – these being, ___________ 246

Cited from Wehrmann, Älteren Lübeckischen Zunftrollen (1864), 399. See above p. 51, above.

104

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

for example, the possibility to turn a loan into alms and the possibility to enforce the claim for repayment against a deceased member’s estate. By contrast, the exceptional examples of non-repayable forms of financial support are very heterogeneous.247 bb) Guild office holders did not need authorization in guild statutes to grant loans This conclusion is also reinforced by the following observation: supporting members in need by granting loans may have been possible without the guild statutes making explicit this form of support as the moneys given were not lost. After the moneys had been repaid, they could be used for the benefit of the profession and for fulfilling the guild’s religious functions. However, granting nonrepayable forms of support seems to have been more problematic. After all, the master craftsmen in charge of administering the guild funds were accountable to their members. It seems likely that making non-repayable payments to members in need was possible only if there was an express provision in the guild statutes or if there was, in the absence of such express provision, an express agreement among the guild brothers with respect to the spending of the guild funds. The 1589/98-statutes of the slipper makers’ guild in the city of Bremen, for example, stated:248 ‘Item uth den twen laden schall nichts genahmen werdenn, idt geschege denn mit bewilligung der Heren und des mehrendeels des handtwerks.’ ‘Furthermore, from the two boxes nothing shall be taken, unless this is done with the authorization of the two Herren [the Morgenspracheherren; two office holders of the guild] and of the majority of the craft.’

The two boxes which the statutes mentioned are the general guild box and a separate poor box.249 It can be observed, however, that according to the 1706 act for the dyeing profession in the Duchy of Württemberg, the four office holders of the guild needed the consent of the craft even when giving out a loan to an impoverished member:250 ‘Mögen sie mit Erlaubnuß der Zunfft, armen Meistern, nach deren Vermögen, um gebührenden Zinß, aus der Laden etwas vorleyhen.’

___________ 247

See p. 56, above. Cited from Böhmert, Geschichte des Zunftwesens (1862), 83. 249 See p. 93, above. 250 Cited from Sammlung derer samtlichen Handwercks-Ordnungen des Herzogthums Würtemberg (1758), 193. 248

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

105

‘May they [the four Viertelmeister; office holders of the guild] with the authorization of the craft, give to impoverished master craftsmen, depending on their assets, something from the guild box on loan on befitting interest.’

However, it seems to have been the exception that the office holders needed the express consent of all members if they wanted to grant a loan. It was usually assumed that a loan could be granted if the office holders of the guild approved of it.251 cc) Guild statutes restricting the freedom of members and burdening them with obligations There is a third possible explanation why the different forms of support are rarely made explicit in guild statutes: guild statutes included rules which primarily restricted the freedom of its members, which introduced duties and obligations for its members, and which introduced penalties in the event of non-compliance. According to von Loesch, guild statutes had primarily the character of criminal law.252 Against this background, the widow’s right to continue her deceased husband’s business did not need to be made explicit: her freedom was not restricted, and she was not burdened with duties or obligations. The right of a sick master craftsman to borrow an additional journeyman from a fellow master craftsman appears often in provisions restricting the number of journeymen which each master craftsman was allowed to hire. The 1392 statutes of the linen weavers’ guild in the city of Cologne, for example, stated:253 ‘Vort haint si oeverdragen, dat gein amptzman desselven amptz deme anderen sijn gesinde afspannen noch afmieden en soele binnen der zijt, dat id ieme geloift hait zo dienen. Ind sowa die meistere des amptz des gewar wurden, dat ieman herweder dede, dat soilen sij richten ind soilen van deme, de daan verbrochen hette, ummer des daigs eine m. coelz zo boissen neimen, aslange as he dat gesinde also bij ieme behielte.’ ‘It has been agreed that no guild member of the same guild shall poach or rent his servants from another [guild member] within the time which they have to serve him. And if the masters of the guild become aware that somebody infringes this rule, they shall judge this [behaviour] and shall take from whom, who is so in breach, per day a Cologne mark to the box, as long as he keeps the servants with him.’

If guilds wanted to make an exception to the rule restricting the number of journeymen which a master craftsman could have when an ill guild member in need wanted to borrow or rent a journeyman from another guild member, an express provision was included in the guild statutes in order clarify that in such ___________ 251

See, e.g., Hogen, Erwerbsordnung und Unterstützungswesen (1913), 60. von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), Einleitung, 99. 253 Reproduced in von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 41. See, furthermore, the discussion by Göttmann, Handwerk und Bündnispolitik (1977), 113. 252

106

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

situation no fine had to be paid. This third explanation why guild statutes may have been incomplete when it came to spelling out the support schemes is also hinted at in the 1593 statutes of the locksmiths’, gunsmiths’, and clockmakers’ guild in the city of Riga in Latvia:254 the statutes make explicit that they only captured a general custom when obliging fellow guild members to care for a sick journeyman or master craftsman. However, an express provision may have nevertheless been introduced in the statutes because the guild wanted to introduce a fine in the event a guild member declined to fulfil this duty. dd) Guild statutes reflecting anecdotal experience Finally, it seems that guild statutes often reflected anecdotal experience rather than their being systematic and coherent codes. The 1554 act for the coppersmiths in the Duchy of Württemberg, for example, contained a lengthy provision on adultery and prostitution,255 a provision which is missing in most other guild statutes of the time. This finding should probably not be read to indicate that members of the coppersmiths’ craft in Württemberg were more likely to commit adultery or to visit prostitutes than members of other crafts or craftsmen living outside Württemberg. It is more likely that the coppersmithery craft was struck with some kind of a widely discussed scandal and that the members of that craft felt that this scandal needed some response in the guild statutes. Against this background it is possible that it was a widespread practice that sick guild members in need were allowed to hire a further journeyman but that this was only made express in guild statutes after a fellow master craftsman in that specific guild had argued that a sick member should be fined for having one journeyman too many. And similar arguments may be raised, for example, in support of the proposition that a widow’s right to continue her deceased husband’s business was even present in those guilds in which this right was not made express in the respective guild statutes: the right was only made express after it had been questioned by some guild members. ee) A principle of solidarity? Even though, I am in agreement with Fröhlich that certain forms of support were most probably more widely practised than guild statutes make explicit, I find a certain methodological aspect of Fröhlich’s study to be problematic. Fröhlich concedes that many guild statutes are silent on the details of guild support ___________ 254

See p. 57, above. Reproduced in Sammlung derer samtlichen Handwercks-Ordnungen des Herzogthums Würtemberg (1758), 523–525. 255

I. Supporting master craftsmen and their families

107

provided to members in need. However, she assumes that those statutes which include provisions on guild support simply evidence a general principle of solidarity,256 and then she infers from the principle of solidarity that guild support must have been omnipresent – a circular argument. Instead of inferring from the different forms of support a general principle of solidarity, one should carefully describe the different forms of support as they are evidenced in guild statutes and analyse how support was practised and what importance it had. Fröhlich assumes that in the case of illness and accidents it was the guild which paid for the costs associated with the journeyman which the ill or incapacitated master craftsman was allowed to hire.257 It seems that Fröhlich was led to her assumption by interpreting this measure of capacity building through the lens of an overarching principle of solidarity. However, a careful analysis of guild statutes suggests rather that it was the ill or incapacitated master craftsman who had to shoulder the costs of the extra journeyman. ff) Were guild statutes misleading? Guild statutes are often silent on the different forms of support, and this silence poses the question as to how widespread these forms of support were. However, there is also the problem as to the reliability of guild statutes. It has been observed that guild statutes may, at times, present a misleading picture of guild life. For example, the admission requirements for guilds and the preferential treatment of sons of guild members, of local journeymen, and of journeymen marrying the widow or a daughter of a guild member suggest that it became more and more difficult for foreigners (i.e. individuals from outside the territory, principality, or town) to join guilds. On the basis of their statutes, it seems that guilds developed into a ‘closed shop’. Yet modern research has found that such conclusion is not in line with the factual developments: when large parts of a town’s population were at times lost due to occurrences such as the plague, guilds were only able to survive by admitting large numbers of foreigners, and research has proven that indeed throughout, for example, the 15th century the majority of guild members in any city were foreigners.258 This example suggests that one needs to be cautious when drawing conclusions from guild statutes.

___________ 256

See pp. 43 f., above. See p. 59, above. 258 Schulz, Zunft, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 9 (1998), 689. 257

108

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

gg) A need for further research? In conclusion, the practice of guild support remains to a certain degree speculative if one argues on the basis of guild statutes alone.259 It is impossible to deduce from them the factual importance of loans as a means of support. It is impossible to conclude from them how often loans had to be repaid and how often they were turned into alms. And it is impossible to assess from them how often non-repayable forms of financial support were granted in practice. Arnt Richter has, for example, claimed:260 ‘Büchsengeld war nach kanonischem Recht, dem Willen seines Stifters entsprechend, ausschließlich zum Unterhalt eines Priesters zu verwenden. Zur Rechtfertigung, daß auch die Armen “Gottesgeld” erhielten, wurde es nur ausgeliehen, um es jedoch in aller Regel nicht zurückzufordern.’ ‘Box funds were according to canon law and, in accordance with the wishes of their benefactor, to be used exclusively for paying a priest. In order to justify that also the poor received “God’s money”, they received it only in the form of a loan, but on a regular basis it was then never reclaimed.’

Richter suggests that the poor regularly received non-repayable financial support and that the support was only characterized as a loan in order to circumvent a certain rule deriving from canon law. If Richter was correct, then it would be likely that loans were indeed never reclaimed. Unfortunately, Richter cites neither primary sources nor secondary literature in support of his assertion. And it seems that Richter makes his proposition only with respect to religious confraternities. For a number of reasons, it is unlikely that the same was true for professional guilds and associations. First, guild statutes mention loans as the primary form of financial support also in Protestant parts of Germany as late as in the 17th century. Secondly, if a non-repayable form of financial support was only called a loan in order to circumvent Canon law prohibitions, it is inexplicable why some guild statutes insisted that the recipient of support had to give surety261 and why other guilds statutes emphasized that the claim for the repayment of the loan could also be enforced against the estate of a deceased member.262 These provisions rather suggest that a loan was not written off too quickly.263 Finally, a text coming from the mining context, which will be discussed below, leaves room for the interpretation that miners openly demanded that guild funds be used for the benefit of poor guild members instead of for financing three priests.264 The ___________ 259

See p. 19, above. A. Richter, Grundlagen des Rechts der sozialen Sicherheit (1979), 25. 261 See pp. 55 f., above. 262 See pp. 49 ff. and 57 f., above. 263 See p. 97, above. 264 See p. 157, below. 260

II. Supporting journeymen and apprentices

109

example dates from 1525 and originates from the city of Annaberg in Albertine Saxony, which was at the time still Catholic.265 It would, thus, only be possible to assess the factual importance of loans as financial support for members in need as well as the factual significance of nonrepayable forms of financial support after a careful analysis of guild accounts. Some studies have indeed examined guild accounts. They regularly have reached the conclusion that the spending on the support of members in need was only marginal compared to other spending.266 But further research is needed. Nevertheless, the present study is not the place to follow up on this research question. The present study is a legal analysis. Its focus is on formalized structures of help. For a legal historian the observation that guild statutes from the Middle Ages to the 17th century evidence consistent legal patterns of guild support is sufficient. A legal historian may use this observation then as a starting point to analyse the further development of the legal rules on guild support in later periods. A social historian will not be satisfied with the observation that guild statutes evidence certain rules on guild support. A social historian will want to know how important the different forms of support were in practice. A social historian will thereby leave the sphere of formal support and enter the sphere of informal support. For a legal historian informal support will be of interest if it exhibits certain manners of regularity suggesting forms of customary law. However, it is hard to reconstruct from guild accounts the exact reasons why support was granted, and it is hard to assess whether informal support was granted on the basis of certain requirements which were repeatedly observed.

II. Supporting journeymen and apprentices Fröhlich argues that establishing journeymen’s associations together with initiating separate funds for the support of journeymen was of special importance for the respective support schemes developing into pre-insurance or even insurance.267 For this reason, the support offered to journeymen needs separate discussion, and I will also include the support offered to apprentices in the following analysis. It has to be clear from the beginning that the need for support differed in the case of journeymen and apprentices from that of master craftsmen. Typically, journeymen were not married and often they were not even allowed to ___________ 265 See Keller, Landesgeschichte Sachsen (2002), 167 f.; Groß, Geschichte Sachsens (2001), 53; Kötzschke/Kretzschmar, Sächsische Geschichte (3rd edn., 1977), 175–193; Knoll, Geschichte Sachsens (2014), 32. 266 See, e.g., Dalmer, Innungswesen der Stadt Zerbst (1910), 41; Ruby, Iglauer Handwerk (1887), 166. 267 See p. 34, above.

110

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

marry.268 And the same holds true for apprentices. Consequently, there was no need to support dependants of journeymen and apprentices. 1. Support by master craftsmen Fröhlich suggests that a journeyman who suffered from illness was initially supported by the master craftsman for whom he worked,269 and Arnd Kluge adds that the journeyman had a right to his regular wages while being sick.270 In support of her position Fröhlich refers to sources dating back to the 13th century.271 The laws of the city of Hamburg of 1270, for example, stated:272 ‘Is een man in enes mannes deneste, vunde schut eme wat van vngelucke an syneme lyue ofte an siner sunt in sines heren deneste, de here schal is blyuen ane schaden unde ane schult. Mer he schal eme geuen syn vulle lon, edder mer ofte he wil.’ ‘If a man is in the service of another man and if he suffers a misfortune to his body or to his health while being so in the service of his master, then the master shall have the damage and liability. And he shall give him the full wages and more if he needs.’

And the 1511 statutes of the coopers’ guild in the city of Freiberg stated:273 ___________ 268 See e.g. von Dirke, Handwerks-Lehrlinge und Gesellen (1914), 49; Wesoly, Lehrlinge und Handwerksgesellen (1985), 132; Schulz, Gesellen, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 4 (1989), 1386; Bucher, Zunft- und Verkehrs-Ordnungen der Stadt Krakau (1889), xxix; Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 2 (1974), 446–450; Weisser, Recht der Handwerker nach allgemeinen Grundsätzen und Wirtembergischen Gesezen (1779), 141; P. Richter, Berliner Buchbinder-Innung (1882), 13. Schanz, Geschichte der Gesellen-Verbände (1877), 45, mentions that the weaver journeymen were mostly married. On the situation in 18th century, see, e.g., Reith, Arbeits- und Lebensweise im städtischen Handwerk (1988), 191, 207; idem, Altersproblem und Alterssicherung im Handwerk (1990), 16–21; Frevert, Krankheit als politisches Problem (1984), 245 f.; Danz, Handbuch des deutschen Privatrechts, vol. 5 (1799), 83. 269 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 32, 91–93. And see Wissell, Der soziale Gedanke (1930), 50; idem, (1927) 1/5 Die Reichsversicherung 138; Schewe, Geschichte der sozialen Versicherung im Mittelalter (2000), 118 f. 270 Kluge, Zünfte (2009), 325. 271 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 32, 91–93. In addition, see Göttmann, Handwerk und Bündnispolitik (1977), 31; Kluge, Zünfte (2009), 322; Reininghaus, Entstehung der Gesellengilden (1981), 144; Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 2 (1974), 451– 453. 272 Cited from Lappenberg, Die ältesten Landrechte Hamburgs (1845), 48. In addition, see the (later) versions in force in Hamburg, Lübeck, and Bremen, reproduced in ibid., 141, 341; Hach, Das Alte Lübische Recht (1839), 516; Oelrichs, Sammlung alter und neuer Gesetzbücher der Stadt Bremen (1771), 117, 341. A. Richter, Grundlagen des Rechts der Sozialen Sicherheit (1979), 41, claims that the provision was applicable only to a specific occupational group, the so-called ‘Gesinde’. 273 Cited from Knebel, (1886) 23 Mitteilungen des Freiberger Altertumsvereins 28. Reproduced with a different spelling in Wissell, Der soziale Gedanke (1930), 52.

II. Supporting journeymen and apprentices

111

‘Dann hat er Ine gehalten inn gesuntheit, so halt er Ine auch in kranknöthen.’ ‘For if he had him in his services while being healthy, then he shall have him also during illness.’

However, it has to be admitted that in some cities master craftsmen seem not to have been under such obligation,274 and in general it is questionable whether it is possible to conclude from the few sources which exhibit such obligation that it was of general application.275 Where this form of support existed, it was not offered by a guild to a journeyman. It was offered by the person for whom the journeyman worked. And the provision in the laws of the city of Hamburg does not seem to be restricted to the crafts but seems rather to be of general application. To a modern lawyer such a provision would belong to labour law:276 an employer had the obligation to support a sick employee. The 1270 laws of the city of Hamburg are clear on the form which the support took. The employee had a right to his regular wages as sick pay. The laws of the cities of Lübeck and Bremen point in a similar direction.277 The 1270 laws of the city of Hamburg are, however, ambiguous as to the exact requirements regarding when sick pay had to be offered. The phrase that the master shall give to his employee the full wages if the latter ‘suffers a misfortune to his body or to his health while being so in the service of his master’ may be interpreted in a narrow way requiring a work accident.278 However, the phrase can also be interpreted more broadly. And the 1511 statutes of the coopers’ guild in the city of Freiberg seem to support such broad interpretation: the journeyman received support if he fell sick while being in the services of the master craftsman. It was not a requirement of support that the journeyman must have suffered from a work accident. However, prima facie the 1511 statutes are unspecific when it comes to the form of support. The statutes simply held that the master craftsman ‘shall have’ the journeyman also during his illness. Nevertheless, this may be interpreted as meaning that the journeyman was entitled to all contractual benefits including his wages. And it probably included the care for the ill journeyman. To the modern eye, the support offered by a master craftsman to his journeyman during the latter’s illness is, prima facie, not directly relevant to the present contribution. After all, the support was not offered by the master craftsmen’s ___________ 274

Uhl, Handwerk und Zünfte in Eferding (1973), 113. Schulz, Handwerksgesellen und Lohnarbeiter (1985), 196; Schröder, Arbeitsverfassung im Spätmittelalter (1984), 171 f. 276 Compare Schewe, Geschichte der sozialen Versicherung im Mittelalter (2000), 118. 277 See the references in n. 272, above. Compare von Dirke, Handwerks-Lehrlinge und Gesellen (1914), 78. 278 This reading is adopted by von Dirke, Handwerks-Lehrlinge und Gesellen (1914), 77 f.; Wernet, Soziale Handwerksordnung (1939), 51. 275

112

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

guild but by the individual master craftsman in his function as employer. Nevertheless, the observation that an ill journeyman received support from his master craftsman is of importance for the question of guild support as it defines when guild support was necessary: as long as the journeyman was cared for by the master craftsman, there was no need for the guild to step in. Whether a similar position applied for the benefit of apprentices is less clear. There are examples where master craftsmen had to care for ill apprentices. However, it is usually alleged that master craftsmen were not responsible for their apprentices.279 Yet it has to be kept in mind that apprentices, too, just like journeymen, lived in the master craftsmen’s households, as becomes obvious from the many provisions on apprentices staying out at night without proper excuse.280 For this behaviour apprentices, just like journeyman, had to pay a fine to the guild, often in the form of beer or wax. The 1352 statutes of the bakers’ guilds in Mainz, Worms, Frankfurt, and other cities, for example, provided with respect to journeymen:281 ‘Welich knecht ubir nacht uz sines meisters husz ist, des ist schuldig ein halb punt wasses […].’ ‘If a journeyman stays out of his master’s house over night, he has to give a half pound of wax.’

If, however, both journeymen and apprentices belonged to their master’s household, then it may be assumed that the master also had at least some responsibilities when an apprentice fell sick. Yet it may be the case that the master craftsman was responsible for the apprentice only subordinately and that primarily it was the apprentice’s family who had to care for him.282 And one has to remember that the contract of apprenticeship was distinct from the contract of employment between a master craftsman and a journeyman. Under the contract of apprenticeship, the master craftsman did not have to pay the apprentice any

___________ 279 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 93; Kulenkamp, Recht der Handwerker (1807), 245. 280 See the sources reproduced in Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 431 (stonemasons’ guild, Münster, 1531); ibid., 459 (1645 statutes of the apprentices within the guild of the cloth merchants, Münster); von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 117 (tinsmiths’ guild, Cologne, 1397); ibid., 138 (guild of the painters, glaziers, and carvers, Cologne, 1449). With respect to the position of journeymen, see the sources reproduced in von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), 36 (wood turners’ guild, Cologne, 1397); ibid., 182 (bag makers’ guild, Cologne, 1397). Compare also the discussion of Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), lvi–lix. 281 Cited from Burmeister, Alterthümer des Wismarschen Stadtrechtes (1838), 80. 282 Similarly Kluge, Zünfte (2009), 322.

II. Supporting journeymen and apprentices

113

form of wages. Consequently, the question simply did not arise whether the master craftsman had to offer the regular wages as sick pay while the apprentice was ill. 2. Support by master craftsmen’s guilds Initially, journeymen and apprentices were also members of master craftsmen’s guilds.283 Following Otto von Gierke, Robert Krumbholtz distinguishes between Vollgenossen (full confreres) and Schutzgenossen (protected confreres).284 Apprentices and journeymen, but also master craftsmen’s wives and their children, were Schutzgenossen.285 Consequently, they too received the support of their guilds in a case of need.286 However, in the case of journeymen and apprentices the guild may have stepped in only subsidiarily. For example, as late as 1669 – and in support of the proposition that it may have been primarily the responsibility of master craftsmen to care for journeymen in cases of illness – the statutes of the barber surgeons’ guild in the regions of Altmark and Prignitz stated:287 ‘Ebener massen wenn ein Geselle oder Wochenlöhner mit einer langkwierigen Kranckheit belahden, und dem Meister seiner also zu Pflegen in die lange schwehr fiele, soll Er in das hospital oder wohin der Krancke sonst begehret, geschaffet und in wehrender seiner Kranckheit aus der Lahden verleget werden, doch dass Er solches nach der reconvalescens, wofern ihm dissfallss von der Innung keine erlassung geschicht, der Laden wieder erstatten, stürbe Er aber, So soll der Innung zu demjenigen, so angewendet, von seinem Erbtheil durch die Obrigkeit wieder verholfen werden.’ ‘Equally, if a journeyman or a week labourer suffers from a lengthy illness, and for that reason it is too burdensome for the master to care for him that length of time, then he shall be brought to the hospital or to another place where the ill person wishes to be and he shall be cared for during his illness from the guild box. But after he has recovered, he shall repay the sum to the guild box if the guild does not waive its claim. But if he dies, the authorities shall help the guild to recover the sum from his estate.’

And the text makes clear that a journeyman, too, had to repay financial support which he received. He thus received financial support primarily in the form of a ___________ 283 Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 13. In addition, see the sources reproduced in Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 15. 284 Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 77. Similarly Hemmen, (1910) 18 Jahrbuch für die Geschichte des Herzogtums Oldenburg 236; Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), liii f.; Wesoly, Lehrlinge und Handwerksgesellen (1985), 64. Gierke, Genossenschaftsrecht, vol. 1 (1868), 401. 285 With respect to wives, see, e.g., Stalmann, Gewerbe in Braunschweig (1907), 35. 286 On what follows, S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 62, 93 f. 287 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 290. In addition, see Göttmann, Handwerk und Bündnispolitik (1977), 31.

114

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

loan.288 A very similar position is to be found in the 1515 statutes of the barbers’ guild in the city of Flensburg:289 ‘Item so eyn meisterknect kranck wert, schal syn meister xiiij daghe lanck em kost, ber vnde waringhe thodon vorplichtet sin bynnen huses offte ock buten, so de kranckheit gruwesam is. […] Item so he de kranckheit na der tidt nicht geuriet wert, schal men deme olderman j marc lubesch vthe der bussen don, dat de krancke nottrofft sines liues moghe krigen; so he gheneset, schal he vorplichtet sin der hilligen gelt wedder thogeuen; tuth he vor de betalinghe hemelich wech, men schal dat vnder des amptes ingesegel vorscriuen […].’ ‘Also, if a master’s servant falls sick, his master shall give him food for 14 days, and he is obliged to keep him in his house or also outside of it, if the illness is atrocious. […]. Also, if he does not recover from the illness after that time, then one shall give to the Altermann [office holder of the guild] one Lübeck mark from the box, which the sick servant may receive for supporting his life; and if he recovers, he shall be obliged to give back the sacred money; if he secretly leaves before so paying, then one shall write this under the seal of the guild […].’

Again, it was primarily the master craftsman’s obligation to care for his journeyman, with the guild stepping in only secondarily and with the guild giving a loan only. The 1515 statutes clarify, furthermore, that the master craftsman’s obligation to care for an ill journeyman was limited to fourteen days. Fourteen days was also the period of notice for terminating the contract of employment. This again supports the assumption that the support offered by the master craftsman to his journeyman followed directly from the contract of employment and, thus, belongs, at least for a modern lawyer, to the sphere of labour law. It was only after this fourteen-day period that the guild stepped in. In 2009, Kluge pointed out that it is surprising that guilds were active in the field of social protection:290 numerous private, public, and religious institutions had since the Middle Ages been active in the field of poor relief and welfare. Kluge suggests that in many towns, city authorities should have disapproved of these activities by guilds as they increased political influence:291 ‘Es scheint beinahe erklärungsbedürftig, warum die Zünfte überhaupt in dieser Hinsicht tätig wurden. Die folgenden Ausführungen werden zeigen, dass es in erster Linie die Bereiche waren, die für das wirtschaftliche Wohlergehen der Einzelbetriebe und der auf diesen aufsetzenden Zünfte relevant waren, in denen sich Zünfte als Helfer in der Not darstellten, während sie nicht vorrangig ein umfassendes soziales Netz pflegen wollten. Abgesehen von den in einer christlich geprägten Gesellschaft

___________ 288

See pp. 115 ff., below. Cited from Nyrop, Danmarks Gilde- og Lavsskraaer, vol. 2 (1895–1904), 366. 290 Kluge, Zünfte (2009), 324 f. 291 Kluge, Zünfte (2009), 325. 289

II. Supporting journeymen and apprentices

115

selbstverständlichen religiösen Motivationen ging es in der Hauptsache darum, das Zunftsystem gängig zu halten […].’ ‘It is not self-explanatory why guilds were active in these fields. The following account will prove that guilds developed means of support for members in need especially where this was relevant for the economic well-being of the individual businesses and, thus, for the guild as such, which rested upon these individual businesses. The primary goal was not to maintain an extensive net of social welfare. Apart from the religious motives which are self-evident in any Christian society, the main purpose was to maintain the guild system […].’

Accordingly, guilds stepped in and supported journeymen where the fulfilment of the obligation to care for journeymen would have overstrained the individual master craftsman. This assumption finds support in the 1668 statutes of the glaziers’ guild in the city of Husum:292 ‘Würde ein Gesell krank und des Meister Gelegeheit wäre nicht derartig, daß er ihm in seiner längeren Krankheit die nöthige Pflege würde angedeihen lassen können, so soll solches angekündigt werden dem Schaffer. Dieser hat darauf sämmtliche Gesellen zusammenzurufen und sich mit ihnen zu bereden, wie am besten dem Kranken in seiner Schwachheit Handreichung zu thun sei, wie bei Tag und Nacht die Wachen zu vertheilen seien bis er wieder genesen ist. Wenn solches geschieht, wird er es ohne Zweifel mit Dank anerkennen und Fleiß anwenden, die gehabten Unkosten nach Gelegenheit der Zeit wieder zurecht zu bringen.’ ‘If a journeyman falls sick and if the master is not in the position to offer him the necessary care during a long persisting illness, then the Schaffer [office holder of the guild] shall be notified. He shall gather together all journeymen and discuss with them how to best support the sick in his infirmity and how to take turns in guarding him at day and night until he has recovered again. If this is done, then he will without doubt acknowledge this with gratitude and he will be diligent in returning the incurred expenses when is convenient to him.’

a) Financial support pimarily in the form of a loan If journeymen received financial support, they, too, did so subject to the conditions that they were in need and that the guild had sufficient funds to provide the necessary support. And again, some statutes exhibit a third, negative, requirement that the journeyman had not experienced the misfortune by his own fault.293 And journeymen, too, received financial support primarily in the form of a loan.294 Usually, a loan was granted only once, but also with journeymen there ___________ 292

Cited from Voß, Innungen und Zünfte in Husum (1896), 101 f. See, e.g., the source reproduced in Rüdiger, Hamburgische Zunftrollen (1874), 196 (wheel and carriage makers’ confraternity, Hamburg, 1599). 294 On what follows, S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 96; Uhl, Handwerk und Zünfte in Eferding (1973), 69 f., 113; Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 2 (1974), 451; idem, Der soziale Gedanke (1930), 52; idem, (1927) 1/5 Die Reichsversicherung, 293

116

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

are examples that a loan was granted several times. Where journeymen received financial support in the form of a loan, the same rules applied as with master craftsmen. They only had to repay the loan after they had recovered from their illness and had come again into funds, and here again, the guild could turn to the journeyman’s estate if he died without having repaid the loan, as the example of the 1669 statutes of the barber surgeons’ guild in the regions of Altmark and Prignitz prove.295 Another example comes from the 1525 statutes of the slipper makers’ guild in the city of Lüneburg:296 ‘Wert ok, dat ein geselle in krankheit fylle, deme schall men IIII eft VIII ß ut der bussen lenen, und so denne de knecht storve, schall me sodane gelt ut sinen redesten guderen soken. Bleve he aver lovendig, so schall he id wedder in de bussen geven.’ ‘If it so happens that a journeyman falls sick, then one shall give him four or eight shillings from the box as a loan, and if he dies, then one shall turn to his estate. If he stays alive, then he shall repay the sum into the box.’

The provision is included in a separate section on journeymen. And the moneys seem to have come from a separate box, which, with the exception of the above-cited provision, is referred to throughout the statutes as the ‘Marien bussen’ (St. Mary’s box) and into which both the master craftsmen and the journeymen had to pay. According Eduard Bodemann, each apprentice had to pay four shillings upon joining the guild and after his first year of apprenticeship one penny every two weeks. And each journeyman had to pay every two weeks two pennies. Finally, each master had to pay each Saturday two pennies.297 The moneys collected in the ‘Marien bussen’ were used to buy candleholders and candles for the worship of St. Mary. Thus, even though there was a separate fund to benefit the journeymen, this fund had not developed into a specific support fund. And even though there were separate funds, the form of financial support remained as a loan. These observations are in conflict with Fröhlich’s proposition ___________ 138; Blümcke, Handwerkszünfte im mittelalterlichen Stettin (1884), 110; Schulz, Handwerksgesellen und Lohnarbeiter (1985), 198; Potthoff, Kulturgeschichte des Handwerks (1938), 100; Schirbel, Geschichte der sozialen Krankenversorgung (1929), 86. In addition to the sources cited below, see those reproduced in Nyrop, Danmarks Gilde- og Lavsskraaer, vol. 2 (1895–1904), 417 (coopers’ guild, Flensburg, 1488); Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 355 (hatters’ guild, Riga, 1595); Mone, (1865) 18 Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 23 (tanners’ guild, Colmar, 1470); idem, (1858) 9 Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 143 (wool weavers’ guild, Konstanz, 1386); B. Schmidt, Frankfurter Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1914), 90 (coopers’ guild, Frankfurt, 1355); Siegl, Die Egerer Zunftordnungen (1909), 105 (millers’ guild, Eger/Cheb, 1586). 295 See the text corresponding to n. 287, above. In addition, see Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 2 (1974), 457, and the sources reproduced in von Heideloff, Bauhütte des Mittelalters (1844), 39 (stone masons’ guild, Strasbourg, 1459), 56 (stonemasons’ guild, Rochlitz, 1462). 296 Cited from Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), 172. 297 Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), lxxvii.

II. Supporting journeymen and apprentices

117

that the establishment of separate journeymen’s boxes was of special importance in the development of guild support schemes into pre-insurance or insurance-like schemes.298 However, there are also examples suggesting that separate journeymen’s boxes had developed within master craftsmen’s guilds and that the moneys collected in these boxes were exclusively used for the support of sick journeymen.299 That the standard form of financial support was a loan can also be seen from the 1569 statutes of the journeymen in the bakers’ guild in the city of Münster:300 ‘Soll das vorg. gelt von ihren vorstenderen getreulich zusammen gewahret und zu ihren besten angelecht werden, auf daß solches nicht unnutzlich verdaen werde. Und soferne jemantz von den knechten krank liege und gelt behovede, dem soll man, so ferne er solches begehret, handreichen zu seiner notturft mit solchem bescheide, woferen er wieder aufkumt, soll er solches guetlich verrichten oder sich soviele muglich an seinem nachlaße verholen und das wiederumb beituen, auf daß die knechte nicht verkurtzet werden.’ ‘The aforementioned funds shall faithfully be kept by the principals and invested to their benefit, so that the funds are not uselessly wasted. And if one of the journeymen is sick and in need of money, then one shall, if he desires, give him a hand in his need with the reply that he shall, after having recovered, repay or that his estate will as far as possible be liable and what has been given will again be added to the funds, so that the funds of the journeymen will not be reduced.’

Here again, even though the journeymen of the baking profession had their own association with their own funds, financial support still took the form of a loan. Finally, the 1683 statutes of the lorimers’ guild in the cities of Berlin and Cölln suggest that the primary form of support was a loan:301 ‘Weile es sich mannigmahl begiebet, das kranke Gesellen anhero kommen, auch wol gar Versterben, So wollen Meistere undt Gesellen eine Büchse halten, welche der Altmeister bey sich in gutter Verwahrung haben soll, darein ein Jedweder Meister, Geselle und Junge alle Vier Wochen, als der Meister Einen Groschen, der Geselle Sechs Pfennige undt ein Lehrjunge drey Pfennige, ins Altmeisters Hause in die Büchsse einlegen soll, damit man etwas in Vorrath haben kan, ein und dem Andern von den Einheimischen oder frembden Burschen, in Krankheit- oder andern Nöthen beyzuspringen, da aber ein Geselle und Junge etwas restiren würde, soll er nicht ehe den Gruss von hier bekommen, bis Er zuforderst sein Geldt erleget.’ ‘As it sometimes happens that sick journeymen arrive in the city who may even die, for that reason the master craftsmen and the journeymen wish to have a box, which is safely kept by the Altmeister [office holder of the guild]. And every master, journeyman and apprentice has to pay, at the Altmeister’s house, into the box every four weeks, a master one groschen, a journeyman six pennies, and an apprentice three pennies, so

___________ 298

See p. 109, above. See the source reproduced in Rüdiger, Hamburgische Zunftrollen (1874), 153 (guild of the Konturmacher, Hamburg, 1540). 300 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 149. 301 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 351. 299

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

118

that one accumulates some funds, so that one is able to support foreign as well as local journeymen or apprentices in the case of illness or need, yet as a journeyman or an apprentice will have to repay, he shall not be free to leave the town, until he has repaid the moneys.’

The statutes suggest that there was a separate fund for the support of journeymen and apprentices. Nevertheless, it seems that financial support took the form of a loan. Furthermore, the statutes make clear that the support was not restricted to local journeymen who had paid into the fund, but that it extended to foreign journeymen who had arrived in the city when ill. Finally, it was not only journeymen and apprentices who paid into the separate fund for their support. Master craftsmen, too, had to make contributions to the fund. Again, the 1693 statutes of the carpenters’ guild in the city of Arendsee point to a loan mechanism:302 ‘Da es sich auch zutrüge, dass ein Geselle, er stünde in arbeit oder Käme anders woher, Kranck und unvermögen würde, und hette Keine Zehrung, soll auss der Laden Vorschub gethan werden, würde er dann mit tode abgehen, so soll von seinem Zeuge die Lade bezahet werden, würde er aber besser, so soll er Verbunden sein, vom Wochenlohne es wieder zu bezahlen, da er aber säumhaftig würde und darüber gar davon laufen, solle er mit Consens der Obrigkeit nachgeschrieben werden, und zugleich die unkosten bezahlen.’ ‘As it may also happen that a journeyman, whether he works here or comes to this town from somewhere else, falls ill or becomes incapacitated, and if he does not have anything to eat, then he shall receive from the box an advance. If he then dies, then the box shall be paid from his estate. However, if he recovers, then he shall be obliged to repay the received sum from his weekly pay. If he defaults or if he leaves the town, then he shall, with approval of the authorities, be traced, and he has to pay the costs.’

There is one example suggesting that support offered by a guild to a journeyman in the form of a loan was restricted to the case of a work accident: the 1694 statutes of the millers’ guild in the cities of Nauen and Kremmen:303 ‘Daferne auch ein anderer Geselle, welches sich öfters zuträget, in seine arbeit auf den Mühlen beym bauen oder sonsten in seinen Beruf zu Schaden oder unglück käme und nicht des Vermögens were sich heilen oder curiren zu lassen, so soll ihm die Nothdurft und Vorschub zwar aus der Lade gereichet werden, iedoch ist er schuldig, wenn er restituiret, sich beym Handtwercke anzugeben und sich des gethanen Vorschusses halber, so er Kann, mit ihm abzufinden, welches sich dann allemahl billig hierunter würde finden lassen, nur etwas wieder von ihm zu nehmen oder ihm alles gar zu erlassen, were es aber noch gute Vermögens, welches auf erkäntniss des Hanwercks und Alterleuten allemahl ankömbt, so ist er schuldig, der Lade die Helfte zu restituiren, gienge er aber mit dem tode ab und hinterliesse Keine Mittel zu seiner Beerdigung, so soll er auss der Lade begraben werden.’ ‘If another journeyman, what regularly happens, suffers from an accident while working in the mill or in any other way in connection with his profession and if he does not have the funds to have himself treated and healed, then one shall help him and give

___________ 302 303

Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 422. Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 456.

II. Supporting journeymen and apprentices

119

him an advance from the box. Yet he is obliged, after he has recovered, to give notice to the guild and to find an agreement as to the advance, if he has the capacity to do so, and the guild will find terms that appear to be fair and ask from him part of the advanced sum or it will release him from the debt. If he, however, is of good funds, then he is obliged to repay half of the received sum. If he, however, dies leaving no funds behind for his funeral, then he shall be buried at the cost of the box.’

The statutes leave some degree of discretion to the parties to negotiate how much the journeyman had to repay depending on whether he recovered and depending on his financial means. It seems that in the case of a work accident the journeyman had to repay at the most half of the financial support which he had received from the guild. The fact that the journeyman had to repay only half of the sum which he had received as a loan recalls a similar provision in the 1670 statutes of the carpenters’ guild in Neuruppin.304 Neuruppin, Nauen, and Kremmen are neighbouring towns. The 1701 act305 regulating the passementerie craft in Württemberg introduced yet another distinction:306 ‘Im Fall auch ein Gesell kranck würde, welchem etwas aus der Laden vorgestreckt werden müßte, hat er solches, wann er wieder gesund worden, und das Vermögen hat, völlig gut zu thun, da er aber arm, allein die Helffte daran wieder zu erstatten.’ ‘When a journeyman falls sick and he receives an advance from the box, then he has to repay such in total, if he recovers again and if he has the funds to do so; if he is, however, poor then he has to refund only half of it.’

The act does not mention a separate journeymen’s box. The loan seems to have come from the general guild box. Fröhlich discusses yet another situation of need in which a guild could grant a loan.307 The example comes from the city of Speyer and dates to the 15th century:308 ‘Jtem wir wollen ouch das sant Niclaus gelt gegeben vnd darnach gehalten werde als von alters her gewonlich ist gewesen, das ist ob ein knecht oder me Im Winter so nit arbeid ist, nodig wurden vnd helffe bedorfften das man yn denne von solichem gelte gelihen vnd gehelffen moge, deste bass biss In den Somer zv komen so arbei anget, vnd von solichem gelte sol man anders nyemants lyhen noch helffen denne solichen knechten, da man schinberlich sehe vnd verneme das es not were uff sicherheit vnd gewisszheit, das solich geluhen gelt, zu Somer so arbeid were, furderlich widder bezalt solte werden Vnd ist disz solich sant Niclaus gelt, das man geben sol, zum ersten ein iglicher Schiffer, zu ieder fart 1 dnr. Jtem vnd ein knicht I hllr. Vnd welcher Schiffher

___________ 304

See p. 49, above. It was not an autonomous guild statute but an act for the entire passementerie craft in Württemberg, see pp. 53 and 95, above, and p. 184 (n. 19), below. 306 Sammlung derer samtlichen Handwercks-Ordnungen des Herzogthums Würtemberg (1758), 93. 307 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 71. In addition, Wissell, Der soziale Gedanke (1930), 70. 308 Cited from Rau, Reichsstadt Speier, vol. 2 (1845), 9. 305

120

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

solich gelt nit gebe oder geben wolte, der sol 1 [Pfund] Wahs zu einer pene verlorn han […].’ ‘Further, we also want that the Saint Nicholas money is given and that the ancient customs are observed that, if a servant or more, who are during the winter not in employment, are in need and require help, one will lend them from this money and help them until they find work again in the summer, and these funds shall not be lent to, nor used to help, anybody else, but these servants, because one […] sees and hears that it would [otherwise] not be secured and certain that the borrowed money, when in summer there is again work, will be repaid. And to raise this Saint Nicholas money, which one should give, first each skipper has to pay for each journey one penny, and a servant one heller. And a skipper, who does not give or does not want to give, has to give one pound of wax as penalty […].’

The skippers’ servants were employed mostly only during the summer season, and at that time both the masters and the servants had to make contributions into a box which was specifically established for the support of these servants. The collected money was used to grant loans to those servants who were in need during the time of their unemployment in the winter season. More generally – and thus beyond the cases of illness, accident, and seasonal unemployment – a member could with some guilds ask for a loan at any point when he became impoverished.309 In conclusion, it seems that journeymen in need were regularly supported by guilds in the form of a loan. A loan was the standard form of financial support even where there was a separate box for the benefit of journeymen. However, there are again some rare instances in which a guild paid to a journeyman financial support in the form of weekly allowances that did not have to be repaid.310 An example comes from the 1452 statutes of the barbers’ confraternity in the city of Hamburg:311 ‘Item offt jemant van unsen knechten hir to Hamborgh kranck worde unde nicht hadde to vorterende, [….] unde dat he syn gelt nicht vordobelt noch unnutliken tobrocht hadde, dem schal man geven 4 [Schilling] to der weken uth der bussen.’ ‘Also, when one of our journeymen here in Hamburg falls sick and has nothing to support himself, […] and if he has not […] used his money unnecessarily, one shall give to him weekly four shillings from the box.’

The statutes do not mention an obligation to repay. Furthermore, the statutes introduce a further, third, requirement for support: the journeyman had to be sick, he had to be in financial need due to his sickness, and in addition he must not have wasted his funds before falling sick. ___________ 309

S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 62. S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 62, 94; Uhl, Handwerk und Zünfte in Eferding (1973), 113. 311 Cited from Rüdiger, Hamburgische Zunftrollen (1874), 9. 310

II. Supporting journeymen and apprentices

121

Finally, if the family of the deceased journeymen did not have the financial means to pay for his funeral and if the journeyman had always paid his contributions into the guild funds, the guild may have paid for a proper funeral.312 b) Non-financial support Fellow guild members not only cared for sick master craftsmen but also for sick journeymen.313 If a guild ran a hospital or if a guild paid for the care of its members in a hospital, journeymen may have also benefited from this form of support in instances of illness. Here again, for the guild this form of support involved financial investments. However, the journeymen did not receive financial support directly from the guild. Nevertheless, the expenditures were often, just as with master craftsmen and their families,314 treated as being granted to the journeyman on the basis of a loan, as the example of the 1669 statutes of the barber surgeons’ guild in the regions of Altmark and Prignitz as well as the 1668 statutes of the glaziers’ guild in the city of Husum prove.315 Furthermore, fellow guild members (especially journeymen and apprentices) participated in funerals of deceased journeymen and apprentices.316 c) Joining a guild At first, it was compulsory for apprentices and journeymen to join the respective guild, if they wanted to take up an apprenticeship or if they wanted to work as journeymen. The admission requirements reflected those of master craftsmen: a legitimate and free birth, respectable descent, a good reputation, and a certain religion or confession.317 These admission requirements were strictly adhered to, ___________ 312 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 50. In addition, see the source reproduced in Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 148 (statutes for the journeymen of the bakers’ guild in Münster of 1569). 313 Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 453 (locksmiths’, gunsmiths’, and clock makers’ guild, Riga, 1593: see p. 57, above). In addition, see von Dirke, HandwerksLehrlinge und Gesellen (1914), 78; von Baczko, Geschichte Königsbergs (2nd edn., 1804), 233. 314 See pp. 56 ff., above. 315 See pp. 113 (text corresponding to n. 287) and 115 (text corresponding to n. 292), above. In addition, Uhl, Handwerk und Zünfte in Eferding (1973), 113; S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 98; Wissell, Der soziale Gedanke (1930), 57. 316 See the sources reproduced in Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 147 f. (statutes of the journeymen in the bakers’ guilds, Münster, 1569); ibid., 459 (statutes of the apprentices within the guild of the cloth shearers, Münster, 1645); Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 236 (statutes of the journeyman bakers, Riga, 1235). 317 Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 2, 12, 19 f.; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 78 f., 85 f.; Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der

122

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

as an example of the year 1586 proves: a Baltasar von der Horst wanted to accept the illegitimate son of Rudolf von Schonebeck as apprentice; he applied at the goldsmiths’ guild to be exempted from the requirement that an apprentice needs to be of legitimate birth. The guild declined to grant the exemption and stressed that the requirement needs to be strictly adhered to.318 Furthermore, a person who wanted to work and join the guild as a journeyman had to prove that he met the professional requirements of that guild, especially that he had completed his professional training.319 d) Financing support Apprentices and journeymen also had to pay an admission fee when taking up their apprenticeship or when starting work as journeyman, and locals and/or sons of master craftsmen of the same guild again often had to pay a lower admission fee than foreign apprentices and journeymen.320 The 1597 statutes of the wood turners’ guild in the city of Greifswald, for example, provided:321 ‘Anfenglich wan ein eherlicher und in dit hantwerk geburlicher maten ingestadeder meister einen lehrjungen annehmen will, schal dersulvige sine ehelige geburt und eherliges herkamen vor den olderluden und amptbroderen gebührlich inthotügen, darbenevenst ok verpflichtet sin, in des ampts büsse alsdan einen gulden, geliker gestalt einen gulden tho einer collation und dan ein punt wasses tho entrichten, jedoch dat meisterkinder dieses hantwerks souderlich wegen des ampts büssen nicht höher als mit vier Sundischen schillingen vorhaftet sin schölen.’ ‘When an honest […] master wants to take in an apprentice, the apprentice shall prove to the Älterleute [office holders of the guild] and to all guild brothers his legitimate birth and his honest background, and in addition he is obliged to pay into the guild box one gulden and also one gulden for a dinner, and he has to give one pound of wax;

___________ Stadt Lüneburg (1883), lvi; von Dirke, Handwerks-Lehrlinge und Gesellen (1914), 4–14; Wesoly, Lehrlinge und Handwerksgesellen (1985), 56–62; Flemming, Lehrlingswesen der Dresdner Innungen (1887), 21; Hartmann, Handwerkerverbände der Stadt Hildesheim (1905), 42 f. See, furthermore, the source reproduced in Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 434 (stone masons’ guild, Münster, 1583). 318 See the source reproduced in Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 247. 319 Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 21; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 85. 320 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 43; von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), Einleitung, 75; Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 20; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 80, 151; Nigge 27, 31; Wesoly, Lehrlinge und Handwerksgesellen (1985), 62–64. In addition, see the source reproduced in Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 149 (statutes for the journeymen of the bakers’ guild in Münster of 1569). 321 Cited from Krause/Kunze, (1900) 1 Pommersche Jahrbücher 122.

II. Supporting journeymen and apprentices

123

however, children of masters of this profession shall only be obliged to pay to the guild box not more than four Sundische[322] shillings.’

Another example comes from the 1589/98 statutes of the slipper makers’ guild in the city of Bremen:323 ‘Wenneer ock de Jungens uthgelehret, und up dat handtwerck uthgeschreven syn willen, schölen se den olden und nien Meisteren geven twolff grote, und in der Knechte laden veer und twintich grote, armen Knechten und Lehr Jungen thom besten, se darmede an tehringe, nah notturfft thovorsehen, in Krankheidenn tho behandtreken, edder nah ohrem dode christlick thor erdenn tho bestadenn.’ ‘Also, when apprentices have completed their apprenticeship and when they want to register with the guild, then they shall give to the old and new masters twelve groschen and to the journeymen’s box 24 groschen, to the best of poor journeymen and apprentices, with which […], depending on the need, they are helped during illness or they are buried after their death.’

Furthermore, they had to pay penalties to the guilds when in non-compliance with guild rules.324 If the master craftsmen had to pay a periodic contribution in order to benefit from the guild’s welfare scheme, the same applied to journeymen, too.325 If guilds incurred expenditures which they could not cover with the existing funds, they could apportion these costs to their members, including the journeymen.326 An example comes for the 1668 statutes of the carpenters’ guild in the city of Havelberg:327 ‘Do aber solch Geld aus der Lade durch den Kranken verzehret würde, undt nicht mehr vorhanden were, damit man dem Kranken zu Hülfe kommen möchte, alsdann sollen die beyden Jüngsten von Hause zu Hause gehen, undt von einem jeglichen 4 [Pfennig] fordern, darmit der arme Kranke erhalten undt nicht noth leiden möge.’ ‘However, when such funds from the box have been used up by the ill and if there are no funds left to support the ill, then the two youngest shall go from door to door and shall demand four pennies, so that the ill can be maintained and so that they do not have to suffer in need.’

___________ 322 The Sundische shilling was a silver coin which was used primarily in the city of Stralsund: Friedrich Freiherr von Schrötter, Sundische Währung, in: idem (ed.), Wörterbuch der Münzkunde (2nd edn., 1970), 671; Fengler/Gierow/Unger, Numismatik (3rd edn., 1982), 479. 323 Cited from Böhmert, Geschichte des Zunftwesens (1862), 84. 324 von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), Einleitung, 94; S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 94, 45; Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 8 f. In addition, see the source reproduced in Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 147 f. (statutes for the journeymen of the bakers’ guild, Münster, 1569). 325 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 62, 96. 326 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 96. 327 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 263.

124

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

The text leaves open who exactly was supported and from whom the moneys were demanded. However, the previous provision of the statutes mentions a separate fund which was established for the support of sick journeymen, and both journeymen and master craftsmen had to contribute to this separate fund:328 ‘Ein jeglicher Geselle, der 14 Tage allhier gearbeitet hat, der soll in die Lade geben 2 [Schilling] und ein Jeglicher Meister undt Gesell alle Viertel Jahre 4 [Pfennig] Zeitengeld, mit solchem gelde soll man die gesellen, so krank werden, Verlegen undt entsetzen.’ ‘Every journeyman, who has worked here for at least 14 days, shall pay into the box two shillings, and each master craftsman and each journeyman shall pay quarterly four pennies time-money, and with these funds journeymen, who fall sick, shall be cared for.’

It is, thus, likely that the first text, too, was referring to the support of journeymen only, but that both journeymen and master craftsmen of the guild had to contribute the four pennies. e) Legal enforceability It seems clear that if master craftsmen did not have an enforceable legal right against guilds for support, the same applied to journeymen, too.329 f) Conclusion The support offered by master craftsmen’s guilds to journeymen and apprentices ran parallel to the help offered by these guilds to master craftsmen and their families. In particular, the standard form of financial support seems to have been the granting of a loan. For the same reasons which have been identified above, it is thus impossible to classify the support offered by master craftsmen’s guilds to journeymen and apprentices as insurance, pre-insurance, or social security.330 As with the support offered to master craftsmen and their families, there were at first no separate funds to finance the support offered to journeymen and apprentices. Yet here again, a differentiation took place and such separate funds were eventually established. But even where such separate funds and boxes for the support of journeymen existed within master craftsmen’s guilds, the standard form of support seems to have remained a loan until the 17th century. Further___________ 328

Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 263. S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 62; Ogris, Geschichte des Arbeitsrechts (2003), 600. 330 See pp. 96 ff., above. 329

II. Supporting journeymen and apprentices

125

more, periodic contributions paid into such separate boxes may have been specifically used to cover the costs of funerals.331 Nevertheless, this development does not change the overall characterization of these support schemes: they cannot be classified as insurance, pre-insurance, or social security. This puts a question mark behind Fröhlich’s finding that the establishment of such funds played an important role in the evolution of guild support into insurance schemes.332 Finally, the support of journeymen was financed through the contributions of both journeymen and master craftsmen. It is likely that master craftsmen had to contribute to the support of journeymen even if it was financed from separate funds and boxes because at first it was their sole responsibility to care for sick journeymen, with master craftsmen’s guilds stepping in only subordinately. 3. Support by journeymen’s associations The development of guilds saw a long process of emancipation of journeymen.333 The development occurred with regional differences. It seems that at first journeyman established their own confraternities for solely religious, social, and charitable purposes. However, in the further development, the economic interests of master craftsmen and journeymen came into increasing conflict. First and foremost, the requirements for becoming a master craftsman were stiffened so that less and less journeymen had the chance to acquire the status of a master craftsman.334 The status of a journeyman was no longer a transitional status with nearly ___________ 331 See the sources reproduced in Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 149 (statutes for the journeymen of the bakers’ guild, Münster, 1569). 332 See pp. 34 ff., above. 333 On what follows, see (with diverging interpretations of the sources) Reininghaus, Entstehung der Gesellengilden (1981), 29–70; Wesoly, Lehrlinge und Handwerksgesellen (1985), 306–315; idem, (1984) 132 Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 405– 411; Kaufhold, Handwerk der Stadt Hildesheim (2nd edn., 1980), 106–111; von Loesch, Kölner Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1907), Einleitung, 78; S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 31–35, 97, 115; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 88 f.; M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 24; Metger, Schmiedegesellen in Flensburg (1883), 1 f.; Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), lviii; Engemann, Gilden der Stadt Goslar (1957), 56; Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 97, 129–132; Jahn, Gewerbepolitik der deutschen Landesfürsten (1909), 40–53, Ehmer, Zünfte in Österreich (2002), 108–112; von Tyszka, Handwerk und Handwerker in Bayern (1907), 72; Mone, (1863) 15 Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 29; Eulenburg, (1893) 1 Zeitschrift für Social- und Wirthschaftsgeschichte 305; Stahl, Das deutsche Handwerk, vol. 1 (1874), 384–428; Otto, Das deutsche Handwerk (3rd edn., 1908), 46 f. Of little value E. Maurer, Zunft und Handwerker (1940), 138–141; Biermer, in: Elster (ed.), Wörterbuch der Volkswirtschaft, vol. 1 (3rd edn. 1911), 1022 f.; Bopp, Entwicklung des Handwerksgesellentums (1932), 10–18. 334 See, however, p. 107, above.

126

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

all journeymen eventually becoming a master craftsman. Instead, many journeymen now never had the chance to become a master craftsman. It is usually posited that it was primarily for this reason that journeymen established their own guilds to represent their own economic interests.335 These developments had two important implications for the purpose of the present contribution. First, as long as it was the rule that a journeyman eventually acquired the status of a master craftsman, there was no need to support journeymen who were in need due to old age. When a craftsman was of old age and in need, he had regularly acquired the status of a master craftsman; consequently, the many forms of capacity building and other forms of support for the benefit of master craftsmen applied. However, once the status of being a journeyman was no longer only of transitional nature, the question necessarily arose as to how support schemes reacted to elderly journeymen in need. Secondly, journeymen founded their own associations to represent their own economic interests. Sometimes journeymen initiated their own support schemes within such associations. Sometimes journeymen simply arranged for a separate fund within a master craftsmen’s guild to finance their support schemes.336 These separate funds were often under the supervision of both master craftsmen and journeymen. And sometimes, journeymen established their own associations or confraternities specifically for that purpose. Sometimes, separate associations existed for the different functions. However, often journeymen’s confraternities were – just like master craftsmen’s guilds – poly-functional associations. And sometimes, even where separate journeymen’s associations existed, the master craftsmen still participated in the management of the funds.337 According to Fröhlich these associations often met opposition from the master craftsmen’s guilds and town authorities so that they were sometimes dissolved with the consequence that they survived only as a separate fund or box for the support of journeymen within a master craftsmen’s guild.338 These separate funds, boxes,

___________ 335 See, however, also the detailed analysis of Reininghaus, Entstehung der Gesellengilden (1981), 29–70, who identifies a cluster of factors which stimulated the process of emancipation of journeymen from master craftsmen. 336 See pp. 115 ff., above. See further S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 62, 9; Böhmert, Geschichte des Zunftwesens (1862), 37. See, furthermore, the sources reproduced in Rüdiger, Hamburgische Zunftrollen (1874), 153 (guild of the Konturmacher, Hamburg, 1540); B. Schmidt, Frankfurter Zunfturkunden, vol. 2 (1914), 331 f. (association of the carpenter journeymen, Frankfurt, 1565). 337 See, e.g., the sources reproduced in Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 290 (glazier journeymen’s confraternity, Riga, 1542). 338 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 97.

II. Supporting journeymen and apprentices

127

and associations subsisted well into the 18th and 19th century.339 Finally, in some cities no separate journeymen’s associations seem to have existed.340 Where there were separate funds within master craftsmen’s guilds or where separate journeymen’s associations existed for the purpose of supporting journeymen, these funds and associations seem to have taken over from the master craftsmen’s guilds the duty to support journeymen.341 Kluge develops an explanation why journeymen’s association were active in supporting members in need:342 ‘Die Gesellenschaften übernahmen die sozialen Aufgaben gegenüber Gesellen von den Meisterzünften, oft mit finanzieller und administrativer Unterstützung der Meister. Den Meistern und Obrigkeiten brachte das Eintreten der Gesellenschaften finanzielle Vorteile, den Gesellen einen autonomen Bereich.’ ‘The journeymen’s associations took over from master craftsmen’s guilds the social responsibilities towards journeymen. Often they received financial and administrative support from the master craftsmen in doing so. These activities of journeymen’s associations were financially beneficial for the masters and the authorities. For the journeymen these activities meant more autonomy.’

The journeymen’s associations covered especially the risks of illness, including accidents and death. Just like master craftsmen’s guilds, journeymen’s associations were compulsory associations343. Those who did not join a journeymen’s association did not have the chance to find employment. An exception to the rule that membership was compulsory is to be found in the 1481 statutes of the confraternity of the blacksmith and coppersmith journeymen in the city of Freiburg:344 membership was compulsory only for journeymen earning eight denars or more; for journeymen earning less, membership was voluntary. In very general terms, the statutes of the journeymen of the painters’, glaziers’, and saddlers’ guild in the city of Münster stated at the end of the 16th century:345 ‘Dar ock hirenboven sus enich strafbar geselle gebrocket worde, sal de helfte des brockes in de busse gelecht werden, umme de gesellen, so hir krank werden und dat oere in der krankheit verteren, darvan to trosten, und de ander helfte to gelegener tit den semptliken gesellen der 3 ampter vergunt werden to verteren, doch allent na raede und in biwesen der vorwesers.’

___________ 339

S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 62. See, e.g., for the city of Lünen, Nigge, Gilden der Stadt Lünen (1912), 28. 341 On what follows, S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 31, 34, 115, 131. 342 Kluge, Zünfte (2009), 326. 343 Schanz, Geschichte der Gesellen-Verbände (1877), 103. 344 Reproduced in Mone, (1865) 18 Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 24. 345 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 344 (the statutes are undated; however, he assumes on the basis of the handwriting that they date from the 16th century). 340

128

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

‘Also if a punishable journeyman has been fined here, half of the fine shall be put into the box in order to comfort journeymen who fall sick here and who need to eat while being sick and the other half shall at times benefit the journeymen of all the three professions in the guild for feasts, but everything only on advice and in the presence of the Verweser [office holder of the guild].’

The statutes prove the existence of a fund for the support of journeymen. The fund was financed through fines payable by journeymen. The administration of the fund was in the hands of the journeymen, but the guild administration had to be consulted. Finally, the statutes show that the collected moneys were not only used for the benefit of sick journeymen, but also for social events. The statutes are, however, silent on the specific forms of support which were financed through the fund. In general terms, with these funds and confraternities we again see different forms of financial and non-financial support. And these different forms of support imitated the support schemes of master craftsmen’s guilds. a) Financial support primarily in the form of a loan Again, the standard form of financial support was a loan.346 A loan was granted especially if a journeyman fell into financial need due to illness, and the ___________ 346 On what follows, S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 137–140; Reininghaus, Entstehung der Gesellengilden (1981), 145 f.; Wesoly, Lehrlinge und Handwerksgesellen (1985), 329; Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 2 (1974), 451; idem, Der soziale Gedanke (1930), 52; idem, (1927) 1/5 Die Reichsversicherung 138; B. Schmidt, Frankfurter Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1914), Einleitung, 71 f.; Lusiardi, Caritas – Fraternitas – Solidarität (2002), 141; Schulz, Handwerksgesellen und Lohnarbeiter (1985), 198; Dubler, Handwerk, Gewerbe und Zunft (1982), 138; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 91; Schmieder, Geschichte des Arbeitsrechts, vol. 1 (1939), 153; Bräuer, Gesellen im sächsischen Zunfthandwerk (1989), 83; Mone, (1863) 15 Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 29; Schanz, Geschichte der Gesellen-Verbände (1877), 71 f.; Blümcke, Handwerkszünfte im mittelalterlichen Stettin (1884), 110; Jeroch, Innungsverfassung der Stadt Brandenburg (1927), 67; Hartmann, Handwerkerverbände der Stadt Hildesheim (1905), 50; Scheschkewitz, Zunftwesen der Stadt Lüneburg (1966), 199; Breuer, Wesen der Zünfte im Mittelalter (1942), 54; Knoll, Handwerksgesellen und Lehrlinge (1931), 49–58; Hodel, Anfänge der Krankenversicherung (1965), 34; Schirbel, Geschichte der sozialen Krankenversorgung (1929), 92. In addition to the sources cited below, see those reproduced in Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 290 (glazier journeymen’s confraternity, Riga, 1542); ibid., 445 (association of the locksmith, gunsmith, and clockmaker journeymen, Riga, 1583); ibid., 462 (association of the smith journeymen, Riga, 1399), ibid., 526 (association of the wood carver journeymen, Riga, 1575); ibid., 535 (association of the shoemaker journeymen, Riga, 1480); Berlepsch, Chronik der Gewerke, vol. 4 (1850), 71 (confraternity of the shoemaker journeymen, Arnstadt, circa 1650); Mone, (1865) 18 Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 24 (confraternity of the blacksmith and coppersmith journeymen, Freiburg, 1481); Lappenberg, (1866) 5 Zeitschrift des Vereins für hamburgische Geschichte 324 (association of the painter and glazier journeymen, Hamburg, between 1585 and 1601); Schanz, Geschichte der GesellenVerbände (1877), 171 (association of the furrier journeymen, Strasbourg, 1404); ibid., 177 (association of the miller and baker journeymen, Speyer, 1474); ibid., 203 (association of

II. Supporting journeymen and apprentices

129

same requirements applied as had evolved for the support of master craftsmen by their guilds: the journeyman had to be in need and the association had to have sufficient funds to give a loan. Just like master craftsmen’s guilds, some journeymen’s associations developed a third, negative, requirement that the journeyman had not become sick and had not suffered from an accident by his own fault.347 Just like with master craftsmen’s guilds, a loan was given usually only once. However, if the illness subsisted, further loans could be granted. And just like with master craftsmen’s guilds, a journeyman, too, only had to repay the loan after recovering and regaining the financial position to repay. The 1406 statutes of the association of the baker and miller journeymen in the city of Offenburg may serve as an example:348 ‘Beschehe ovch, daz vnder inen einer siech wúrde vnd sin begerte, dem sol man lihen vß der búhssen zwen schilling pfening; bedarff er aber me gelts, hett er denne guote pfant, so sol man im gelt lihen vßer der búhssen vff die pfande, stirbet er aber, so sol man die zwen schilling pfenning ovch vff die pfant slahen vnd sol im helffen, daz er begraben werde zuo der lútkirchen zuo Offemburg oder zuo dem closter […] vnd sol man den costen ovch vff die pfant slahen; hett er aber kein pfant oder gebreste an den pfanden, so sol man im doch in daz grap helffen vnd sol den bosten vßer der búhssen nemen […].’ ‘If it happens that one of them falls ill and if he so wishes, then he shall be given two shilling pennies from the box as loan; if he, however, requires more money, and if he has good surety, then one shall give him money from the box as loan. If he, however, dies, then the [first] two shilling pennies shall be treated to have been given on the surety, too, and one shall help that he will be buried at the Lütkirch [a church349] at Offenburg or at the cloister […] and the costs shall be covered by the surety; however, if he does not have surety […] then one shall nevertheless help to have him buried and shall cover the costs from the box […].’

Just like in the case of master craftsmen’s guilds, the statutes of this journeymen’s association make explicit that it offered non-repayable financial help if the journeyman had died impoverished. Furthermore, the text requires surety to be ___________ the smith journeymen, Schaffhausen, 1467); ibid., 268 (association of the furrier journeymen, Augsburg, 1574); B. Schmidt, Frankfurter Zunfturkunden, vol. 2 (1914), 275 (statutes for the cooper journeymen, Frankfurt, 1559); ibid., 315 (association of the locksmith journeymen, Frankfurt, late 16th century); ibid., 331 f. (association of the carpenter journeymen, Frankfurt 1565); von Brunn, Gilden der Barbiere und Chirurgen in den Hansestädten (1921), 65 (association of the barber surgeon journeymen, Rostock, 1485); ibid., 72 (association of the barber surgeon journeymen, Rostock, 1615). 347 Wissell, Der soziale Gedanke (1930), 61 f.; Bräuer, Gesellen im sächsischen Zunfthandwerk (1989), 84. And see the source reproduced in Lappenberg, (1866) 5 Zeitschrift des Vereins für hamburgische Geschichte 324 (association of the painter and glazier journeymen, Hamburg, between 1585 and 1601). 348 Cited from Batzer, (1906/07) 34 Alemannia 99. 349 It may be the Leutkirch, also called the Gutleutkirch, outside Oberschopfheim near Offenburg: Reininghaus, Entstehung der Gesellengilden (1981), 136; Wingenroth, Kunstdenkmäler des Kreises Offenburg (1908), 99.

130

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

given by the journeyman if he wanted to receive more than one loan.350 Later, the statutes make clear that the heirs of the deceased journeyman would receive the surety back only if they repaid the full sum to the association. The 1597 statutes of the smith journeymen’s association in the city of Flensburg similarly made clear that the standard form of financial support was a loan:351 ‘So Ein geselle alhier Krank würde und sich zum Totte Kehrete […] so sollen die schaffers zu Ihm gehen unnd soll Ihm des tages Ihrer Ein und des Nachtes Ihrer 2 Bey Ihm wachen und dass soll ummgehen mit den gesellen so Lange seine Krankheit wehret oder dass Ehr Stirbett verseumet ein gesell dass wen Ihm der Schaffer hatt angesagt so soll Ehr geben ohne genade Ein Tunne beer. […] Stirbet aber der selbige gesell unnd hat So viell gütter oder Kleyder hinter Lassen alsse dass geltt werth ist so Ihm in seiner Krankheit vorstrecket Ist So Soll ein Ambt solche gütter zu sich nehmen unnd vorwahren Ess Jahr unnde Tag seinen freunden Zu gutte undt dass die gesellen Keine schaden davon haben.’ ‘If it happens that a journeyman falls ill in this town and if he is dying, then the Schaffer [office holders of the association] shall visit him and one of them [of the fellow journeymen] shall guard him during the days and two during the nights and they shall take turns as long as he is ill or until he dies. If a journeyman misses his turn which he had been assigned to by the Schaffer, then he shall give without exception one barrel of beer. […] However, if the sick journeyman dies and if he leaves behind goods or garments that are worth the sum which had been advanced to him during his sickness, then the guild shall take these goods […] so that the journeymen do not suffer a loss.’

Similarly, the 1617 statutes of the smith journeymen of the city of Münster stated:352 ‘Item so ein knecht krank worde und nicht to verteren hedde, mag man ut der knechte bussen etwas vorstrecken na gelegenheit der sake. Und wannehr de knecht dorch godes versehung gesunt worde, sall he datselvige to betalen schuldig sin. So he averst verstorve und etwas na sich leite, sall man sich daeran erhalen.’ ‘And when a journeyman falls ill and when he has nothing to eat, one may advance, on the basis of the facts of the individual case, money from the journeymen’s box to him. And when the journeyman through God’s providence recovers, he shall be liable to repay the same. But if he dies and leaves behind assets, then one shall turn to the estate.’

The 1683 statutes of the carpenter journeymen’s association in the cities of Berlin, Cölln, Friedrichswerder, and Dorotheenstadt suggest in Art. 46 that only substantial sums had to be repaid, and this implies that smaller sums were looked upon as alms. Furthermore, the statutes suggest that the association not only had ___________ 350 Similarly, the source reproduced in Schanz, Geschichte der Gesellen-Verbände (1877), 215 f. (association of the tanner journeymen, Strasbourg, 1477). 351 Cited from Metger, Schmiedegesellen in Flensburg (1883), 23. And see the early 15th-century statutes of the same confraternity, reproduced in ibid., 13. 352 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 372.

II. Supporting journeymen and apprentices

131

the option to reclaim the advanced moneys from the estate, but also from the deceased’s parents if they had sufficient funds:353 ’46. Wann Ein Geselle Kranck wirdt, und hat nicht Mittel, muss Ihm etwas auss der Gesellen Lahde gereichet werden, hülffe Ihm aber Gott zu guter Gesundheit wieder auff, und were ein grosser Vorschuss gethan, ist er schuldig solches wieder zu restituiren. 47. Solte ein Geselle mit grosser Kranckheit beladen sein, also dass man des Nachtes müste bei ihm wachen, So sollen von der gantzen Gesellschaft, wie die Nahmen nach eineander verzeichnet sindt, alle Nacht ihrer Zwene bey ihm wachen, bey Verlust eines tagelohns, der sich solches wegert. 48. Würde einer gahr Sterben, So muss Er auss der Gesellen Lahde beerdiget, seine hinterlassene Sachen aber in gute Verwahrung genommen werden, davon sich die Gesellen wieder erholen können, Hette aber der Verstorbene vermögende Eltern, seindt Sie schuldig die Unkosten wieder zuerstatten.’ ’46. If a journeyman falls sick and if he does not have the means, then he will be given something from the journeymen’s box. If he, however, comes to health again, through the help of God, and if he had received a substantial advance, then he has to repay such sums. 47. If the journeyman suffers from a severe illness so that he has to be guarded at night, then each night two of the entire association shall, in the order in which their names are registered, guard him. And if one of them refuses to do so, then he shall lose a day’s pay. 48. If one dies, then he shall be buried at the cost of the box, but his estate shall be taken into good custody, so that the journeymen may be reimbursed from it. However, if the deceased has prosperous parents, then they shall be obliged to repay the costs.’

And the provision on the finances of the same association held:354 ‘Alles Geldt so in der Gesellen Lahde vorhanden, oder zusammen gebracht wird, soll allein Zu der Armen Gesellen Nothurfft, nicht aber zu Bier, Wein, Brantewein oder Mahlzeiten angewendet werden.’ ‘All funds which are kept in the journeymen’s box, or which will be collected, shall only be used for the support of poor journeymen, and they shall not be spent on beer, wine, spirits, or meals.’

___________ 353 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 347. And see B. Schmidt, Frankfurter Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1914), Einleitung, 72, and the sources reproduced in ibid., vol. 2 (1914), 275 (statutes for the cooper journeymen, Frankfurt, 1559); Berlepsch, Chronik der Gewerke, vol. 4 (1850), 71 f. (confraternity of the shoemaker journeymen, Arnstadt, circa 1650); Schanz, Geschichte der Gesellen-Verbände (1877), 268 (association of the furrier journeymen, Augsburg, 1574); von Brunn, Gilden der Barbiere und Chirurgen in den Hansestädten (1921), 72 (association of the barber surgeon journeymen, Rostock, 1615). 354 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 348.

132

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

Finally, the 1411 statutes of the association of the lorimer and bag maker journeymen in Lüneburg added the further requirement that the journeymen had to have worked properly in order to receive a loan:355 ‘Vortmer worde dar jenich knecht krank, de syne plycht gedan hedde, deme des nod (were), deme schal men ute der knechte bussen lenen ver schillinge. Weret dat (he) mer behovede, men schal em noch vere lenen. Wen he upkumpt, so schal he de achte schillinge betalen van deme ersten lone dat he vordenet.’ ‘Furthermore, if a journeyman, who had fulfilled all his duties, falls sick and if he is in need, then one shall give him from the journeymen’s box four shillings as loan. If it happens that he needs more, then one shall give him another four as loan. If he recovers, then he shall repay the eight shillings from the first wages which he earns.’

And again, the statutes further provided that the journeyman’s estate was liable to repay the loan if the journeyman died. If he died impoverished, then the funeral costs were carried by the box. In addition to loans which had to be repaid, journeymen’s associations could, just like master craftsmen’s guilds, exceptionally grant financial support which the recipient did not have to repay. The prime example was the costs of a funeral for an impoverished member. However, the associations tried, as became already apparent from the aforementioned examples, to obtain reimbursement either from close relatives or from the estate.356 Fröhlich refers to further examples from the cities of Strasbourg in France (1536) and Frankfurt (1559 and 1609). Finally, starting in the 15th century there is at least one example which suggests that journeymen’s confraternities, too, began to pay weekly or daily allowances in cases of need due to illness.357 Fröhlich refers to the 1479 statutes of the linen weaver journeymen’s association in Strasbourg in France:358 ‘[…] wer’ es sach, das ein brůder siech wurde, das got lang wend, und in den spital kem, dem sol man alle tag ein d geben us der brüderschaft büchse.’ ‘[…] if it happens that a brother falls sick, that this lasts long, and that he has to go to a hospital, then one shall give him each day one denar from the confraternity box.’

The statutes do not mention that the journeyman had to repay the amount which he had received after having recovered. By contrast, according to the 1591

___________ 355

Cited from Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), 182. S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 168–170; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 91. 357 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 142. Schmieder, Geschichte des Arbeitsrechts, vol. 1 (1939), 153, refers to a further example from the city of Riga. 358 Cited from Schanz, Geschichte der Gesellen-Verbände (1877), 221. 356

II. Supporting journeymen and apprentices

133

statutes of the journeymen’s confraternity of the wool, linen, and trousers knitting crafts in the city of Freiburg, sick journeymen received a weekly allowance only on the basis of a loan:359 ‘Zum fünf und zwenzigsten ist sonderlich hierinnen abgeredt, wann under ermelten wullen- und leynenknappen, auch hosenstrickerhantwerks gesellen einer in seinem werendem dienst krank und solcher in spittal oder andere der statt Freyburg verordnete heüsser komen wurde, demselben solle man uß der brueder- und gesellschaft büchsen, so lange er krank ligt, alle wuchen syben pfenning zu geben schuldig sein; und im fahl einer in seiner hochbeschwerlichen krankheit etwas mehr bedürftig, soll man ime auß der büchsen zu seiner hochen notturft darleihen. Wann ime gott der allmechtig widerumb zu seiner gesuntheit hilft, soll er als ein redlicher gesell alles, so ime also auß der büchsen fürgestrekt werden, wiederumb zu erlegen schuldig sein; sturbe aber solcher gesell und nichtz verließe, soll es auch todt und ab sein, es seye dan das er von seinen eltern etwas vermöchte, solle dasselbige alles von solichen billig bezalt werden.’ ‘25th, it is agreed, when one of the wool or linen journeymen, and also one of the journeymen of the trousers knitting craft, falls sick while being employed and if such journeyman goes to a hospital or to another house designated by the town of Freiburg for such purposes, then one shall be obliged to give to the same each week seven pennies from the confraternity box, as long as he lies sick; and in the case he needs more due to a highly troublesome illness, then one shall give him from the box more in the form of a loan. When God the Almighty helps him to recover, then he shall as an honest journeyman repay everything that he has received from the box; however, if such journeyman dies and if he leaves nothing behind, then it [the received sum] shall also be extinguished and off, unless he receives something from his parents, then this shall be justly paid by them.’

There is one point which is worth noting: it has been pointed out above that guild members had only a moral entitlement to guild support.360 Yet the 1591 statutes phrase the right to support as a legal entitlement (‘zu geben schuldig sein’ ‘obliges to give’). b) Non-financial support In addition to financial support, journeymen’s confraternities offered, just like master craftsmen’s guilds, non-financial support. They too cared for sick members or paid for beds in hospitals to have their members cared for.361 The 1406 ___________ 359

Cited from Schanz, Geschichte der Gesellen-Verbände (1877), 280. See pp. 94 ff. and 124, above. 361 Reininghaus, Entstehung der Gesellengilden (1981), 144–152; Wesoly, Lehrlinge und Handwerksgesellen (1985), 307, 329; Schulz, Handwerksgesellen und Lohnarbeiter (1985), 196–208; S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 150-160; Ruby, Iglauer Handwerk (1887), 164 f.; Schanz, Geschichte der Gesellen-Verbände (1877), 72 f.; B. Schmidt, Frankfurter Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1914), Einleitung, 72; Dalmer, Innungswesen der Stadt Zerbst (1910), 73. In addition to the cited sources, see those reproduced in 360

134

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

statutes of the confraternity of the baker and miller journeymen in Offenburg may serve as an example:362 ‘Dar zuo hant sú in dem spittal zuo Offemburg gekovfft ein […] bett […], wenne ein brotbecker kneht oder múller kneht zuo Offemburg siech wúrt vnd dez spittals nottúrfftig ist, daz man in denne […] vff daz bett […] legen sol […].’ ‘They have bought in the hospital in Offenburg a […] bed […], so that, when a baker or miller journeyman from Offenburg falls ill and is in need of the hospital, one shall put him […] in that bed […].’

And just like with master craftsmen’s guilds, it was also made explicit in some statutes of journeymen’s associations that the costs which the associations incurred on caring for a sick member had to be repaid after the sick member had recovered.363 Furthermore, journeymen’s associations ensured that the funeral of a member was appropriate and that other members participated in these funerals, and they held masses for deceased members.364 Finally, according to the 1584 statutes of the barbers’ and barber surgeons’ guild in Eger (Cheb) in today’s Czech Republic, journeymen had to offer to take over, for a period of 14 days, the work of an ill brother who was unable to work so that the sick member would still receive his regular pay:365 ‘Wan ein gesell nach Gottes willen Inn Kranckheit fallen und ein zeit lang darinnen verharren würde, dem sollen die andern gesellen bey Ime Inn der stuben vierzehen Tag zu gut arbeitten und Ime seinen lohn, so Im sonst die vierzehen tag über gebühret, vor voll, gleich einem andern, volgen laßen.’ ‘When a journeyman according to God’s will falls sick und if he remains so for a certain time, then the other journeymen shall work for 14 days at his workplace and they shall fully give him his pay, which he would have otherwise earned those 14 days, […].’

___________ Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 534 (association of the shoemaker journeymen, Riga, 1480); von Brunn, Gilden der Barbiere und Chirurgen in den Hansestädten (1921), 72 (association of the barber surgeon journeymen, Rostock, 1615). 362 Cited from Batzer, (1906/07) 34 Alemannia 97. 363 See the analysis of Rauert, (1842) 1 Archiv für Geschichte, Statistik, Kunde der Verwaltung und Landesrechte der Herzogthümer Schleswig, Holstein und Lauenburg 80. 364 Wesoly, Lehrlinge und Handwerksgesellen (1985), 309, 325–329; S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 165–168; B. Schmidt, Frankfurter Zunfturkunden, vol. 1 (1914), Einleitung, 72; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 91 f.; Reininghaus, Entstehung der Gesellengilden (1981), 135–141; Scheschkewitz, Zunftwesen der Stadt Lüneburg (1966), 196. 365 Cited from Siegl, Die Egerer Zunftordnungen (1909), 23.

II. Supporting journeymen and apprentices

135

Fröhlich contends that this kind of help was exceptional in the context of the crafts, even though it was, as she claims, more common among miners’ guilds.366 c) Beneficiaries of support The support offered by journeymen’s associations was restricted to members. Travelling journeymen in their journeyman years were in principle not covered by these schemes. However, later in the development, especially in the 18th century, journeymen’s associations became in some territories obliged to offer financial support also to travelling journeymen.367 And, already in earlier times, journeymen’s associations had offered to travelling journeymen certain forms of financial and non-financial support which was specifically designed to their needs. Journeymen in their journeyman years were supported by master craftsmen, their guilds, and by journeymen’s associations in finding new employment; and master craftsmen, their guilds, and journeymen’s associations offered accommodation to travelling journeymen and/or paid to them a so-called Zehrpfennig (travel penny).368 The 1648 statutes of the bookbinders’ guild in Münster may serve as an example:369 ‘Damit auch die frembden gesellen mit herberg versehen werden, solle jährlich auf das pfingstquartal ein meister jedoch nach der ordnung dazu erwählet werden, welcher der gesellen lade, ordnung und andern ihren vorrat ein ganzes jahr bei sich in seinem haus in guter verwahrung halten soll […]. Wan nun ein frembder gesell auf der herberg einkehrt und seines handwerks beweis tut, soll ihm der vater eine mahlzeit und nachtlager geben. Komt er vormittag, so soll ihme nachmittag vom altgesellen umb arbeit geschauet werden, komt er aber nachmittag, soll ihm den andern morgen umb geschauet werden.’ ‘So that also foreign journeymen will find shelter, each year in the calendar quarter of Pentecost a master craftsman shall be elected in accordance with the statutes, who shall keep the journeymen’s box, the statutes, and all their stocks for the whole year in his house in safe custody […]. When a foreign journeyman comes to the inn and if he proves affiliation with the profession, the innkeeper shall give him a meal and a place to sleep. If he arrives in the morning, then the senior journeyman shall in the afternoon look for a working place for him. But if he arrives in the afternoon, then they shall look the next morning.’

___________ 366 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 136. On the situation of miners, see pp. 142 ff., below. I have not found any proof for Fröhlich’s assertion in the sources on the support schemes for miners. 367 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 160–165. 368 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 123–136; Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 25; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 91, 96 f. 369 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 187.

136

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

With the bookbinders’ guild in Münster, this form of non-financial support was apparently financed through the journeymen’s box, but it was nevertheless organized through the master craftsmen’s guild. The 1683 statutes of the carpenter journeymen’s association in Berlin, Cölln, Friedrichswerder, and Dorotheenstadt deal with this form of support slightly differently:370 ‘Wann ein Zimmergeselle gewandert kömbt, der noch nicht alhier gewesen, undt Lust zu arbeiten hat, Der soll sich auf der Herberge verfügen, da ihm dan von den Krugvater Zwey groschen Zehrung und ein Nacht frey schlafflager gereichet undt gelassen wirdt, welches der Meister, so den Gesellen bekombt, den Krugvater wieder gut thun muss. Diejenigen so nicht Lust zu Arbeiten haben, dürffen sich auch dieses nicht getrösten, sondern müssen von den Ihrigen zehren und sollen hierüber den Krugvater keine molest erweisen; Könte aber ein Geselle keine Arbeit bekommen, wollen Ihme die Meistere so lange Vorstrecken, bis Er Arbeit hat, undt muss Er so dan das Vorgestreckte Geldt, wieder abarbeiten.’ ‘When a foreign carpenter journeyman arrives in town who has not been here before and who is willing to work, he shall keep himself available at the inn, because there the innkeeper will give him two groschen for food and will offer him a sleeping place for the night for free, and the master craftsman, who will then employ the journeyman, has to reimburse the innkeeper. Those who are not willing to work, may not rely on this, but have to live on their own funds and shall not molest the innkeeper. If, however, a journeyman is not able to find work, the master craftsmen shall advance him [money] until he has found work, and then he shall work off the advanced sum.’

Again, the text makes clear that financial support was primarily given in the form of a loan. d) The finances of journeymen’s associations The development of the finances of journeymen’s associations ran parallel to those of master craftsmen’s guilds. Journeymen’s associations, too, were polyfunctional institutions, and they had to cover the costs which they incurred fulfilling the different functions which they served.371 The income was generated through admission fees, penalties, periodic contributions, and other charges.372 With respect to admission fees, the 1638 statutes of the coopers’ guild in the city of Münster, for example, provided:373 ‘Zum dritten sollen keine lehrknechte zum bödeker amte gestattet werden, sie sein dan echt, recht und fromb geboren. Darzu sollen sie ihren meister geben, was sie under

___________ 370

Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 342. S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 116. 372 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 116–121; Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 89 f.; Rauert, (1842) 1 Archiv für Geschichte, Statistik, Kunde der Verwaltung und Landesrechte der Herzogthümer Schleswig, Holstein und Lauenburg 79. 373 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 175 f. 371

II. Supporting journeymen and apprentices

137

einander einig worden […] und dan die 3 jahren in der lehr auszudienen und vor das lehrgelt in gegenwart beider gildemeisteren bürgen stellen. Ferners sollen sie dem amte geben 14 Sch. wachsgelt und 3 Sch. den knechten […]. Zum neunten, so ein knecht wandern käme und arbeit begerte, so mag ein meister unsers amts selbigen 14 tage arbeit geben, nach umbgank deren, so der knecht lenger begert zu pleiben, soll der knecht sich verpflichten dem meister zu dienen zum wenigsten 1/2 jahr […]. Da aber der knecht nach gemelten 14 tagen verlauf lenger zu dienen begehrte, soll der meister ihm abfordern seinen lehrbrief wie auch 7 Sch. wachsgelt, daneben 1 Sch. in der knechtenbüchse und bringen an den ort, dahin es gehörig. Wofern aber der meister darin seumhaft befunden würde, alstan dem ampte mit 1 M. straf verfallen sein.’ ‘Thirdly, no apprentices shall be admitted to the profession of coopers unless they were born legitimate, right, and godly. Furthermore, they shall give to their master craftsmen what they have agreed upon […] and then serve for three years as apprentice, and they shall produce in the presence of the two guild masters two bailsmen for the payment of the apprentice’s due. Furthermore, they shall give to the guild 14 shillings for wax and three shillings to the journeymen […]. Ninthly, when a journeyman [in his journeyman years] arrives [in Münster] and desires to work, then a master craftsman of our profession may give him work for 14 days, and after the 14 days have expired and the journeyman desires to stay longer, he shall oblige himself to serve the master at least half a year […]. But if the journeyman after the aforementioned 14 days desires to serve for a longer period of time, the master craftsman shall collect the journeyman’s certificate that he has completed his apprenticeship as well as seven shillings for wax and one shilling for the journeymen’s box and deliver it at the proper place. However, if it is held that the master craftsman is in default of doing so then he has to pay one mark as fine to the guild.’

Periodic contributions were often paid quarterly, as was the case with the smith journeymen’s association in the city of Flensburg according to its early 16th-century statutes:374 ‘Item so schole gy tydghelt geven to jewelken verdendel jares enen pennyngh islik broder unde suster.’ ‘The brothers and sisters shall pay a periodic contribution of one penny quarterly.’

However, according to the 1406 statutes of the association of the baker and miller journeymen in the city of Offenburg, the same association which paid for the bed of a sick journeyman in a hospital,375 the periodic contribution had to be paid weekly:376 ___________ 374

Cited from Metger, Schmiedegesellen in Flensburg (1883), 16. In addition, see the source reproduced in Schanz, Geschichte der Gesellen-Verbände (1877), 268 (association of the furrier journeymen, Augsburg, 1574). 375 See p. 134, above. 376 Cited from Batzer, (1906/07) 34 Alemannia 98. In addition, see the source reproduced in Schanz, Geschichte der Gesellen-Verbände (1877), 177 (association of the miller and baker journeymen, Speyer, 1474).

138

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

‘Sú hant ovch berett vnd gedinget, welher brotbecker oder múller kneht zuo Offemburg dienet, der sol zuo jeglicher wochen geben ein helbeling in ir gemein bü(h)ssen, vnd welher vnder inen den wochhelbeling ließe ston vngerihtet vierzehen dage uff zwen pfening, der selbe brotbecker oder múller kneht ist verfallen sehs Stroßburger pfeninge; do von vellet dem schultheißen zuo Offemburg daz drittteil vnd die zwei teil in ir bühssen […].’ ‘It is also discussed and agreed that the baker and miller servants in Offenburg shall pay each week one Helbling [a half penny377] into their common box, and who has not paid the weekly Helbling for 14 days […] shall pay as fine six Strasbourg pennies of which one-third is due to the Schultheiß [office holder of the town] of Offenburg and two-thirds will go to their box.’

The admission fees and the periodic contributions could vary according to the journeyman’s income.378 And often the local authority received a certain portion of the admission fee as well as of the other sources of income.379 Furthermore, also with journeymen’s association there was the possibility to apportion special expenses between members if, for example, the existing funds were not sufficient to grant further loans to members in need.380 Finally, the 1683 statutes of the carpenter journeymen’s association in Berlin, Cölln, Friedrichswerder, and Dorotheenstadt show that charges, which sometimes had to be paid to master craftsmen’s guilds, may have also been due to journeymen associations:381 ‘Wenn ein LehrJunge lossgesprochen wirdt, So soll er in der Gesellen Lahde Einen Thaler zuerlegen schuldig seyn […].’ ‘When an apprentice is freed, he shall pay to the journeymen’s box one taler […].’

Already at the end of the 16th century, the painter, glazier, and saddler journeymen’s association in the city of Münster had introduced a mechanism for how journeymen paid their fees to their confraternity. Journeymen in their journeyman years did not themselves pay the confraternity. Rather, the master craftsmen deducted the fee from their salary, and the confraternity then collected the fees from the master craftsmen:382 ‘Kumpt ock ein fromt geselle wandern […] so sullen an de 2 gesellen, de hir lengest hebben gearbeitet, umme aerbeit gaen. Und so he arbeit kricht, dorven se em nicht

___________ 377 A. Suhle, Scherf, in: von Schrötter (ed.), Wörterbuch der Münzkunde (2nd edn., 1970), 594; Fengler/Gierow/Unger, Numismatik (3rd edn., 1982), s.v. Scherf, 430. 378 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 122. 379 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 121. 380 See the sources reproduced in Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 535 (association of the shoemaker journeymen, Riga, 1480); Jacobs, Urkundenbuch der Stadt Wernigerode (1891), 351 (association of the shoemaker and tanner journeymen, Wernigerode, 1458). In addition, see the discussion in Reininghaus, Entstehung der Gesellengilden (1981), 145. 381 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 346. 382 Cited from Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 344 f. In addition, idem, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 90.

II. Supporting journeymen and apprentices

139

schenken; […]. Und so vaken ein geselle arbeit kricht oft einen nien mester, dar he 14 dage di arbeidet, sal sin mester altit 12 [Pfennig] sinenthalven binnen holden. Und sodane ingeholdene gelt sal van den scheffern dat jar dorch angetekent und up guden mandach von ideren mester gevordert und in der geselenl bussen gelacht werden.’ ‘When a foreign journeyman [in his journeyman years] arrives [in Münster] […] then those two journeymen, who have worked here longest, shall look for work for him. And if he finds work then the two journeymen may not give him anything; […]. And if a journeyman finds work with a new master craftsman where he works for 14 days then the master shall retain twelve pennies on his behalf. And the sum which the master has withheld shall be registered throughout the year by the Schaffer [office holders of the guild] and shall be collected from each master craftsman on good Mondays and put into the box of the journeymen.’

It may be assumed that this mechanism was introduced in order to see that the journeymen did not travel on without having paid their fees to the journeymen’s association. Initially, there were no separate funds for financing each of the many functions of the associations. Instead, the generated income went into one fund and all expenses were paid out of it.383 However, in parallel to the equivalent development in master craftsmen’s guilds, a differentiation occurred. Journeymen’s association started to establish in the 14th and 15th centuries separate funds for their different functions, and they thus also established separate funds for their support schemes, e.g. separate death funds.384 There is one marked difference to the finances of master craftsmen’s guilds. With master craftsmen’s guilds, only their members had to pay the periodic contributions. Members of these guilds were primarily the master craftsmen, but journeymen and apprentices were also included. Where the latter contributed to the guilds’ funds, they also benefited from them. By contrast, with journeymen’s associations the master craftsmen were in some areas obliged to contribute to the associations’ funds without being a member and without benefiting from the funds.385 This was especially the case when these associations had separate funds for their support schemes. Fröhlich refers to examples from Hamburg (1473),386

___________ 383 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 143; Reininghaus, Entstehung der Gesellengilden (1981), 145. And see the source reproduced in Mone, (1865) 18 Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 24 (confraternity of the blacksmith and coppersmith journeymen, Freiburg, 1481). 384 Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 91. In addition, see the source reproduced in B. Schmidt, Frankfurter Zunfturkunden, vol. 2 (1914), 350 (association of the mason journeymen, Frankfurt, 1604). 385 Rauert, (1842) 1 Archiv für Geschichte, Statistik, Kunde der Verwaltung und Landesrechte der Herzogthümer Schleswig, Holstein und Lauenburg 79. 386 See Wehrmann, Älteren Lübeckischen Zunftrollen (1864), 154.

140

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

Frankfurt (1604),387 and Prague in today’s Czech Republic (1756).388 The statutes of the linen weavers’ guild in Münster stated in 1614:389 ‘Item solle auch ein neuer meister den semtlichen knechten 1/2 M. als 6 Sch. Münsterisch eins zu verrichten schuldig sein.’ ‘And a new master craftsman shall be liable to pay to all journeymen a half mark or six Münster shillings.’

The reference to a ‘neuer meister’ (‘new master craftsman’) suggests that it was a non-recurring admission fee which had to be paid when attaining the status of a master craftsman. The fee had to be paid to ‘semtlichen knechten’ (‘all journeymen’). This suggests that the fee benefited the entirety of the journeymen. Fröhlich argues that this was not a common practice. In some areas the master craftsmen did not contribute to the support and welfare schemes offered by journeymen’s associations. Fröhlich looks upon these contributions by master craftsmen as a forerunner of employers’ contributions to today’s social security schemes in Germany.390 Here again, it may be presumed that the master craftsmen’s contribution to the support schemes of journeymen’s associations developed from the fact that each master craftsman was initially obliged to support the journeymen who worked for him. e) Legal enforceability The answer to the question whether journeymen had an enforceable legal right against journeymen’s associations to receive support runs parallel to the corresponding answer for master craftsmen’s guilds. Initially, these associations were under only a moral obligation to support their members.391 And the observation that journeymen in need had no enforceable legal right for support is again closely linked to the extent of autonomy which such associations had. Associations often enacted internal regulations and claimed jurisdiction over internal matters. The extent of their autonomy and jurisdiction again differed regionally and developed over time.392 The jurisdiction of such associations is, for example, hinted at in the 1597 statutes of the smith journeymen’s associations in the city of Flensburg:393 ___________ 387

Reproduced in B. Schmidt, Frankfurter Zunfturkunden, vol. 2 (1914), 350. See Schreber, Sammlung verschiedener Schriften, vol. 8 (1761), 267. 389 Reproduced in Krumbholtz, Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 303. 390 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 122 f. 391 Ogris, Geschichte des Arbeitsrechts (2003), 600. 392 Krumbholtz, Einleitung, in: Gewerbe der Stadt Münster (1898), 92 f.; Reininghaus, Entstehung der Gesellengilden (1981), 89–108. 393 Cited from Metger, Schmiedegesellen in Flensburg (1883), 25. 388

II. Supporting journeymen and apprentices

141

‘Auch wirtt die gesellen hiemit anbefohlen dass sie Keinen gesellen sollen höger straffen alsse 8 ß oder in dass allerhögeste 12 ß nach dem die Verbrechen sein wass aber höger straff fehlig ist soll für dem Ambte gestrafet werden so gebühret dem Ambte die halbe straffe unnd die gesellen die helffte.’ ‘It is also ordered to the journeymen that they shall fine no journeyman higher than eight shillings and at the highest twelve shillings depending on the crime, however, if a higher fine is due, the journeyman shall be fined by the guild, and half of the fine goes to the guild and half of it goes to the journeymen.’

Autonomy combined with jurisdiction meant that it was in the hands of the journeymen’s associations to decide whether their members had an enforceable legal right to financial support. However, there is one text – the 1591 statutes of the journeymen’s confraternity of the wool, linen and trousers knitting crafts in the city of Freiburg – which may be interpreted as having introduced such a legal entitlement to support.394 4. Conclusion The conclusion presented above on the support offered by master craftsmen’s guilds to masters and their families395 holds equally true for the support offered by master craftsmen’s guilds, journeymen’s boxes, and journeymen’s confraternities to journeymen and apprentices: it cannot be characterized as insurance or pre-insurance.396 Financial support primarily took the form of a loan. It was a form of capacity building. At least until the 17th century, the establishment of separate boxes for the support of journeymen within master craftsmen’s guilds and the establishment of separate journeymen’s confraternities did not change the characterization of the support offered. Nevertheless, two aspects mirror Germany’s modern social security. First, also master craftsmen had sometimes to make contributions towards the support schemes benefiting journeymen and apprentices. And secondly, there is at least one example in which the journeymen’s contribution towards the journeymen’s box was deducted by the master craftsman from the journeyman’s wages and paid directly by the master craftsman into the journeymen’s box.

___________ 394

See p. 133, above. See pp. 96 ff., above. 396 By contrast, Schewe, Geschichte der sozialen Versicherung im Mittelalter (2000), 117–136, categorizes them as insurance. 395

142

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

III. Supporting miners and their families The mining profession developed in a different setting than the crafts.397 Whereas the crafts – and with them master craftsmen’s guilds and journeymen’s ___________ 397 On the following account, see Willecke, Bergrecht, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 1 (1980), 1957–1959; Jordan, Mansfelder Bergrevier (1905), 9–27; Eccardt, Historisch-dogmatische Studie zum Bergrecht (1907), 1–38; Greuer, (1962) 34 Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte70–156; Stetter, Geschichte der Knappschaftskrankenhäuser (1984), 1 f.; Lauf, Knappschaft (1994), 9–148; Rabenau, Das bayerische Knappschaftswesen (1909), 7–21; Metzner, Fürsorge im Bergbau (1911), 104 f.; Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 1–26; Wappler, (1901) 37 Mitteilungen vom Freiberger Altertumsverein 48–71; Löscher, (1956) 92 Blätter für deutsche Landesgeschichte 162–190; idem, (1954) 40 Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte (Kanonistische Abteilung) 223–238; idem, (1956) 42 Zeitschrift der SavignyStiftung für Rechtsgeschichte (Kanonistische Abteilung) 392–397; idem, (1956) 68 Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte (Germanistische Abteilung) 435–444; Lück, Bergrecht, Bergregal, in: Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 1 (2nd edn., 2008), 527–533; Wegener, Bergrecht: in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 1 (1971), 374–378; Boldt, Knappschaft, in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 2 (1978), 893–895; Pietsch, Knappschaftswesen in Elsaß-Lothringen (1911), 4; Hahnemann, Berg- und Salzordnungen (2005), 4–23; Schlüter, Preussisches Bergrecht (1928) 6–14; Hue, Bergarbeiter, vol. 1 (1910), passim; Mayer, Bergmännische Miscellaneen (1841), 9–11; Breithaupt, Bergstadt Freiberg (2nd edn., 1847), 270; Karwehl, Entwicklung und Reform des Knappschaftswesens (1907), 1–9; Todeskino, Knappschaften (1974), 3–19; Tenholt, Gesundheitswesen im Bereich des Allgemeinen KnappschaftsVereins (1897), 1–3; Wißmann, Entstehung und Entwicklung des deutschen Knappschaftswesens (1920), 4–8; idem, Entstehung und Entwicklung des Knappschaftsvereins (1918), 3–5; Zycha, (1900) 41 Zeitschrift für Bergrecht 445–470; Menzel, (1891) 32 Zeitschrift für Bergrecht 482–484, 504–509; Greve/Gratzel/Graf, Knappschaft als sozialer Pfadfinder (2010), 23–25; Kleeis, Geschichte der sozialen Versicherung (1928), 43–45; Bingener, Armenkasten oder Knappschaftsbüchse (2010), 52–59; idem, Bruderschaften und soziale Sicherheit (2010), 60–70; idem, Knappschaftswesen in Goslar (2012), 14–26; idem, Anfänge der knappschaftlichen Selbstverwaltung (2012), 45–64; Börner, (1924) 98 Jahrbuch für das Berg- und Hüttenwesen in Sachsen 57 f.; Schmoller, (1891) 15 Jahrbuch für Gesetzgebung, Verwaltung und Volkswirtschaft im Deutschen Reich 963–1029, especially 1015–1018; Hallauer, Knappschaftswesen und Wohlfahrtspflege (1922), 21–38; Fessner, Die märkische Knappschaft (2010), 177; Köhne, Die deutschen Knappschaftsvereine (1915), 5–10; Imbusch, Arbeitsverhältnis und Arbeiterorganisationen (1908), 17– 20, 124–127; idem, Das deutsche Knappschaftswesen (1910), 10–15; Dapprich, Entwicklung der Knappschaft (1979), 19–54; Moldt, Deutsche Stadtrechte (2009), 144–150; Ekker, Entwicklung des Bergrechts (1997), 46–92; K. Frölich, Goslaer Bergrechtsquellen (1953), 5–15; Ermisch, Das sächsische Bergrecht (1887), xxv–xcvii, cxx–clxiv; Ludwig, Aspekte der Arbeitsverfassung (1987), 11–35; Bergmann, Geschichte des rheinischen Versicherungswesens (1928), 38–42; Majer, Constitutiones Wenceslai II (1987), 51–81; Blaschke, Arbeitsverfassung im Freiberger Bergbau (1987), 83–95; Langer, (1931) 61 Mitteilungen des Freiberger Altertumsvereins 18–92; Frerich/Frey, Handbuch der Geschichte der Sozialpolitik, vol. 1 (1993), 12–15. See, furthermore, the contributions in Ingenhaeff/Bair (eds.), Bergbau und Recht (2007), passim; Willecke, Deutsche Bergge-

III. Supporting miners and their families

143

associations – first flourished in urban contexts, settlements for miners were often developed in rural areas specifically for the purpose of exploiting mines. These settlements may then have developed into towns, and they may have attained town privileges. As the result of a long and complicated development, the mining rights (Bergregal) were eventually held by the sovereigns of the different German principalities. At times, these sovereigns themselves exploited the mines. More regularly, they granted privileges to explore and exploit mines, reserving for themselves a certain share of the revenue flowing from the mine. In order to attract entrepreneurs to explore, establish, and operate mines and in order to attract miners to work in them, a number of privileges were offered to both groups, including special jurisdiction, tax privileges, and the right to use certain natural resources. Furthermore, from an early point sovereigns regulated the mining sector in detail, established public mining administrations, and passed corresponding legislation: the so-called Bergordnungen (mining acts). At first, different mining acts were introduced for each mine or each mining district, so that even within one principality legislation was fragmented. These mining acts regulated not only the mining sector but at times also related businesses, such as ironworks. Thus, whereas the development of the crafts was shaped by the concept of autonomy, the mining sector was early on shaped by state legislation. However, even though state legislation was seen in the mining sector much earlier than in the crafts, it is nevertheless contended that the mining sector, too, was first governed by customary law based on the autonomous customs of miners – and it was this customary law on which later state legislation relied. In a nutshell, the mining sector, its administration, and mining legislation saw, just like the crafts, a long and complex development with local and regional variations. Early on, miners established their own associations. Today, these miners’ guilds are usually referred to as Knappschaften. However, just like with master craftsmen’s guilds and journeymen’s association, the terms used in primary sources to denote miners’ guilds differed regionally: some sources, for example, referred to them as a Zunft.398 Nevertheless, miners’ guilds are more comparable to journeymen’s associations than to master craftsmen’s guilds,399 as both journeymen’s associations and miners’ guilds represented the side of the economically dependent workforce. However, this observation – that miners’ guilds represented the side of the economically dependent workforce – is true only towards the later end of the Middle Ages. In earlier times, mines were often exploited on ___________ setzgebung (1977), 15–76; Strelow, Landesherrschaft und Bergrecht (1997), passim; Ponfick, Geschichte der Sozialversicherung (1940), 20–25; Schewe, Geschichte der sozialen Versicherung im Mittelalter (2000), 110–116. 398 See the source reproduced in Wappler, (1901) 37 Mitteilungen vom Freiberger Altertumsverein 53 (miners’ guild, Freiberg, 1553). 399 Rohrbach, Versicherungsgeschichte Österreichs (1988), 67.

144

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

a small scale by miners working on their own account on a part-time basis. Furthermore, there is one marked difference between miners and journeymen. Whereas journeymen were at first usually unmarried and were at times even not permitted to marry,400 miners frequently had families. Consequently, miners’ guilds, just like master craftsmen’s guilds, had to address the problem of how to support the dependants of deceased members. The first miners’ association is said to have been the miners’ guild mentioned at the start of this study, which was established in 1260 at the Rammelsberg outside the city of Goslar;401 and also the 1280 mining act for Kuttenberg in today’s Czech Republic (Kutná Hora) is said to have made reference to Knappschaften. Apart from the fact that these associations existed – as they are mentioned in a small number of documents – not much is known about them. The 1260 association was connected to the church of St. Johannis outside Goslar, and this finding suggests that it was rather a religious confraternity. Its original statutes have survived. Even though there were references to miners’ confraternities already in the 13th century and even though the terms Knappe (referring to a miner) and Knappschaft had appeared already in the same century, some modern authors argue that Knappschaften as miners’ guilds only made their first appearance in the 16th century.402 It is argued that the term Knappschaft was used in earlier sources only to refer to the entirety of miners, without using it in the meaning of a separate guild or association. However, Art. 416 of the Mining Act for the silver mines in Schwaz in Tyrol banned guilds in the first decade of the 16th century,403 and this ban suggests that at least in Schwaz such guilds must have existed already in earlier times. However, the Act speaks of guilds (‘Zunften’) and confraternities (‘Bruderschaften’) of craftsmen. In conclusion, it is unclear whether Knappschaften in the meaning of miners’ guilds had existed already before the 16th century. Yet it is clear that in some German territories miners’ guilds appeared even later than the 16th century, in Westphalia, for example, only in the course of the 18th century. This late appearance is explainable on the basis of the late development of a large-scale mining sector in these territories. Thus, the development of miners’ associations, too, saw a long and complex development

___________ 400

See p. 110, above. See p. 15, above. 402 See, e.g., Menzel, (1891) 32 Zeitschrift für Bergrecht 505 f.; Dapprich, Entwicklung der Knappschaft (1979), 23. For Bohemia, Majer, Constitutiones Wenceslai II (1987), 68, dates the first miners’ guild to the middle of the 15th century. Similarly, Schwarz, Geschichte der deutschen Bergleute (1958), 72; Kraschewski, Das Spätmittelalter (2012), 303. In addition, Weizsäcker, Sächsisches Bergrecht in Böhmen (1929), 221; Löscher, (1956) 92 Blätter für deutsche Landesgeschichte 169–172. 403 Reproduced in Mernik, ‘Codex Maximilianeus’ (2005), 215. 401

III. Supporting miners and their families

145

with local and regional variances. These local and regional variances also concern the impact of the Reformation on the development of miners’ associations. Parallel to the scope of application of the mining acts, the miners’ guilds were at times not restricted to miners, but they may have covered workers in related businesses, such as ironworkers. At times, it was optional to join miners’ guilds. However, there are also examples of compulsory membership. The Silesian Mining Act of 1769 may serve as a late example:404 ‘Kein Schicht-Meister, Steiger oder Gewercke einen Berg-Arbeiter anlegen, […] welcher nicht seinen […] Matricul, daß er in der Knappschafts-Casse eingeschrieben, vorzeigen kan.’ ‘No shift-master, Steiger [title of a supervisor in the mines], or Gewerke [mining operation] may employ a miner […] who is not able to present his […] certificate of matriculation that he has enrolled in the guild box.’

In the crafts, compulsory membership was introduced by the statutes of the respective master craftsmen’s guilds or journeymen’s associations with the approval of the respective town authorities. In the mining sector, compulsory membership in miners’ guilds seems to have been introduced by the public mining acts. The Mining Act405 of the City of Goslar of 1538 may serve as another example. As transcribed by Gerhard Dapprich into modern German, it stated:406 ‘2) Zum anderen soll auch ein jeder alle Sonnabende den Pfennig in die Büchse geben bei Verlust der Arbeit.’ ‘2) Secondly, each one shall on each Saturday contribute a penny into the box, otherwise he will lose his employment.’

The box, which is mentioned in the provision, was that of the miners’ guild. Miners’ guilds, too, were poly-functional institutions serving numerous religious, social, and charitable functions. However, in the course of the development certain differentiations occurred, and here the development again exhibits parallels to that in the crafts. Further, miners’ associations and confraternities may have been established which existed alongside the miners’ guilds in order to serve specific functions. Furthermore, separate boxes for the support of members in need may have been established within guilds. It is said that the first such separate box was established in 1503 in Annaberg. However, historians assert that for a long time such separate boxes were rather the exception than the rule. Karl Rabenau analysed all of the Bavarian mining acts which were collected in ___________ 404 Revidirte Berg-Ordnung vor das Sourveraine Herzogthum Schlesien und vor die Graffschaft Glatz (1769), 37. On compulsory membership in miners’ guild, see, in addition, the discussion of Zycha, Das böhmische Bergrecht, vol. 1 (1900), 309. 405 On the characterization of the 1538 regulations, see p. 149, below. 406 Cited from Dapprich, Entwicklung der Knappschaft (1979), 36. Another example is mentioned by Bingener/Bartels/Fessner, Die große Zeit des Silbers (2012), 417.

146

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

the volume edited by Johann Georg von Lori in 1764,407 and Rabenau has identified evidence of only four such boxes in mining acts dating between 1548 and 1693.408 And one of these four references to guild boxes actually makes clear that it was not a separate box for the support of members in need, but that the moneys in that box were used to fund the different functions of the guild: the 1693 Instruction of Elector Maximilian II to the Administration of the Ironworks Gottesgab at the Fichtelberg in Franconia in the Duchy of Bavaria (Instruction Maximilian II. für den Bergverwalter zu Gottesgab am Fichtlberg). It stated:409 ‘[…] bey unserm Bergwerk zu Hohenaschau, löbl. Herkommen ist, das alle Arbeitsleut, von ihrem einnehmenden Verdienst, und damit sie in ihrer Arbeit desto mehr Glück und Segen haben mögen, ein gewisses, nemlich ab jedem Gulden 1 dn zu diesem Zihl und Ende in die darzu verordnete Büchsen, die Bruderbüchsen genannt, überlassen, das solches Geld alsdann, (wie es auch geschieht) theils ad pias causas, und jährliche Gottesdienst, theils aber für die in die Arbeit sich geschädigte, oder sonst arme Bergwerkspersonen angewendt werden solle: als wollen wir genädigst, daß diesem löbl. Brauch bey unserm Bergamt Fichtelberg ebenfalls nachgegangen werde. […] Und wann sich nun begäbe, daß jemands aus denen Arbeitsleuten in der Arbeit unvorsehens geschädigt, oder aber sonsten Krankheit oder anderer Gepresten halber, einiges Allmosen bedürftig seyn wurde; so hätte man einem solchen nach Gestalt der Umständ oder Noth, aus berührter Bruderbüchsen eine erkleckliche Beyhülf, wie es die Cassa erleidet, abfolgen, desgleichen auch jährlich einige gewisse Gottesdienst, nemlich am Tag Leonhardi, als der Hammerleut Patron, und am Tag St. Vicentii, als deren Holz- und Kohlewerksarbeiter Patron, halten zu lassen, und die darüber auf Priesterschaft und Kirchendiener ergehende Unkosten ebenfalls von solcher Bruderbüchsen abzustatten: doch also, daß sowohl Einnahm als Ausgab in ein ordentliches Register verzeichnet, jährlich eine ausführliche Rechnung hierüber abgelegt, und neben andern Bergwerksrechnungen zu unserm Generalbau-Directorio eingesandt werden solle.’ ‘[…] at our mine at Hohenaschau it is a commendable tradition that all workers pay, in order that they have greater fortune and blessing with their work, from their income a specific portion, that is from every gulden 1 dn., for this purpose and to this end into the thereto ordered box, called the brother box, so that such moneys should then (as it is actually practised) in part be used ad pias causas, and for annual services, but in part for those who have suffered injury at work or for other miners in need; and we wish graciously, that this commendable tradition will also be observed in our mining district Fichtelberg. […] And if it happens that somebody of the mine workers suffers from a work accident or that he is in need of alms due to another illness or due to any other pressures; then one may give to such person, depending on the circumstances and the need, from that brother box a considerable aid, depending on the state of the box; likewise it is possible to hold an annual service, specifically on St. Leonard’s day, as patron of the smiths, and on St. Vincent’s day, as patron of the woodworkers and coal miners; the costs for priests and sacristans shall also be covered by the brother box; yet, the income and the expenses have to be recorded in proper accounts, and annually they

___________ 407

von Lori, Sammlung des baierischen Bergrechts (München 1764). Rabenau, Das bayerische Knappschaftswesen (1909), 16 f. 409 Cited from von Lori, Sammlung des baierischen Bergrechts (München 1764), 531. 408

III. Supporting miners and their families

147

should be verified in detail, and they should, together with other accounts, be sent in to our Generalbau-Direktorio [office in the public mining administration].’

The 1693 Bavarian Instruction makes clear that the tradition of guild boxes had a long history in some mining districts – the instruction refers to Hohenaschau. The funds were used for the different functions of the guild:410 conducting annual services and supporting guild brothers in need. The miners’ guild was thus a poly-functional institution. In 1693, this tradition was extended to other Bavarian mining districts. However, this was not done by the autonomous choice of the respective guilds. Instead, a public instruction ordered the implementation of this tradition in other mining districts. And finally, it is noteworthy that members did not pay a fixed contribution that was the same for all members; rather, the contribution was calculated in accordance with each member’s income. For the city of Freiberg, Johannes Langer identifies already in the early 17th century a further differentiation which again runs parallel to developments in the crafts: separate boxes were established for the different kinds of support. In 1619, a separate miners’ associations had been established in Freiberg to take over the carrying out of funerals of guild brothers.411 In the crafts, master craftsmen were often involved in the administration of journeymen’s poor boxes. According to the 1693 Instruction, the guild accounts were audited by the public mining administration. The right of the public mining administration to audit guild accounts becomes apparent also from the 1669 Mining Act for the Electorate of Cologne (Allgemeine Bergordnung für sämmtliche churfürstliche Lande und Gebiete):412 ‘Die Aeltigste und Vorstehere der Knappschaft wie auch dero Schreiber sollen nach allemaliger Erledigung von Unserem Bergambt mit vorwissen Unseres Berghauptmanns erwöhlet, allda angenohmen und bestättiget werden. Deren Ambt und Befehl ist, daß sie der Knappschafft Intraden, wie die Nahmen haben mögen, von belegten und außgelehenen Gelderen woll beobachten und dahin sehen sollen, daß die jedesmahls fällige Zinßen zur rechter Zeit einkommen, was daran gefehlet, nebenst den wöchentlichen Büchsen-Pfenningen richtig alsobald durch dero Schreiber, wie auch die dargegen nötige Außgaben auff die Armen und was wegen dero Knappschaft sonsten zu bezahlen vorfallet, beschreiben und alles zu richtiger, untadehafftiger Rechnung setzen lassen, davon auch Quartalig dem Bergmeister, welcher die Auffsicht über der Knapschafft Intraden vornemblich hat, die Rechnungen einlieferen, welche dan so offt es begehret vor unserem Bergambt abgelegt werden solle.’ ‘The Ältesten and Vorsteher [office holders] of the miners’ guild as well as its clerk shall […] be elected, accepted, and confirmed by our Bergamt [office of the public

___________ 410 See Meltzer, Historia Schneebergensis Renovata (1716), 647, and also the discussion of a different example by Bingener, Das knappschaftliche Rechnungswesen (2012), 67 f. 411 Langer, (1931) 61 Mitteilungen des Freiberger Altertumsvereins 48 f. 412 Cited from Scotti, Sammlung der Gesetze, vol. 1/1 (1830), 330.

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

148

mining administration] with the knowledge of our Berghauptmann [office holder of the public mining administration]. Their function and order is that they shall monitor the guild’s incomes, whatever name they have, of occupied and loaned moneys and that they shall see that every time the due interest is paid on time, and what is missing, next to the weekly box pennies, that the clerk records everything, as well as the necessary expenses on the poor and what else has to be paid for with respect to the miners’ guild, and that he puts everything correctly and impeccably into the accounts, and quarterly he has to deliver the accounts to the Bergmeister [office holder of the public mining administration], who supervises the income of the guild, which [the accounts] then will be handed over to the Bergamt as often as it wants this to be done.’

However, it was not only the guilds who had funds for the support of miners in need. The operators of mines, too, established such funds for supporting especially sick miners. The development of the mining sector, the mining laws, and the history of miners’ guilds have been well researched. However, modern research on the mining sector has a different focus than that on the history of the crafts. First, whereas there is only one study focusing on the support offered by craft guilds to members in need – that is the aforementioned monograph authored by Fröhlich413 – there is rich literature focusing on the historical development of the support schemes established by miners’ guilds. Yet this research routinely highlights only the institutional continuity between early Knappschaften and those of the 19th century without analysing in detail the support which they offered to their members in their early history. Secondly, just like the research on the history of crafts, primary sources have been collected, edited, and published. However, whereas with the crafts it is the guild statutes which have been edited and published, with the mining sector it is primarily the public mining acts which have been collected and published. There are only very few modern works reproducing the statutes of miners’ guilds. And that is one reason why modern literature is rather unspecific when it comes to describing the early forms of support offered by miners’ guilds. Furthermore – and this links to the aforementioned dispute as to when it is possible to speak of Knappschaften in the sense of miners’ guilds – the first known statutes of a miners’ guild are said to be those of the miners’ guild at the Rammelsberg outside the city of Goslar, and these statutes date to 1538. Thus, the first surviving statutes of miners’ guilds date much later than the first surviving statutes of craft guilds. Yet even these statutes are not autonomous statutes enacted by the guild itself; rather, they were enacted by the city of Goslar. HansJoachim Kraschewski characterizes them as a public mining act, but nevertheless argues that they have to be described as guild statutes (‘[…] verkündete der Rat

___________ 413

See pp. 26 ff., above.

III. Supporting miners and their families

149

1538 eine Bergordnung, die wohl eher als Knappschaftsordnung zu bezeichnen ist’).414 1. Forms of support offered by operators of mines In the crafts, master craftsmen were often obliged to care for sick journeymen whom they employed.415 Consequently, journeymen’s associations – at least in theory – only had to offer support in cases where the obligation of a master craftsman to care for the sick journeymen did not apply. However, the details of the master craftsmen’s obligation to care for their journeymen are rather unspecific. By contrast, in the mining sector, many – but by far not all416 – mining acts started to regulate in the 16th century the respective obligation in detail. Accordingly, operators of mines had to support miners in the event of work accidents.417 Part II, Art. 85 of the 1548 Mining Act for the Free Royal Mine St. Joachimsthal

___________ 414 Kraschewski, Arbeitsverfassung des Goslarer Bergbaus (1987), 288. In addition, see Dapprich, Entwicklung der Knappschaft (1979), 32; Bingener, Knappschaftswesen in Goslar (2012), 24. 415 See pp. 110 ff., above. 416 See, e.g., for the Electorate of Cologne: Bergwerks-Ordnung für das Churfürstenthum Cöln of 1533, reproduced in: Scotti, Sammlung der Gesetze, vol. 1/1 (1830), 36–42; Bergordnung of 1559, reproduced in: ibid., 77–123. For the Margraviate BrandenburgBayreuth/Brandenburg-Kulmbach: Die New gegebene Bergkfreyheit uber die Vichtelbergischen Ertzgebirge (Zwickau 1550). For the Principality of Palatine Zweibrücken: Berckordnung, wie es uff unser Wolffgangs von Gottes gnaden Pfaltzgrave bey Rhein, … Silber, Kupffer, Bley, und Quecksilber Berckwercken inn unserm Fürstenthumb Zweybrücken gehalten werden solle (Laugingen 1565). For Saxony: Schneeberger Bergordnung of 1472, reproduced in Löscher, Das erzgebirgische Bergrecht, vol. 2/1 (2003), 180–182; Schneeberger Bergordnung of 1477, reproduced in ibid., vol. 2/1 (2003), 284– 291; Bergordnung für Altenburg und Geising of 1489, reproduced in ibid., vol. 2/2 (2005), 235–238; Abdrück etzlicher Artickel: damit Der Durchleuchtigst Hochgeborene Fürst vnd Herr Augustus Hertzog zu Sachsen … Seiner Churfürstlichen Gnaden Bergkordnung … jtzo von Newem hat erkleren vormehren vnd vorbessern lassen (Dresden 1571); BergkOrdenung / des … Fürsten und Herrn /Herrn Christianen / Hertzogen zu Sachssen (Dresden 1589). For Saxe-Weimar: Berckordnung (Jena 1575). See, furthermore, Ingenhaeff, Anspruch kranker und verletzter Bergleute (2003), 97. Finally, Zimmer, Ostalpine Bergrechtsaufzeichnungen (2006), passim, does not mention any corresponding obligation for the Eastern Alps in the Middle Ages. 417 On the following account, see Menzel, (1891) 32 Zeitschrift für Bergrecht 507–509; Imbusch, Das deutsche Knappschaftswesen (1910), 15–17; Thielmann, Geschichte der Knappschaftsversicherung (1960), 22–24; Benseler, Geschichte Freibergs, vol. 2 (1853), 1173; Ponfick, Geschichte der Sozialversicherung (1940), 20 f.; Langer, (1932) 62 Mitteilungen des Freiberger Altertumsvereins 70 f.; Ebel, Arbeitsvertragsrecht im Mittelalter (1934), 87; Dapprich, Entwicklung der Knappschaft (1979), 22–24; Greuer, (1962) 34 Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte 129.

150

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

in today’s Czech Republic (Jáchymov), then part of the Kingdom of Bohemia under Habsburg rule, made clear:418 ‘Und so ein Arbeiter inn der Gruben / oder an anderer der Gewercken arbeit / an glidmassen / arm / oder beyn brechen / oder der gleichen fellen schaden nimmet / So sol demselben von der Zechen / ob die fündig were / acht wochen das lohn / vnd das Artzgelt volgen / Aber auff andern Zechen / die da nicht fündig / sondern mit zupuss gebawet werden / die sollen dem Arbeiter vier wochen sein lohn / vnd das artzgelt entrichten.’ ‘And when a worker in the mine / or when doing other works / breaks his limbs / arm / or leg / or if he suffers from a similar injury / then the mine / if it is already exploited / shall pay him his wages for eight weeks / and also the costs of the doctor / but with other mines / which are not as yet exploited / but which are still being built / they shall pay him his wages for four weeks / and they shall give him the costs of the doctor.’

A similar provision was known throughout Germany, as the Mining Act of 1686 for both Counties of Schwarzburg proves. It contained a provision which was nearly identical, both in content and in wording, to that of the 1548 Mining Act for Joachimsthal:419 ‘Und so ein Arbeiter in der Gruben oder an ander der Gewercken Arbeit, an Gliedmassen, Arm- und Bein-Brüchen oder dergleichen Fällen Schaden bekömt, So sol demselben von der Zechen, da die fündig wäre, Acht Wochen das Lohn und das ArtzGeld folgen, Aber auff andern Zechen die da nicht fündig, sondern mit Zubusse gebauet werden, die sollen dem Arbeiter Vier Wochen seinen Lohn nebst dem ArtzGelde entrichten.’ ‘And when a worker in the mine or when doing other works suffers injury to his limbs, arm- and leg-fractures, or like cases, then the mine shall, if it is already exploited, pay him his wages for eight weeks and also the costs of the doctor, but with other mines, which are not as yet exploited, but which are still being built, they shall pay him his wages for four weeks and they shall give him the costs of the doctor.’

Even though there are examples of a widespread and uniform practice in the 16th and 17th centuries, there were also some variations. The 1542 Mining Act for Hangenstein stated in Art. 103:420 ___________ 418 Bergkordnung des freyen königlichen Bergkwercks Sanct Joachimsthal / sambt anderen umbligenden und eingeleibten Silberbergkwercken (Zwickau 1548). The 1541 Mining Act for St. Joachimsthal included a similar provision in Part II, Art. 84: F.A. Schmidt, Sammlung der Berggesetze, vol. 1 (1832), 265. 419 Reproduced in Herthum, Sammlung der bergrechtlichen Vorschriften (1866), 78. In addition, Art. 83 of the Hennebergische Bergordnung of 1566 (reproduced in Lingelbach, Henneberger Bergordnung (2002), 92; Brassert, Berg-Ordnungen der Preussischen Lande (1858), 282); Art. 14 of the Neue Berg-Ordnung des Eisslebisch- und Mansfeldischen Bergwercks of 1673 (reproduced in Brassert, Berg-Ordnungen der Preussischen Lande (1858), 725). See, furthermore, the discussion in Schmoller, (1891) 15 Jahrbuch für Gesetzgebung, Verwaltung und Volkswirtschaft im Deutschen Reich 1016; Hue, Bergarbeiter, vol. 1 (1910), 289. 420 Cited from F.A. Schmidt, Sammlung der Berggesetze, vol. 1 (1832), 358.

III. Supporting miners and their families

151

‘Und wo ein Arbeiter in der Gruben, oder anderer Arbeith an Gliedmaasen, Arm, oder Peinbrüchen, oder dergleichen Fehler Schaden niembt, so sollen demselben von der Zechen (ob sie findig) iv Wochen sein Lohn und das Arztgeld folgen, aber in andern Zechen die nicht findig, sondern mit Zubuße erbauet werden, die sollen dem Schadhafften xiv. Tag sein Lohn und das Arztgeld darzu geben, und erstattet werden.’ ‘And if a miner suffers injury to his limbs, arm, or fractures his leg, or suffers damage in any other way while working in the mine or while conducting other works, then the mine shall (if it is already exploited) pay him his wages for four weeks as well as the costs of the doctor, but in other mines, which are not as yet exploited, but which are still being built, they shall pay and reimburse him his wages for 14 days and the costs of the doctor.’

And the 1564 Mining Act for the Electorate of Trier (Churtriersche BergOrdnung) simply held that the miner was entitled to his wages for four weeks and to free medical care, without distinguishing between mines which were already exploited and those which were not.421 Nevertheless, the wording of the provision was still nearly identical compared to the other examples:422 ‘Vnd so ein Arbeiter inn der Gruben, oder an denen gewercken arbeit, an glidtmass, Arm oder Bein brechen, vnd dergleichen fellen schaden nimpt, so soll demselbigen arbeiter vier Wochen sein Lohn vnnd das Artztgelt dazu entrichtet werden.’ ‘And if a worker in the mine or when doing other works, fractures a limb, arm or leg, or in like cases suffers damages, then the mine shall pay him for four weeks his wages and also the costs of the doctor.’

The General Mining Act for all Territories of the Electorate of Cologne (Allgemeine Bergordnung für sämmtliche churfürstliche Lande und Gebiete) of 1669 exhibits further variations:423 ‘So ein Arbeiter etwan nach Schickung deß gerechten Gottes in der Gruben Schaden nehmen, Arm oder Bein brechen oder sonst an seinen Gliedmassen verwundet würde, soll solches von dem Steiger dem Bergmeister angemeldet und der Patient so fort zu dem Chirurgo bracht, von deme er auff den Gewercken Kosten wider geheilet werden solle. Wir lassen es auch genädigst darbey bewenden […] und wollen daß dem armen Patienten biß er wider genesen sein halber Wochenlohn auff der Zechen da er den Schaden genohmen geschrieben und gefolget werde, solte sich dan begeben, daß ein armer Patient an seinen Gliedmassen also verletzet und keine Hoffnung daß er sich selbst noch den armen seinigen ihr Stück Brod erwerben sondern im Elend sein Leben zupringen müßte, soll ihme, wan der Chirurgus nichts mehr mit seiner Kunst oder Cur

___________ 421 Further examples are discussed by Weizsäcker, Sächsisches Bergrecht in Böhmen (1929), 227 f. 422 Cited from Brassert, Berg-Ordnungen der Preussischen Lande (1858), 173. Similarly, Art. 49 of the Homburgische (Sayn-Wittgensteinsche) Bergordnung of 1570, reproduced in ibid., 329; Ordnung für das Bleibergwerk zu Freyung und andere Ort im gemeinsch. Amt Parkstein und Weyden of 1619, reproduced in Rabenau, Das bayerische Knappschaftswesen (1909), 16. 423 Cited from Scotti, Sammlung der Gesetze, vol. 1/1 (1830), 390–392.

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

152

an ihme vorträgliches schaffen kan, eine wöchentliche Steur aus der Knapschaft im Bergambt verordnet werden und dagegen auff den Zechen das Lohn ferner schreiben zu lassen cessiren, wan aber ein Bergman einen Schaden bekäme und er solchen anfangs nit zu rechter Zeit curiren lassen, da ihme mit geringen Mittelen und in kurzer Zeit widerumb vorzukommen, wovon Bergmeister und Geschworne nichts wissen, daß er in der Gruben oder Unser und der Gewercken Arbeit sonsten geschehen, deme soll kein Artzlohn noch Gnadengelt von der Zechen und Knappschaft zu statten kommen.’ ‘When a miner through the act of the righteous God suffers damages in the mine, fractures arm or leg or receives other injury to his limbs, then the Steiger [title of a supervisor in the mines] shall give notice to the Bergmeister [official in the public mining administration] and the patient shall be brought immediately to a surgeon, who shall cure him at the expense of the Gewerke [mining operation]. We leave it graciously thereby […] and wish that the poor patient will receive, until he has again recovered, half of his weekly wages from the mine in which he has suffered the damage […], if it then happens that the poor patient has suffered injury to his limbs in such a way that there is no hope that he will earn his bread for himself and for his family, but that he will spend his life in misery, then he shall, when the surgeon cannot do any benefit more for him with his art and practise, receive a weekly tax from the miners’ guild in the mining district […], but when a miner suffers damage and if he does not let it cure at the right time, when he could have recovered with little means and in short time, and when the Bergmeister and the Geschworene [office holders of the guild] do not know that in the mine or at other works [such incident] has happened, he shall not receive the costs for the doctor nor the Gnadengeld [mercy pay] from the mine and the miners’ guild.’

Thus, the miner was obliged to attend a surgeon early on to have himself treated and to notify the public mining administration. Otherwise he forfeited his rights against the mine operator and the miners’ guild. Even though the sick pay was regulated differently in the 1669 Act compared to other mining acts of the time, it is clear that the medical costs had to be covered by the mine. And indeed, it is contended that this position was shared throughout Germany.424 With respect to sick pay, the Act does not specify a fixed time period within which it was paid. Rather, the miner received the sick pay until he was cured or until it was clear that he was incurable. Furthermore, the miner did not receive as sick pay his full wages, but only half of his full wages. Finally, the act made explicit that the miner received help from the guild box once the employer was not any longer obliged to provide sick pay. With respect to the costs of a funeral, the same mining act stated:425 ‘Wann nach dem unwandelbaren Willen Gottes ein Bergmann in den Gruben bey Unser und der Gewercken Arbeit durch wunderlich sich dabey gegebene Fälle sein Leben einbüsset, […] man soll daran seyn den Corper […] zu bestatteten, solche Begräbnuß-Kösten nun soll die Zeche allwo sich dieser Unglücks Fall begeben abzustatten schüldig seyn, und soll dargegen eine ehrliche Begräbnuß mit einer Leichpredig und vollem Geleute verrichtet werden, nicht aber armen Wittiben und

___________ 424 425

Rabenau, Das bayerische Knappschaftswesen (1909), 18–20. Cited from Scotti, Sammlung der Gesetze, vol. 1/1 (1830), 391.

III. Supporting miners and their families

153

Weisen das geringste mehr darüber abzuforderen sich jemands unterstehen solle. Wan aber ein schadhaffter Bergman, der von dem vermachten Gnadengelt leben muß, stirbt und so viel nit hinterlasset daß er zur Erden davon bestattet werden kan, […] sollen dero Behueff nach Gelegenheit 2 oder 3 Gülden zum Begräbnuß paßirt […] werden.’ ‘When according to the immutable will of God a miner dies in the mine due […] to an incident while working for us and for the mining operation, […] then his body […] shall be buried […], and the costs of the funeral shall be covered by the mine where the accident has happened, and it shall perform an honest funeral with a funeral sermon and full ringing of the bells, but nobody shall dare to claim from the poor widow or the orphans the smallest contribution towards the costs. When, however, an incapacitated miner, who has to live from the mercy pay [Gnadengeld], dies without leaving enough behind to bury him, […] then two gulden shall be contributed towards the funeral costs […].’

In conclusion, the public mining acts started to make explicit in the 16th century that the operators of mines were obliged to support miners. They had to offer sick pay, they had to cover the medical expenses, and they had to cover funeral costs. However, they were only under the obligation to do so if the miner suffered from a work-related accident or if he died at work. To the eyes of a modern lawyer, this is not insurance. The miner did not pay a premium to receive these benefits. And there was no extra contract of insurance. Instead, the mine operators’ obligations seem to have simply followed by force of law from the employment relationship. Consequently, a modern lawyer would categorize this support as belonging to labour law.426 Nevertheless, it is important to detail this kind of support in the present context as the need for miners’ guilds to step in and support members in need existed only where the members did not receive support from the operators of mines. The mine operators’ obligation to offer sick pay and to cover medical expenses is first made explicit in mid-16th century mining acts. This raises the question of whether this obligation was first introduced by these mining acts. Adolf Menzel, Adolf Zycha, and Helmut Bräuer believed that it was, indeed, introduced only in the 16th century.427 Zycha argued with respect to Bohemia that the obligation was first acknowledged because the miners had established powerful miners’ guilds.428 And he asserted that the different forms of support offered by miners’ guilds predate the mine operators’ obligation to offer sick pay. However, it seems more likely that these acts only replicated – and perhaps specified – pre___________ 426 On labour law in the mining sector in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period, see the comparative contributions in Ludwig/Sika (eds.), Bergbau und Arbeitsrecht (1987), passim. 427 Menzel, (1891) 32 Zeitschrift für Bergrecht 508; Zycha, Das böhmische Bergrecht, vol. 1 (1900), 310; Bräuer, Armut in Bergstädten (2004), 235. 428 In addition to Zycha, see Varnas, Die Knappschaften als Vorbilder (1947), 50. On the characterization of Knappschaften, see Bräuer, Armut in Bergstädten (2004), 229– 235.

154

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

existing customs. It is striking that this obligation appeared within a short period of time in a number of different mining acts from different regions: St. Joachimsthal 1548, Trier 1564, Henneberg 1566, and Homburg 1570. The provisions are phrased nearly identically, and this suggests that the respective drafters knew of the other mining acts.429 However, it seems unlikely that the different legislators would have been able to introduce such a far-reaching obligation if it was not based on pre-existing local or regional customs. At the most, the different legislators may have endorsed and specified pre-existing local or regional customs, and this may explain the slight variances which appear in the mining acts. Furthermore, it has become apparent that a similar custom existed in the crafts, and the laws of the city of Hamburg of 1270 phrased the employers’ obligation to pay and care for employees who suffered from an accident or illness in general terms:430 ‘Is een man in enes mannes deneste, vunde schut eme wat van vngelucke an syneme lyue ofte an siner sunt in sines heren deneste, de here schal is blyuen ane schaden unde ane schult. Mer he schal eme geuen syn vulle lon, edder mer ofte he wil.’ ‘If a man is in the service of another man and if he suffers a misfortune to his body or to his health while being so in the service of his master, then the master shall have the damage and liability. And he shall give him the full wages and more if he needs.’

Finally, the assumption, that the mine operators’ obligation to offer sick pay and other benefits to miners who had suffered injury in a mine had already existed before it was included in the 16th-century mining acts is supported by a complaint of the miners at Altenberg addressed to the Duke of Saxony dating from1494:431 ‘Auch clagen wir e.f.g., wen eyn armer geselle schaden nymmet in der gruben, so daß er vellet ader der bergk slecht, so wollen dy zciner eynem nichts geben noch rechen lassn von derselbigen zcechen, da er schaden hat genommen, als auf andern bergkwerken gewonheit ist. Das setzen wir in e.f.g. zu erkennen, ab es billich ader nicht billich sey.’ ‘We also complain to Eure Fürstlich Gnaden [your princely grace], when a poor miner suffers injury in the mine […], then the tin mine does not want to give anything […] from the mine, where he suffered injury, as it is custom with other mines. This is what we put in Eure Fürstliche Gnaden to determine, whether this is just or not just.’

The miners did not specify what forms of support they wished to receive from the mine operator in the event of a work accident. However, they made explicit that support offered by mine operators for work accidents was customary in other mines already in the late 15th century. Perhaps, in the course of the 16th century, these customs were included in public mining legislation because complaints, as ___________ 429

See in general Greuer, (1962) 34 Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte 70 f. See pp. 110 ff., above. 431 Cited from Löscher, Das erzgebirgische Bergrecht, vol. 2/2 (2005), 410. 430

III. Supporting miners and their families

155

raised by the miners of Altenberg, were becoming more common. Finally, the 1553 Act for the Tin Mine in Altenberg and Geising (Landesherrliche Zinnbergordnung für den Altenberg und Geising) explicitly refers to a pre-existing custom:432 ‘Do auch irgendt einer an solcher der gewercken arbeit schaden nimbt, sollen sich die gewercken mit dem artztlohn, wie vor alters auch gutwillig erzeigen.’ ‘Where somebody suffers injury from working in the mine, the mine operator shall willingly offer him the “doctor’s wages” as from time immemorial.’

A miner received the Arztlohn only after having suffered from a work accident. Arztlohn literally translates as doctor’s wages. The most obvious interpretation is that, according to the 1553 Act, the miner had only a right to free medical treatment by a doctor. According to other acts of the time, a miner also had a right to sick pay. 2. Forms of support offered by miners’ guilds The statutes of the St. Johannis confraternity which was established in 1260 at the Rammelsberg outside the city of Goslar433 had already mentioned as one of its functions that miners in need as well as their dependants were to be supported. Dapprich has transcribed the letter of approval by the Bishop of Hildesheim into modern German:434 ‘Deshalb bestätigen wir, geneigt den Bitten unserer geliebten Mitbrüder in Christo von der Kirche des heiligen Johannes des Täufers außerhalb der goslarschen Mauern am Fuße des Berges, der Rammelsberg genannt wird, im Namen des Herrn die Bruderschaft, die sie selbst ebendort, aufgerufen vom Geist der göttlichen Liebe, zur Hilfe für die Armen und Schwachen, die durch die Arbeit in dem besagten Berg von körperlicher Hinfälligkeit und materieller Not bedrängt sind, heilsam zusammengebracht haben, und stärken diese durch den Schutz des gegenwärtigen Schreibens, indem wir strikt verbieten, daß sich jemand anmaßt, die sogeartete Bruderschaft erheblich zu stören.’ ‘For that reason we acknowledge, inclined to the request of our beloved brothers in Christ of the Church of St. John the Baptist outside the walls of the city of Goslar at the foot of the mountain, which is called Rammelsberg, in the name of the Lord the confraternity, which has brought them beneficially together at that same place, called by the spirit of divine love, to the help of the poor and weak, who are pressed by infirmity and material need through the work at the same mountain, and strengthen them through the protection of the present letter, as we strictly prohibit that anyone will intervene with the said confraternity.’

___________ 432

Cited from Löscher, Das erzgebirgische Bergrecht, vol. 2/3 (2009), 300. See p. 144, above. 434 Dapprich, Entwicklung der Knappschaft (1979), 29. 433

156

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

However, the letter does not specify the forms of support. Starting in the 16th century, a number of public mining acts made explicit that miners’ guilds offered support to members in need. They discussed guild support from three perspectives. First, they mentioned guild support being applicable as subsidiary help when the mine operators were not – or no longer – obliged to offer sick pay and to cover medical expenses. This was the context in which the already cited provision from the 1669 Mining Act for the Electorate of Cologne discussed the support offered by miners’ guilds.435 That Act, as well as the above-cited 1693 Instruction of Elector Maximilian II to the Administration of the Ironworks Gottesgab, discussed guild support also from a second perspective: they mentioned that the public mining administration had to audit the guilds’ accounts.436 However, in both contexts these acts remained rather unspecific when it comes to defining the different forms of guild support. The same is true for the third context in which mining acts regulated miners’ guilds and their boxes: they ordered how much a miner had to pay into the guild box. Yet here again, the mining acts did not make explicit the different forms which support could take. The 1564 Mining Act for the Electorate of Trier (Churtriersche Berg-Ordnung), for example, made clear that each miner had to pay into the box a certain sum per week.437 The shift master was ordered to deduct the sum from the wages and pay it over to the box. Furthermore, the mine operators were obliged to give one percent of the mined ore for the benefit of the box. The collected funds were used for the benefit of poor members, but also for the benefit of poor non-members. Finally, the Act contained provisions on the management of the funds. Also the 1619 Ordinance for the Lead Mines in Freyung and other Places in the Joint Department of Parkstein and Weiden (Ordnung für das Bleibergwerk zu Freyung und andere Ort im gemeinsch. Amt Parkstein und Weyden) simply ordered that miners had to pay the so-called box penny (Büchsenpfennig) for the support of poor and frail miners.438 Here as well, the Ordinance did not specify what forms support took. Nevertheless, it is clear that legislators early on intervened when it came to the question of how to use the funds. In the Mining Act for Marienberg, dating from 1521, the Duke of Saxony made explicit:439 ___________ 435

See p. 151, above. See pp. 146 ff., above. 437 Reproduced in Brassert, Berg-Ordnungen der Preussischen Lande (1858), 172– 174. Similarly, Zinnbergordnung für Eibenstock und die schwarzenbergischen Wälder of 1534, reproduced in Löscher, Das erzgebirgische Bergrecht, vol. 2/3 (2009), 165; Kurfürstlich sächsische Bergordnung und Bergfreiheit für Platten of 1535, reproduced in ibid., vol. 2/3 (2009), 214; Landesherrliche Bestätigung des Büchsenpfennigs der Knappschaft zu Marienberg of 1540, reproduced in ibid., vol. 2/3 (2009), 238 f. 438 Reproduced in Rabenau, Das bayerische Knappschaftswesen (1909), 16. 439 Cited from Löscher, Das erzgebirgische Bergrecht, vol. 2/3 (2009), 89. 436

III. Supporting miners and their families

157

‘Fur das ander, so zceygt er an, das die knapschaft alle ire puchsenpfennig auf die neuen stat zur kirchen wenden. Dorauf wir ime diese meynung haben sagen lassen, das die knapschaft ire puchsenpfennig dem bergkmeister, geswornen und eldisten einlegen sollen, bis wir weytern bevelh darinne thun.’ ‘Secondly, he [the Bergmeister, an office holder in the public mining administration] reports that the miners’ guild uses all its box pennies for the church of the new town.[440] Thereupon we told him this opinion that the miners’ guild shall transfer their box pennies to the Bergmeister, the Geschworene, and the Älteste [office holders of the miners’ guild] until we give further order on the matter.’

And the mining administration, too, seemed to have intervened on how to spend the funds collected by the miners’ guilds. In 1525, for example, the miners’ guild of Annaberg demanded from the public mining administration that certain funds should be used to benefit poor guild members rather than funding three priests:441 ‘Dieweyle der mehrere teyl aus der knapschaft gesessener burger sein, begeren sie, das ein erbar rat wolle vorschaffen, das hinfurder in der capellen nicht mehr dan ein priester gehalten werde, und die andern zwene enturlauben, und das die kosten, so die zwene gestanden, forthin in einen gemaynen casten enthalden werde und davon armen vortorbenen leuten aus der knapschaft iren ziemlichen enthalt gegeben werde.’ ‘As most members of the miners’ guild are citizens, they demand that the honourable council [presumably the town council] shall see that no more than one priest is henceforth engaged in the chapel and that the two others will be suspended, and that the costs, which had been spent on the two, will from now on be paid into the common box and that therefrom poor […] people of the miners’ guild receive their support.’

However, the text leaves room for interpretation: it is not made explicit that the funds from which the two priests were paid actually came from the guild box.442 Furthermore, town councils were usually not involved in the administration of guild funds. Perhaps the miners’ guild simply demanded from the town that certain town funds be used for the benefit of poor guild members since guild members were, as pointed out by the text, town citizens. In conclusion, the mining acts were often silent on the exact forms of support.443 Some sources only made explicit the process of how a respective decision was reached. Hermann Löscher, for example, reproduces the manuscript of the

___________ 440 Marienberg was founded as a city in 1521 and received its town privileges in 1523. The town privileges are reproduced in Löscher, Das erzgebirgische Bergrecht, vol. 2/3 (2009), 113–115. 441 Cited from Löscher, Das erzgebirgische Bergrecht, vol. 2/3 (2009), 120. 442 See the earlier discussion on p. 108, above. 443 See, furthermore, the Bericht des Bergmeisters Hans Rulinck, der Berggeschworenen und Knappschaftsältesten zu Annaberg an Herzog Georg von Sachsen, dating around 3 June 1525, reproduced in Löscher, Das erzgebirgische Bergrecht, vol. 2/3 (2009), 126–129.

158

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

work ‘Freiberger Berggebräuche’ (Mining Customs of Freiberg), which was authored by Simon Bogner in the second half of the 16th century:444 ‘Büxsenpfenning werden getreulichen eingebracht und gesamblet und den armen außgespendet, wie es der bergkmeister, geschworne, zechmeister und eltesten der knapschaft eintrechtig erkennen und beschließen. Ob sie sich aber eintrechtigk nicht entschließen künten, gehet’s nach der meisten stimme, […].’ ‘Box pennies shall be honestly paid and collected and given to the poor, as the Bergmeister, the Geschworene, the Zechmeister, and the Älteste of the guild [different office holders of the public mining administration and the guild] unanimously determine and decide […]. When they cannot reach unanimity, then the majority of votes will decide, […].’

The decision on how to spend the collected funds on poor miners was not solely in the hands of the miners’ guild. The mining administration was also involved in reaching this decision. Even though many early modern mining acts remained rather unspecific when it comes to defining the different forms of guild support, there are some indications that the support ran – to a certain extent – parallel to that offered by masters’ guilds and journeymen’s associations in the crafts. a) Granting repayable loans Modern literature claims that also with miners’ guilds the primary form of financial support was at first a loan.445 Article 9 of the 1518 statutes of the miners’ confraternity in Altenberg stated:446 ‘Item so einer krank würde oder Schaden an dem Berge nähme und nicht in Vermögen wäre, sich zu erhalten, dem soll man leihen einen Gulden oder mehr. Dafür soll er den Ältesten einen Vorstand [= Bürgen] machen, auf Zeit wieder einzukommen. So Gott über ihn gebeut und [er] nicht allzuviel vermöchte, sollen die Bürgen ungemahnt sein und [er] soll ganz quitt sein.’

___________ 444

Cited from Löscher, Das erzgebirgische Bergrecht, vol. 1 (1959), 153. Löscher, (1956) 92 Blätter für deutsche Landesgeschichte 176; idem, (1956) 42 Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte (Kanonistische Abteilung) 394; Wilsdorf, Geschichte der erzgebirgischen Bergbrüderschaften (1986), 6; Hue, Bergarbeiter, vol. 1 (1910), 293; Lahmeyer, (1861) Zeitschrift für das Berg-, Hütten- und Salinenwesen im Deutschen Reich 306; Menzel, (1891) 32 Zeitschrift für Bergrecht 508 f.; Bingener, Armenkaste oder Knappschaftsbüchse (2010), 58; idem, Das knappschaftliche Rechnungswesen (2012), 67; Weizsäcker, Sächsisches Bergrecht in Böhmen (1929), 227; Schewe, Geschichte der sozialen Versicherung im Mittelalter (2000), 114. And see Thielmann, Geschichte der Knappschaftsversicherung (1960), 16 f.; Imbusch, Das deutsche Knappschaftswesen (1910), 13; Bingener/Bartels/Fessner, Die große Zeit des Silbers (2012), 418. 446 Cited from Löscher, (1954) 40 Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte (Kanonistische Abteilung) 227 (square brackets added in the German original by Löscher). 445

III. Supporting miners and their families

159

‘And if somebody falls ill or suffers damage at the mountain and if he has no funds to support himself, then one shall give him a gulden or more on loan. For this purpose he shall present to the Älteste [office holders of the confraternity] a guarantor, to ensure that he will pay back in time. If God demands and he is not capable of much, then the guarantors shall not be urged and he shall be even.’

And the Mining Act of the City of Goslar of 1538 stated, as transcribed by Dapprich into modern German:447 ‘3) Zum dritten sollen die Vorsteher ein fleissiges Aufsehen haben, daß die Zuteilungen den Armen, und namentlich denjenigen, die von dem Berge schaden genommen und die Einlage mit getragen haben, nach Notdurft und Gelegenheit gegeben und mitgeteilt werden. […] 5) Zum fünften, daß derjenige, dem man Arztlohn ausgezahlt hat, etwas freiwillig benennen mag, was er, wenn er wieder zur Arbeit kommt, zurückgeben kann oder will, den anderen Armen zukünftig zum Besten, wie auch ein jeder, der in seiner Not aus der Büchse borgen will, gewisse Bürgen benennen soll, auf daß es den Armen desto gewisser möge wieder bezahlt werden.’ ‘3) Thirdly, the Vorsteher [office holder of the miners’ guild] shall diligently oversee that the allowance for the poor, especially for those who have suffered damage from the mountain and who have contributed to the fund, is given according to their need and the circumstances. […] 5) Fifthly, that he, who has received the doctor’s wages, shall voluntarily name what he can or wants to give back when he comes back to work for the future benefit of the other poor, as much as everyone who receives a loan from the box when being in need shall name a guarantor, so that it is more certainly repaid to the poor.’

And pointing in a similar direction is Art. 43 of the 1548 mining regulations for the tin mine in Hengst (Hřebečná) in today’s Czech Republic:448 ‘So ein Gesell aus der Knappschaft krank würde, so soll man ihme, nach Gelegenheit seiner Krankheit und nach Bergmeisters, Geschworenen und Eltisten Erkenntnus aus der Büchsen leyhen, doch daß der krank, so viel möglichen zu thun, solch wiederumb zu erlegen, […].’ ‘When a journeyman from the miners’ guild falls sick, then one shall give him a loan from the guild box, depending on the circumstances of his sickness and on the basis of the knowledge of the Bergmeister [office holder in the public mining administration], the Geschworene, and the Älteste [office holders of the guild], but the sick shall, as much as possible, repay such [moneys] again, […].’

Again, the decision to grant such loan was not made by the guild alone; office holders in the public mining administration were also involved in reaching this decision. And again, a loan could be turned into alms if the recipient was unable to repay the loan.

___________ 447 448

Cited from Dapprich, Entwicklung der Knappschaft (1979), 37. Cited from Menzel, (1891) 32 Zeitschrift für Bergrecht 508.

160

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

Arnt Richter suggests that financial support offered by guilds had to be characterized as a loan because under Canon law it was ‘God’s money’. Richter claims that loans were nevertheless regularly not reclaimed.449 By contrast, the 1538 Act in Goslar – Goslar was at the time Lutheran450 – refers to the funds as belonging to the poor. Consequently, it should have been the rule that financial support was repaid in practice. b) Non-repayable financial forms of support However, the financial support of miners’ guilds went beyond loans. The many forms of capacity building for the support of incapacitated master craftsmen, their widows, and orphans were generally insufficient for miners. And indeed, there are numerous references to non-repayable forms of financial support.451 The General Mining Act for all Territories of the Electorate of Cologne of 1669 (Allgemeine Bergordnung für sämmtliche churfürstliche Lande und Gebiete) made clear, for example, that the funds collected in the box of the miners’ guild were used not just for loans, but that under certain circumstances a so-called Gnadengeld (mercy pay) was to be offered:452 ‘Demnach Berwercks herkommens, daß jeder Hauerknecht […] wochentlich 4. schwäre Pfenninge oder den halben Theil von einem Groschen Büchsengelt geben, so sollen die Schichtmeister oder Steiger bey der Lohnung bemelter Arbeiteren, wan sie die Büchsen-Pfenninge nit selbst erlegen, von dem Lohn abziehen, […] deß SonnAbends sollen die Schichtmeister solch Büchsengelt […] denen ältesten der Knapschaft zahlen und solches in ein Buch wöchentlich unter jedes Schichtmeiesters Rubric einzeichnen, mit welchem Buch sie Quartalig dero Einnamb justificiren, wan nur arme, kranke oder sonst gebrechliche Bergleuthe und dero Wittiben und Waisen in das Bergambt suppliciren und darauff ihnen ein gewisses an Gnadengelt verordnet, oder was sonsten armen Leuthen auß der Knappschaft gesteuret wird, sollen die ältesten der Knapschafft von diesen Büchsenpfenningen die Zahlung thun, wofern nun über dieses in der Knapschafft-Laden Vorrath vorhanden, kann armen Bergleuthen etwan zu Bekräfftigung eines Häußleins oder sonsten gewisses Stückes etwas umb Jährliche Verzinßung vorgesetz. Es soll aber keinem Bergmann mehr als etwan 10 oder zum höchsten 15 Reichsdahler auff einmahl hingelehet werden […].’ ‘In accordance with mining traditions, that each worker […] weekly gives four heavy pennies or half a groschen as box money, the shift-masters or Steiger [supervisor in the mines] when paying these workers, if they do not pay the box pennies themselves,

___________ 449

See p. 108, above. Hölscher, Geschichte der Reformation in Goslar (1902). 451 See the discussion of Bingener, Entwicklung des Knappschaftswesens in Tirol (2012), 37; idem, Das knappschaftliche Rechnungswesen (2012), 76; Langer, (1931) 61 Mitteilungen des Freiberger Altertumsvereins 43 f. 452 Cited from Scotti, Sammlung der Gesetze, vol. 1/1 (1830), 332. In addition, see the accounts of Benseler, Geschichte Freibergs, vol. 2 (1853), 1173. 450

III. Supporting miners and their families

161

deduct them from their wages, […] on Saturdays the shift-masters shall pay the collected box money to the Ältesten [office holders] of the miners’ guild and they shall record it weekly in their books under each shift-master’s entry, and with the book they shall verify the quarterly income; and the Älteste of the miners’ guild shall pay from the box pennies, when there are poor, ill, or in any other way infirm, miners or their widows and orphans supplicating to the Bergamt [office of the public mining administration] and thereupon are prescribed a mercy pay [Gnadengeld] […], if there are more reserves in the guild box, then a loan on yearly interest may be granted to a poor miner if he wants to acquire a small house […]. However, no miner shall receive at a time a loan higher than ten or at the most 15 imperial talers.’

The shift-master was able to deduct a miner’s weekly contribution to the guild box from his wages and pay it directly to the box. The text mentions loans which could be given to poor miners. However, primarily the money was used for paying a Gnadengeld (mercy pay or mercy money) to poor and ill miners and to miners’ widows and orphans. It seems that the Gnadengeld did not have to be repaid. And it is striking that the application to receive the Gnadengeld had to be addressed to the public mining administration and not the guild itself. A provision with similar content is to be found in Art. 33 of the New Mining Act for the Mines in Eisleben and Mansfeld (Neue Berg-Ordnung des Eisslebisch- und Mansfeldischen Bergwercks) of 1673:453 ‘Ein jeder Schichtmeister soll von seinen ihme anbefohlenen Zechen, wie auch die Schmeltzer in der Hütten, ein jeder bey seinen Eydes-Pflichten, bey allen Arbeitern wöchentlich die Büchsen-Pfennige, als von jedem Gülden 2 Pf. einnahmen, getreulich samlen und alle Quartale dem Berg-Voigt, Richter und Schöppen, so zugleich der Knappschaft Aeltiste seyn sollen, zur Berechnung einantworten, darvon denn nachmahls denen armen, schadhafften und alten Berg- und Hütten-Leuten, auch deren Wittiben und Kindern, so ferne diese der Berg- und Hütten-Arbeit nachgehen, zu ihrer Unterhaltung auff einträchtiges Erkänntnüs der Berg-Beambten Beysteuern gereichet und denen Armen davon ausgespendet, auch über Einnahme und Ausgabe richtige Rechnung quartaliter auff dem Gewerckschaffts-Hause niedergeleget, und das, was jedesmahl einkömmet, beym Berg-Voigt in einen festen Kasten, darzu er und die Schöppen sonderliche Schlüssel, verwahrlich gehalten werden soll. Nebenst dieser Versehung vor arme, presshaffte und nothleidende Berg- und Hütten-Arbeiter soll auch das vor alten Zeiten gemachte und nach gangbahre Berg-Gestifft und Hospital S. Catharinae in dem Stand und Wesen, wie die fundation haben will, ferner beständig verbleiben.’ ‘Each shift-master shall in the mines which he supervises, just like the smelters in the iron works, each one of them at the obligations they took over by oath, honestly collect from all workers weekly the box penny, that is from each gulden income two pennies, and he shall quarterly pay them over to the Bergvogt [office holder in the public mining administration], the judge, and the Schöppen, who shall be at the same time the Älteste [office holder of the miners’ guild], so that [these funds] are given to the poor, infirm, and old miners and iron workers as well as their widows and children, if they work in mines or ironworks, for their support on the unanimous decision of the civil servants of the mining administration and [so that these funds] are donated to the poor; and the

___________ 453

Cited from Brassert, Berg-Ordnungen der Preussischen Lande (1858), 741 f.

162

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

income and expenses has to be accounted for correctly quarterly at the house of the mine operators; and the incoming moneys shall be every time paid into, and coffered in, a solid box at the Bergvogt, to which he and the Schöppen have different keys. In addition to providing for poor and pressured miners and iron workers being in need, the mine foundation and hospital St. Catharina which has been established long ago shall always be kept in the state and character as the foundation wishes it to be.’

The text suggests that the financial support took the form of a non-repayable payment. Miners did not pay a fixed contribution to the fund. Instead their contribution was calculated individually on the basis of their pay. Furthermore, the text again suggests that the administration of the funds, including the decision on whether to offer financial support, was not in the hands of the guild alone, but rather that the public mining administration was involved in reaching such decision. Johannes Langer has analysed the accounts of the miners’ guild in Freiberg, and he has found that alms for poor members, widows, and orphans as well as for the poor of the community were in the 17th century the single highest item of expenditure, with each recipient receiving between one and four groschen each week.454 Furthermore, Langer found that the guild accounts reflected the calamities of each era: during the Long Turkish War at the end of the 16th and early 17th centuries, the guild gave alms to people who had been injured during the war. And during the Thirty Years’ War and thereafter, the guild also gave alms to people who had lost their houses through fire in the course of the war, but also to other civilian victims. In these cases, support was not restricted to guild members.455 c) Non-financial support The text which has just been cited mentions hospitals also being funded through the collected moneys. And indeed, miners’ guilds are said to have paid for, or established, hospitals to care for sick members. The first hospital founded by a miners’ guild is said to have been instituted in 1477, 1488, 1510, or 1517 in Schwaz.456 A number of points are, however, unclear. Andreas Bingener, for example, proposes that such a hospital had existed already in the 13th century in

___________ 454

Langer, (1931) 61 Mitteilungen des Freiberger Altertumsvereins 43 f. Langer, (1931) 61 Mitteilungen des Freiberger Altertumsvereins 45. 456 Literature dates the foundation of the hospital in Schwaz differently, see Wilsdorf, Geschichte der erzgebirgischen Bergbrüderschaften (1986), 8; Greve/Gratzel/Graf, Knappschaft als sozialer Pfadfinder (2010), 25 f.; Bingener, Armenkasten oder Knappschaftsbüchse (2010), 54; idem, Bruderschaften und soziale Sicherheit (2010), 63–69; idem, Entwicklung des Knappschaftswesens in Tirol (2012), 31; Bingener/Bartels/Fessner, Die große Zeit des Silbers (2012), 419; Thielmann, Geschichte der Knappschaftsversicherung (1960), 25; Ingenhaeff, Anspruch kranker und verletzter Bergleute (2003), 455

III. Supporting miners and their families

163

Goslar.457 However, it is not clear whether this hospital was simply open to miners or whether it was run by a miners’ guild. Bingener refers to a document dating to 1294 evidencing a contract between the Teutonic Order and the church of St. Johannis at the Rammelsberg. The Teutonic Order was to receive the income generated by a certain mill, and a hospital owned by the Teutonic Order was mentioned in that document. It seems that what is regularly thought to be the first hospital run by a miners’ guild was in fact a hospital run by the Teutonic Order, which was contracted to provide care for sick miners. For the 16th century, it is then clear that such a hospital existed in Goslar. The Mining Act of the City of Goslar of 1538 stated, as transcribed by Dapprich into modern German:458 ‘10) Zum zehnten soll derjenige, dem so das Haus und die Kranken anbefohlen werden, den Armen und Kranken Handreichungen tun, ihnen nach Gelegenheit Fuhrwerke besorgen, sie heben und tragen, wischen und waschen, sooft ihnen dies nottut. Desgleichen sollen die Armen ihrem Wirte, als dem Hausvater, wiederum gehorsam sein, […]. 11) Zum elften und letzten sollen diejenigen, denen von den Vorstehern Kammern in demselben Hause überantwortet werden, wiederum samt ihrer Verwandtschaft bewilligen, daß all dasjenige, was sie hereinbringen, wenn sie sterben, todeshalber verfallen, den anderen Armen frei, eigentümlich ohne allen Widerspruch sein […].’ ’10) Tenthly, he, to whom the house and the sick have been consigned, shall give to the poor and the sick a helping hand, he shall provide them when necessary with a carriage, he shall lift and carry, wipe and wash them, as often this is necessary. And the poor shall in turn be obedient to the innkeeper, as housefather, […]. 11) Eleventhly and finally, those who are given by the Vorsteher [office holder of the miners’ guild] chambers in that house shall approve together with their relatives that everything that they bring with them shall, upon their death, be forfeited mortis causa without objection and be free to the other poor and be in their property […].’

And Art. 87 of the Henneberg Mining Act of 1566 (Hennebergische Bergordnung) makes explicit that the collected funds were used to build and maintain a hospital for sick and poor miners:459 ‘Zu Erhaltung gemeiner Knapschaft, soll ein jeglicher Arbeiter von seinen Lohn 1 pf. auf den Sonnabend in der Knapschaft Büchsen legen […], davon soll den verdorbenen

___________ 95 f.; Egg, Bergleute im Schwazer Silberbergbau (1987), 220. And see Todeskino, Knappschaften (1974), 8; Jordan, Mansfelder Bergrevier (1905), 24; Weizsäcker, Sächsisches Bergrecht in Böhmen (1929), 232. 457 Bingener, Armenkasten oder Knappschaftsbüchse (2010), 54 f.; idem, Knappschaftswesen in Goslar (2012), 19. And see Bingener/Bartels/Fessner, Die große Zeit des Silbers (2012), 410; Greve/Gratzel/Graf, Knappschaft als sozialer Pfadfinder (2010), 25; Dapprich, Entwicklung der Knappschaft (1979), 25 f. 458 Cited from Dapprich, Entwicklung der Knappschaft (1979), 37. 459 Cited from Lingelbach, Henneberger Bergordnung (2002), 94 (also reproduced with a slightly different spelling in Brassert, Berg-Ordnungen der Preussischen Lande (1858), 285 f.).

164

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

Bergleuten, Arbeitern und Armen ein Haus aufgerichtet, und so ferne sich solch Geld erstreckt an Zinse gelegt, und damit erhalten werden.’ ‘For the maintenance of the common miners’ guild, each miner shall on each Saturday pay from his wages one penny into the guild box […], thereof a house shall be built for ill miners and workers and the poor, and if funds are left they should be invested for interest, and [the house] shall be maintained thereof.’

Beyond establishing and maintaining hospitals, guilds also paid for medical expenses, as Langer has shown in his analysis of the accounts of the miners’ guild in Freiberg.460 Finally, also with miners’ guilds, guild members had to participate in a deceased member’s funeral, the guild ensured that the funeral was appropriate, and it made a contribution towards the funeral costs.461 3. Guild finances Guild funds were administered jointly by the guild and the public mining administration, and miners had to pay an admission fee as well as weekly contributions into the box.462 Often the weekly contributions were deducted from the wages and paid directly into the guild box, as Art. 21 of the Mining Act of Schlaggenwald exemplifies:463 ‘Es soll ein itzlicher Schichtmeister oder Steyger eynem jeden Arbeiter die wochen einen pfenning an seinen Lohne abziehen und am Sonnabend […] in die Büchsen antworten.’ ‘Each shift-master or Steiger [supervisor in the mines] shall deduct each week one penny from the wages of each miner and shall pay it each Saturday […] into the box.’

Furthermore, often the sovereign of a principality made contributions to the guild boxes. Finally, it became common that the mine operators, too, had to contribute to the guild box. ___________ 460

Langer, (1931) 61 Mitteilungen des Freiberger Altertumsvereins 46 f. See the sources reproduced in Heinz, Bergknappschaft in Eibenstock (1989), 18, 39–41 (Eibenstock, 1687); Wappler, (1901) 37 Mitteilungen vom Freiberger Altertumsverein 53 and Löscher, Das erzgebirgische Bergrecht, vol. 2/3 (2009), 307 (miners’ guild, Freiberg, around 1553). See further Wilsdorf, Geschichte der erzgebirgischen Bergbrüderschaften (1986), 6; Rabenau, Das bayerische Knappschaftswesen (1909), 21; Wappler, (1901) 37 Mitteilungen vom Freiberger Altertumsverein 57; Langer, (1931) 61 Mitteilungen des Freiberger Altertumsvereins 47–49. 462 On the finances of miners’ guilds, see, e.g., Thielmann, Geschichte der Knappschaftsversicherung (1960), 27 f.; Benseler, Geschichte Freibergs, vol. 1 (1846), 389; Bingener, Das knappschaftliche Rechnungswesen (2012), 64–87. 463 Cited from Menzel, (1891) 32 Zeitschrift für Bergrecht 508. In addition, see Schmoller, (1891) 15 Jahrbuch für Gesetzgebung, Verwaltung und Volkswirtschaft im Deutschen Reich 1016; Rabenau, Das bayerische Knappschaftswesen (1909), 19; Varnas, Die Knappschaften als Vorbilder (1947), 48. 461

III. Supporting miners and their families

165

Here again, the development exhibited local and regional differences. With respect to the miners’ periodic contributions, Johann Langer claims that in Freiberg they had been used exclusively for the support of poor and sick miners as early as the 16th century.464 Some of the previous cited provisions, however, point in a different direction.465 And whereas Art. 21 of the Mining Act of Schlaggenwald mentions a fixed contribution of one penny which had to be paid by every miner, some of the previously cited provisions have established that in some mining districts a miner’s contribution was calculated on the basis of his individual personal pay.466 With respect to the contributions of mine operators towards the guild funds, Andreas Bingener suggests that they had been common in the city of Goslar already in the 15th century, whereas according to Gustav Schmoller they became the practice in Saxony only in the early 18th century.467 One model was that the guild box received a certain percentage of the revenues generated by the mine. However, the more common model was that guilds held two shares in the mine, with the respective income benefiting the guild box. For example, the General Mining Act for all Territories of the Electorate of Cologne (Allgemeine Bergordnung für sämmtliche churfürstliche Lande und Gebiete) of 1669 stated:468 ‘Obzwar die Anzahl der Küxse in der Gewerckschafft auff 128 Theile eingetheilet, so sollen in Ansehung Vns vier Erb-Küxse, worunter ein Küxs demjenigen, auff dessen Grunde gesuncken und eingeschlagen, frey gebawet, 124 verzubuesset und darauff Anlage geschehen. Betreffend über diese Anzahl die drey freye Küxse, sollen im Aussbeut-Register Unseren Berg-Stätten zu Erhaltung Kirchen, Schulen un den Armen berechnet werden. […].’ ‘Even though there are 128 mining shares in the mine, there shall be for us four hereditary mining shares, including one mining share for him on whose ground the mine is operated […]. Concerning the three free mining shares, they shall be accounted for the maintenance of churches, schools, and for the poor. […].’

The concept of ‘free mining shares’ meant that their holders participated in a mine’s profits, but they did not have to contribute to its losses. It seems that accounts were not only audited by the public mining administration, but that they also had to be laid open to all miners. For example, the Mining ___________ 464

Langer, (1931) 61 Mitteilungen des Freiberger Altertumsvereins 53. See, e.g., p. 146, above. 466 See pp. 146, 161, above. 467 Bingener, Armenkasten oder Knappschaftsbüchse (2010), 57; idem, Knappschaftswesen in Goslar (2012), 23; Schmoller, (1891) 15 Jahrbuch für Gesetzgebung, Verwaltung und Volkswirtschaft im Deutschen Reich 1016. In addition, see Langer, (1931) 61 Mitteilungen des Freiberger Altertumsvereins 57–59; Varnas, Die Knappschaften als Vorbilder (1947), 48. 468 Cited from Brassert, Berg-Ordnungen der Preussischen Lande (1858), 568. 465

166

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

Act of the City of Goslar of 1538 stated, as transcribed by Dapprich into modern German:469 ‘6) Zum sechsten soll man alle Jahre Rechnung legen in Gegenwart der ganzen Knappschaft […], dazu soll man den Vorsteher, den Bergvogt, den Bergherren und den Wortführer samt beiden Predigern alle Zeit dazu bitten, daß sie mit anhören und besehen, daß es damit ordentlich und rechtsschaffen zugehe.’ ‘6) Sixthly, one shall render accounts annually in the presence of all miners […], and one shall ask at all times for the presence of the Vorsteher [office holders of the miners’ guild], of the Bergvogt, of the Bergherren and of the Wortführer [office holder in the public mining administration] as well as both preachers, so that they hear and see that everything is in order and honest.’

And the Mining Privilege of the city of Greiz (Greizer Bergfreiheit) of 1532 included the following provision:470 ‘Zum siebenden, die buechsenpfennige belangende, sol es dieser mas gehalten werden, nemlich das die aus der knapschaft zwen oder vier aus yhnen soellen erwelen und denselben die schluessel zu der buechsen antworten und undergeben, also das dieselben alle quartal der knapschaft gebuerlich rechnung pflegen. Es soellen aber dieselben nach gethaner rechnung die buechsen dem berckmeister yn seyne verwarung bis auf weiter bedencken […].’ ‘Seventhly, concerning the box pennies, it shall be held as follows, that those of the miners’ guild shall elect two or four from among themselves and that they give them the keys to the box, so that the same will each quarter properly render accounts to the miners’ guild. After having rendered accounts they shall give the box into the custody of the Bergmeister [office holder in the public mining administration].’

A directive issued in 1684 to the mining administration at Rauschenberg (probably Rauschberg) (Instruction, was maßen sich ein churfürstl. Bergwerksverweser und Grubenschreiber am Rauschenberg zu verhalten habe) stated:471 ‘Indeme auch bräuchig und nothwendig, daß eine Bruder-Büchsen gehalten, damit denjenigen von den Berg- oder Schmelzleuten, denen am Berg oder in der Arbeit ein Schaden wiederfahret, eine Hülf daraus gereicht werde: so solle der Verweser dergleichen Büchsen mit 2 Schlössern halten, und ein Schlüssel zu sich nehmen, den andern aber einen Hüttmann oder Jemand anderm, deme die Berg- und Schmelzleut dazu erwählen lassen, auch deßwegen sich mit ihnen vergleichen, was ein jeder, nach Proportion seines Lohns, oder Verdiensts quartaliter darein legen solle, darüber auch ein ordentlich Register zu halten, und gesamten Berg- und Schmelzleuten jährlich abzulassen ist, damit sie wissen, was in die Büchsen gelegt, und wohin es verwendet worden.’ ‘As it is also common and necessary that a brother box is maintained, so that help may be offered from it to those miners or ironworkers, who suffer an injury in the mine or

___________ 469

Cited from Dapprich, Entwicklung der Knappschaft (1979), 37. Cited from Löscher, Das erzgebirgische Bergrecht, vol. 2/3 (2009), 149. 471 Cited from Rabenau, Das bayerische Knappschaftswesen (1909), 17. In addition, see the source reproduced in Scotti, Sammlung der Gesetze, vol. 1/1 (1830), 332 (Bergordnung für sämmtliche churfürstliche Lande und Gebiete, 1669). 470

III. Supporting miners and their families

167

at work: thus shall the administrator keep the box with two locks, and he shall take one key, but he shall hand over the other key to an ironworker or anybody else, whom the miners and smelters have elected, and he shall reach an agreement with them what they shall pay, in proportion to their wages or income, quarterly into the box, and proper records shall be kept, and these shall be opened to all miners and smelters annually, so that they know what has been put into the box and for what purposes it has been spent.’

This directive is unusual in that it restricts the support offered by guild boxes to work accidents. Usually, the support offered by operators of mines in the form of sick pay and coverage of medical expenses was restricted to work accidents; the benefits offered by miners’ guilds to members in need, by contrast, usually went beyond mere work accidents. Finally, the mining acts may have provided that fines benefited the boxes of the miners’ guilds as well;472 further, wealthier guilds held investments, loaned money on interest, or acquired property which they rented out with profit.473 4. Legal enforceability It seems to be clear that miners had an enforceable claim against mine operators for sick pay and medical expenses.474 It is argued by some that this holds equally true for the right to support from miners’ guild.475 However, this latter position is contested; others have argued to the contrary that the assistance granted by guilds, especially support to widows and orphans, the so-called Gnadengeld, was extended on a purely voluntary basis, as support was dependent on the guild having sufficient funds.476 Furthermore, some guild statutes make explicit that the Gnadengeld was also dependent on a number of other circumstances and that the public mining administration together with the guild’s office holders had to reach a decision on whether to grant support and how much they would grant. It seems that the decision-making involved some kind of discretion.477 This would have made it difficult for beneficiaries of support to enforce ___________ 472 See, e.g., the Goslar Mining Act of 1538, reproduced in Dapprich, Entwicklung der Knappschaft (1979), 36 f.; Revidirte Berg-Ordnung vor das Sourveraine Herzogthum Schlesien und vor die Graffschaft Glatz (1769), 37. In addition, Metzner, Fürsorge im Bergbau (1911), 105; Langer, (1931) 61 Mitteilungen des Freiberger Altertumsvereins 63. 473 Bingener, Entwicklung des Knappschaftswesens in Tirol (2012), 38 f.; Langer, (1931) 61 Mitteilungen des Freiberger Altertumsvereins 62 f. 474 Kraschewski, Das Spätmittelalter (2012), 303, argues, however, to the contrary. 475 Menzel, (1891) 32 Zeitschrift für Bergrecht 508 f.; Thielmann, Geschichte der Knappschaftsversicherung (1960), 25. 476 Todeskino, Knappschaften (1974), 7; Bingener, Das knappschaftliche Rechnungswesen (2012), 77; Kraschewski, Das Spätmittelalter (2012), 304; Ogris, Geschichte des Arbeitsrechts (2003), 600. 477 See the discussion by Metzner, Fürsorge im Bergbau (1911), 105; Imbusch, Das deutsche Knappschaftswesen (1910), 13.

168

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

their right to support. On the other hand, it is clear that a right to support was recognized in the different public mining acts. In conclusion, whereas in the context of the crafts it is clear that there was at first no legally enforceable right to support that could be brought against guilds, the position is less clear in the mining sector. 5. Conclusion In the context of the crafts, master craftsmen were obliged to care for sick journeymen whom they employed. The details of that obligation were, however, rather unspecific. By contrast, in the mining sector, many mining acts started to regulate in the 16th century the respective obligation in detail: operators of mines had to support miners in the event of work accidents by paying them, usually for four or eight weeks, their full wages as sick pay and by covering their medical expenses.478 Only where the mine operators were under no obligation to support miners, as was the case with non-work accidents or as was the case after the termination of the four- or eight-week period, did miners’ guilds step in and support members in need. Parallel to the crafts, the primary form of financial support was initially a loan.479 However, the financial support of miners’ guilds went beyond loans. The many forms of capacity building for the support of old or incapacitated master craftsmen, their widows, and orphans was simply unsuitable for miners. In these cases, miners’ guilds disbursed a mercy pay (Gnadengeld).480 It is a form of support which may be categorized as a form of pre-insurance.481 However, the legal sources from the 16th and 17th century are silent on the details of the mercy pay. It seems that at first there were no separate funds to finance the support offered by miners’ guilds.482 Miners’ guilds, too, were poly-functional institutions, and the collected moneys were applied to fulfil the different functions.483 Furthermore, it is unclear whether old or incapacitated miners or their dependants had a legally enforceable right to support.484 On the one hand, the Gnadengeld was regulated in the many public mining acts, and this fact suggests that beneficiaries had a legally enforceable right to support. On the other hand, miners’ ___________ 478

See pp. 149 ff., above. See pp. 158 ff., above. 480 See pp. 160 ff., above. 481 Kraschewski, Das Spätmittelalter (2012), 304. 482 See pp. 145 ff., above. 483 See pp. 145 ff., above. 484 See p. 167, above. 479

III. Supporting miners and their families

169

guilds together with the public mining administration apparently had some discretion whether miners’ guilds offered support. And the decision whether a miners’ guild granted support was also dependent on sufficient funds being available.485 These elements make it difficult to describe as insurance the support offered by miners’ guilds to old and incapacitated miners as well as to their widows and orphans. Finally, there are certain details concerning the support offered by miners’ guilds which are reminiscent of Germany’s modern social security schemes. Firstly, the contributions owed by miners to their guilds were often deducted from their wages and paid directly to the guilds.486 In the crafts, this was the exception, and there this mechanism of payment seems to have been introduced in reaction to the fear that a journeyman would leave town before having paid his contribution.487 In the mining sector this mechanism of payment seems to have been commonly practised. Secondly, it is clear that mine operators had to contribute to the guild funds, too.488 A similar practice also existed in the crafts, but it is unclear how widespread this practice was.489 In the mining sector it seems to have been a common practice. Thirdly, whereas in the craft sector the journeymen of a particular guild all had to make the same periodic contributions, in the mining sector the periodic contributions may have depended on what a specific miner earned.490 However, this last difference should not be overemphasized. It seems that the journeymen of a particular craft guild all received a similar pay. Consequently, there was simply no need to introduce graded periodic contributions on the basis of the actual pay. Fourthly, in the crafts, guilds and journeymen’s associations were established autonomously by master craftsmen and journeymen. Most probably, the same is true for early miners’ guilds. However, already in the early 16th century, miners’ guilds had become closely connected to the public mining administration. Some mining acts introduced compulsory membership in miners’ guilds.491 And even though there were elements of selfadministration, the public mining administration was strongly involved in supervising how the guild funds were administered. Finally, in the mining sector public mining legislation defined the legislative framework in which miners’ guilds acted and in which miners’ guild could enact their guild statutes to define the details of guild support. ___________ 485

See pp. 146 f., above. See p. 167, above. 487 See p. 138, above. 488 See pp. 164 f., above. 489 See pp. 139 f., above. 490 See pp. 146 f., above. 491 See pp. 145 f., above. 486

170

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

IV. Supporting seafarers and their families Turning to seafarers, there existed – with variations – similar means of support as in the crafts and the mining sector, and for that reason the following account may be brief. 1. Support offered by skippers to sailors A sailor who fell sick, making him unable to continue the voyage, had a right to be brought to an inn.492 The skipper had to ensure that he was cared for. If the sailor came to health again, he had a right to his regular pay. And in a case of death, the sailor’s heirs had a right to his pay. A corresponding rule was, with variations, known throughout Europe.493 It was already found in Art. 7 of the 13th-century Rôle D’Oléron494 as well as in Art. 19 of the Laws of Wisby, dating to the early 16th century.495 Art. 46 of the Hansische Schiffsordnung (Hanseatic Ship Ordinance) of 1591 stated:496 ‘Würde jemand krank auf dem Schiffe, der Schiffer ist schuldig, den aus dem Schiff bringen zu lassen, und in eine Herberge zu legen, und ihm zu leihen Licht, da er des Nachtes bey sehen mag; auch ihn durch einen Schiffmann oder andern warten lassen, auch mit Speiß und Trank zu versehende, so, wie ers im Schiffe hat, und der Kranke genossen, wie er gesund war; mehr ist ihm der Schiffer zu geben nicht schuldig. Des darf der Schiffer auf ihn nicht warten, sondern mag wohl zu Segel gehen. So fern er wieder geneset, soll er seiner Heuer genießen; stürb er aber, bekommen die Erben die Heuer.’ ‘If someone falls sick on the ship, then the skipper is obliged to bring him ashore and to take him to an inn, and to give him light so that he can see at night; also he shall have him cared for by a sailor or somebody else and provide him with food and drink, just as he has done on board and as the sick has received while he was well; the skipper is not obliged to give more than this. The skipper does not have to wait for him, but he may set the sails. If he comes again to health, he shall enjoy his pay; but if he dies, the heirs will receive the pay.’

___________ 492 Rabstein, Sozialrechtliche Entwicklungstendenzen in der Seeschiffahrt (1970), 17; von der Decken, Seearbeitsrecht im Hamburger Stadtrecht (1995), 192. On what follows, see also Abel, Seearbeitsrecht (1938), 38 f., and most recently Sulzer/Scholl, Absicherung in der Seeschifffahrt (2012), 371–412. 493 See the discussion by Engelbrecht, Corpus iuris nautici, vol. 1 (1790), 47. 494 Reproduced in Cleirac, Les us et coutumes de la mer (1647), 33. 495 Reproduced in Schlyter, Codices iuris Visbyensis urbici et maritimi (1853), 309. 496 Cited from Engelbrecht, Corpus iuris nautici, vol. 1 (1790), 123.

IV. Supporting seafarers and their families

171

The Hansische Seerecht (Hanseatic Maritime Act) of 1614 added further details. Title 4, Art. 17 stated:497 ‘Würde auch jemand derselbigen, die also ohne Urlaub zu Lande gegangen, geschlagen, oder verwundet, den ist der Schiffer heilen zu lassen nicht schuldig.’ ‘If one of them, who have gone ashore without having leave, is beaten or wounded, the skipper is not obliged to have him healed.’

Melanie Sulzer argues e contrario that the skipper was therefore liable for the costs of cure if a sailor was beaten or wounded while being ashore when having leave.498 It thus seems that the skippers’ obligation to offer support to ill sailors was not restricted to work accidents but that it covered all cases of illness except those which had been caused by the fault of the sailor. And Title 14 Hanseatic Maritime Act of 1614 added:499 ‘I. Würde eins, oder mehr der Schiffs-Kinder, in der Schiffers Dienst und Werbung geschlagen, oder verwundet; der Schiffer soll sie ohne ihren Schaden wieder heilen lassen. II. Würde jemand krank auff dem Schiff (ausgenommen der See-Kranckheit) der Schiffer ist schuldig denselben aus dem Schiff bringen zu lassen, und in eine Herberge zu legen, und ihm zu leihen Licht, da er des Nachtes bey sehen mag; auch seiner durch einen Schiffmann oder andre pflegen und warten zulassen. Desgleichen mit Speiß und Trank ihn zu versehen, wie ers im Schiff hat. Und wann er also zur Nothdurft versehen, darf der Schiffer mit dem Schiff nach ihm nicht warten, sondern mag wohl zu Seegel gehen. Sofern der Krancke wieder geneset, so soll er aller seiner Heuer geniessen, stürbe er aber, die Heuer kriegen die Erben. III. So jemand des Schiffs-Volks, wider die Freibeuter redlich fechten, und darüber gelähmet würde, der soll geheilet und gleiche Haverey über Schiff und Gut gerechnet werden. Und da er zu solcher Unvermögenheit geriethe, daß er die Kost nicht mehr gewinnen möchte, soll ihm frey Brod sein Lebenlang verschaffet […] werden.’ ‘I. If one, or more Schiffs-Kinder [literally: children of the ship] are beaten while being in the skipper’s service […] or wounded, then the skipper shall have them healed without their loss. II. If somebody falls sick onboard (with the exception of seasickness) then the skipper is obliged to bring him ashore and to put him in an inn and to give him a light so that he can see at night and to have him nursed and cared by a sailor or somebody else. And he has to provide him also with food and drink like he has done onboard. And when he has cared for him, then the skipper does not have to wait for him with the ship, but he may set the sails. If the sick recovers, then he shall enjoy his full pay, but if he deceases, his heirs will receive the pay. III. If a sailor fights against privateers and if he is crippled by doing so, then he shall be healed, and the costs will be covered by the ship and the goods just like in the case

___________ 497 Cited from Engelbrecht, Corpus iuris nautici, vol. 1 (1790), 134. In addition, see Segger, Entwicklung des Seerechts (1952), 57. 498 Sulzer, Sicherungssysteme in der Seeschiffahrt (2012), 18. 499 Cited from Engelbrecht, Corpus iuris nautici, vol. 1 (1790), 143 f.

172

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

of average. And if he is incapacitated so that he cannot earn his living any longer, then he shall receive free bread for the rest of his life […].’

Title 14 of the 1614 act excluded the skippers’ obligation to care for a sick sailor only in the case of seasickness, suggesting again e contrario that the skippers’ obligation was in general not restricted to work accidents. And it introduced a special provision for sailors wounded while defending the ship: the damage suffered by the sailor was a case of general average. Until 2013, an identical provision was contained in § 706 Nr. 5 of the German Handelsgesetzbuch (Commercial Code). Finally, Title 14, Art. 2 of the 1614 act again acknowledged the sailor’s right to sick pay. 2. Support offered by confraternities and guilds In parallel to the crafts and the mining sector, seafaring cities saw associations, confraternities, and guilds of seafarers. In the city of Lübeck, a first skippers’ confraternity is said to have been established in 1401, a second around 1500, and after the reformation a new skippers’ guild was established in 1535: the Schiffergesellschaft.500 Hamburg is said to have seen its first skippers’ confraternities and associations in the 13th or 14th century.501 Not only skippers formed associations, confraternities, and guilds, but sailors did so too. It is thought that Bremen saw the first (and in the case of Bremen apparently also the only) such sailors’ confraternity in 1568.502 Furthermore, separate death funds were established in the course of the development, e.g. in the city of Bremen a skippers’ death fund in 1618 covering primarily funeral costs.503 Many of these associations, confraternities, guilds, and funds existed well into the 19th century and beyond.504 In many respects, these associations, confraternities, and guilds ran parallel to the above-analysed master craftsmen’s and miners’ guilds. This concerned, for ___________ 500 Stier, Schiffergesellschaft (1964), 4 f.; Lindtke, Schiffergesellschaft zu Lübeck (1997), 29–34. On the developments in other German cities, see Deggim, Hafenleben im Mittelalter (2005), 168–185; Brück, Korporationen der Schiffer und Bootsleute (1994), 9–25; Schwebel, ‘Haus Seefahrt’ Bremen (1947), passim; Kohl, Haus Seefahrt zu Bremen (1862), passim; Föge, Bremer Bergenfahrt (1958), 18–26. 501 Sulzer, Sicherungssysteme in der Seeschiffahrt (2012), 30; Kresse, Von armen Seefahrern (1981), 9–12. See, however, Brück, Bootsleutebruderschaften (1993), 45. 502 Rabstein, Sozialrechtliche Entwicklungstendenzen in der Seeschiffahrt (1970),46– 51; Sulzer, Sicherungssysteme in der Seeschiffahrt (2012), 23; Schwebel, ‘Haus Seefahrt’ Bremen (1947), 53; Kohl, Haus Seefahrt zu Bremen (1862), 75–81; Brück, Bootsleutebruderschaften (1993), 56 f. 503 Rabstein, Sozialrechtliche Entwicklungstendenzen in der Seeschiffahrt (1970), 58; Sulzer, Sicherungssysteme in der Seeschiffahrt (2012), 26; Kohl, Haus Seefahrt zu Bremen (1862), 90–100. 504 See, e.g., Sulzer, Sicherungssysteme in der Seeschiffahrt (2012), 24.

IV. Supporting seafarers and their families

173

example, their finances: they generated their income through admission fees, periodic contributions, fines, and donations; and prosperous guilds invested and loaned their funds with interest.505 And they were again poly-functional institutions. Consequently, the collected funds were spent not only on different means of support but also for religious and social purposes.506 However, early on guild statutes made explicit that the collected funds were primarily to be used for the support of poor members. The 1545 statutes of the mariners’ guild in the city of Bremen, for example, stated:507 ‘Unde wanner de Rekenschup alle jar, wo vorgerort geholdenn, wes alsden an bere oder anders vorteret unde verdruncken, dat sodant uth der vorgerordenn kystenn tho nadell unde schadenn der armen nicht schole genamen werdenn Sundern ein jder schole synen anpart uth synenn egenen budel geldenn unde botalenn.’ ‘And when annually the accounts are given, as determined above, the beer and the like that is then eaten and drunk shall not be paid from the aforementioned box to the detriment and loss of the poor, but each one shall pay and settle his part from his own wallet.’

At first, the statutes were rather unspecific when it came to defining the forms of support offered by these associations, confraternities, and guilds. The foundation deed of the 1401 confraternity in Lübeck, for example, simply stated:508 ‘Na der borth unses heren Jesu Christi also men schreff dusent veerhundert jare unde dar na in deme ersten jare an sunte Steffens daghe to winachten worden des tho rade de erliken koplude schepheren unde schipmans, dat se wolden stichten unde maken myt hulpe framer lude woldath eyne ewige brodershop unde gilde in de ere gades, Marien, syner leven moder unde alle gades hilligen unde sunderliken des hilligen truwen nothhulpers sunte Nicolaus, tho hulpe unde to trost der levendigen unde doden […].’ ‘After the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ when we have the year one thousand four hundred and thereafter in the first year on Saint Stephen’s day at Christmas on the advice of the honest merchants, shipmasters, and shipmen that they want to establish and make with the help of the good deeds of pious people an eternal confraternity and guild in the honour of God, Mary, his beloved mother, and of all of God’s Saints, especially of Saint Nicholas, the holy and loyal helper in need, for the help and comfort of the living and the dead […].’

___________ 505 Hasse, Schiffergesellschaft in Lübeck (1901), 4; the 1505 statutes of the confraternity founded in Lübeck in 1401 as reproduced in ibid., 32 f. And see Rabstein, Sozialrechtliche Entwicklungstendenzen in der Seeschiffahrt (1970), 24–29, 34 f., 40; Sulzer, Sicherungssysteme in der Seeschiffahrt (2012), 25; Brück, Korporationen der Schiffer und Bootsleute (1994), 27, 89–96; Schwebel, ‘Haus Seefahrt’ Bremen (1947), 26 f.; Kohl, Haus Seefahrt zu Bremen (1862), 51–61. 506 Kohl, Haus Seefahrt zu Bremen (1862), 4. Furthermore, see the example provided by Brück, Korporationen der Schiffer und Bootsleute (1994), 48 f. 507 Cited from Kohl, Haus Seefahrt zu Bremen (1862), 19. 508 Cited from Hasse, Schiffergesellschaft in Lübeck (1901), 29 (early 16th-century transcript).

174

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

The 1574 statutes of the skippers’ guild (Schiffergesellschaft) in the city of Oldenburg have already been cited above.509 The statutes obliged its members to make a donation for the benefit of the poor on every happy return home:510 ‘Tom vofften ist unser aller, so ein schipper allhie ist, bewilligung, so ein schipper mit beholdem schip und gut to hus kumpt, die schall geven in die hande der armen eine tunne fracht offt mat die gelegenheit vormach. Dat scholle die olderlüde den armen tom besten upfordren.’ ‘Fifthly, it is all of our – that of the present skippers – will that if a skipper happily returns with his ship at home, he shall give into the hands of the poor eine tunne fracht[511] […]. And the Älterleute [office holders of the guild] shall claim this for the benefit of the poor.’

The 1574 statutes are the first surviving statutes of that guild in Oldenburg, but it is thought that it was founded before 1574.512 And also the statutes of mariners’ associations, confraternities, and guilds of the same time in other seafaring cities contained provisions on the support of the poor, but they too often refrained from defining the forms of support in detail, and support was not always restricted to poor members of that association.513 The 1505 statutes of the confraternity in Lübeck were more specific. They spoke of alms which should be given each Sunday in the hands of poor guild members: a pound of butter, two rye breads and three pennies.514 And the 1545 statutes of the mariners’ guild in the city of Bremen stated that mariners who suffered injury while being at sea and who thereby fell into poverty and need were to receive financial support:515 ‘Alse qwemet, dat jemandes van den Schipperen, Kopludenn offte schepesvolcke, dorch vorlus der Szee, oder anders in nadeel unde schaden qwemen offte bynnen schepes borde geschatenn, vorszeriget unde gelemet oder sustes in nottrufftigen arbeyde, schepes unde gudern, gebrecke unde vorseringe gekregenn, also dat

___________ 509

See p. 74, above. Cited from Hemmen, (1910) 18 Jahrbuch für die Geschichte des Herzogtums Oldenburg 283. 511 Literally ‘eine tunne fracht’ could mean ‘one ton of freight’ or ‘one barrel of cargo’. 512 Hartung, Oldenburgische Schiffergesellschaft (1975), 9 f. 513 See the discussion in Rabstein, Sozialrechtliche Entwicklungstendenzen in der Seeschiffahrt (1970), 17 f.; Brück, Korporationen der Schiffer und Bootsleute (1994), 103– 105. And see the sources reproduced in Voß, Innungen und Zünfte in Husum (1896), 166 f. (skippers’ guild, Husum, 1649); Föge, Bremer Bergenfahrt (1958), Annex, 2 f. (guild of the skippers engaged in the trade with Bergen in Norway, Bremen, 1550). 514 Reproduced in Hasse, Schiffergesellschaft in Lübeck (1901), 32. 515 Cited from Kohl, Haus Seefahrt zu Bremen (1862), 16. In addition, see the source reproduced by Föge, Bremer Bergenfahrt (1958), Annex, 3 (guild of the skippers engaged in the trade with Bergen in Norway, Bremen, 1550). And see the discussion by Rabstein, Sozialrechtliche Entwicklungstendenzen in der Seeschiffahrt (1970), 24 f.; Sulzer, Sicherungssysteme in der Seeschiffahrt (2012), 20 f.; Schwebel, ‘Haus Seefahrt’ Bremen (1947), 19. 510

IV. Supporting seafarers and their families

175

desulfftenn nicht mer segelenn und ohre neringe sökenn kondenn, unde derhaluenn vorarmenn wurden, des scholen desulfften, uth der vorgerordenn kysten, na eines yderen nottrufft unde gelegenheide, underholdenn unde vorsorget werdenn, uppe dat desulfftenn, tho vorkleninge der Schippfarde, nicht uppe den straten liggenn offte vor den doren truggelenn und bidden dorffen.’ ‘In the event that one of the skippers, merchants, or sailors through sea loss or otherwise suffers detriment or damage, or they are shot, wounded, or crippled onboard or if they incur an infirmity or a wound while doing necessary work for the ship or while loading it, so that they are not any longer able to sail and to earn a living and that they are, therefore, destined to be impoverished, then they shall be maintained and supported through the aforementioned box, each one according to his needs, so that they do not have to live on the streets and so that they do not have to beg in front of doors and ask for alms to the detriment of the seafaring sector.’

Capacity building measures were in the cases discussed of no avail. The incapacitated skipper or sailor was then to receive a pension. However, the provision seems to restrict such pensions to cases of work accidents. And the last sentence clarifies that support was offered for the reason that a begging skipper or sailor would be to the detriment of the social standing of the whole profession. Dirk Heirbaut points out that in the Southern Netherlands this was often an important reason for supporting guild members in need.516 By contrast, the Bremen 1545 statutes are the only German-language primary source which I was able to identify that hinted at this reason for offering support. Especially those who became incapacitated when defending a ship against enemies were to be supported. The 1545 statutes stated, anticipating Title 14, Art. 3 of the Hansische Seerecht (Hanseatic Maritime Act) of 1614:517 ‘Szo ock jemant, idt were Schipper, Kopman oder schepeßvolck bynnen Schepes borde, tho vorbiddinge des schepes unde guder van den viandenn vordoruenn offte sustes in nottrufft des schepes geszeriget unde schampferet, unde also wo vorschreuen in nadel unde begreck qweme, unde derhaluen underholdenn musten werdenn. Des schole tho der behoeff van deme schepe unde sampt guderenn, eine temelyke tolage vosammelt in de vorgerordenn kystenn, thor vorwaringe, gebracht werdenn.’ ‘So if someone – a skipper, merchant, or sailor – suffers, while defending the ship and goods against enemies, damage, or is otherwise shot or wounded while being in service, and thereby, as mentioned before, suffers damage or infirmity, and for that reason is in need of support, then a reasonable contribution shall be levied on the ship and the goods and it shall be put into the aforementioned box.’

The loss was again treated as a case of general average. However, the contribution which was levied on the ship and the goods was not directly paid to the skipper, merchant, or sailor in need. Instead, the contribution was paid into the guild box, and the guild box then supported its member in need. ___________ 516 517

Heirbaut, Mutual aid in the Southern Netherlands (2020), 21–45. Cited from Kohl, Haus Seefahrt zu Bremen (1862), 16 f. On the act see p. 171, above.

176

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

Furthermore, seafarers’ guilds, too, knew loans as a form of financial support. The 1568 statutes of the sailors’ confraternity in the city of Bremen, for example, stated:518 ‘Und so jemandt buten Landes in Kranckheit felle und nottrufftich were und dat von unsern Brodern offte dar mer by weren de scholen den sulven vorleggen na vormoghe bith dat se tho Hus kamen. Kan he idt den sulven nycht betalen, so schall idt den gemen uth der Bussen betalt werden de em vorstrecket hefft so fern he de Kranckheit nycht sulver tho Hus gehabt hefft.’ ‘And if someone falls ill and falls into need abroad and if one or more of our brothers are present, then they shall give him according to their possibilities a loan, until they return home. If he then is not in the position to repay the loan, then they who have given the loan shall be reimbursed from the box […].’

In the seafaring sector it was fundamentally impossible for the guild to step in when a seafarer was in need while abroad. For that reason, guild brothers were obliged to grant a loan to a brother in need. If the recipient of the loan was unable to repay the loan, the guild brothers were reimbursed from the box. Like in the crafts, a member in need primarily received a loan which could be turned into alms if the member in need did not regain the financial position to make repayment. In addition, these guilds, associations, and confraternities maintained hospitals which benefited primarily seafarers, but also other poor and sick people.519 Finally, just like in the crafts, financial aid was offered only if the member was in need and if the association, confraternity, or guild had sufficient funds.520 The admission requirements for a guild had to be defined differently than in the crafts and the mining sector. The 1561 statutes of the guild in Bremen, for example, stated as transcribed by Johann Georg Kohl into modern German:521 ‘Weil auch diese Ordnung und das Armenhaus wohlmeinentlich von den Schiffern und seefahrenden Leuten gestiftet ist, den alten oder bresthaften, unvermögenden, armen, seefahrenden Männern zu Gute, so soll auch keiner in der armen Seefahrt auf- und angenommen werden, er habe denn nicht unter drei Jahren von unserer Stadt zur Seewärts gefahren und sich gegen Kaufmann und Schiffer wohl verhalten; es wäre denn, dass Einer binnen der drei Jahre an Bord des Schiffes durch Gottes Schickung

___________ 518 Cited from Kohl, Haus Seefahrt zu Bremen (1862), 83. And see Brück, Bootsleutebruderschaften (1993), 49. 519 Sulzer, Sicherungssysteme in der Seeschiffahrt (2012), 31; Kresse, Von armen Seefahrern (1981), 21 f.; Brück, Korporationen der Schiffer und Bootsleute (1994), 140; Schwebel, ‘Haus Seefahrt’ Bremen (1947), 46 f. 520 Rabstein, Sozialrechtliche Entwicklungstendenzen in der Seeschiffahrt (1970), 50; Schwebel, ‘Haus Seefahrt’ Bremen (1947), 49. 521 Cited from Kohl, Haus Seefahrt zu Bremen (1862), 48. And see Rabstein, Sozialrechtliche Entwicklungstendenzen in der Seeschiffahrt (1970), 33; Sulzer, Sicherungssysteme in der Seeschiffahrt (2012), 22.

IV. Supporting seafarers and their families

177

solchen Schaden genommen, dass er wieder zur See fahren untüchtig geworden. Dies soll aber nur geschehen mit völligem Consens der Vorsteher und Aeltesten.’ ‘As these statutes and the Armenhaus[522] have been donated by skippers and seafaring people, to the benefit of old or sick, impecunious, poor seafaring men, nobody shall be included in and accepted to the Arme Seefahrt who has not gone to the sea from this city for a minimum of three years and who has not proven good behaviour against merchants and skippers, unless one has within these three years through God’s providence suffered damage onboard a ship, so that he is incapacitated from going to sea. This shall, however, only be done with the full consent of the Vorsteher and Ältesten [office holders of the guild].’

Craftsmen’s guilds and miners’ guilds were able to define precisely the beneficiaries of support: only craftsmen of a certain profession working in a specific city or only miners working in a certain mine benefited from the support schemes initiated by the respective guild. In the seafaring sector it was obviously more difficult for guilds to define who was a member, who had to pay contributions, and who was thus eligible for support. Consequently, there must have been early on the fear that an incapacitated seaman or a seaman with poor health conditions or with economic problems would join the guild in order to claim support. The 1561 statutes addressed this problem by introducing a waiting period. Nevertheless, the guild was allowed to support a seaman in need who had not fulfilled the waiting period. However, in this case the seaman in need did not even have a moral entitlement to support, as the statutes make clear. Finally, members of these associations, confraternities, and guilds had to attend the funerals of fellow members.523 3. Supporting seafarers’ widows and orphans Surviving widows and orphans of deceased master craftsmen were primarily supported by different forms of capacity building. Most importantly, widows were allowed to continue their deceased husbands’ workshops. The same may have applied to orphans, and they were, furthermore, trained in the profession. The greatest risk to dependants of skippers and sailors was that they did not return from sea. In such a case, it was plainly impossible that widows or orphans would continue their deceased husbands’ or fathers’ profession. Their position was rather comparable to miners’ widows and orphans. This raises the question as to how skippers and sailors reacted to this problem. The aforementioned 1568 statutes of the sailors’ confraternity in the city of Bremen seems to be the first to ___________ 522 Literally: ‘house for the poor’; the name of the guild was ‘Stiftung Arme Seefahrt’, literally: ‘Fund of the Poor Seafaring’. 523 Rabstein, Sozialrechtliche Entwicklungstendenzen in der Seeschiffahrt (1970), 49. In addition, see the source reproduced in Kohl, Haus Seefahrt zu Bremen (1862), 83 (sailors’ confraternity, Bremen, 1568).

178

B. Guild support from the Middle Ages to the 17th century

address the problem. It was simply stated that widows, too, received help in a case of need,524 and later they were also housed in the homes maintained by the different guilds.525 The 1568 statutes of the sailors’ confraternity in the city of Bremen, for example, stated:526 ‘So jemandt von den Broderen in Armodt felle, dar uns godt alle vorbehode idt sy Fruwe edder Kyndt den schall man uth der Broder Bussen tho hulppe kamen na dem idt de Busse vormach.’ ‘If one of the brothers falls into poverty, against which God may guard us, whether it be a wife or a child, he shall receive support from the brothers’ box according to the possibilities of the box.’

The statutes are unspecific as to the form of support. However, as the support came from the box, it seems clear that it was a financial form of support. And as the statutes explicitly referred to a loan in another section,527 it is likely that in the present context financial support did not have to be repaid.

V. Conclusion Modern German literature claims that today’s insurance and insurance law as well as today’s social security and social security law are rooted in medieval guild support.528 The present analysis comes to a different conclusion. Craft guilds indeed offered support to master craftsmen, their dependants, and journeymen. However, until the 17th century, financial support took primarily the form of loans. These were offered to master craftsmen or journeymen if they experienced financial need due to illness. Furthermore, guilds offered non-financial support, e.g. by allowing incapacitated master craftsmen to continue their workshop with the help of an additional journeyman or by allowing a widow to continue her deceased husband’s business, again with the help of an additional journeyman. These forms of support cannot be described in terms of insurance, pre-insurance, or social security. They were simply different means of capacity building. Furthermore, the legal rules on guild support as found in medieval and early modern guild statutes did not address any problems resembling those witnessed in modern insurance law or in modern social security law.529 Consequently, the rules regulating guild support cannot be looked upon as a root of ___________ 524

Rabstein, Sozialrechtliche Entwicklungstendenzen in der Seeschiffahrt (1970), 50. Schwebel, ‘Haus Seefahrt’ Bremen (1947), 48 f. 526 Cited from Kohl, Haus Seefahrt zu Bremen (1862), 83. 527 See the text corresponding to n. 518, above. 528 See pp. 15 ff., 20 ff., and 23 ff., above. 529 See pp. 96 ff., above. 525

V. Conclusion

179

modern insurance law or social security law. A short analysis of the seafaring sector has arrived at an identical conclusion.530 By contrast, financial support offered by miners’ guilds to members and their dependants went beyond loans. The means of capacity building as offered in the crafts to old or incapacitated master craftsmen, their widows, and orphans was simply unsuitable for miners and their dependants. In these cases, miners’ guilds paid a Gnadengeld (mercy pay). It is a form of support which may be categorized as a form of pre-insurance. Nevertheless, one should probably not talk of insurance. Often, there were no separate funds to finance these Gnadengelder. In addition, it is unclear, whether old or incapacitated miners and their dependants had a legal right to support. And overall, legal sources from the 16th and 17th century are silent on the details concerning Gnadengeld. Nevertheless, there are certain details which resemble Germany’s modern social security. Firstly, the contributions which miners owed to the guilds were often deducted by the mine operators from miners’ wages and paid directly to the guilds. Secondly, it is clear that mine operators had to contribute to the guild funds, too. Thirdly, already in the early 16th century, miners’ guilds had become closely connected to the public mining administrations. Some mining acts explicitly introduced compulsory membership in miners’ guilds. And even though there were elements of self-administration, the public mining administrations were strongly involved in supervising how the guild funds were administered. Finally, in the mining sector public mining legislation defined the legislative framework in which miners’ guilds acted and in which miners’ guild could enact guild statutes defining the details of guild support.531

___________ 530 531

See pp. 170 ff., above. See pp. 168 f., above.

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries: a first phase of transformation I. Supporting craftsmen and their families The 16th century and then especially the 17th and 18th centuries are said to have seen a general decline of master craftsmen’s guilds.1 It is alleged that they did not adapt to the changed socio-economic settings and that they hindered rather than paved the ground for economic and technological progress. It is thought that guilds reacted to the changed settings by tightening their admission requirements. Contemporaries felt that these requirements became abusive. Journeymen from other German cities and territories as well as journeymen coming from outside Germany only rarely had a chance to be admitted as a master craftsman. Admission fees became extortionately high. When being admitted as master craftsman, journeymen had to host excessively expensive feasts. Overly costly, yet old fashioned and consequently non-marketable masterpieces had to be produced. Finally, sons of guild brothers, journeymen marrying master craftsmen’s widows or daughters, and in some places also local journeymen continued to enjoy preferential treatment and for them the admission requirements were less onerous and in particular less costly. Consequently, large segments of the population were excluded from attaining the status of master craftsman.2 As a reaction to these developments, journeymen had already in earlier times established confraternities to represent their own economic interests.3 In addition, the fact that foreign journeymen were factually excluded from being admitted as master craftsmen was felt to hinder an exchange of ideas and technological progress in the crafts. ___________ 1 On what follows, Engemann, Gilden der Stadt Goslar (1957), 45; M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 3–11, 73–89; Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 129, 174–179; Böhmert, Geschichte des Zunftwesens (1862), 29–52; Weichs, Studien zum Handwerkerrecht (1939). 1–28; Jahn, Gewerbepolitik der deutschen Landesfürsten (1909), 1–24, 57–69; Reith, Zünfte im Süden des Alten Reiches (2002), 39–69; von Tyszka, Handwerk und Handwerker in Bayern (1907), 37–52; Peitsch, Zunftgesetzgebung und Zunftverwaltung (1985), passim; Flemming, Dresdner Innungen (1896), 5–9. Less critical as to the alleged inability of guilds to adapt to the changed socio-economic settings and more nuanced with regards to their alleged decline, Haupt, Neue Wege zur Geschichte der Zünfte (2002), 9 f. 2 This narrative in the historiography on guilds has, for southern Germany, been recently challenged by Reith, Zünfte im Süden des Alten Reiches (2002), 64–67. See p. 107, above. 3 See pp. 125 ff., above.

182

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

All of this provoked state intervention. Sovereigns and city authorities wanted to suppress what they thought had turned into an abuse of guild autonomy. On a more fundamental level, with the upcoming cameralism (Kameralismus), state sovereigns started to actively promote the economic development of their territories and the welfare of their people.4 Consequently, the autonomy of guilds came under pressure as any form of autonomy meant that sovereigns were not able to directly shape economic progress. Finally, there were further reasons for greater state intervention starting from the second half of the 17th century, the first being the economic rebuilding of territories after the devastations of the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) and the second being the repopulation of regions which had seen huge losses among civilians during that war and the efforts to economically integrate much needed immigrants. In Prussia, these immigrants came especially from Switzerland and, as Huguenots, from France. Both on the imperial and the local level, legislators and public authorities addressed the many problems surrounding guilds.5 On the imperial level, the Reichspolizeiordnungen, especially those of 1530, 1548, 1577, and 1654, attempted to solve some of these problems.6 In 1672, a Reichsgutachten followed.7 In 1731 the Reichsschluß wegen Abstellung der Unordnungen und Mißbräuche bei den Handwerkern was passed, better known as the Reichszunftordnung (Imperial Guild Ordinance) or as the Reichshandwerksordnung (Imperial Crafts Ordinance). It was seen as desirable, and indeed necessary, to act on the imperial level.8 Guilds had formed regional networks reaching across the boundaries of the many German principalities and free imperial cities.9 And the problems were felt to be the same throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Any local solution was, thus, felt to have the potential of creating competitive disadvantages and imbalances. However, for constitutional reasons a total ban of guilds was not seen as feasible.10 It was nevertheless felt that the problems caused by guilds were not ___________ 4

See pp. 27 and 36 f., above. For a discussion of territorial legislation passed before the 1731 Imperial Ordinance, see Allgemeines Juristisches Oracvlvm, vol. 5 (1748), 10–18. 6 See in detail Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 3 (1981), 33–66; Allgemeines Juristisches Oracvlvm, vol. 5 (1748), 5–10; Zedler (ed.), Grosses vollständiges VniversalLexikon, vol. 64 (1750), 52–66. A modern edition of the Reichspolizeiordnungen of 1530, 1548, and 1577 are to be found in Weber, Reichspolizeiordnungen (2002). Furthermore, see Proesler, Das gesamtdeutsche Handwerk (1954), passim. 7 Printed in Pachner von Eggenstorff, Vollständige Sammlung (1740), 554–560. 8 M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 73–89, 100; Stieda/Mettig, Gilden der Stadt Riga (1896), 174; Göttmann, Handwerk und Bündnispolitik (1977), passim. On the developments leading up to the ordinance, see in detail Winzen, Handwerk – Städte – Reich (2002), passim. On the role of the Reichstag in Regensburg for the development of the regulatory framework of guilds, see Blaich, Das zünftige Handwerk (1994), 127–142. 9 Kluge, Zünfte (2009), 78–86. 10 M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 73–89. 5

I. Supporting craftsmen and their families

183

solved by the Reichszunftordnung of 1731, and discussions concerning a possible ban on craft guilds continued throughout the 18th century into the early 19th century.11 The support schemes offered by guilds was an argument against their ban.12 1. Confining guild autonomy The extent of guild autonomy and guild jurisdiction had always exhibited regional differences and had developed over time.13 Yet it seems that there was a general trend that guild autonomy and guild jurisdiction eroded over time.14 The sovereigns aimed at harmonizing guild statutes and enclosing them in the realm of state legislation, thereby paving the ground for general and unified state legislation concerning guilds, crafts, and trade.15 The Reichszunftordnung of 1731 then abolished guild autonomy.16 According to its Art. 1, craftsmen were no longer allowed to associate without the knowledge and approval of public authorities, and they did not any longer have the autonomy to enact their statutes without the consent of the public authorities of the different principalities and cities. Such statutes henceforth needed the approval of these authorities. Existing associations and statutes as well as new associations and newly enacted statutes lacking such approval were declared null and void. The Reichszunftordnung brought further changes. Article 2 introduced some rules concerning the journeyman years. The guild under whose auspices a journeyman had completed his apprenticeship was to issue a certificate which also contained an attestation of good behaviour. The guild was allowed to charge for ___________ 11 See, e.g., von Marenholtz, Fürstliche Macht-Kunst Oder Unerschöpfliche GoldGrube (2nd edn., 1703), 90 f.; Allgemeines Juristisches Oracvlvm, vol. 4 (1748), 911–928, vol. 5 (1748), 1–162; von Justi, Grundsätze der Policey-Wissenschaft (2nd edn., 1759), 134 f. (§ 182); Braumüller, Beweis, daß Gilden, Innungen und Zünfte nützlich und nöthig sind (1795), passim; Weiß, Ueber das Zunftwesen und die Frage: Sind die Zünfte beyzubehalten oder abzuschaffen? (1798), passim; Hoffmann, Interesse des Menschen und Bürger bei den Zunftverfassungen (1803), passim; Rau, Ueber das Zunftwesen und die Folgen seiner Aufhebung (1816), passim. 12 Allgemeines Juristisches Oracvlvm, vol. 4 (1748), 923; Zedler (ed.), Grosses vollständiges Vniversal-Lexikon, vol. 64 (1750), 154. And see Marperger, Montes Pietatis (1715), 112–119; Marperger/von Justi, Montes Pietatis (2nd edn., 1760), 125. 13 See pp. 94 ff., above. 14 M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 73–89; Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 38; Reininghaus, Zünfte und Zunftpolitik (2002), 75–77; Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 2 (1974), 252–257, vol. 3 (1981), 33–66. 15 See the example referred to by M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 101, 109–115. 16 On the Reichszunftordnung, see S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 30; Jahn, Gewerbepolitik der deutschen Landesfürsten (1909), 12–16.

184

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

the certificate, but the charge was limited. A journeyman arriving in a new town had to submit his certificate, and when leaving an attestation of good conduct was again issued. Only if the journeyman was able to present these certificates and attestations was he to be given work. And the journeyman had to give notice of at least eight days before leaving a town in order to ensure that any committed offences were discovered before issuing such attestations. Article 3 introduced rules on the recognition of completed apprenticeships. Article 4 restricted the exclusion of children of certain professions from guilds. Article 5 abolished guild jurisdiction. Any offence had to be reported to the competent public authorities of the different principalities and cities. And Art. 5 introduced a presumption of innocence: until the public authorities had reached a final decision, the accused enjoyed his full guild rights. Article 5 also addressed what the drafters of the Reichszunftordnung apparently saw as a great problem: journeymen joining together to revolt. Article 6 abolished guild networks. Articles 7–15 addressed further issues. Article 11, for example, abolished discrimination against certain illegitimate children. Article 12 addressed the problem of guilds requiring the production of masterpieces which were too costly to produce and basically non-marketable. Furthermore, Art. 12 prescribed that a masterpiece which had been accepted as sufficient in one town must also be accepted in any other town. On the basis of the Reichszunftordnung, the different principalities and imperial cities enacted their own legislation.17 Prussia, for example, passed in 1733 a Handwercks-Ordnung für das Königreich Preussen (Crafts Act for the Kingdom of Prussia).18 In Art. 1, it confirmed that no guild statutes were tolerated which had not received royal consent. All existing statutes that already had received royal consent under the pre-existing laws were ordered to be reviewed. Until having been reviewed and until having received royal consent they were to be in force only in so far as they did not contradict the act. All existing statutes that had never received royal consent were ordered null and void. In the following years Prussia issued for each of the different professions in each Prussian territory unified guild statutes.19 Furthermore, professions which hitherto had possessed their own guilds and hence their own guild statutes were at times united. The Prussian authorities, for example, passed in 1776 guild statutes unifying the ___________ 17 See in general Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 3 (1981), 129–154; Fischer, Handwerksrecht und Handwerkswirtschaft um 1800 (1955), 24–45. And see Puschner, Reichshandwerksordnung und Reichsstädte (1987), 33–45. 18 Reproduced in M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 2 (1888), 329–354. And see S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 30. 19 Corporis Constitutionum Marchicarum, vol 5/2/10, Anhang. In some territories such unified territorial guild statutes had apparently already been enacted in the 17th century: for Württemberg see the examples in Sammlung derer samtlichen Handwercks-Ordnungen des Herzogthums Würtemberg (1758); and see Welge, Handwerkerrecht und Handwerkerpolitik (1962), passim.

I. Supporting craftsmen and their families

185

different woodworkers’ professions (the various kinds of carpenters, the coopers, and the wood turners) in the city of Lünen.20 In substance, the intervention of state legislators did not bring about fundamental changes. Many of the traditional guild rules survived. Only where problems had occurred or where the need for reform was felt did the authorities alter traditional customs. Nevertheless, overall the state sovereigns took a much more active role in the development of guilds, the crafts, and trade than they had done before. And in addition, the nature of their interventions had changed fundamentally. One could pointedly say that the legal character of guilds had as a consequence of these developments changed in the first half of the 18th century. Until the early 18th century, guilds were based on, and derived their existence from, autonomy, even though they had always been subject to different forms of state control, supervision, and intervention. But starting in 1731, guilds were based on, and derived their existence from, state legislation alone. Guilds in their original form had ceased to exist. The Reichszunftordnung of 1731 did not mention the different forms of support offered by master craftsmen’s guilds, journeymen’s associations, or the respective confraternities to their members. Again, the important provision was that guild autonomy was abolished and that guild statutes needed the approval of public authorities: in contrast to earlier centuries, public authorities now took an active role in drafting, revising, and influencing such statutes. They were not enacted on the imperial level but were instead passed in the different principalities, territories, and free imperial cities. Even though the provisions on guild support initially followed traditional paths, the different state sovereigns further developed these support schemes. Fröhlich points to the example of 18th-century discussions in the city of Würzburg.21 The schemes offered to journeymen were understood to be a relevant aspect in local economic development. It was felt that the quality of such schemes served as a factor in attracting the most able journeymen to work and settle in Würzburg. And each territory and city tried to attract the most able journeymen to strengthen its own economy. Furthermore, state sovereigns intervened where problems were felt to exist. Apparently, it occurred that guilds did not provide care for journeymen arriving sick in their towns, but that they sent them off in the hope that these journeymen would be cared for elsewhere. In reaction to this problem an act was passed, for example, in Hannover in 1729:22 ___________ 20

Reproduced in Nigge, Gilden der Stadt Lünen (1912), 95–122. S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 154; Reubold, (1904) 46 Archiv des historischen Vereins von Unterfranken und Aschaffenburg 10. 22 Edictum, daß die sogenannten Steuer-Brüder nicht angenommen, auch wegen Verpflegung armer krancker Handwercks-Gesellen hinlängliche Anstalten vorgekehret werden sollen of 1729, reproduced in Ebhardt, Sammlung der Verordnungen für das Königreich Hannover, vol. 3 (1855), 222 f. 21

186

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

‘Wir vernehmen, daß bey einigen Aemtern und Gilden die böse Gewohnheit sey, daß wenn bey ihnen Gesellen erkrancket, und solche selber nicht Mittel gehabt sich pflegen zu können, sie von einem Ort und Stadt zur andern […] verfahren werden, bis sie entweder genesen, oder gar gestorben. Nachdemmahlen aber es ein sehr unchristlich Werck ist, solchergestalt krancke elende Leute, von einem Orte zum andern, auch wohl zu harter Winters-Zeit zu transportiren, und wohl ohne alle Pflege ohnbarmhertziger Weise crepiren zu lassen; Zu geschweigen, daß auf die Maasse ansteckende Seuchen und Kranckheiten, von einer Stadt und Land ins andere geschleppet weeden können […]. Dafern aber ein dergleichen krancker Geselle nicht des Vermögens, sich selber zu verpflegen; alsdenn sind solche Kosten, aus der Amts-Lade herzugeben, immassen Wir dann denen Aemtern und Gilden dazu gewisse Einnahmen verwilligt; oder, da auch in der Lade sich kein Vorrath befünde, Unser ausgelassenen Armen-Ordnung zu folge, bey denen Vorstehern der Armen-Casse sich gebührend zu melden […].’ ‘We hear that with some guilds a bad practice has emerged that if journeymen fall sick who do not have the means to have themselves cared for, they are sent from one village and town to the other […], until they recover or even die. However, it is unchristian to have sick and miserable people transported from one place to the other, even in the hard winter season, and to let them die merciless without any care; let alone, that infectious epidemics and diseases may be carried from one town and territory to the other […]. If, however, a sick journeyman has not the means to pay for his own care, then the incurred costs shall be covered by the guild box, as we allow guilds to generate an income for that purpose; or, if the guild box does not have sufficient funds, then the journeyman shall, according to our poor laws, report to the head of the poor box […].’

The last sentence already hints at a context which became increasingly important in the 18th century in the further development of guild support and which will, thus, reappear in the present chapter again and again: that of public, and especially municipal, poor relief. 2. Institutional changes Even though state sovereigns developed an awareness that the support offered to journeymen was an important factor in attracting the most able journeymen and thereby strengthening the local economy, an important institutional change was occurring in the aftermath of the Reichszunftordnung of 1731. Starting in the 15th century, journeymen had established their own associations in order to represent their own economic interests. In the course of the development, not only did these associations take over from master craftsmen’s guilds the function of offering support to journeymen,23 they were also forcefully representing the economic interests of their members. The Reichszunftordnung is said to have been

___________ 23

See pp. 125 ff., above.

I. Supporting craftsmen and their families

187

enacted as an immediate reaction to the 1726 uprising of the shoemaker journeymen in the city of Augsburg.24 In many German principalities and towns, journeymen’s associations were in the aftermath of the Reichszunftordnung prohibited. The picture was again disparate.25 Even in those principalities and towns where separate journeymen’s associations were prohibited, separate funds or boxes for the benefit of journeymen within, and under the supervision of, master craftsmen’s guilds may still have been permitted.26 The reason for keeping these funds and boxes was simple:27 banning them would have raised the question of how to provide for journeymen in need. Only two options would have been available: burdening master craftsmen with the obligation to support their journeymen in need or to have them supported by municipal poor relief. Consequently, in addition to having their own poor boxes, master craftsmen’s guilds may have also administered separate poor boxes for the benefit of journeymen. These separate boxes for journeymen are seen as a remnant of the abolished journeymen’s associations where such associations had existed. And with some guilds, there developed separate poor boxes, death boxes covering funeral costs, and sick boxes – all of them for the benefit of journeymen. Article 12 of the 1734 statutes of the yarn weavers’ guild in the Kurmark Brandenburg made clear, for example, that the journeymen’s associations of the yarn weaving profession had been abolished:28 ‘Haben Wir zwar der Gesellen Laden […] und dergleichen sehr gemißbrauchten Dinge, samt den Gesellen-Briefen und Siegeln im gantzen Lande wegnehmen, und auf die Rathäuser bringen lassen, verordnen auch, daß ihnen dergleichen nimmermehr in Zukunft wieder gestattet werden solle; […]. Denen Meistern aber wollen Wir eine Lade zu Verwahrung der Briefschaften und Gelder fernerhin gestatten, […].’ ‘Although we have confiscated in the entire territories all journeymen’s boxes […] and the like objects which have been misused together with the journeymen’s statutes and

___________ 24 M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 89; Stürmer, Herbst des Alten Handwerks (1986), 31; Frensdorff, (1907) 13 Hansische Geschichtsblätter 1. On the 1726 uprising, see, e.g., Clasen, Streiks der Augsburger Schuhknechte (2002), passim. 25 Anonymous, in: Zincke (ed.), Leipziger Sammlung, vol. 8 (1752), 324 f. And see Frevert, Krankheit als politisches Problem (1984), 247. 26 See on what follows, S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 86, 105 f., 143–146, 171 f.; Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 3 (1981), 67; Horstmann, Versicherungseinrichtungen in der Stadt Hannover (1965), 9–15, 32–36; Weisser, Recht der Handwerker nach allgemeinen Grundsätzen und Wirtembergischen Gesezen (1779), 126. 27 Frevert, Krankheit als politisches Problem (1984), 248. 28 Corpus Constitutionum Marchicarum, vol. 5/2/10, Anhang, 5. And see the many guild statutes of the same year reproduced throughout the same collection and also the source reproduced in Nigge, Gilden der Stadt Lünen (1912), 107 f. (woodworkers’ guild, Lünen, 1776).

188

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

seals and had them brought to the town halls and order also that they shall not be permitted to have the like in the future; […]. We allow however the masters to keep a box in order to coffer their documents and funds, […].’

The formulation of these statutes reveals that they were not any longer drafted by the guilds themselves and simply approved by public authorities, but that they were actually drafted by public authorities. The statutes refer to the authorities having confiscated the symbols of the journeymen’s associations as autonomous entities: the box, the statutes, and the seal. However, according to Art. 13 of the same statutes, a separate poor box for the benefit of journeymen was still permitted and to be kept by the master craftsmen’s guild: ‘Die Rechnung über Einnahme und Ausgabe sol der Altmeister in der Woche nach Trinitatis, sowol über die zur Meister-Lade, als Gesellen-Armen-Casse gehörige Gelder (als welche künftig auch vom Altmeister und Altgesellen in einer à parten Rechnung berechnet, und von beyden ein besonder Schloß und Schlüssel darzu gehalten werden sollen) in Gegenwart des Gewercks, Beysitzers, und der Gesellen justificieren, und dieselbe ihn quittieren.’ ‘The oldest master shall in the week after Trinity Sunday verify the accounts on the income and the expenses of the masters’ box as well as of the funds of the journeymen’s poor box (which shall in the future be accounted for by the oldest master and the oldest journeyman in separate accounts, and which both shall have a separate lock and key) in the presence of the profession, the associate committee member, and the journeymen, and the same shall confirm [the oldest master’s accounting].’

Article 15 of the statutes proves that there existed a general poor box primarily for the benefit of master craftsmen and in addition a journeymen’s poor box:29 ‘Wenn das Gewerck sich vereinigen wolte, alle Quartal oder Jährlich etwas in ihres Gewercks-Armen-Casse zu legen, um einem verarmten Meister damit unter die Arme zu greifen, oder dessen Wittwe zu den Begräbnüß-Kosten daraus zu Hülfe zu kommen, wie nicht weniger eine Gesellen-Armen-Casse anzurichten, so wie Artic 13 gedacht, in des Altmeisters Verwahrung seyn, dieser und ein Altgeselle aber jeder einen besondern Schlüssel dazu haben müssen) einen armen krancken Gesellen damit zu helfen, oder zu Beerdigung eines in Armuht verstorbenen Gesellen etwas daraus zu nehmen, sol ihnen solches unverwehret seyn, wie dann zu dem Ende die bisher eingeführte gute Ordnung, wegen Haltung einer Leichen-Casse, Begleitung der Leichen, und was dem anhängig, wol beybeahlten werden kan; […].’ ‘If the profession wants to come together, in order to put quarterly or annually money into its poor box for the support of impoverished master craftsmen or for helping a deceased impoverished master craftsman’s widow with the funeral costs, just like a journeymen’s poor box will be established, as in Article 13 provided for, in the safekeeping of the oldest master, with him and an old journeyman each having a special key to this box) to support a sick journeyman or to take something from it for the funeral in case a journeyman deceases impoverished, then they shall be allowed to do

___________ 29 Corpus Constitutionum Marchicarum, vol. 5/2/10, Anhang, 6. The obscure and nebulous sentence structure of the German original is reflected in the English translation. The opening parentheses is also missing in the German original.

I. Supporting craftsmen and their families

189

so, just like to this end the established good customs concerning the keeping of a death box, concerning escorting the dead, and the like, may be retained; […].’

Furthermore, separate poor boxes are regularly mentioned in the articles on the guild finances and in those on fines.30 Here again, the development of such separate poor boxes as well as death boxes and sick boxes was by no means uniform. However, there seems to have been a general trend towards founding such boxes. And the development seemed to have gained momentum in the 18th century. Examples come from Basel, Bremen, Kiel, Frankfurt, Königsberg, and Zerbst.31 As in earlier times, participation in theses boxes was mostly compulsory. However, there are also examples where the participation in such poor boxes was voluntary. Article 14 of the Privilegium und Gülde-Brief für das Bäcker-Gewerb in der Stadt Lübbecke im Fürstenthum Minden (Privilege and Guild Letter for the Baking Profession in the Town of Lübbecke in the Principality Minden) of 1800, for example, stated:32 ‘Den Gewerksgliedern stehet frey, zu ihrer Armen-Casse, wozu alle Strafen gehören, quartaliter oder jährlich, einen unter sich zu bestimmenden Beytrag zu geben, um verarmten Meistern oder Meisters-Wittwen Beyhülfe zu leisten.’ ‘The members of the profession are free to contribute to their poor box, which will take all fines in, quarterly or annually for the support of impoverished master craftsmen or master craftsmen’s widows.’

And Art. 29 of the same statutes allowed the journeymen to establish a death box for covering the funeral costs of fellow journeymen.33

___________ 30 See the sources reproduced in M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 2 (1888), 333 f. (Arts. 9 and 10 of the Handwercks-Ordnung für das Königreich Preussen, 1733); ibid., vol. 1 (1884), 307 (soapers’ guild, Magdeburg, 1670); ibid., vol. 1 (1884), 344 (carpenter journeymen’s association, Berlin/Cölln/Friedrichswerder/Dorotheenstadt, 1683); ibid., vol. 1 (1884), 351 (lorimers’ guild, Berlin/Cölln, 1683); ibid., vol. 1 (1884), 143 (letter of the Duke of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel and attached draft guild statutes, 1688). In addition, see the sources reproduced in Nigge, Gilden der Stadt Lünen (1912), 119 (woodworkers’ guild, Lünen, 1776). 31 von Baczko, Geschichte Königsbergs (2nd edn., 1804), 233; Dalmer, Innungswesen der Stadt Zerbst (1910), 74; Bücher, (1888) Archiv für Frankfurts Geschichte und Kunst 241 (bookbinder journeymen); Geering, Handel und Industrie der Stadt Basel (1886), 540; Böhmert, Geschichte des Zunftwesens (1862), 37; Hähnsen, Kieler Handwerksämter (1920), 172–175, 436. 32 Cited from Ortloff, Sammlung von allgemeinen Innungsgesetzen und Verordnungen für die Handwerker (1803), 553. 33 Reproduced in Ortloff, Sammlung von allgemeinen Innungsgesetzen und Verordnungen für die Handwerker (1803), 559.

190

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

3. Forms of support and insurance It has already been mentioned above that the increased state intervention in guild statutes did not bring about fundamental changes in substance.34 Many of the traditional guild rules were retained. Traditional guild rules were only replaced, further developed, or reformed where this was thought to be necessary. Consequently, traditional forms of guild support – especially loans and the different forms of capacity building – simply subsisted, and they were only supplemented by other forms of support: mostly financial support which did not have to be repaid. a) Traditional forms of support Granting a loan to a member who was, due to illness or other mischief, in financial need remained the primary form of financial support offered by guilds, with the possibility that a guild could waive its claim for repayment if the recipient of the loan did not regain the financial position to make repayment. Above, I have already cited a number of examples from the late 17th century, and many more could be added both from the time before the Reichszunftordnung of 173135 and from its aftermath.36 However, even these traditional forms of support saw a process of transformation: in Fulda, the Fuldische Polizeiverordnung für die Handwerker (Administrative Ordinance for the Crafts in Fulda) of 1784 distinguished between a Vorschußcasse (Advance Fund) and an Armencasse (Poor Fund), the former being planned as a fund for making loans to master craftsmen. With respect to this Vorschußcasse, the 1784 Ordinance stated:37 ‘A. Die Vorschußcasse hat mit der Armencasse gar keine Verbindung, und ist besonders dadurch unterschieden, daß der aus der Vorschußcasse leihende Handwerksmann binnen der mit ihm verabredeten Frist hin wieder und zwar mit 5 pro Cent pro Rata temporis zurückgeben muß.

___________ 34

See pp. 185 f., above. See, e.g., the sources reproduced in M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 386 f. (potters’ guild, Halle, 1685); ibid., 263 (carpenters’ guild, Havelberg, 1668); ibid., 230 (tailors’ guild, Ziesar, 1651); ibid., 143, 145 (letter of the Duke of BraunschweigWolfenbüttel and attached draft guild statutes, 1688). And see S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 84. 36 See, e.g., the sources reproduced in M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 2 (1888), 350 (Art. 46 of the Handwercks-Ordnung für das Königreich Preussen of 1733); Wissell, Der soziale Gedanke (1930), 57 (masons’ guild, Reval/Tallinn, 1762). And see Kreutzberger, Gewerberecht der Reichsstadt Goslar (1959), 64. 37 Cited from Ortloff, Sammlung von allgemeinen Innungsgesetzen und Verordnungen für die Handwerker (1803), 325 f. 35

I. Supporting craftsmen and their families

191

B. Wer sich zur Vorschußcasse meldet, muß sich gefallen lassen, daß von der Landesarmencommission dessen Lebensart genauest untersuchet werde, und ist er ein Säufer, Spieler, schlechter Arbeiter, oder ein solcher, der um seinen Vorrath nicht durch Unglücksfälle gekommen, somit der Mann nicht ist, dem man auf Treue und Glauben den Vorschuß anvertrauen kann: so wird er lediglich abgewiesen; und also C. Nur Handwerksmeistern von guter Aufführung, die fleissig sind, und durch Unglücksfälle als einer etwa ihnen oder den Ihrigen zugestosssenen Krankheit etc. die Mittel zu Anschaffung roher Materialien verlohren haben, können 10, 20, 30 bis 60 fl. höchstens vorgeschossen werden, um rohe Materialien anzukaufen, mit der Bedingniß, daß sie nach der bestimmten und versprochenen Zeit den Vorschuß entweder mit baarem Gelde oder mit Hinterlegung verfertigter Arbeit, als welche bey Auszahlung des Vorschusses auch im Preise angesetzet werden kann, nebst Interesse zu 5 pro Cent pro Rate temporis zurückzahlen. […] E. Da dergleichen geringe Vorschüsse an verarmte Meister selbst zum Besten ihrer übrigen Creditoren gereichen, indem dadurch der gemeine Schuldner in Arbeit und Verdienst gesetzt ist, somit sich wieder erhohlen kann; so ertheilen Wir aus landesherrlicher Fürstlicher Gewalt dieser Vorschußcasse das Prioritätsrecht vor allen chirographarischen Gläubigern nach Unserer ergangenen gnädigsten Concursverordnung […].’ ‘A. The Vorschußcasse has no connection to the Armencasse, and they differ insofar that the craftsman who receives a loan from the Vorschußcasse has to repay the sum in the agreed period of time together with 5% interest. B. He who comes forward to the Vorschußcasse has to accept that the Landesarmencommission [literally: Territorial Poor Commission] will examine his lifestyle, and if he is a drunkard, a gambler, a poor craftsman, or one who has lost his stocks not through misfortune, so that he is not a man, whom one entrusts the advance on good faith and fair dealing: then he will be rejected; and thus C. Only master craftsmen of good acting, who are hard-working and who have lost the funds to purchase raw materials through misfortune, as for example through an illness from which they themselves or their next of kin have suffered, will receive an advance of 10, 20, 30 up to 60 gulden at the most, in order to purchase raw materials, under the condition that they will repay the advance after the specified and promised period of time, either in cash or by depositing produced goods, the price of which may already be determined when paying out the advance, together with 5% interest. […] E. As such small advances to impoverished master craftsmen will also benefit their other creditors, as the debtor will thereby regain the possibility to work and to earn and, thus, recover; for that reason We order with sovereign princely power that the Vorschußcasse takes priority over all chirographical creditors according to our bankruptcy ordinance.’

The Vorschußcasse was finally established in 1789 and became a predecessor of the Sparkasse in Fulda, a public credit and banking institution.38 For a number of reasons, the Vorschußcasse is of interest in the present context. The Vorschußcasse is clearly rooted in traditional guild support. This is proven not solely by the fact that it is regulated in an Ordinance on the crafts; the provisions ___________ 38

See p. 271, below.

192

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

of the Ordinance reflect the heritage of traditional guild support also in substance. However, the Fulda Vorschußcasse was not a fund organized or established by any guild. And it was not a fund restricted to a specific profession. It was established and run by public authorities to benefit all crafts. The function of the Vorschußcasse is narrower than that of the support offered by guilds. Guilds offered loans as a means of capacity building in times of personal hardship. The Vorschußcasse granted loans if a craftsman experienced financial hardship, and the craftsman was allowed to use the loaned capital only for the purchase of raw materials. Guilds could waive a claim for the repayment of the loan and turn a loan retrospectively into alms. The 1784 Ordinance does not allow for such possibility. Furthermore, guilds granted loans to members in need interest free; the Vorschußcasse, by contrast, offered loans only for interest. Finally, the 1784 Ordinance is clearly distinguished from poor relief, yet the poor commission was involved when reaching the decision of whether the Vorschußcasse would grant a loan. References to poor relief were not found in earlier legislation on guild support. However, why was an institution like the Vorschußcasse necessary if craft guilds already offered loans to master craftsmen and if they did so interest free? The only plausible answer is that craft guilds, or at least some of them, no longer at the end of the 18th century had the funds to sufficiently fulfil their functions of supporting master craftsmen in need. I will come back to this proposition later in this chapter. Widows still had the right to continue their deceased husband’s workshop. For Prussia, Part II, Title 8, § 238 of the Allgemeines Landrecht für die Preußischen Staaten (General Prussian Territorial Law) of 1794 – the Landrecht may be looked upon as constituting the end point of the Prussian developments in the 18th century – stated:39 ‘Die Wittwe eines Zunftgenossen kann, wo nicht die Zunftartikel ein Andres verordnen, das Gewerbe ihres Mannes durch Gesellen fortsetzen.’

___________ 39 Cited from Hattenhauer, Allgemeines Landrecht (2nd edn., 1994), 466. For Brunswick and Blankenburg see § 10 of the Ordnung für die Gilden im Herzogthum Braunschweig und Fürstenthum Blankenburg of 1765, reproduced in Ortloff, Sammlung von allgemeinen Innungsgesetzen und Verordnungen für die Handwerker (1803), 193 f.; for Hamburg see Title VII, Art. 8 of the Neues Reglement der Hamburgischen Aemter und Brüderschaften of 1710, reproduced in Ortloff, Sammlung von allgemeinen Innungsgesetzen und Verordnungen für die Handwerker (1803), 364 f.; for the Principality of Bayreuth see Art. 23 of the Handwerksordnung der Schneider of 1746, reproduced in ibid., 50; for Württemberg see, e.g., the 1719 Act for the Bookbinders’ Craft, reproduced in Sammlung derer samtlichen Handwercks-Ordnungen des Herzogthums Würtemberg (1758), 138. See, furthermore, Fricke, Grundsätze des Rechts der Handwerker (2nd edn., 1778), 72; Ortloff, Recht der Handwerker (2nd edn., 1818), 292; Schichtel, Recht des zünftigen Handwerks im Herzogtum Pfalz-Zweibrücken (1986), 96–98; Kreutzberger, Gewerberecht der Reichsstadt Goslar (1959), 134.

I. Supporting craftsmen and their families

193

‘The widow of a guild member may, where the guild statutes do not contain a provision to the contrary, continue her husband’s profession with the help of journeymen.’

There seem to have been no guild statutes excluding a widow’s right to continue her deceased husband’s workshop. To the contrary, numerous guild statutes confirmed a widow’s right or regulated it in detail.40 The Prussian Landrecht further specified the rights of widows, and here again it did so by falling back on older traditions. Part II, Title 8, §§ 370–373 stated:41 ‘§. 370. Nur den Meisterwittwen, welche das Handwerk fortsetzen, muß der geschickteste Geselle nach ihrer Auswahl verabfolgt werden. §. 371. Wenn aber ein Meister nur Einen Gesellen hat, und denselben der Wittwe überlassen muß: so ist er befugt, von einem der Mitmeister, welche mehrere Gesellen halten, die Abgabe Eines derselben zu fordern. §. 372. Melden sich mehrere Wittwen um Ueberlassung eines tüchtigen Gesellen: so entscheidet unter ihnen die Zeit der bey dem Gewerke geschehenen Anmeldung. §. 373. Auch dieses Vorrecht kann von jeder Meisterswittwe nur dreymal ausgeübt werden. (§. 346.).’ ‘§. 370. On their choice, the most able journeyman has to be given to the widows of master craftsmen who continue the profession. §. 371. However, if a master has only one journeyman and if he has to leave him to the widow: then he is allowed to request from a fellow master, who has several journeymen, one of these. §. 372. If there are several widows relying on their right for attaining an industrious journeyman: then the time when they so claimed a journeyman shall be decisive between them. §. 373. Also this privilege can be exercised only three times by each widow (§. 346).’

___________ 40 See from the time prior to the Prussian Territorial Law the sources reproduced in M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 203 (tanners’ guild, Salzwedel, 1645); ibid., 227 (tailors’ guild, Ziesar, 1651); ibid., 239 (furriers’ guild, Nauen, 1653); ibid., 103 (general guild statutes, Hannover, 1692); ibid., 143, 145 (letter of the Duke of BraunschweigWolfenbüttel and attached draft guild statutes, 1688); Nigge, Gilden der Stadt Lünen (1912), 113 f. (woodworkers’ guild, Lünen, 1776); Corpus Constitutionum Marchicarum, vol. 5/2/10, Annex, 7 (yarn weavers’ guild, Brandenburg, 1734); Corporis Constitutionum Marchicarum, vol. 5/2/10, Anhang, 72–84 (carpenters’ guild, Brandenburg, 1734); and see the many other guild statutes for the Kurmark Brandenburg of the same year reproduced in the same collection. 41 Cited from Hattenhauer, Allgemeines Landrecht (2nd edn., 1994), 470. In addition, see the many guild statutes for the Kurmark Brandenburg enacted in 1734 and 1735 as printed in Corporis Constitutionum Marchicarum, vol 5/2/10, Anhang. For Brunswick and Blankenburg see § 10 of the Ordnung für die Gilden im Herzogthum Braunschweig und Fürstenthum Blankenburg of 1765, reproduced in Ortloff, Sammlung von allgemeinen Innungsgesetzen und Verordnungen für die Handwerker (1803), 193 f.

194

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

Finally, the Landrecht still recognized the right of a sick or incapacitated master craftsman to continue his workshop with the help of a journeyman. Part II, Title 8, §§ 345 f. stated:42 ‘§. 345. Doch müssen Wittwen, welche das Handwerk fortsetzen; ingleichen Meister, welche wegen langwieriger Krankheiten, oder andrer unverschuldeter Unglücksfälle, dem Handwerke nicht selbst vorstehen können, mit tüchtigen Gesellen vor allen andern versorgt werden. §. 346. Von diesem Vorrechte kann jedoch eine Witwe nicht öfterer als Dreymal Gebrauch machen.’ ‘§. 345. Widows who are continuing the profession, as well as master craftsmen who cannot work any longer due to a lengthy illness or due to another misfortune which they have experienced without their own fault, shall be provided for with industrious journeymen before all others are. §. 346. However, each widow can rely on this privilege not more than three times.’

And Part II, Title 8, §§ 374–377 of the Landrecht added:43 ‘§. 374. Verfällt ein Meister in langwierige Krankheit: so kann er die Abtretung eines Gesellen von seinen Zunftgenossen verlangen. §. 375. Zu dieser Abtretung ist derjenige Meister vorzüglich verpflichtet, bey welchem die meisten Gesellen in Arbeit stehn. §. 376. Ist die Zahl der Gesellen bey mehrern Meistern gleich: so trift die Abtretung den Jüngsten unter ihnen. §. 377. Nach erfolgter Genesung muß der krank gewesene Meister den solchergestalt erhaltenen Gesellen dem vorigen Meister, auf dessen Verlangen, zurück geben.’ ‘§. 374. If a master craftsman catches a lengthy illness, then he can demand from a fellow master craftsman the transfer of a journeyman. §. 375. The master craftsman who has employed the most journeymen is first obliged to such transfer. §. 376. If more than one master craftsmen have the same number of journeymen, then the youngest of them has to transfer. §. 377. After the master craftsman who was sick has recovered, then he has to retransfer the journeyman whom he has thus received back to the other master craftsman if the latter so demands.’

___________ 42 Cited from Hattenhauer, Allgemeines Landrecht (2nd edn., 1994), 469. For Saxony see Chap. I § 15 and 17, Chap. III § 38 of the Mandat, die General-Innungs-Articul für Künstler, Profeßionisten und Handwerker hiesiger Lande betreffend of 1780, reproduced in Herold, Rechte der Handwerker und ihrer Innungen (1835), 109, 116, 127. 43 Cited from Hattenhauer, Allgemeines Landrecht (2nd edn., 1994), 470.

I. Supporting craftsmen and their families

195

Up to the end of the 17th century, it remained unclear whether sick apprentices had a right to be supported by their master craftsman.44 Part II, Title 8, § 317 of the Prussian Landrecht clarified that apprentices had no such right:45 ‘Die Verpflegung eines kranken Lehrlings aus eignen Mitteln, kann einem Meister, welcher dieselbe im Vertrage nicht ausdrücklich übernommen hat, nicht zugemuthet werden.’ ‘A master craftsman cannot be burdened with the obligation to provide for a sick apprentice from his own funds, unless he has contractually obliged himself to do so.’

With respect to sick journeyman, Part II, Title 8, §§ 353–355 of the Prussian Landrecht took an approach supporting, again, the findings concerning earlier times:46 ‘§. 353. Die Cur und Verpflegung eines eingewanderten und krank gewordenen Gesellen, er stehe bereits in Arbeit, oder nicht, muß, wenn er selbst unvermögend ist, aus der Gesellenlade, und in deren Ermangelung aus der Gewerkscasse bestritten werden. §. 354. Ist diese nicht hinreichend: so muß die Armenkasse des Orts, und bey deren Unzulänglichkeit, die Stadt- oder Cämmereykasse zutreten. §. 355. Der Magistrat muß also bey eigner Vertretung dafür sorgen, daß ein krank gewordener unvermögender Geselle nicht hülflos gelassen, oder vor erfolgter hinlänglicher Wiederherstellung fortgeschafft werde.’ ‘§. 353. Medical expenses and care for an incoming journeyman who has fallen sick, whether he is in employment or not, have to be covered by the journeymen’s box or, if there is no such box, by the guild box, if the ill journeyman is without means. §. 354. If the guild box has insufficient funds: then the municipal poor box has to step in, and if that poor box, too, is insufficient, then the town treasury is liable. §. 355. The municipal authorities, thus, have to see that a poor journeyman who has fallen sick is not left without help or that he is sent away before he has fully recovered.’

The Prussian Landrecht does not mention the master craftsman’s obligation to care for a journeyman who is in his services. However, it had a tiered system of responsibilities for the support of sick journeymen. According to this system it was primarily the obligation of the journeymen’s box to care for ill journeymen. Just like the aforementioned 1784 Ordinance on the Vorschußcasse in Fulda, the Prussian Landrecht makes explicit reference to poor relief, a reference which was missing in earlier documents. Journeymen’s boxes were not regulated

___________ 44

See pp. 110 ff., above. Cited from Hattenhauer, Allgemeines Landrecht (2nd edn., 1994), 468. 46 Cited from Hattenhauer, Allgemeines Landrecht (2nd edn., 1994), 469. See pp. 110 ff., above. 45

196

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

in detail in the Landrecht. Rather, Part II, Title 8, §§ 396–400 of the Prussian Landrecht stated:47 ‘§. 396. Die Gesellen machen unter sich keine Commune oder privilegirte Gesellschaft aus. §. 397. Sie sind nicht berechtigt, eigenmächtiger Weise Versammlungen zu halten. §. 398. In Fällen, wo ihnen dergleichen Versammlungen nach den Zunftartikeln oder Polizeygesetzen gestattet sind, müssen dieselben nur mit Vorwissen der Gewerksältesten gehalten werden. §. 399. Uebrigens hat es bey den Polizeygesetzen und Zunftartikeln, wonach den Gesellen erlaubt ist, einen Altgesellen zu wählen, und unter dessen Rechnungsführung eine eigne Casse aus ihren Beyträgen, zu gemeinschaftlichen Bedürfnissen, besonders zur Verpflegung kranker oder sonst verunglückter Gesellen zu errichten, auch noch ferner sein Bewenden. §. 400. Doch sind die Gesellen, auch in diesen Angelegenheiten, der Aufsicht der Gewerksältesten und des Beysitzers unterworfen.’ ‘§. 396. Journeymen do not form an association or privileged corporation. §. 397. They are not permitted to hold assemblies without authorization. §. 398. In cases where they are permitted to hold such gatherings according to the guild statutes or according to public statutes, they are only allowed to hold assemblies with the knowledge of the Gewerksältesten [office holders of the guild]. § 399. By the way, the public statutes and guild statutes which allow journeymen to elect an Altgesellen [office holder of the guild representing the journeymen] who establishes a separate box and who administers the accounts of this box into which the journeymen pay for the support of ill journeymen or journeymen who have otherwise met an accident remain in force. §. 400. However even in these affairs, the journeymen are subjected to the supervision of the Gewerksältesten and their assessor.’

Thus, journeymen’s associations remained banned in Prussia, but journeymen were allowed to have, under the supervision of the guild, separate boxes for the support of ill journeymen.48 In other territories and cities journeymen’s associations seemed to have subsisted, and they were still allowed to pay for beds in hospitals to have sick journeymen cared for, as an example from Erlangen in 1788 proves, though the same source suggests that a sick journeyman had to

___________ 47

Cited from Hattenhauer, Allgemeines Landrecht (2nd edn., 1994), 470. For Saxony see Chap. II § 13 of the Mandat, die General-Innungs-Articul für Künstler, Profeßionisten und Handwerker hiesiger Lande betreffend of 1780, reproduced in Herold, Rechte der Handwerker und ihrer Innungen (1835), 114. 48

I. Supporting craftsmen and their families

197

shoulder the costs of care. Art. 31 of the 1788 statutes of the tailor journeymen’s confraternity in the city of Erlangen stated:49 ‘Wenn Gott einen Gesellen mit Krankheit, oder andern Gebrechlichkeiten heimsuchen würde, so sollen allezeit, so es die Noth erfordert, zwey Gesellen nach der Wahl alle Nachts wachen, keinem aber die Nacht mehr, als 2 Maas Bier auf des Kranken Kosten abgereich werden […].’ ‘If God besets a journeyman with illness or other infirmity, then two journeymen […] shall, if his distress so demands, each night guard him, but each one of them shall not receive more than 2 litres of beer per night at the cost of the sick.’

Furthermore, guild members were still obliged to participate in the funerals of deceased fellow members.50 And it remained practice that master craftsmen had to take in impoverished sons of deceased guild brothers and other poor orphans as apprentices free of charge.51 Finally, guilds still gave alms to the poor of their communities.52 b) Forms of insurance In the late 17th century and then especially in the course of the 18th century, forms of (pre-)insurance were added to traditional support schemes. Late 17th-century guild statutes increasingly exhibited the concept of alms as support in situations where hitherto loans would have been granted. As an early example, the 1683 statutes of the tailors’ guild in the city of Luckenwalde stated:53

___________ 49

Ordnung für die Gesellschaft eines ehrsamen Schreinerhandwerks in Christian- und Altstadt Erlangen of 1788, reproduced in Ortloff, Sammlung von allgemeinen Innungsgesetzen und Verordnungen für die Handwerker (1803), 575. 50 Chap. III § 31 of the Saxon Mandat, die General-Innungs-Articul für Künstler, Profeßionisten und Handwerker hiesiger Lande betreffend of 1780, reproduced in Herold, Rechte der Handwerker und ihrer Innungen (1835), 125; Nigge, Gilden der Stadt Lünen (1912), 113 (woodworkers’ guild, Lünen, 1776); § 46 of the Ordnung für die Gilden im Herzogthum Braunschweig und Fürstenthum Blankenburg of 1765, reproduced in Ortloff, Sammlung von allgemeinen Innungsgesetzen und Verordnungen für die Handwerker (1803), 210 f.; Art. 13 of the Privilegium und Gülde-Brief für das Bäcker-Gewerb in der Stadt Lübbecke im Fürstenthum Minden of 1800, reproduced in ibid., 552 f. 51 See the sources reproduced in Nigge, Gilden der Stadt Lünen (1912), 115 (woodworkers’ guild, Lünen, 1776); Corpus Constitutionum Marchicarum, vol. 5/2, Annex, 8 (yarn weavers’ guild, Kurmark Brandenburg, 1734). 52 See the source reproduced in M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 230 (tailors’ guild, Ziesar, 1651); Preußische Ordre an den Magistrat in Berlin, daß die Waysenund Soldaten-Kinder ohne Entgelt, auch ohne Producirung eines Gebuhrts-Briefes bey denen Gewercken angenommen warden sollen, 1721, Corporis Constitutionum Marchicarum, vol. 5/2, 699–702. 53 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 339 f.

198

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

‘Wenn ein Meister verarmen solte, und nicht Lebens-Mittel hette, soll denselben auf sein Anhalten auss der Lade eine Allmosen gereichet werden.’ ‘If a master becomes impoverished and if he lacks food, then one shall give him on his request alms from the guild box.’

The same statutes made explicit that orphans, too, were helped with alms:54 ‘Wenn ein Meister und Meisterin verstirbet und ein Kind hinter sich liessen, und dasselbe nicht Lebensmittel hette, soll denselben auss der Meister Lade ein Allmosen gegeben werden, stürbet aber das Kindt, soll es das Handtwerck ehrlich begraben lassen.’ ‘When a master or a female master dies and leaves behind a child, and if this child lacks food, then one shall give that child alms from the master box. If the child dies, then the guild shall burry it in honour.’

Another example comes from the 1683 statutes of the confraternity of the Sager or Saager (presumably: sawyers) in Hamburg:55 ’18) Wann einer oder ander von der Saagerbrüderschafft alt und unvermögend ist, der seine Arbeit nicht mehr verrichten kann, der soll bis auf ein Jahr lang wochentlich haben 1 [Mark] 8 [Schilling]. Nach verflossenem Jahr aber soll er alsden haben 1 [Mark] Lübisch, so ihm aus den Armenladen wochentlich soll gegeben werden. Befällt er aber wieder in Krankheit, der soll gleichfalls wochentlich 1 [Mark] 8 [Schilling] haben. 19) Wann einer oder der ander unter der Brüderschafft von denen, so in Arbeit stehen und arbeiten können, in Krankheit fället oder sonsten in der Arbeit der Brüderschaft zu Unglück kähme, soll derselbe aus der Armenlade wochentlich haben 1 [Mark] 8 [Schilling], bisz er wieder zu seiner Arbeit gelangen kan, worüber auch gute Auffsicht und Obacht von der Brüderschaft soll gegeben werden. 20) Wan einer oder der ander unter denen Brüdern am Montag und Dienstag arbeitet und mit schleuniger Kranckheit befällt, dass er am Mittewochen nicht kan arbeiten, so soll er die Woche sein Kranckengeldt, nehmlich 2 [Mark] haben. Gehet er aber aus und gleich nicht arbeitet, so hat er die Woche nichts zu fordern. […] 22) Wann einer oder der ander unter der Sagerbrüderschafft mit dem Tode wird abgehen, soll demselben, es sey Mann oder Frau oder Wittwe, aus der Armlade jedem zur Begrägniszkost sechs Reichsthaler […] gegeben werden. 23) Wann unter der Brüderschafft ein Man am Montag oder in der Wochen bisz den Sonntag hinzu stirbet oder todt über der Erde stehet, so soll gleichfalls dessen nachgelassene Wittwe die […] 2 [Mark] dieselbe Woche über zu genieszen haben. 24) Würde auch von der Sagerbrüderschaft einig Sohn oder Tochter mit Tode abgehen, so sollen die Söhne und Töchter, wan sie ihr elfftes Jahr erwachsen oder darüber, zur Begräbnisz aus der Armenladen haben drey Rthlr., die aber im zehnden Jahre begriffen, bis 5 Jahr nur 2 Rth. haben, und die kleinen Söhne und Töchter nur 1 Rth.

___________ 54

Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 340. Cited from Rüdiger, Hamburgische Zunftrollen (1874), 208 f. And see Adler, Epochen der Deutschen Handwerker-Politik (1903), 12. 55

I. Supporting craftsmen and their families

199

Die aber ihr Jahren erwachsen und zur Heyraht gelanget sindt, haben nichts zu genieszen und sindt gäntzlich ausgeschlossen. […] 26) Wann auch eine Wittwe unter der Bürderschafft mit Kranckheit befället, soll dieselbe wochentlich aus der Armlade geniszen 12 [Schilling].’ ’18) If one or the other of the sawyers’ confraternity is old and impoverished and if he is unable to perform his work, he shall receive for one year each week one mark and eight shillings. However, after one year he shall have one Lübeck mark, which he shall receive weekly from the poor box. However, if he falls sick again, then he shall also have weekly one mark eight shillings. 19) If one or the other from the confraternity, who is working and who is able to work, falls sick or otherwise experiences misfortune while working with the confraternity, then he shall receive from the poor box weekly one mark eight shillings until he is able to work again, which should be carefully supervised by the confraternity. 20) If one or the other from the confraternity works on a Monday and a Tuesday and then is inflicted with a quick ailment so that he is not able to work on a Wednesday, then he shall receive for the week a sick pay of two marks. However, if he has gone out and immediately is unable to work, then he cannot claim anything for the week. […] 22) If one or the other from the sawyers’ confraternity dies, then the same, regardless of whether it is a man or a woman or a widow, shall receive from the poor box six imperial talers […] towards the funeral costs. 23) If a man from the confraternity dies on a Monday or in the week by the Sunday […], then his surviving widow shall receive […] two marks in that week. 24) If a son or a daughter from the sawyers’ confraternity dies, then the sons and daughters, when they are eleven years of age or older, shall receive three imperial talers from the poor box towards the funeral costs, when they are five to ten years of age, they shall receive two imperial talers, and the small sons and daughters only one imperial taler. Those, however, who are of age and who have married will receive nothing. […] 26) If a widow from the confraternity falls sick, she shall receive weekly twelve shillings from the poor box.’

Up to the 17th century, sick guild members received loans. By contrast, the Hamburg sawyers’ confraternity offered non-repayable financial support. Up to the 17th century, the office holders of the guild had some discretion whether the guild would grant financial support. By contrast, the Hamburg sawyers’ confraternity offers a detailed catalogue of benefits which members were to receive in return for their contributions towards the confraternity. Up to the 17th century, guilds were only under a moral obligation to grant support. Guild members did not have a legally enforceable right to support. By contrast, the statutes of the sawyers’ confraternity give the impression that a member had such a legally enforceable entitlement to support. Although the problem of moral hazard had always been addressed in guild statutes – some early guild statutes explicitly excluded support if the member in need had caused the illness by his own acts or

200

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

by his own fault56 – Art. 20 of the 1683 statutes of the Hamburg sawyers’ confraternity adds a non-rebuttable presumption. If a guild member fell sick on a Monday and if he had gone out, he did not receive any support. It was probably presumed that such sickness was caused by excessive drinking at the weekend. Until the 17th century, there were no rules to be found in guild statutes addressing problems of fraud – a guild member fraudulently demanding the support of the guild without being in need. Article 19 of the 1683 statutes of the sawyers’ confraternity now obliges the guild to carefully check whether the sick guild member has come to health again. Finally, the statutes suggest that the benefits which members received in cases of need were aligned to the financial needs which members experienced in these situations: according to Art. 24, the parents of deceased children received different sums towards the funeral costs depending on the age of the deceased children, and it may be presumed that funeral costs differed, too. In conclusion, the support offered according to the 1683 statutes of the sawyers’ confraternity in Hamburg exhibited a number of elements which allows it to be qualified as insurance. In the Duchy of Brunswick and the Principality of Blankenburg, § 29 of the Ordnung für die Gilden im Herzogthum Braunschweig und Fürstenthum Blankenburg (Guild Ordinance) of 1765 introduced another distinction:57 ‘Wird ein Gesell durch Krankheit würklich ausser Stand gesetzt, seinen Unterhalt zu verdienen, und hat nicht so viel, als er zu seiner höchst nöthigen Verpflegung gebraucht: so soll ihm aus dem Vorrath der Armengelder von der Gilde nach deren Beschaffenheit etwas gereicht werden. Würde aber die Krankheit über 4 Wochen dauern, und sämtliche Gesellen aus Mitleiden keinen besondern Zutrag thun: so kann auch der Gildekasse kein weiterer behülflicher Zutrag nicht zugemuthet werden, und falls der Geselle länger, als vier Wochen dringender Umstände halber (welche zuvorderst von dem Gildedeputirten zu untersuchen und dessen Bewilligung zu verlangen ist) erhalten werden mußte: so soll derselbe solches alsdenn in die Armenbüchse zurückzahlen, wenn er genesen und das Handwerk wieder treibt; falls er aber stirbt, soll aus dessen hinterlassenen Sachen, soweit solche zureichen, das Erhaltene refundiret werden.’ ‘If a journeyman is due to an illness truly incapacitated from earning his own living and if he does not have any assets for his minimum support, then he shall receive something from the guild’s poor fund depending on its reserves. If his illness lasts longer than four weeks and if the other journeymen do not make out of mercy a special contribution: then it is also not tolerable for the guild box to offer further support, and if the journeyman is in great need requiring support for longer than the four weeks (what the Gildedeputierten [office holders of the guild] first have to verify […]); then he shall receive something from the poor box, but he has to repay this sum once he has

___________ 56

See pp. 48 and 51, above. Cited from Ortloff, Sammlung von allgemeinen Innungsgesetzen und Verordnungen für die Handwerker (1803), 203. 57

I. Supporting craftsmen and their families

201

recovered and once he works again; if, however, he dies, his estate, if there is enough, is liable to refund what has been received.’

The 1765 Ordinance of the Duchy of Brunswick and the Principality of Blankenburg was not as far-reaching as the 1683 statutes of the Hamburg sawyers’ confraternity. It still offered loans to journeymen in need. However, when ill a journeyman received for the first four weeks financial support which he did not have to repay. Still, the sum was not pre-defined as in the case of the 1683 statutes of the sawyers’ confraternity. A third example comes from the city of Eisenberg. The 1802 statutes of an association of the carpenter journeymen mark the very end of the first phase of transformation, and these statutes again specify a pre-defined sum which was disbursed in a case of sickness. The carpenter journeymen in Eisenberg had formed a separate sick and poor box:58 ‘Wird ein Geselle […] krank, und die Krankheit dauert 14 Tage, so soll er die Woche – 4 gr. – aus der Armen-Casse erhalten; Hat sich aber einer gehauen, so soll derselbe 6 gr. wöchentlich empfangen, es mag der Unfall zu Ende oder Anfangs der Woche sich ereignet haben, welche 6 gr. ihm so lange verabreicht werden müssen, bis er wieder hergestellt ist. Sollte ferner ein Geselle das Unglück haben, zu stürzen, und der Fall so unglücklich sein, daß er Schaden genommen, und kann solches durch ein medizinisches Attestat bescheiniget werden, so erhält selbiger wöchentlich ebenfalls [sic] 8 gr. aus der Armen-Casse, sowie auch bei Absterben eines Gesellen dessen Begräbnis zwey Thaler ebenfalls hieraus bezahlet werden sollen, doch erstrecken sich die Aussteuern oben bemerkter Personen nicht weiter als auf ¼ Jahr […].’ ‘If a journeyman falls sick and if the sickness lasts 14 days, then he shall receive four groschen per week from the poor box. If he has struck himself, then he shall receive six groschen per week until he is cured, regardless of whether such accident has occurred at the end or at the beginning of the week. Furthermore, if a journeyman is so misfortunate to fall and if he thereby injures himself and if a medical attestation can confirm this having happened, then he receives equally [sic] eight groschen per week from the poor box. When a journeyman dies, then two talers shall be paid from the same box towards his funeral. However, support in the aforementioned cases is only paid for one quarter of a year […].’

The 1683 statutes of the Hamburg sawyer’s confraternity, the 1765 Ordinance of the Duchy of Brunswick and the Principality of Blankenburg, and the 1802 statutes of the carpenter journeymen’s association in Eisenberg suggest that the transformation from support towards pre-insurance and insurance which occurred starting in the late 17th century and then throughout the 18th century was a complex process which was not coordinated in any regard. The developments were driven by local actors: the guilds and the public authorities of the different cities and territories. Some guild statutes remained deeply rooted in earlier traditions. Other guilds further developed their support schemes. And there are numerous rules, elements, and ideas which were simply added to traditional support ___________ 58

Cited from Wissell, (1927) 1/5 Die Reichsversicherung 143 f.

202

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

schemes. It seems to have been a process of trial and error. Consequently, it is not possible to reconstruct a clear chronological development. It is only possible to add some further examples to give an impression of a multifaceted development.59 Fröhlich mentions two voluntary sick and death boxes in the city of Cologne.60 The one was established in 1708 and benefited the wool weaver journeymen; the other one was established in 1736. According to Fröhlich, both boxes paid five imperial talers towards the funeral costs in the event a member died. However, there was a novel requirement: a member had to have survived for at least three months after joining in order to be eligible for support. Fröhlich argues that the family of a deceased journeyman had a legal right to the sum. And the sum was paid irrespective of whether the family was in need and irrespective of whether the journeyman died impoverished. According to Fröhlich, the 1736 statutes of another journeymen’s sick box in the city of Cologne required an admission fee and a fortnightly contribution to be paid by the journeymen.61 If a journeyman then fell sick, he was to receive a weekly sick pay. Here again, a journeyman had to have been a member for three months before he became entitled to sick pay. Furthermore, there were different levels of sick pay depending on whether the journeyman was incapable of working but not bedridden, or whether he was bedridden and in need of medication. Furthermore, a journeyman who was in default of six weeks’ contributions was not to receive the sick pay. And, the sick pay was not to be paid if the sickness was brought on by the member’s own fault. Finally, the health status of the sick was checked weekly. In 1740, further details were added to the statutes of a journeymen’s sick and death box.62 The sick member was not to receive a sick pay if he suffered from pre-existing conditions:63 ‘[…] so einer mit einem alten Schaden und Zustand behaftet, und sich hervor tue, daß von Tag zu Tag damitten schlimmer würde, soll ebenfalls nichts zu gewarten haben.’ ‘[…] if somebody suffers from an old injury or condition, and if it becomes obvious that this becomes more serious day by day, he, too, shall not expect anything.’

And the office holders of the association had to examine and monitor sick members:64 they visited a sick member two times a week in order to check his health status. If he was found to be of health, he had to pay a fine. Similarly, a sick box for the journeymen carpenters in the city of Kiel, which was established in 1799, not only offered a loan to sick journeymen in need, but it paid a pre___________ 59 For further examples see, e.g., Dalmer, Innungswesen der Stadt Zerbst (1910), 73; Reith, Arbeits- und Lebensweise im städtischen Handwerk (1988), 211 f. 60 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 171 f. 61 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 147. 62 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 147. 63 Cited from S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 147 f. 64 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 148.

I. Supporting craftsmen and their families

203

determined sum as sick pay; further, journeymen had to pay an admission fee and a weekly contribution, and membership was compulsory.65 Traditionally, master craftsmen’s guilds and journeymen’s associations were institutions with compulsory membership. However, the 18th century also saw voluntary sick boxes. Fröhlich mentions an example coming from the city of Cologne:66 the association of the journeyman wig makers, which was established in 1786. It paid benefits only to those who had joined the box and who had made their contributions. Nevertheless, the support in the form of a weekly sick pay was still dependent on the sick box having sufficient funds. A sick fund which has attracted the attention of contemporaries67 and of modern scholars68 is the one established in Würzburg in 1786. According to a report published by Philipp Michaelis in 1791, the idea for the fund had been developed by a master of the hat making profession, Joseph Heidenreich.69 However, modern literature claims that the driving force behind its establishment was Franz Ludwig von Erthal, Prince-Bishop of Würzburg.70 The preamble of the fund’s statutes as revised in 1844 clarifies that the plan was first developed by a number of tradesmen (‘mehrere menschenfreundliche achtbare Gewerbsbürger’), presumably master craftsmen, who then sought the support of the Prince-Bishop.71 The fund was restricted to journeymen and apprentices, but it was open to all journeymen and apprentices irrespective of their profession (and irrespective of their confession). Thus, it was no longer a fund established by a specific guild or by the journeymen of a specific profession. It was a fund established for journeymen and apprentices of all professions working in the city of Würzburg, just like the Vorschußcasse in Fulda was no longer limited to a specific profession but benefited master craftsmen of all professions.72 The 1786 fund was called the ___________ 65 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 144 f.; Hähnsen, Kieler Handwerksämter (1920), 452 f. 66 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 86 f. 67 See for example Michaelis, (1791) 13/6 Ernst Gottfried Baldingers Neues Magazin für Aerzte 523–544; Anonymous, (1786) Real-Zeitung 13–17; Hecker, (1793) 3 Neues Hannöverisches Magazin 1354; Hoff, Gesammelte Briefe, vol. 2 (1794), 135–164; Horsch, Versuch einer Topographie (1805), 273. 68 See on the following paragraph, S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 148–150; Reubold, (1904) 46 Archiv des historischen Vereins von Unterfranken und Aschaffenburg 1–26; Wagner-Braun, Bedeutung berufsständischer Krankenkassen (2002), 34; Brinkschulte, Krankenhaus und Krankenkasse (1998), 63–81; Leopold, Von den Frankenaposteln zum Sozialgesetzbuch (2003), 21–30. 69 Michaelis, (1791) 13/6 Ernst Gottfried Baldingers Neues Magazin für Aerzte 523. 70 Brinkschulte, Krankenhaus und Krankenkasse (1998), 64. 71 Erneuerte Statuten des Instituts für erkrankende Gesellen zu Würzburg (1845), Archiv des Juliusspitals zu Würzburg, A 4034. 72 See pp. 190 ff., above.

204

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

Kranke-Gesellen Institut (Sick Journeymen’s Institute). A second, parallel, institution was planned to benefit domestic servants, but its implementation was delayed until 1801.73 I was not able to identify the original statutes of the 1786 fund. The files which I have consulted in the archive of the Juliusspital in Würzburg only included drafts, 19th-century copies, and revised statutes.74 Wilhelm Reubold claimed in 1904 that membership was compulsory.75 Yet a contemporary report by Heinrich Georg Hoff published in 1794 points in a different direction.76 He states that the guilds of merchants and craftsmen were free to join the fund (‘Der Kaufmannschaft, den Innungen der Künstler und den Handwerkern stehet es völlig frei, ob sie dem Institut beitreten wollen’). After joining, membership could not be later terminated again. The reference to ‘Innungen’ – another word for guild77 – gives the impression that guilds were able to transfer their health support schemes onto the 1786 fund and that it was not necessary for individual guild members to join the institution. This reading is confirmed by the fact that Hoff only later on the same page refers to the possibility of individual journeymen joining the society. Furthermore, this reading corresponds to the statutes of the 1801 fund for the benefit of domestic servants.78 As a rule, it was not domestic servants who were members of the fund; rather, their masters joined the fund for their benefit. Only if a master declined to join the fund was the servant allowed to pay the contributions him- or herself. Finally, this reading is confirmed by the fund’s annual financial report for the year 1790: on the income side, it does not list the contributions paid by individual journeymen or individual master craftsmen. Instead, the report lists only one entry per craft and specifies which master craftsman had paid the contributions for that craft. The aforementioned Joseph Heidenreich, for example, had paid 13 gulden and 19 kreuzer for the hat making craft.79 Assuming that there are 60 kreuzer in one gulden,80 Heidenreich had paid the annual contributions for altogether 15 journeymen and apprentices. Surely, ___________ 73 Brinkschulte, Krankenhaus und Krankenkasse (1998), 97; Leopold, Von den Frankenaposteln zum Sozialgesetzbuch (2003), 27 f. See p. 209, below. 74 Archiv des Juliusspitals zu Würzburg, A 4034 and A 4035. 75 Reubold, (1904) 46 Archiv des historischen Vereins von Unterfranken und Aschaffenburg 1–26. 76 Hoff, Gesammelte Briefe, vol. 2 (1794), 238. In addition, see the discussion of Brinkschulte, Krankenhaus und Krankenkasse (1998), 71, 100 f.; Leopold, Von den Frankenaposteln zum Sozialgesetzbuch (2003), 22 f. 77 See pp. 29 f., above. 78 See p. 209, below. 79 Des gnädigst bestätigten bürgerlichen kranken Gesellen Instituts fünfte Rechnung für das Jahr 1790, 5, Stadtarchiv Würzburg. 80 A. Suhle, Kreuzer, in: von Schrötter (ed.), Wörterbuch der Münzkunde (2nd edn., 1970), 234; Fengler/Gierow/Unger, Numismatik (3rd edn., 1982), 235.

I. Supporting craftsmen and their families

205

Heidenreich did not himself employ 15 journeymen and apprentices. It rather seems that Heidenreich had paid the contributions for the entire hat making craft. The 1786 fund developed admission requirements. Journeymen who were already sick were admitted only after having been cured. Journeymen suffering from existing health conditions who were nevertheless able to work were admitted to the fund, but only new illnesses were covered by the fund. Certain diseases, epilepsy for example, were not covered by the fund as there were specialized hospitals for these diseases.81 If it turned out that the sickness was caused by the fault of the sick journeyman, he had to refund the costs of cure. Each member had to pay a weekly contribution of one kreuzer. In return, members received free medical treatment. Furthermore, the annual financial reports for 1789 and 1790 suggest that the fund also covered the costs of funerals of those patients who had died while in the hospital.82 Journeymen working in the trade – and not in the crafts – as well as surgeon journeymen had to pay one-and-a-half kreuzer, but they also received extra benefits. The support offered by the box was no longer dependent on the sick member being in financial need. The medical treatment was undertaken in the Juliusspital, a hospital dating back to the 16th century.83 It received 25 kreuzer per day for each patient. It seems that the contributions were based on careful calculations.84 The fund was administered by a total of 14 office holders who were elected by the members. They were obliged to publish annually printed accounts including the number of sick, recovered, and deceased patients. According to Michaelis, in its first year of existence the sick box had an income of over 2,559 gulden: von Erthal had donated 1,250 gulden,85 380 gulden were raised through charity concerts, 408 gulden were collected at church services, and 743 gulden were paid by members as contributions.86 It can be observed that the numbers which Michaelis gives do not add up. He further reports that 1,510 gulden were invested at 5% interest and 1,200 at 4% interest. Furthermore, he reports that in the year 1786 a total of 109 patients were treated in the Juliusspital at the expense of the sick box. In 1787, the sick box had an income of over 1,759 gulden and spent over 842 gulden for 117 patients; in 1788 the income was over 1,858 gulden, and ___________ 81

On such hospitals, see Götz-Lurati, Der Würzburger Stadtarzt (2006), 174–184. Vierte Jahres Rechnung des gnädigst bestätigten bürgerlichen kranken Gesellen Instituts vom Jahre 1789, 21, Stadtarchiv Würzburg; Des gnädigst bestätigten bürgerlichen kranken Gesellen Instituts fünfte Rechnung für das Jahr 1790, 22, Stadtarchiv Würzburg. 83 Kolb, Das Spital- und Gesundheitswesen (2004), 542. 84 Sippel, Bamberger Dienstboten-Institut (1889), 6, reported that for the Bamberg Krankendienstbotheninstitut (Sick Servants’ Institute) of 1790 it was estimated that 10% of all domestic servants had to be hospitalized each year for an average length of 30 days. 85 According to Brinkschulte, Krankenhaus und Krankenkasse (1998), 82, it was a loan. 86 Michaelis, (1791) 13/6 Ernst Gottfried Baldingers Neues Magazin für Aerzte 524. 82

206

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

the box spent 1,053 gulden for 150 patients. For 1789, Michaelis reports an income of 2,118 gulden and expenses of 1,060 gulden for 163 patients.87 The following years saw discussions on how to reform and finance public health care systems for the poor.88 In 1793, A.F. Hecker – it was probably August Friedrich Hecker, professor of medicine in Erfurt89 – spoke of forming different Assekuranzklassen (classes of assurance).90 He estimated the number of patients which would have to be provided for in a hospital annually in a town of 20,000 inhabitants, and he argued that the numerous small hospitals run by different guilds or by the different confessions which existed in many towns should be merged together to make hospitals more cost efficient. He then estimated the annual costs of running such a hospital. Hecker suggested to divide a city’s population into four classes: the first class was formed by poor craftsmen and day labourers, the second class by domestic servants, the third class by journeymen and apprentices, and the fourth class by tourists. Depending on their income, they had to make different contributions. The contributions were voluntary, but only those who contributed were to be admitted to the hospital. It seems that the Würzburg fund of 1786 was established in the context of such wider discussions of how to reform health support. Modern research has found that the city administration of Würzburg had carefully compared the position of journeymen in Berlin, Vienna, and Graz when planning the 1786 fund.91 And following the example of Würzburg, similar sick boxes were, for example, established in Bamberg in 1789 (for journeymen) and 1790 (for domestic servants), in Munich between 1810 and 1813, in Osnabrück in 1811, in Schweinfurt in 1814, in Stuttgart between 1819 and 1827, and in Solingen in 1836.92 Bamberg may serve as a second example. Franz Ludwig von Erthal was Prince-Bishop of both Würzburg and Bamberg. As the Würzburg fund of 1786 was closely connected to the Juliusspital, the Bamberg Handwerks-Kranke Gesellen Institut (Sick Craft Journeymen’s Institute) of 1789 was closely linked to a hospital which was newly established in the same year. The driving force behind the establishment of the hospital was Adalbert Friedrich Marcus, the personal medical attendant to the Prince-Bishop. According to Lina Hörl, he was ___________ 87 For the year 1789, see, furthermore, Vierte Jahres Rechnung des gnädigst bestätigten bürgerlichen kranken Gesellen Instituts vom Jahre 1789, Stadtarchiv Würzburg. 88 On this context, see in general Brinkschulte, Institutionalisierung des modernen Krankenhauses (1996), 187–207. 89 August Hirsch, Hecker: August Friedrich, in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, vol. 11 (1880), 207. 90 Hecker, (1793) 3 Neues Hannöverisches Magazin 1352–1358. 91 Brinkschulte, Krankenhaus und Krankenkasse (1998), 65. 92 Kluge, Zünfte (2009), 334; Berger, Frühmodernes Krankenhaus (1996), 208–235.

I. Supporting craftsmen and their families

207

born as Israel Marcus and adopted the name Adalbert Friedrich after he had converted to Catholicism upon becoming the personal medical attendant to the Prince-Bishop.93 Marcus also took an active part in establishing the Krankendienstbotheninstitut (Sick Servants’ Institute) of 1790.94 The plans to establish the hospital and the two health insurance funds for the benefit of journeymen, apprentices, and servants reached back to the year 1782. The hospital was planned so as to improve the healthcare for the entire city’s population. The two health insurance funds were needed to finance the hospital.95 Nevertheless, it seems difficult to reconstruct the development leading to the 1789 fund. The Stadtarchiv (City Archive) in Bamberg holds handwritten statutes (Statuten des Handwerks-Krankengesellen Instituts) dated 7 December 1789 with 36 articles.96 Hörl claims that they were simply a draft,97 and Friedrich Göller argues that these statutes never received the Prince-Bishop’s approval and that they were still awaiting such approval in 1793.98 Göller concludes that the fund was a purely private initiative in its first years of existence.99 Nevertheless, the Prince-Bishop had made a considerable donation towards the fund already in 1789.100 In 1825, Christian Pfeufer published a different version of the statutes with 30 articles.101 The version reproduced by Pfeufer refers to Franz Schenk von Stauffenberg as chairman of the institute. Schenk von Stauffenberg was appointed to this position by von Erthal in 1789 and died in 1797.102 Thus, even if the statutes reproduced by Pfeufer are not the first statutes which received approval, they date at least to the 1790s. Article 1 clarifies that the fund was established by master craftsmen for the benefit of their journeymen, and it shows the close connection to the hospital: ‘Durch die vortreffliche Einrichtung des neuen Krankenspitals aufgefordert […] errichteten im Jahre 1789 sämmtliche Handwerksmeister ein Institut, dessen einziger

___________ 93

Hörl, Bey einer ihn anfallen könnenden Krankheit (2008), 357. In addition, see Grünbeck, Der Bamberger Arzt (1971), 56 f. 94 Stadtarchiv Bamberg, B 9 + 719. In addition, see Hörl, Bey einer ihn anfallen könnenden Krankheit (2008), 358 f.; Pfeufer, Geschichte des allgemeinen Krankenhauses zu Bamberg (1825), 76–93; Sippel, Bamberger Dienstboten-Institut (1889), 1, 4. 95 Göller, Das ‘Institut kranker Handwerksgesellen’ in Bamberg (1889), 1 f.; Hörl, Bey einer ihn anfallen könnenden Krankheit (2008), 355. 96 Stadtarchiv Bamberg, B 9 + 799. An excerpt is reprinted in Göller, Das ‘Institut kranker Handwerksgesellen’ in Bamberg (1889), 76–78 and in Gesellen-Institut, Zum 100jährigen Jubiläum (1889), 6 f. 97 Hörl, Bey einer ihn anfallen könnenden Krankheit (2008), 350. 98 There is another draft with 29 articles dated 5 September 1791: Stadtarchiv Bamberg, B 9 + 800, fols. 59–68. 99 Göller, Das ‘Institut kranker Handwerksgesellen’ in Bamberg (1889), 4–8. 100 Göller, Das ‘Institut kranker Handwerksgesellen’ in Bamberg (1889), 8. 101 Pfeufer, Geschichte des allgemeinen Krankenhauses zu Bamberg (1825), 64–76. 102 Gesellen-Institut, Zum 100jährigen Jubiläum (1889), 12.

208

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

Zweck seyn soll, das Schicksal eines jezuweil erkrankenden Handwerksgesellen zu erleichtern, ihm einen sicheren Zufluchts- und Aufbehaltungsort zu seiner Heilung anzuweisen, und solchen, so bald es möglich, zu ein wieder thätiges Glied des Staates zu bilden.’ ‘Driven by the admirable foundation of the new hospital for the sick [….] all master craftsmen established in 1789 an institute, which has as its sole purpose to relieve the fate of a sick journeyman, to assign a secure asylum and residence to him for his cure, and to have him become again, as soon as possible, a working member of society.’

According to Art. 3, the new hospital was the ‘secure asylum and residence’ to which Art. 1 refers: sick journeymen were treated in it, and the hospital received for each sick journeyman per day a fee of 20 Franconian kreuzer. Each journeyman had to pay three Rhenish kreuzer as admission fee and then one Franconian kreuzer per week (Art. 5). In return, journeymen received free lodging and free medical treatment in the hospital (Art. 4). If a journeyman was too weak to walk to the hospital, he was transported to it in a sedan chair (Art. 6). And if he died in the hospital, the funeral costs were covered by the fund (Art. 6). Support was excluded if the journeyman had caused his condition by his own fault. However, then the fund may have nevertheless covered the costs of cure on the basis of a loan if the journeyman was able to give surety for its repayment. If an injury was caused by a third party, the fund covered the costs of cure if it was certain that it would be reimbursed by that third party (Art. 8). Furthermore, the fund excluded incurable patients as well as those who had not disclosed a pre-existing condition to the fund (Art. 9). The fund introduced a waiting period of eight days for new members to assure that they did not suffer from a preexisting condition (Art. 10). Arts. 12 f. contained further provisions on funeral costs. Articles 14–28 regulated the fund’s administration in detail. Schenk von Stauffenberg was appointed as chairman of the fund. Furthermore, it had two commissioners, two cashiers, two deputies for keeping the keys, three deputies for the sick, and further board members. All of these office holders were elected by the funds’ full members by majority vote (Art. 22). However, it seems that only master craftsmen were such full members. According to Art. 26, membership was voluntary. However, when the fund was established, journeymen and apprentices only had three months to decide whether they wanted to join. Journeymen had to pay their weekly contribution themselves. The contributions of apprentices were covered by their master craftsmen (Art. 26). Finally, the accounts of the funds were audited annually by the bishop’s administration (Art. 17). In its first years of existence, the periodic contributions raised from its members did not cover the costs owed to the hospital for the care of sick members, and the institute was thus dependent on donations and legacies.103

___________ 103

Gesellen-Institut, Zum 100jährigen Jubiläum (1889), 11–15.

I. Supporting craftsmen and their families

209

The statutes of the 1801 Institut für kranke Dienstleute (Institute for Sick Domestic Servants) in Würzburg saw further refinements.104 They consisted of 37 articles. § 2 of the Verordnung, die Errichtung des Instituts für kranke Dienstleute betreffend (Ordinance Concerning the Establishment of the Institute for Sick Domestic Servants) of 1801 made clear that the 1801 statutes had the force of law (‘Die Statuten dieses Instituts sollen die Kraft förmlicher Gesetze haben’).105 § 1 of the 1801 statutes defined the fund’s purpose as providing sick domestic servants with medical care in the Juliusspital. However, it was not domestic servants who were the members of the fund. It was the masters who were able to join the fund for the benefit of their servants, as § 3 makes clear: ‘Dasselbe beruht auf dem freywilligen Einverständnisse der Dienstherrschaften der fürstlichen Residenzstadt Würzburg. Man setzet zwar das Vertrauen auf alle, oder doch den größten Theil der Dienstherrschaften, daß sie menschenfreundlich das Aufkommen eines so wohlthätigen Instituts befördern werden. Aber niemand soll zum Beytritt gezwungen werden.’ ‘The same rests upon the voluntary consent of all employers of the princely Residenz Würzburg. Trust is put in all, or at least in the majority of all employers that they will philanthropically promote the emergence of such a charitable institution. Nevertheless, no one shall be compelled to join.’

Accordingly, it was in principle the masters who had to pay a contribution of annually two or four Rhenish gulden towards the fund for the benefit of their servants (§§ 15 f.). However, if a master declined to join the fund, the servant was allowed to pay the contributions him- or herself (§ 31). And accordingly, only domestic servants working for employers having their residence in Würzburg were admitted to the fund (§ 4). Only servants of health were able to join the fund (§ 6). Furthermore, certain incurable illnesses were not covered (§ 7): servants suffering from such illnesses were not admitted to the fund; if they attracted such illnesses later, they lost their membership; coverage would have been too costly for the fund.106 Servants were to be treated only if the contributions had been paid for them (§ 9). The statutes addressed problems of fraud (§§ 10 f.). The fund covered only free accommodation and medical treatment in the Juliusspital (§ 12). In contrast to the 1789 fund in Bamberg, the 1801 fund in Würzburg covered neither the costs of transport to the hospital nor funeral costs for members who died in the hospital (§§ 13 ff.). Membership was restricted to three years (§ 18), and it was possible to join the fund four times a year: on Epiphany, Easter, St. Kilian’s Day, and Michaelmas (§ 20). By paying the annual contributions for a term of three years, each master bought the right to have his or her servant treated in the Juliusspital for altogether a quarter of a year (§ 26). ___________ 104

Statuten des Instituts für kranke Dienstleute in Würzburg (1801). Archiv des Juliusspitals zu Würzburg, A 4035, 32. 106 Hochfürstl. Würzburg. Polizeygericht des obern Raths, 28 December 1801, Archiv des Juliusspitals zu Würzburg, A 4035, 41. 105

210

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

However, a servant who had been admitted to the Juliusspital received free medical treatment even beyond a quarter of a year if this was necessary (§ 25). If the servant was discharged earlier, he or she still had a right to be treated for the remainder of the quarter of the year. The fund was administered by a number of appointed office holders (§§ 32–34), and they had to publish annually a printed financial report (§ 35). A final question needs to be addressed: why were such boxes established if guilds served the same function? Here again, it is plausible that master craftsmen’s guilds and journeymen’s associations were no longer sufficiently funded to fulfil their function or that it was felt that they fulfilled their function in an inefficient way. These propositions are supported by modern research.107 However, it needs to be stressed that the 1786 and the 1801 funds in Würzburg, as well as the 1789 and the 1790 funds in Bamberg, covered the costs of hospitalization, only.108 Thus, it seems that these funds did not replace the need for traditional guild support in total. They supplemented traditional guild support. A social historian may raise the question of how often and in what cases hospitalization occurred. On the one hand, it would be misleading to think that hospitalization occurred only exceptionally. With respect to Bamberg, Marcus pointed to the miserable conditions which journeymen faced when accommodated in the guild’s inn during a period of sickness, and the position of servants was similar:109 they had to leave their masters’ household whenever it was feared that they suffered from an infectious disease. However, materials on the kinds of diseases which were covered by the 1786 fund in Würzburg in the first 16 years of its existence suggest that only serious illnesses were covered.110 Philipp Joseph Horsch provides us with further statistical materials on the 1786 fund in Würzburg: in 1786, the fund had 844 members and 108 members had to be treated in the hospital. In 1793, it had 964 members and 240 members had to be treated in the hospital. In the first 16 years of its existence, the year 1793 was the peak for hospitalization.111 By comparison, in 2016, 19.5 million patients were hospitalized in Germany in relation to a total population of 82 million.112

___________ 107

Brinkschulte, Krankenhaus und Krankenkasse (1998), 64, 78. Brinkschulte, Krankenhaus und Krankenkasse (1998), 63. 109 Marcus, Entwurf (1790), in: Pfeufer, Geschichte des allgemeinen Krankenhauses zu Bamberg (1825), 77 f. In addition, see Sippel, Bamberger Dienstboten-Institut (1889), 2. 110 Horsch, Versuch einer Topographie (1805), 74–101. In addition, see Brinkschulte, Krankenhaus und Krankenkasse (1998), 96. 111 Horsch, Versuch einer Topographie (1805), 78. 112 Gesundheitsberichterstattung des Bundes http://www.gbe-bund.de (last accessed 21 February 2020). 108

I. Supporting craftsmen and their families

211

c) Shortcomings of traditional support schemes The 18th century saw journeymen who never had the chance to attain the status of a master craftsman. For them, it was not an option to continue their business with the help of an additional journeymen when they were too old or did not have the capacity to work. Nevertheless, guilds seem not to have reacted to this problem. Consequently, old and incapacitated journeymen had to rely on poor relief.113 4. Admission requirements a) Joining master craftsmen’s guilds The admission requirements for guilds, as they had developed since the Middle Ages, were long felt to be abusive. Already in the 16th century city authorities and state sovereigns had started to intervene and constrain these admission requirements,114 and also the Reichstag (Imperial Diet) of 1548 in Augsburg addressed the problem in Title 37 of the Reichspolizeiordnung.115 In Prussia, the problem of requiring journeymen to produce non-marketable masterpieces was addressed repeatedly, for example by an ordinance of 1686.116 And a Prussian ordinance of 1688 then stated:117 ‘Demnach Wir […] solches hochnöthig, zumahlen bey den Zimmerleuten, Maurern, und dergleichen […], erachten, jedoch daß desfals von dem angehenden Meister weder an Mahlzeiten noch Gelde, noch sonsten nichts gefordert noch gegeben werde, auch daß das Meisterstück also beschaffen seyn solle, daß es nicht nach der alten Art, sondern also gemacht und verfertiget werde, wie es von den angehenden Meister wieder verkaufft und an den Mann gebracht warden könne; Alls befehlen Wir euch hiermit genädigst, bey Ausfertigun der Confirmationen der Innungs-Artickel aller Gewercke dieses zu attendiren, und wann es nöthigk einen eigenen Articul desfals zu formiren.’

___________ 113 Reith, Arbeits- und Lebensweise im städtischen Handwerk (1988), 211; idem, Altersproblem und Alterssicherung im Handwerk (1990), 16 f. (stressing that in 17th-century Nuremberg, it was in the goldsmithery profession a master craftsman’s obligation to care for his old and incapacitated journeymen). And see Frevert, Krankheit als politisches Problem (1984), 246. 114 Bodemann, Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883), xlii; Uhl, Handwerk und Zünfte in Eferding (1973), 74 f.; Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 2 (1974), 11–33. 115 Reproduced in Weber, Reichspolizeiordnungen (2002), 211 f. 116 Preußische Circual-Verordnung, wegen derer Meisterstücke und Meister-Köste, 1686, Corpus Constitutionum Marchicarum, vol. 5/2, 645 f. 117 Preußische Verordnung an die Lehns-Cantzley bey Ausfertigung derer HandwecksArtickel es dahin einzurichten, daß nutzbare Meisterstrücke gemacht und andere Kosten erspahret warden sollen, 1688, Corpus Constitutionum Marchicarum, vol. 5/2, 647 f.

212

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

‘As We […] regard it as very necessary, especially for carpenters, masons and the like […], that from a prospective master craftsman neither feasts nor moneys as well as nothing else are demanded and that they do not give any thing, and also that the masterpiece shall be of a nature that it is not outdated, but that it is produced in such a way that the prospective master may be able to sell and market it; for that reason we order that this has to be observed when approving the guild statutes of all professions and, when necessary, to change an article respectively.’

However, it seems that it was difficult to implement this provision. In 1723 Prussian legislature intervened again in a similar vein.118 Furthermore, Prussia addressed in particular the problem of integrating those craftsmen who had immigrated from Switzerland and France to Prussia. With respect to the former, an ordinance of 1691, for example, provided that they should be treated as equal to the latter:119 ‘Als wollen Sie wann sich dergleichen Leute einfinden werden, die gnädigste Verordnung ergehen lassen, daß dieselbe nicht allein ohn entgeltlich und frey gleich denen Frantzösischen refugirten, zu Bürgern und in die Gewercke zu Meisteren aufgenommen, sondern auch Ihnen allergeneigter Wille und Officia humanitatis erwiesen werden sollen.’ ‘And they shall, when the same people arrive, impose this gracious ordinance, that the same shall not only without fee and free like the refugees coming from France be made citizens and be admitted to the professions as masters, but that they shall be met with a kind will and officia humanitatis.’

Other legislation prohibited discrimination against the children of certain professions120 or the exclusion of journeymen who had served a prison sentence.121 The sons of master craftsmen were no longer allowed to receive preferential ___________ 118 Preußisches Patent, daß die bey denen Handwerckern bisher üblich gewesene kostbare Meisterstücke abgeschafft, und dagegen solche Meister-Stücke verfertiget warden sollen, so Kauffmanns-Gut sind, und wozu sich Abnehmer finden, 1723, Corpus Constitutionum Marchicarum, vol. 5/2, 733 f.; General-Privilegium und Gülde-Brief des Tischler-Gewercks in der Chur- und Marck Brandenburg dies- und jenseits der Oder und Elbe, insonderheit des Tischler-Gewercks in Berlin of 1734, reproduced in Stürner, Herbst des Alten Handwerks (1986), 74–90. 119 Preußische Verordnung, daß die aus der Schweiz kommende Handwercks-Leute gleich denen refugirten Frantzosen das Bürger- und Meister-Recht frey haben sollen, 1691, Corpus Constitutionum Marchicarum, vol. 5/2, 647 f. See further the discussion in M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 90. The integration of refugee master craftsmen raised problems also in other territories and cities; for the city of Bremen see, e.g., the Antwort des Schusteramts auf die Aufforderung des Raths einen französischen Refugié in ihr Amt aufzunehmen, widrigenfalls man denselben zum Freimeister ernennen werde of 1685, reproduced in Böhmert, Geschichte des Zunftwesens (1862), 106 f. 120 Preußisches Edict, wegen derer Schäffer-Voigte-Stadt-Diener- und WächterKinder, 1705, Corpus Constitutionum Marchicarum, vol. 5/2, 656. 121 Preußisches Patent, daß die im Zucht-Hause gesessene von Handwerckern nicht ausgeschlossen warden sollen, 1710, Corpus Constitutionum Marchicarum, vol. 5/2, 663–666.

I. Supporting craftsmen and their families

213

treatment.122 Following the Reichszunftordnung of 1731, Prussia enacted in 1734 and 1735 numerous guild statutes which made explicit that no distinction was to be made between foreign and local journeymen, sons of master craftsmen and other journeymen, or between journeymen marrying a master craftsman’s widow or daughter and those who do not.123 However, it seems that problems of implementation remained also with respect to these liberalizations of the crafts. Karl Bücher discusses the case where a bookbinder master from the city of Gotha complained still in 1784 that foreign journeymen bookbinders were not admitted in the city of Frankfurt to the profession.124 And an imperial rescript had to remind the city of Bremen in 1764 to enforce the provisions of the Reichszunftordnung of 1731.125 Notwithstanding these reforms, guild statutes of the 18th century still followed traditional lines. In particular, an admission fee was still the rule as the 1776 statutes of the united woodworkers’ guild in the city of Lünen exemplifies, even though such fees became to be moderate:126 ‘Wer also mit seinem Meisterstück bestanden, der soll darauf in die Meister-Lade Vier Rthlr., dem Beysitzer des Magistrats Einen Rthlr., denen gesammten Meistern wegen der zweymaligen Zusammenkunft Einen Rthlr. zur Ergötzlichkeit, dem Meister, bey welchem er das Meister-Stück gearbeitet, oder welcher ihn bey dessen Verfertigung besuchet, Einen Rthlr., […] zur Raths Cämmerey Zwey Rthlr. und anstatt des sonst gewöhnlichen Wachses, Einen Rthlr. zum Behuf der dortigen Armen […].’ ‘He who has successfully produced his masterpiece shall then pay into the masters’ box four imperial talers, to the assessor of the local authority one imperial taler, for the delight of the entirety of the masters for coming together two times one imperial taler, to the master with whom the masterpiece has been completed or who had attended him while producing the masterpiece one imperial taler, […] to the town treasury two imperial talers, and instead of the otherwise usual wax one imperial taler for the benefit of the local poor […].’

___________ 122 M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 101. For Saxony see, e.g., Befehl Churf. Johann Georg II. zu Sachsen, daß die Meisters-Söhne sowohl, als andere, MeisterStücke verfertigen und deswegen keine Freiheit genießen sollen of 1679, reproduced in Herold, Rechte der Handwerker und ihrer Innungen (1835), 88. 123 See, e.g., the 1734 statutes of the carpenters’ guild, Corpus Constitutionum Marchicarum, vol. 5/2/10, Anhang, 85. 124 Bücher, (1888) Archiv für Frankfurts Geschichte und Kunst 242. For the 19th century see Krünitz/Floerke/Floerke/Hoffmann, Ökonomisch-technologische Encyklopädie, vol. 242 (1858), s.v. Zunft, 392. 125 Kaiserliches Rescript an die Reichsstadt Bremen vom 4. Aug. 1764 wegen Abstellung der Handwercksmissbräuche, reproduced in Böhmert, Geschichte des Zunftwesens (1862), 127 f. 126 Cited from Nigge, Gilden der Stadt Lünen (1912), 101 f. In addition, see the nearly identical provisions reproduced in, for example, Corporis Constitutionum Marchicarum, vol 5/2/10, Anhang, 3 (yarn weavers’ guild, Brandenburg, 1734). Compare also the other guild statutes of the same year found in the same collection.

214

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

b) Joining voluntary death and sick boxes However, for joining voluntary death and sick boxes, further admission requirements were developed. The aforementioned journeymen’s sick box of 1786 in the city of Würzburg may serve as example.127 Journeymen who were already sick when applying for membership as well as journeymen suffering from epilepsy were not admitted. 5. Guild finances Here again, the provisions on guild finances followed in many respects traditional lines. Members had to pay admission fees, make periodic contributions, and pay fines to guilds and also into their separate poor, sick, and death boxes, and the towns still received some of the moneys so collected.128 For example, concerning fines the 1719 act for the bookbinding craft in the Duchy of Württemberg stated:129 ‘Solle von denen samtlich gefallenden Strafen, so unter einem Frevel kommen, dann das Handwerck nicht höher, als höchstens auf zwey Gulden zu straffen hat, das eine Drittheil gnädigster Herrschafft, das andere dem Armen-Kasten, und das dritte Drittheil dem Handwerck zukommen und verbleiben.’ ‘Of all fines […], which should not go beyond two gulden, the one third should go to, and remain with, the sovereign, the other [third] to the poor box, and the last third to the crafts.’

However, there were also some reforms. Guild statutes made clear that the guild funds were to be used for the support of poor members only. It was forbidden to waste the funds on banquets and feasts. The 1683 statutes of the lorimers’ guild in the cities of Berlin and Cölln, for example, simply stated:130 ___________ 127

See p. 205, above. See the source reproduced in M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 351 (lorimers’ guild, Berlin/Cölln, 1683); ibid., 307 (soapers’ guild, Magdeburg, 1670); ibid., 344 (carpenter journeymen’s association, Berlin/Cölln/Friedrichswerder/Dorotheenstadt, 1683); ibid., 386 f. (potters’ guild, Halle, 1685); Nigge, Gilden der Stadt Lünen (1912), 110, 119 (woodworkers’ guild, Lünen, 1776); Rüdiger, Hamburgische Zunftrollen (1874), 206 f. (confraternity of the Saager/Sager/sawyers, Hamburg, 1683); Wissell, (1927) 1/5 Die Reichsversicherung 143 (association of the journeymen in the carpenter profession, Eisenberg, 1802). And see S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 50, 144 f.; Hähnsen, Kieler Handwerksämter (1920), 452 f. 129 Cited from Sammlung derer samtlichen Handwercks-Ordnungen des Herzogthums Würtemberg (1758), 146 f. 130 Cited from M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 353. In addition, see the sources reproduced in ibid., vol. 1 (1884), 101 (guild statutes, Hannover, 1692); ibid., vol. 1 (1884), 290 (barber surgeons’ guild, Altmark/Prignitz, 1669); ibid., vol. 1 (1884), 292 (gleemen’s guild, Cölln/Berlin, 1669); ibid., vol. 1 (1884), 330 (ropemakers’ guild, 128

I. Supporting craftsmen and their families

215

‘Alles Geldt, so vermöge dieses Privilegii zusammenkompt, soll nicht zu Mahlzeiten, Wein, Bier, oder Brantwein sondern allein zu der Armen Nothurfft angewendet werden.’ ‘All moneys, which are collected on the basis of theses privileges, shall not be spent on wine, beer, or spirits, but shall be spent only for the relief of the poor.’

The funds were still kept in boxes with different locks, to be opened with different keys kept by different people. However, the control mechanisms became more refined, as the 1776 statutes of the woodworkers’ guild in the city of Lünen exemplifies:131 ‘Die Rechnung über Einnahme und Ausgabe soll der Alt-Meister in der Woche nach Johannis, sowohl über die zur Meister-Lade, als Gesellen-Armen-Casse gehörige Gelder (als welche künftig auch vom Alt-Meister und Alt-Gesellen in einer aparten Rechnung berechnet, und von beyden ein besonder Schloß und Schlüssel dazu gehalten werden sollen), in Gegenwart des Gewercks, des Beysitzers und der Gesellen justificiren, und dieselbe ihn quitiren.’ ‘The oldest master shall in the week after Saint John’s Eve verify the accounts on the income and the expenses of the master box as well as the funds of the journeymen’s poor box (which shall in the future be accounted for by the oldest master and the oldest journeyman in separate accounts, and which both shall have a separate lock and key) in the presence of the profession, the associate committee member, and the journeymen, and the same shall confirm [the oldest master’s accounting].’

A nearly identical provision was already contained in the numerous guild statutes which had been enacted in Prussia in 1734 and 1735 following the Reichszunftordnung of 1731.132 Furthermore, the obligation of the guilds’ office holders to present an annual account to all members and to have them approve it seems to have been widespread in Germany.133 Finally, the use of guild funds was often supervised by city authorities.134

___________ Magdeburg, 1680); ibid., vol. 1 (1884), 335 (linen weavers’ guild, Halle/Neumarkt/Glaucha, 1680); ibid., vol. 1 (1884), 386 f. (potters’ guild, Halle, 1685); ibid., vol. 2 (1888), 350 (Art. 46, Handwercks-Ordnung für das Königreich Preussen, 1733). And see S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 121. 131 Cited from Nigge, Gilden der Stadt Lünen (1912), 108. 132 Corporis Constitutionum Marchicarum, vol 5/2/10, Anhang. 133 For Saxony see Chap. III § 25 of the Mandat, die General-Innungs-Articul für Künstler, Profeßionisten und Handwerker hiesiger Lande betreffend of 1780, reproduced in Herold, Rechte der Handwerker und ihrer Innungen (1835), 123. 134 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 148–150.

216

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

6. Legal enforceability Guild autonomy became restricted in the course of the 17th century before then being abolished in the 18th century.135 Consequently, guild jurisdiction came under pressure as well. According to Moritz Meyer, the Prussian legislature had provided already in 1653 that foreign journeyman who were not admitted to a guild had the right to have the guild’s decision reviewed by state courts.136 Similar rights were introduced with respect to the review of the guild’s decision not to offer financial help. Fröhlich refers to a case from 1730 in the city of Cologne:137 Peter Pauli, a wool weaver journeyman, turned to the town council. According to the statutes of the confraternity, each journeyman had to pay into the box every fortnight four Albus – an Albus was a silver groschen.138 In the event of illness, the journeyman was to receive a weekly sick pay of half an imperial taler and when bedridden six shillings. Pauli turned to the town council claiming that he had paid into the box for 22 years, but that the confraternity nevertheless declined to provide the sick pay even though he was ill and bedridden. According to Fröhlich, the confraternity then wanted to fine Pauli for simply having turned to the town council. Pauli again appealed to the town council. The town council decided that the confraternity could not fine Pauli and that it had to adhere to its statutes. The example nicely proves how a moral obligation to support guild members in need had turned into a legal obligation.139 And § 37 of the statutes of the 1801 Institut für kranke Dienstleute (Institute for sick domestic servants) in Würzburg provided for the jurisdiction of a specific court, the socalled Polizeygericht, over all legal matters concerning the fund.140

II. Supporting miners and their families In the late 17th and then especially in the course of the 18th century, the support offered by master craftsmen’s guilds and journeymen’s associations thus saw an important transformation from simple support to forms of (pre-)insurance. By contrast, the developments in the mining sector in the same centuries were less fundamental. Already in the 16th century and the early 17th century, the support ___________ 135

See pp. 183 ff., above. M. Meyer, Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), 56–58. 137 S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 146. 138 See A. Suhle, Albus, in: von Schrötter (ed.), Wörterbuch der Münzkunde (2nd edn., 1970), 18–20; Fengler/Gierow/Unger, Numismatik (3rd edn., 1982), 19. 139 See the discussion of S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 86-88, 172. 140 Statuten des Instituts für kranke Dienstleute in Würzburg (1801). On the Würzburg fund, see p. 209, above. 136

II. Supporting miners and their families

217

offered by miners’ guilds may be characterized as (pre-)insurance.141 In the 17th and 18th centuries, these support schemes were extended to regions which became newly engaged in mining.142 The reason why these traditional support schemes were adopted in such regions seems to be straight forward: public mining administrations wanted to attract miners. And it was thought that this was possible only if they received the same privileges and rights as offered in other mining regions.143 1. Forms of support and legal enforceability In the 18th century, miners continued to have a right to receive sick pay from mine operators. The respective mining acts continued to exhibit the same variations which had already existed in the 16th and 17th centuries.144 The Principality of Nassau-Dietz, for example, regulated in 1765:145 ‘Und so ein Arbeiter in der Gruben, oder an anderer Gewercken Arbeit, an Gliedmass, Arm oder Bein brechen, oder dergleichen Fällen Schaden nimpt, so soll demselben Arbeiter vier Wochen sein Lohn, und das Artzt-Geld entricht werden.’ ‘If a miner breaks a limb, arm or leg, or if he suffers a similar injury in the mine or while working for the mine, then he shall receive his pay for four weeks, and the medical expenses shall be covered.’

The mine operator had to offer sick pay for only four weeks. In addition, it had to cover the medical expenses. The 1769 Silesian Mining Act suggests that limiting miners’ right to sick pay to eight or, in some cases, four weeks was done for the benefit of mine operators, as they were also obliged to contribute to guild boxes. The act suggests that it was seen as unreasonable if mine operators should in addition be held liable for sick pay beyond four or eight weeks:146 ___________ 141

See pp. 168 ff., above. On the developments up to the late 18th century, see, e.g., Krünitz, Oekonomischtechnologische Encyklopädie, vol. 41 (1787), s.v. Knappschaft, 185–201. 143 Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 6 f.; Greuer, (1962) 34 Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte 70 f. 144 In addition to the examples discussed below, see, e.g., the General-Privilegium für die Bergleute im Herzogthum Cleve, Fürstenthum Moers und Graffschaft Marck (1767), reproduced in Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 83 (not restricted to work accidents). See, furthermore, the discussion by Danz, Handbuch des deutschen Privatrechts, vol. 2 (1797), 124. 145 Cited from Brassert, Berg-Ordnungen der Preussischen Lande (1858), 60 (Deliberations-Protocolle, verhandelt zu Dillenburg bei Fürstlich Vormundschaftlicher Berg- und Hüttenwerks-Commission den 5. August bis den 7. October 1765). 146 See, e.g., Revidirte Berg-Ordnung vor das Sourveraine Herzogthum Schlesien und vor die Graffschaft Glatz (1769), 55 f. 142

218

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

‘Da Wir die Einrichtung einer Knappschafts-Casse allergnädigst verordnen wollen, und zu deren Fond, benebst anderen von Uns destinirten Abgaben, auch zugleich Gewercken by allen Bergwercken die Ausbeuthe von zwey Kuxsen abgeben und berechnen: So sollen auch die Gewercken in dem Fall daß in ihrer Arbeit welche Arbeiter kranck werden, oder Schaden nehmen sollten, mit weiter nichts beschweret werden, ausser daß sie dem Krancken oder Beschädigten von der Zeche wenn sie in Ausbeuthe stehet, Acht Wochen lang, wenn die Zeche aber in Zubuße stehet, Vier Wochen lang, wenn anders die Kranckheit oder Cur so lange anhalten, und der Arbeiter nicht ehender wieder an die Arbeit gehen könnte, seinen vorhin allwöchentlich gehabten Lohn zum Gnaden-Lohn zahlen, die Cur aber von der Knappschafts-Casse getragen werden.’ ‘As we will order most graciously the introduction of a guild box, and as, in addition to the contributions which are defined in this act, the mine operators of all mines have to contribute to the funds through two shares in the mine: the mine operators shall in any case not be burdened with more than that they have to offer to miners, who fall sick or suffer injury while working, their weekly pay as mercy pay [Gnadenlohn] for eight weeks if the mine is already exploited, but for four weeks if the mine is still being explored, if the illness or medical treatment lasts that long and if the miners cannot return to work before that, but the medical expenses will be covered by the miners’ guild.’

Thus, according to the 1769 Silesian Mining Act, medical expenses were covered not by the mine operator but by the miners’ guild. In so far, the 1769 Act seems to have deviated from the position as was accepted in the 16th and 17th centuries147 and as was still accepted in the Principality of Nassau-Dietz in 1765. With respect to the support offered by the miners’ guilds, the provisions of the Prussian General Territorial Law (Preußisches Allgemeines Landrecht) of 1794 may again be read as marking the endpoint of the developments in Prussia during the 18th century. Part II, Title 16, §§ 214 f. once again made clear that mine operators were obliged to offer sick pay to their miners:148 ‘§. 214. Die Bergwerkseigenthümer sind der in ihren Diensten erkrankten oder beschädigten Bergleute sich anzunehmen verbunden. §. 215. Einem solchen Arbeiter muß, in Ermangelung besonderer Vorschrift der Provinzialgesetze, sein Lohn von einer Zubußzeche, ingleichen von einer Freybau oder Verlag erstattenden Zeche, auf Vier Wochen, und bey einer Ausbeute-Zeche auf Acht Wochen, wenn die Krankheit so lange dauert, gereicht werden.’ ‘§. 214. Mine proprietors are obliged to administer to those miners who fall sick or suffer damage while being in their services.

___________ 147

See pp. 149 ff., above. Cited from Hattenhauer, Allgemeines Landrecht (2nd edn., 1994), 616. See on the following account, Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 25–51; Todeskino, Knappschaften (1974), 14. 148

II. Supporting miners and their families

219

§. 215. In the absence of any special provision in the provincial laws, the wages have to be paid to such a workman in a mine which is not as yet exploited […] for four weeks and in a mine that is exploited for eight weeks, if the sickness lasts that long.’

It was only after the period of four or eight weeks that there was a need for miners’ guilds to step in and support ill miners. The details are contained in Part II, Title 16, §§ 216 f.:149 ‘§. 216. Dauert die Krankheit länger: so fällt die Verpflegung des Kranken oder beschädigten Bergmannes der Knappschaftscasse zur Last. § 217. Die Cur- und Begräbnißkosten eines beschädigten oder verunglückten Bergmanns müssen aus der Knappschaftscasse bestritten werden.’ ‘§. 216. If the illness is subsisting after this period: then the fund of the miners’ guild will cover the care for the sick or injured miner. §. 217. The medical costs and the funeral costs of an injured miner or a miner who has been killed in an accident have to be covered by the funds of the miners’ guild.’

The 1794 Landrecht corresponded to the 1769 Silesian Mining Act as to the position that mine operators were no longer obliged to cover medical expenses. These had to be paid for by miners’ guilds. Furthermore, according to the 1794 Landrecht, the guild was burdened with the funeral costs. Part II, Title 16, § 218 continued as to the rights of a widow:150 ‘§. 218. Auch die Wittwe eines Bergmanns hat das §. 215 bestimmte Gnadenlohn zu fordern.’ ‘§. 218. Equally the miner’s widow has a right to claim the mercy pay [Gnadenlohn] which is regulated in §. 215.’

Thus, a widow, too, received the full wages for four or eight weeks as mercy pay from the mine operator if her husband had died. With respect to the support of widows and the coverage of funeral costs, the provisions of the 1794 Landrecht again reflect the position of earlier 18th-century Prussian mining acts.151 There are two final provisions in the 1794 Prussian Landrecht. § 219 limited miner’s rights in cases of accidents caused intentionally or through gross negligence, and § 220 introduced a principle of subrogation:152 ‘§. 219. Obige Vortheile der beschädigten oder verunglückten Bergleute fallen hinweg, wenn sich einer den Schaden oder Tod vorsätzlich, oder durch grobes Versehen, außer der Bergarbeit zugezogen hat.

___________ 149

Cited from Hattenhauer, Allgemeines Landrecht (2nd edn., 1994), 616. Cited from Hattenhauer, Allgemeines Landrecht (2nd edn., 1994), 616. 151 See, e.g., Revidirte Berg-Ordnung vor das Sourveraine Herzogthum Schlesien und vor die Graffschaft Glatz (Berlin 1769), 56; General-Privilegium für die Bergleute im Herzogthum Cleve, Fürstenthum Moers und Graffschaft Marck of 1767, reproduced in Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 83. 152 Cited from Hattenhauer, Allgemeines Landrecht (2nd edn., 1994), 616. 150

220

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

§. 220. Ist der Schade oder Tod durch Bosheit oder grobes Verschulden eines Dritten verursacht worden: so muß dieser die Knappschaftscasse und Bergwerkseigenthümer entschädigen.’ ‘§. 219. The above-mentioned benefits for an injured miner and a miner who has been killed in an accident are forfeited if the miner suffers his loss or dies intentionally or if, in cases where it is not a work accident, it is done so through gross negligence. §. 220. If the injury or death is caused through the intent or gross negligence of a third party, then this third party has to reimburse the fund of the miners’ guild and the mine operator.’

§ 219 suggests that the obligation of mine operators to offer sick pay was not restricted to work accidents but that the obligation covered all cases of illness. Finally, Part II, Title 16, § 134 of the 1794 Landrecht included a provision to the effect that the miners’ guild held mining shares. §§ 131–134 read as follows:153 ‘§. 131. Gesammteigenthümer, welche ihre Lehne nicht selbst bauen und verwalten, führen den Namen einer Gewerkschaft. §. 132. Die einzelnen Mitglieder einer solchen Gesellschaft werden Gewerke; und das Bergwerk selbst, welches sie betreiben, wird Zeche oder Grube genannt. §. 133. Jedes verliehene Bergewerkseigenthum wird in Hundert und acht und zwanzig Antheile oder Kuxe getheilt. §. 134. Außer diesen werden Zwey dem Grundherrn als Erbkux; auch wenn die Provinzialgesetze keine Ausnahme enthalten, Zwey der Kirch und Schule, unter deren Sprengel die Zeche liegt, und eben so viel der Knappschafts- und Armencasse beygelegt.’ ‘§. 131. Joint proprietors who do not work and administer their tenure themselves are called a Gewerkschaft. §. 132. The individual members of such a corporation are called Gewerke; and the mine which they operate is called a Zeche or Grube. §. 133. Each vested mining right falls into 128 shares. §. 134. Apart from these [shares], two [shares] vest as hereditary mining shares in the proprietor of the ground; if the provincial laws do not introduce an exception, then two [shares] vest in the church and the school, in which parish the mine is located, and as many [shares] vest in the miners’ guild box and poor box.’

Chapter 76 of the Prussian Revised Mining Act for Cleves and Mark (Revidierte Cleve-Märkische Berg-Ordnung) of 1766 confirms the analysis of the 1794 Landrecht in general terms, but it still exhibits some variances, and these variances primarily concern the question whether the mine operators’ obligation to offer sick pay extended to other illness than those that were work-related. ___________ 153 Cited from Hattenhauer, Allgemeines Landrecht (2nd edn., 1994), 613. Similarly, the provisions of the Revidirte Berg-Ordnung vor das Souveraine Herzogthum Schlesien und vor die Graffschaft Glatz (Berlin 1769), 24.

II. Supporting miners and their families

221

Part II, Title 16, § 219 of the 1794 Landrecht suggested that mine operators had to offer sick pay whenever a miner fell sick. According to the 1766 Act, mine operators were only held liable in cases of a work accident. However, as with the 1794 Landrecht they only had to offer sick pay. Medical costs were covered by the miners’ guilds. Where a miner died due to a work accident, his widow received his wages for four or eight weeks from the mine operator as mercy pay. After that period the miners’ guild stepped in and supported sick miners as well as their widows. Funeral costs were covered by the guilds, too. And a miner lost his right to support if he had caused the work accident by his own gross negligence – again, this is a slight deviation from the later 1794 Landrecht: its Part II, Title 16, § 219 seems to suggest that a miner lost his right to support in the event of a work accident only where he had acted intentionally; by contrast, gross negligence was sufficient to result in the forfeiting of a right to support for any other manner of illness. Finally, the guilds were financed not only through contributions made by the miners but also by shares which they held in the mine:154 ‘§. 1. Da Wir die Einrichtung einer Knappschafts-Casse allergnädigst verordnet haben, und zu deren Fond, benebst anderen von Uns destinirten Abgaben, auch zugleich Gewerken bey denen metallischen und mineralischen Bergwerken die Ausbeute von zwey Kuxsen, dahingegen von denen Stein-Kohlen-Bergwerken nach Cap. XXX §. 3 allwöchentlich von jedem in denen gangbaren Schächten arbeitenten Hauer 1 Fass Kohlen abgegeben und berechnen: So sollen auch Gewerken in dem Fall, dass in ihrer Arbeit welche Arbeiter krank werden, oder Schaden nehmen sollten, mit weiter nichts beschweret werden, ausser dass sie dem Kranken oder Beschädigten von der Zeche, wenn sie in Ausbeute stehet, Acht Wochen lang, wenn die Zeche aber in Zubusse stehet, Vier Wochen lang, wenn anders die Krankheit oder Cur so lange anhalten, und der Arbeiter nicht ehender wieder an die Arbeit gehen könnte, seinen vorhin allwöchentlich gehabten Lohn zum Gnaden-Lohn zahlen, die Cur aber von der Knappschafts-Casse getragen werden. §. 2. Sollte aber Jemand bey dem Bergwerke in der Arbeit sogleich zu Tode kommen, so sollen die Wittwe und Erben das hier §. 1 bestimmte Gnaden-Lohn geniessen, die Begräbniss-Kosten aber aus der Knappschafts-Casse bezahlet werden. §. 3. Befehlen Wir Unserm Berg-Amte, dass dasselbige mit allen Ernst dahin sehe, dass dieses bestimmte Gnaden-Lohn von denen Gewerken, Schicht-Meistern oder Vorstehern richtig und ohne allen Aufenthalt bezahlet werde, nicht aber wie bisher geschehen, die armen Leute von denen Gewerken durch allerhand Griffe und Erfindungen über die Gebühr aufgehalten, oder wohl gar darum zu bringen gesuchet werden; Diejenigen Gewerken, so hierunter ungegründete Weiterungen machen, sollen vielmehr nach Gebühr bestrafet werden. § 4. Könnten jedoch Gewerken erweisen, dass der Krankgewordene oder Schadengenommene sein Malheur durch seine unordentliche Lebensart, oder durch dessen Mitarbeiter vorsetzliche Negligence oder auch Bossheit erhalten; So soll das Berg-Amt die Sache untersuchen, und den schuldigen Theil nach Befinden in Strafe ziehen.

___________ 154

Cited from Brassert, Berg-Ordnungen der Preussischen Lande (1858), 911–913.

222

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

§ 5. Die in der Grube und bey aller Berg-Arbeit unter und über der Erden zu Tod gekommene Arbeiter werden […] sofort zu denen Ihrigen gebracht und auf Kosten der Knappschafts-Casse begraben; […].’ ‘§. 1. As we have ordered the establishment of a miners’ fund, and as, in addition to the ordered contributions towards the fund, the revenue flowing from two mining shares benefit the fund in the case of metallic mines and mineral mines, whereas in the case of coal mines according to chapter 30, § 3 one barrel of coals shall be contributed weekly from each mine shaft: for that reason the mine operators shall, in the case that a miner falls sick or suffers damage while working, only be burdened in so far as they have to offer to the ill or injured miner sick pay for, if the illness or the healing process lasts that long, eight weeks, if the mine is already exploited, and four weeks if it is not, but the medical costs shall be covered by the miners’ guild. §. 2. However, if somebody will instantly come to death when working in the mine, then his widow and heirs shall enjoy the mercy pay as ordered in §. 1, but the funeral costs will be covered by the guild. §. 3. We order to our mining administration that it shall diligently supervise that this mercy pay will be paid out correctly and without delay by the mine operators, the shift masters, or the supervisors, and that it does not happen, as has occurred before, that the poor people are unduly put off by the mine operators with all sorts of tricks or even are tried to be cheated out of it; those mine operators who do the like without any just cause shall be punished accordingly. §. 4. However, if the mine operator can prove that the ill or injured miner has caused his mishap through his own disorderly lifestyle or that the illness or injury has been caused through intended negligence or malice of a co-miner, then the mining administration shall investigate the case, and the culpable party shall be punished. §. 5. Those miners who have died in the mine and when working for the mine under or above the earth will […] immediately be brought to their families and will be buried on the costs of the guild box; […].’

And Chapter 30, § 1 of the same act made again clear that the guild box was a shareholder in the mine: two shares benefited the guild box.155 Finally, the Prussian 1767 Mining Act for the Duchy of Cleves, the Principality of Moers, and the County of Marck (General-Privilegium für die Bergleute im Herzogthum Cleve, Fürstenthum Moers und Graffschaft Marck) made clear that the mercy pay was offered by the miner’s guild in cases of work accident, illness, and old age, and that it was paid until the recipient died.156 Going beyond Prussia, there were, however, still further variations. According to Art. 54 of the Bavarian Mining Act of 1784, for example, the miner had a right to only half of his regular wages as sick pay.157 Guild boxes were also responsible ___________ 155

Reproduced in Brassert, Berg-Ordnungen der Preussischen Lande (1858), 857 f. Reproduced in Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 88. 157 Bergordnung des Kurfürstlichen Herzogthums Baiern und der obern Pfalz, dann der Landgraffschaft Leuchtenberg of 1784, reproduced in Hake, Commentar über das Bergrecht (1823), 458. 156

II. Supporting miners and their families

223

after four or eight weeks of illness as well as for the support of old miners and widows. According to Art. 55, a miner’s contribution to the guild, the so-called box penny, was deducted from his wages and directly paid into the box. Finally, for the 16th and 17th centuries it remained unclear whether miners had an enforceable right of support that could be brought against guilds.158 For the 18th century, the detailed provisions in the Prussian 1794 Landrecht as well as in the numerous mining acts clearly suggest that such an enforceable right existed. 2. Guild autonomy and admission requirements In the craft sector, guild autonomy became increasingly restricted in the late 17th century and then especially in the first half of the 18th century.159 By contrast, in the mining sector miners’ guilds had already been hemmed in by state legislation and by public mining administrations in the 16th century.160 In the craft sector, the restrictive admission requirements of master craftsmen’s guilds were heavily criticized in the late 17th century, and they were reformed in the first half of the 18th century.161 By contrast, the admission requirements for miners’ guilds did not raise similar problems, and consequently there was no need for reform. However, the mining sector saw a different development in the 18th century. Articles 14 and 15 of the Ordinance on Guild Boxes of Hard Coal Mines in NassauSaarbrücken (Reglement zur Knappschaftskasse bey den Nassau-Saarbrückischen und anderen Steinkohlebergwerken) of 1797, for example, stated:162 ‘Art. 14. Es sollen bei einem Steinkohlebergwerk nicht mehr Berg Arbeiter zur Knappschaft angenommen werden, als nöthig sind, die Förderung dem Absatz gemäss zu bestreiten, damit ein Bergknappe jar aus und ein forschaffen könnte und nicht zu feyern genöthigt ist; auch soll Art. 15. Kein Bergarbeiter zur Knappschaft angenommen werden, wenn er wegen seiner häuslichen und oeconomischen Geschäften auser Stand gesetzt ist, sich anhaltend und Tag, täglich denen Steinkohlen, Förderungen zu widmen […].’ ‘Art. 14. The number of miners accepted to the guild should not exceed the number of miners necessary to work the mine according to its turnover, so that it is possible to employ all miners throughout the year […]. Art. 15. No miner shall be admitted to the guild if he is, due to his domestic or economic affairs, not able to work each day in the coal mine […].’

___________ 158

See p. 167, above. See pp. 183 ff., above. 160 See pp. 142 ff., above. 161 See pp. 211 ff., above. 162 Cited from Reisel, Saarbrücker Knappschaftsverein (1925), 9. 159

224

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

Article 15 hints at the interest that applicants be capable of working in the mine. And indeed, it seems that the public mining administration, mine operators, and miners’ guilds had an interest in seeing that only healthy people entered the mining profession. Nevertheless, corresponding admission requirements did not primarily aim at having a healthy risk pool in miners’ guilds. It seems rather that there was a general awareness that working in mines was strenuous and that only healthy people should be admitted to the profession. As far back as 1614, Martin Pansa, a medical practitioner from Thuringia working in Breslau (Wrocław) in Poland,163 wrote:164 ‘Damit aber die Arbeiter ihres Beruffs mit Fleiß können abwarten / und das jenige erlangen / was durch Göttliche Mildigkeit / dem Menschen zum besten / in die Erden gelegt / so wil zu förderst von nöthen seyn / daß sie bey gesundem Leibe erhalten / und vor dem zeitigen Untergang salvirt werden. Denn wie kan das Bergwerck mit nutz gebawet werden / so man schwache unvermögliche arbeiter hat?’ ‘However, so that workers will be able to commit themselves to their profession diligently / and that they reap / what has been through divine graciousness / to the best of human kind / put into the earth / then it will first and foremost be of necessity / that they physically survive / and that they be saved from early decay. As how can a mine be worked on with a profit / if one has weak disabled workers?’

Nevertheless, admission requirements to the profession should have also had the positive side effect that the obligation to pay a Gnadenlohn to incapacitated miners was not unnecessarily inflated. Once accepted to the profession, joining the miners’ guild was in many mining districts compulsory for miners.165 3. Guild finances Miners’ guilds, too, experienced some lavishness when it came to spending their funds.166 And also in the mining sector, the public administration criticized in the second half of the 17th century and then in the early 18th century these expenses, reminding miners’ guilds that they should use their funds primarily for the support of members in need. For example, in 1701 the mining administration of Freiberg issued an order:167 ___________ 163

On Pansa, see, e.g., Teuber, ‘Medicus Silesiacus’ (1991), passim. Pansa, Consilium Peripneumoniacum (Leipzig 1614), Vorrede. 165 See the discussion in Todeskino, Knappschaften (1974), 13; Reisel, Saarbrücker Knappschaftsverein (1925), 5. 166 See the expenses for a miners’ guild feast in Freiberg, reproduced in Wappler, (1901) 37 Mitteilungen vom Freiberger Altertumsverein 60–68. And see Bingener, Das knappschaftliche Rechnungswesen (2012), 68 f. 167 Cited from Wappler, (1901) 37 Mitteilungen vom Freiberger Altertumsverein 67. Furthermore, see the sources reproduced in idem, 62. 164

II. Supporting miners and their families

225

‘Obmann zwar an OberBergAmbtsSeiten gerne sehen mögen, daß diejenige Zusammenkunfft, welche bey E. Erbaren BergKnapp- und Brüderschafft alhier von uhralten Zeiten her eingeführet und jederzeit auf den andern und dritten Pfingst Feyertag in Ausrichtung einer Ehrenmahlzeit binnen gewißen Jahren, so mann Anno 1648 auf jedes qvadriennium bestimmet, auch Ao. 1659 also gnädigst confirmiret, solenniter gehalten worden bey itzigen lang angehaltenen sehr schweren und Nahrlosen Zeiten noch auf einige Jahre und wohlfeilere Preiß derer Victualien hätte können verschoben werden, Zumahlen da sich das liebe Berg-Armuth täglich vermehret und anitzo schon über 3 bis 4te Halbhundert Wittiben und Weysen angewachßen, denen lohntäglich etliche 40 fl. Allmosen ausgetheilet werden müßten, und hieran ohne Seuffzen und Weheclagen kein Abbruch zu gestatten […] sein will.’ ‘Even though on the part of the Oberbergamt [office of the public mining administration] one would like to see that those gatherings, which have been introduced by your honourable miners’ confraternity long ago and on the occasion of which they host a feast on the second and third day of Pentecost in certain years, which one has determined in 1648 as every four years, what has been confirmed in 1659, could have been postponed for some years in the present and long lasting very hard and foodless times […], especially as poverty […] increases day by day and as already now the number of widows and orphans has increased to more than three to four half hundred to whom more than 40 gulden have to be paid every day as alms, and these [the payments] could not be terminated without groans and lamentations […].’

The feast was nevertheless allowed. However, the order made clear that the expenses should not exhaust the guild’s funds to the detriment of supporting widows and orphans. In the course of the 18th century, it became common that the funds of miners’ guilds could be used only for the purpose of supporting sick and poor guild members as well as widows and orphans.168 As mentioned above, a parallel development occurred in the crafts.169 Finally, there is one mining act suggesting that miners’ guilds also contributed towards improving the schools for miners’ children.170 4. Improvements in the support offered by miners’ guilds In conclusion, it seems that in the 17th and 18th centuries miners’ guilds did not witness the same fundamental changes as guilds and journeymen’s associations did in the crafts. Nevertheless, there were a number of improvements. At first, ill or incapacitated miners, widows, and orphans did not receive a pre-defined sum. Rather, it was a discretionary decision of the public mining administration how much they were to receive. This was still the practice according to Art. 4 of the aforementioned Ordinance on Guild Boxes of Hard Coal Mines ___________ 168

Rabenau, Das bayerische Knappschaftswesen (1909), 20. See pp. 214 ff., above. 170 § 5 of the Regulatif zur Einrichtung der Haupt-Knappschafts-Kasse bey der Bergwerks- und Hütten-Administration of 1799, KPM-Archiv (Land Berlin), No. 269, fol. 127. 169

226

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

(Reglement zur Knappschaftskasse bey den Nassau-Saarbrückischen und anderen Steinkohlebergwerken), which was enacted in 1797 in Nassau-Saarbrücken shortly before the principality was dissolved.171 A provision exhibiting a similar practice was included in the Prussian 1767 Mining Act for the Duchy of Cleves, the Principality of Moers, and the County of Marck (General-Privilegium für die Bergleute im Herzogthum Cleve, Fürstenthum Moers und Graffschaft Marck):172 ‘[…] damit aber auch für die Berg-Leute hierin noch weiter gesorgt, und selbigen auch deren Wittwen und Weisen bei Krankheiten, Unglücken und Versterben noch mehr vorgesehene Hülfe geleistet werden möge; So haben wir § 8. denselben sowohl einheimischen als fremden Berg-Leuten, sie arbeit auf Metalle, Kohlen oder andern mineralien die Errichtung einer Knappschaft und Knappschaftskassen zugestanden, und des Endes in der revidierten Berg-Ordnung verordnet, daß von jedem metallischen und mineralischen Berg-Werke aber allmählich von jeden in den gangbaren Schächten arbeitenden Hauer, ein Faß Kohlen abgegeben und berechnet werden sollte, aus welchem Fonds dann auch bei Zufällen und Krankheiten, der Bergleute, ihnen aus der Knappschafts-Casse die Cur und fernere Verpflegung, auch wenn sie unvermögend bleiben, wöchentlich auf zwanzig Stüber oder nach Ermessen des Berg-Amtes und Vermögen der Knappschafts-Büchse bei ihrem Absterben aber, ihren Wittwen und Weisen so lange nämlich unverheiratet bleiben, und letzte unerzogen sind, nach Beschaffenheit ihrer Umstände und der Knappschafts-Casse, alle Monate etwas gewisses ausgemacht und gereichet werden soll.’ ‘[…] as it is necessary to further provide for miners, and in order to offer even more help to them as well as to their widows and orphans in the case of illness, misfortune, or death; For that reason we have in § 8 allowed them as well as foreign miners, if they are working on metals, coals, or other minerals, to establish a miners’ guild and a guild box, and we have ordered to this end in the revised mining act that in each metallic and mineral mine one barrel of coals shall be given by the miners from each passable pit and be calculated to benefit the fund, from which the miners shall receive in cases of misfortune and illness the medical costs and in addition alimentation, also if they remain incapacitated, twenty Stüber[173] or according to the discretion of the Bergamt [office of the public mining administration] and according to the capability of the box. When they however die, their widows and orphans shall, as long as they remain unmarried and as long as the latter are still uneducated, receive each month something from the box in accordance with their circumstances and in accordance with the capability of the box.’

The same act makes explicit that the recipients’ need had to be reassessed on a regular basis:174 ___________ 171 Reproduced in Reisel, Saarbrücker Knappschaftsverein (1925), 7–11. And see the discussion of idem, 12, 19. 172 Cited from Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 83. 173 A coin which was used in the Rhineland and in Westphalia: Friedrich Freiherr von Schrötter, Stüber, in: idem (ed.), Wörterbuch der Münzkunde (2nd edn., 1970), 667 f.; Fengler/Gierow/Unger, Numismatik (3rd edn., 1982), 475 f. 174 Cited from Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 83.

II. Supporting miners and their families

227

‘Jedes Quartal die Umstände eines jeden, sowohl dessen, der schon Gnaden-Gehalt genießet, als der solches nachsuchet, gründlich und ohne Neben-Absicht, ohne Gunst oder Ungunst untersuchen, besonders bey den Wittwen und Waysen ihr Augenmerk dahin richten müssen, ob sie noch etwas von Vermögen oder gantz arm sind, ob sie noch jung oder alt, mithin noch etwas oder gar nichts verdienen können, oder ob sie noch zu schwach und unerzogen sind, oder was sonst für Umstände, z.B. Gebrechlichkeit des Körpers, Gemütsfehler etc. dabey vorkommen […].’ ‘Each quarter, the circumstance of each one of those who already enjoy the mercy pay, as well as those applying for it, has to be assessed, thoroughly and without any other intentions, neither with favour nor with disfavour, and especially with respect to widows and orphans it has to be taken into consideration whether they still have assets or whether they are entirely poor, whether they are still young or already old, whether they, consequently, are capable to earn something or whether they cannot do so, or whether they are still too weak and uneducated, or whatever other circumstances, for example infirmity of the body or defects in the moods, may appear […].’

Then, starting in the middle of the 18th century, the sum to be paid as mercy pay slowly became pre-defined. It was not any longer a discretionary decision made by the guild and the public mining administration as to how much the guild box would pay. And the system that the existing funds were simply divided between all beneficiaries also slowly went out of practice. Andreas Bingener refers to the example of the Reglement zur Zahlung der Gnadenlöhne im Hannoverschen Oberharz (Regulations for the Payment of the Gnadenlöhne in the Upper Harz Mountains which are Part of Hannover) of 1759:175 the mercy pay differed according to the rank of the worker. Furthermore, the pension depended in some mining regions on the number of years which the miner had been a member of the guild, and thus on the numbers of years which the miner had contributed to the fund. Furthermore, miners started to have a right to support irrespective of whether they were in financial need or not. However, some regulations, such as the 1759 Regulations, restricted a widow’s right to two to three years. And as much as the benefits which miners received from their guild were dependent on their rank, so was their contribution to the box.176 When pre-defining the sum ___________ 175 Bingener, Das knappschaftliche Rechnungswesen (2012), 77 f. The Bergarchiv Clausthal was only able to identify a Reglement Wonach die Knappschaffts Gnadenlöhne künftig in Vorschlag zu bringen of 31 March 1759 (Regulations according to which the Mercy Pay of the Miners’ Guild is to be offered in the Future): Niedersächsisches Landesarchiv Hannover, Bergarchiv Clausthal, 84a No. 5537. In addition, see Todeskino, Knappschaften (1974), 14; Rabenau, Das bayerische Knappschaftswesen (1909), 21; Jordan, Mansfelder Bergrevier (1905), 25 f.; Greve/Gratzel/Graf, Knappschaft als sozialer Pfadfinder (2010), 28; von Wagner, Chursächsische Bergwerksverfassung (1787), 82–87. For a further example, see the Regulatif zur Einrichtung der Haupt-Knappschafts-Kasse bey der Bergwerks- und Hütten-Administration of 1799, KPM-Archiv (Land Berlin), No. 269, fol. 128. 176 See, e.g., the Reglement zur Knappschaftskasse bey den Nassau-Saarbrückischen und anderen Steinkohlebergwerken of 1797, reproduced in Reisel, Saarbrücker Knappschaftsverein (1925), 6. In addition, see Todeskino, Knappschaften (1974), 14. On the income side: Breithaupt, Bergstadt Freiberg (2nd edn., 1847), 266 f.

228

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

which a beneficiary was to receive, public mining authorities faced the problem of achieving financial and actuarial soundness of guild funds, without always succeeding.177 Wilhelm Bülow, for example, has pointed out that the sickness rate and mortality were often falsely calculated and that some guilds made obvious miscalculations by, for example, assuming that non-recurring admission fees were paid annually.178 Consequently, miners’ guilds suffered financial problems well into the 19th century. Nevertheless, the drafters of the Ordinance on Guild Boxes of Hard Coal Mines in Nassau-Saarbrücken (Reglement zur Knappschaftskasse bey den Nassau-Saarbrückischen und anderen Steinkohlebergwerken) of 1797 assumed that it would be able to raise sufficient capital so as to fund the support of poor miners with the interest generated from the capital and that it was consequently possible to lower the annual contributions179 – an expectation which most probably did not materialize. Other mining administrations were more realistic and tried to solve financial problems either by increasing the level of income, for example by obliging the mine operators to step in and balance existing deficits, or by constantly redefining the benefits which the guild would pay.180

III. Supporting seafarers and their families In Prussia, the skippers’ obligation to support sailors was still laid down in the General Territorial Law (Preußisches Allgemeines Landrecht) of 1794. Part II, Title 8, §§ 1154–1560 read:181 ‘§. 1554. Muß ein Schiffsmann, noch vor angetretener Reise, wegen eines Zufalls abgedankt werden, der ihn ohne seine Schuld zum Dienste untauglich macht: so kann er, nach Verschiedenheit des Verdungs, den Vierten Theil der Heuer, oder Einen Monathssold fordern. §. 1555. Ereignet der Fall sich während der Reise: so muß der Schiffer die Verpflegungs-, Heilungs- und Retourkosten für den Schiffsmann bezahlen. §. 1556. Hat jedoch der Zufall sich außer dem Dienste ereignet: so fällt dem Schiffer an solchen Kosten zusammen, nach Verschiedenheit des Verdungs, nicht mehr, als der Betrag der halben Heuer, oder eines Zweymonathlichen Soldes, außer dem schon verdienten Lohne, zur Last; und das mehr verwendete muß von dem Beschädigten demnächst stattet werden.

___________ 177

Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 27–29, 36–38. Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 28. In addition, see the example discussed by Lahmeyer, (1861) Zeitschrift für das Berg-, Hütten- und Salinenwesen im Deutschen Reich 308. 179 Reproduced in Reisel, Saarbrücker Knappschaftsverein (1925), 6–12. 180 Compare the examples discussed by Jordan, Mansfelder Bergrevier (1905), 25 f. 181 Cited from Hattenhauer, Allgemeines Landrecht (2nd edn., 1994), 509. 178

III. Supporting seafarers and their families

229

§. 1557. Einen in Geschäften seines Dienstes verwundeten oder beschädigten Schiffsmann, muß der Schiffer, auf der Rheder Kosten, heilen und verpflegen lassen. §. 1558. Auch für einen durch eigne Schuld erkrankten oder sonst beschädigten Schiffsmann, muß der Schiffer so lange sorgen, bis er ihn an ein bewohntes Land aussetzen kann. §. 1559. Doch ist der Schiffer alsdann berechtigt, die gemachten Auslagen von der dem Kranken etwa noch zukommenden Heuer in Abzug zu bringen. §. 1560. In keinem Falle kann ein kranker Schiffsmann verlangen, daß der Schiffer um seinetwillen die Reise verzögern, oder an einem Orte, wohin er nicht bestimmt ist, landen solle.’ ‘§. 1554. If a sailor, before the commencement of the journey, has to withdraw due to an accident which makes him, without his fault, incapable of performing his services: then he may, depending on the contract, claim the fourth part of his full pay or the pay for one month. §. 1555. If such incident occurs during the journey: then the skipper has to carry the costs of food, cure, and of the return journey. §. 1556. However, if an accident occurs off-duty: then the skipper has to carry such costs, depending on the contract, only up to half his full pay or up to two monthly pays, in addition to the pay which the sailor has already earned; and if the skipper has incurred more costs, the sailor is obliged to reimburse him. §. 1557. If a sailor has been wounded or injured on duty, the skipper has to see that he is cured and cared for, on the costs of the ship owner. §. 1558. Equally, the skipper has to care for a sailor who has fallen sick or who has been injured due to his own fault, until he can release him at inhabited lands. §. 1559. However then the skipper is allowed to deduct the incurred expenses from the pay which he still owes to the sailor. §. 1560. Under no circumstances may a sick sailor demand that the ship delays its journey for his sake or that it sails to places to which it is not destined to sail.’

With respect to the case of death, the 1794 Landrecht continued:182 ‘§. 1561. Stirbt ein Schiffsmann, bevor mit der Ladung angefangen worden: so können dessen Erben, nach Verschiedenheit des Verdungs, den Vierten Theil der Heuer, oder Einen Monathssold fordern. §. 1562. Stirbt er während der Hinreise: so gebührt den Erben, nach Verschiedenheit des Verdungs, die halbe Heuer, oder ein doppelter Monathssold; und wenn er auf der Rückreise stirbt, die ganze Heuer, oder ein Viermonathlicher Sold. §. 1563. Der Schiffer aber kann davon die dem Verstorbenen gegebenen Vorschüsse, und die ausgelegten Begräbnißkosten, in Abzug bringen. […] §. 1565. Der Wittwe oder den Kindern eines bey Vertheidigung des Schiffs getödteten, oder an seinen Wunden gestorbenen Schiffsmanns, muß in jedem Falle doppelte, andern Erben hingegen die einfache Heuer gezahlt werden.’

___________ 182

Cited from Hattenhauer, Allgemeines Landrecht (2nd edn., 1994), 509.

230

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

‘§. 1561. If a sailor dies before the ship has started to load: then his heirs may, depending on the contract, claim the fourth part of his full pay or the pay of one month. §. 1562. If he dies on the outbound journey: then his heirs have a right, depending on the contract, to half of his full pay or to two monthly pays; if he dies on the return journey, they have a right to the entire pay or four monthly pays. §. 1563. However, the skipper may deduct advances which he has given to the deceased as well as the funeral costs. […] §. 1565. The widow and the children of a sailor who has been killed or dies as a result of wounds which he has suffered while defending the ship have a right to the double pay, others only to the agreed pay.’

Furthermore, guilds intensified their support for incapacitated and old seafarers as well as their widows,183 and they established specific boxes for the support of widows, such as death boxes.184 In Bremen, a small number of seafarers initiated in 1700 a seafarers’ widows’ assurance,185 thereby imitating similar funds as they had been known in other professional contexts since the 16th century.186 The 1700 assurance seems to have been a private initiative, but it seems to have had some connection to the Haus der Seefahrt, the mariners’ guild which was first established in 1545. Each widow was to receive an annual pension of 20 talers. Furthermore, incapacitated members were also to receive support. Each member had to make a specific contribution, but it was agreed that each member had to make extraordinary contributions if the fund proved insufficient to offer the annual pension of 20 talers to each widow. The 1700 assurance was, however, a failure. According to Johann Georg Kohl, it was dissolved in 1711.187 The idea of a widows’ assurance was picked up again in 1780.

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation The process of transformation from simple support to (pre-)insurance being offered by professional guilds did not occur in isolation. It followed instead a ___________ 183 See the discussion of Rabstein, Sozialrechtliche Entwicklungstendenzen in der Seeschiffahrt (1970), 36; Kresse, Von armen Seefahrern (1981), 44. 184 See the discussion of Rabstein, Sozialrechtliche Entwicklungstendenzen in der Seeschiffahrt (1970), 60–62. 185 On what follows, Kohl, Haus Seefahrt zu Bremen (1862), 154–159; Sulzer, Sicherungssysteme in der Seeschiffahrt (2012), 27; Schwebel, ‘Haus Seefahrt’ Bremen (1947), 56. For Lübeck see, e.g., Lindtke, Schiffergesellschaft zu Lübeck (1997), 47; Rabstein, Sozialrechtliche Entwicklungstendenzen in der Seeschiffahrt (1970), 71–77. 186 See pp. 238 ff., below. 187 Kohl, Haus Seefahrt zu Bremen (1862), 156. Other authors identify the year 1713 as the date when the assurance was dissolved: Rabstein, Sozialrechtliche Entwicklungstendenzen in der Seeschiffahrt (1970), 71–77.

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

231

general trend. Since the 16th century and then especially in the 17th and 18th centuries, numerous institutions for the benefit of people in need emerged. Some of these institutions further developed ideas of poor relief. Others were inspired by the support offered by professional guilds. Some were welfare institutions. Others may be characterized as insurance. The aim of the following section is simply to sketch these contexts by way of example and to show their connection to the process of transformation of guild welfare. It is not possible to fully analyse each of these contexts, and it seems that each is awaiting a thorough modern analysis from the perspective of insurance legal history. 1. The developments in the crafts and in the mining sector It seems clear that the crafts and the mining sector were closely interlinked. Hans-Joachim Kraschewski, for example, observes that in the city of Goslar members of urban guilds were often shareholders in mines and that the mining sector and the city’s craft guilds were, thus, closely linked to each other.188 These links may also be observed when analysing the many guild statutes and mining acts. In the crafts it was, for example, a common practice to give a so-called Zehrpfennig to journeymen.189 A journeyman in his journeyman years came to a town to find work. If there were no open positions, he had to continue his journey to the next city. As a form of support, he was given the so-called Zehrpfennig. The verb zehren simply means to live from. A Pfennig is a penny. A Zehrpfennig was, thus, the penny from which the journeyman was able to live while continuing his journey to the next city where he then hopefully found work. The Zehrpfennig also appeared in mining acts as the Prussian 1767 Mining Act for the Duchy of Cleves, the Principality of Moers, and the County of Marck (General-Privilegium für die Bergleute im Herzogthum Cleve, Fürstenthum Moers und Graffschaft Marck) exemplifies:190 ‘Soll auch denen aus der Fremde ankommenden und Arbeit suchenden Bergleuten, wenn solche keine Arbeit erhalten können, aus der Knappschaftskasse nach ihren Umständen ein Zehrpfennig gereichet werden.’ ‘Miners coming in from foreign territories who look for work shall, if there is no such work, receive from the guild box depending on the circumstances a Zehrpfennig.’

___________ 188

Kraschewski, Arbeitsverfassung des Goslarer Bergbaus (1987), 282. See p. 135, above. 190 Cited from Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 83. 189

232

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

2. The emergence of ‘insurance thinking’ Furthermore, the process of transformation from simple support to (pre-)insurance in the crafts and the mining sector has to be placed into the greater context of the emergence of insurance. By 1588, marine insurance had arrived in Hamburg.191 Starting in 1591, Hamburg brewers had begun to conclude so-called fire contracts.192 These contracts were nothing other than a form of mutual fire insurance. Drawing on the experiences with these contracts, the first public fire insurance scheme was introduced in Hamburg in 1676. Around the same time, England saw the first premium insurance against the risk of fire.193 The 18th century saw, again in England, the first modern life insurance.194 Life annuity schemes and tontines were issued especially in Germany, France, the Netherlands, and also in England in the 17th and 18th century.195 The actuarial problems raised by life annuities, tontines, and life insurance were discussed throughout Europe.196 Again, these different developments should not be seen and analysed as being distinct from each other. Rather, it seems that contemporary actors were very much aware of the connections between them. And it appears that an ‘insurance thinking’ emerged. This proposition already finds support in the observation that, in the second half of the 18th century, public mining administrations became increasingly aware of the actuarial problems involved in the schemes established for the support of miners.197 Five contexts will be discussed to prove that the developments in the crafts and in the mining sector have to be seen in the greater context of the emergence of an ‘insurance thinking’: marine insurance (below 3), fire insurance (below 4), factory health insurance schemes (below 5), widows’ and orphans’ assurances (below 6), pension and invalidity funds (below 7), and ransom insurance (below 8). 3. Marine insurance An observation by Klaus-Dieter Rabstein on the aforementioned skippers’ death fund that was established in 1618 in the city of Bremen to cover funeral ___________ 191

Hellwege, Germany (2018), 172. Hellwege, Germany (2018), 178. 193 MacLeod, England and Scotland (2018), 165 f.; Ogis, Influence of Marine Insurance (2019), 59–63. 194 Ogis, Influence of Marine Insurance (2019), 55. 195 On the development of tontines, see, e.g., the contributions in Hellwege (ed.), Past, Present, and Future of Tontines (2018). 196 See, e.g., Hellwege, Tontines in Germany (2018), 111 f. 197 See pp. 225 ff., above. 192

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

233

costs198 suggests that this death fund was influenced by marine insurance thinking: the contributions to the death fund were dependent on the destination of a specific journey, thus reflecting the specific risk of death.199 It is a very early example of a guild trying to correlate the contributions towards the box with the risk it promised to cover. In 1671, a provision was added to the statutes of the guild of the Bremen skippers engaged in the trade with the city of Bergen in Norway. This provision concerned mutual help for cases where marine risks eventuated:200 ‘Ist auch von der gesambt Bergerfahrer schlossen und bewilliget, in fall das wann ein Unglück würde entstehen /: so der liebe Gott wolle verhöten :/ zwischen hier und Blecksel oder bemeldte Blexum auf der Weser an Berger Wahre in Ecken, Schnacken, Kahnen oder Sehe-Schiff so ordentlich seind befrachtet, soll ein dem andern Schaden tragen selbsten noch werdey sein Guth, darin es sey bey Sommer oder Winterszeit.’ ‘It is agreed and approved by all Bergenfahrer [skippers engaged in the trade with Bergen], that in cases of misfortune /: which the dear God may prevent :/ happening between here and Blecksel or Blexum[201] on the river Weser to goods destined for Bergen loaded properly on Ecken, Schnacken, barges or seagoing vessels, one shall [help202] the other to shoulder the damage […].’

These two examples prove a simple point, which is all but surprising: marine insurance had an impact on seafarers’ professional guilds. 4. Fire insurance However, traditional guild support was not only under the influence of marine insurance. Guild support, for its part, influenced other forms of insurance. The Hamburg General Feuer-Cassa was established in 1676. It is said to be Germany’s first state-run fire insurance scheme. The 1676 statutes consisted of 16 articles. Four of these articles concerned the support offered to firefighters who had been injured while fighting a fire or who had been so incapacitated and the support offered to widows and orphans of such firefighters:203 ‘10. Wann einer von den Arbeits-Leuten / die zu Löschung des Feurs von einem Hochw. Raht verordnet seyn / zu Schaden kommen möchte / es sey an Armen / Beinen oder sonsten an seinem Leibe / so sol der Schaden durch Doctores und Barbierer

___________ 198

See p. 172, above. Rabstein, Sozialrechtliche Entwicklungstendenzen in der Seeschiffahrt (1970), 59. 200 Cited from Föge, Bremer Bergenfahrt (1958), Annex, 18. 201 Most probably Blexen, near Bremen at the estuary of the Weser river. Blexen is today part of the city of Nordenham in Lower Saxony. 202 In later versions of the statutes, the verb ‘help’ was added to the original text so that it may added to the translation of the 1671 statutes. 203 Cited from Ebel, Hamburger Feuerkontrakte (1936), 84. 199

234

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

gebessert / auch dem Patienten für seine versäumniss der Zeit / nach Befindung der verordneten Herren und Bürgern / aus der Cassa bezahlet werden. 11. Würdet auch einer einen unverwindlichen Schaden bekommen / so sol er aus der Cassa die Zeit seines Lebens etwas zugeniessen haben. 12. Solte aber einer durch das Unglück gar zu Tode kommen / welcher Frau und Kinder hette, so sol demselben ein ehrlich Begräbniss / wie auch seiner Frau und Kindern ein Recompens aus der Cassa gegeben werden. 13. Würde auch derogleichen Todesfall einen jungen Gesellen treffen / sol demselben nicht mehr als ein Ehrlich Begräbnüss aus der Cassa gegeben werden.’ ‘10. If one of the workmen / who have been ordered by the council to extinguish the fire / suffers injury / it be on his legs / arms or otherwise on his body / then the injury shall be cured by a doctor or barber surgeon / and the patient shall also be reimbursed for the loss of his time / according to the decision of the verordnete Herren and Bürger [office holders of the fire box] / from the box. 11. Also if he suffers from an incurable injury / he shall enjoy support from the box for the rest of his life. 12. However, if somebody shall die through such incident / who has a wife and children, then he shall have an honest funeral / and his wife and children shall receive a recompense from the box. 13. If such case of death happens to a young journeyman / then the box shall cover not more than the costs for an honest funeral.’

When Art. 13 mentions a ‘young journeyman’, it probably means an unmarried person, as journeymen were usually not married.204 It is generally thought that the General Feuer-Cassa of 1676 is based on the Hamburg fire contracts which were concluded for the first time in 1591 between around 100 brewers and which were since then regularly renewed. Yet it seems that these fire contracts did not include similar provisions for the support of firefighters and their dependants.205 Were there any other models which may have inspired the drafters of the 1676 statutes? Title 14, Art. 3 of the Hansische Seerecht (Hanseatic Maritime Act) of 1614 included a provision for the benefit of sailors who had been incapacitated while defending a ship:206 ‘So jemand des Schiffs-Volks, wider die Freibeuter redlich fechten, und darüber gelähmet würde, der soll geheilet und gleiche Haverey über Schiff und Gut gerechnet werden. Und da er zu solcher Unvermögenheit geriethe, daß er die Kost nicht mehr gewinnen möchte, soll ihm frey Brod sein Lebenlang verschaffet […] werden.’ ‘If a sailor fights against privateers and if he is crippled by doing so, then he shall be healed and the costs will be covered by the ship and the goods just like in the case of

___________ 204

See p. 109, above. The fire contracts of 1591, 1620, 1622, and 1640 are reproduced in Ebel, Hamburger Feuerkontrakte (1936), 66–83. 206 Cited from Engelbrecht, Corpus iuris nautici, vol. 1 (1790), 143 f. 205

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

235

average. And if he is incapacitated so that he cannot earn his living any longer, then he shall receive free bread for the rest of his life […].’

The damage caused to sailors while defending the ship was treated as a case of average. The 1676 statutes did not simply transpose the 1614 provision into the context of fire insurance. The 1676 statutes went beyond the 1614 provision: they addressed the problem of providing for widows and orphans; and they included a provision on funeral costs. The 1676 statutes also went beyond fire ordinances. Article 39 of the 1685 Fire Ordinance of the city of Hamburg, for example, provided:207 ‘Dafern auch jemand zu dieser FeurOrdnung destinirter Leute durch seine fleißige arbeit bey Feursnöthen / an seinen Gliedmassen / oder sonsten seiner Leibes Gesundheit beraubet / und sehr beschädiget würde /derselbe sol nicht allein aus der Cämerey Mittel werden geheilet / und / seines getreulich gethanen arbeits-halber / ehrlich belohnet / besondern auch / da er dermassen verdorben / daß er sein tägliches Brodt ferne nicht gewinnen / und seine Christliche Nahrung suchen / noch erlangen könte / ihme nach seines Standes Gelegenheit / die Zeit seines übrigen Lebens ein freyer Unterhalt gereichet und gegeben werden.’ ‘Also when somebody who has been assigned by this fire ordinance suffers injury through his diligent labour / to his limbs / or otherwise is robbed his bodily health / and is severely injured / the same shall not only be cured on the costs of the city treasury / and / be honestly recompensed / for his devoted labour / but he shall also / as he is injured in such a way / that he can neither earn his daily bread / nor find his Christian living / on the basis of the circumstances of his status / receive free support for the rest of his life.’

In substance, Arts. 10–13 of the 1676 statutes ran parallel to the support offered by miners’ guilds to widows and orphans. Furthermore, the phrasing of Art. 10 of the 1676 statutes recalls the formulations found in mining acts dating from the same time.208 Nevertheless, there is no clear proof that Arts. 10–13 consciously drew on any antecedent models. Furthermore, it seems clear that fire insurance schemes influenced the design of early health insurance schemes. According to Heinrich Sippel, Adalbert Friedrich Marcus estimated that each year 10% of all domestic servants needed to be hospitalized for an average of 30 days when calculating the contributions to the aforementioned209 Bamberg Krankendienstbotheninstitut (Sick Servants’ Institute) of 1790.210 Marcus foresaw the problem, that in the event of an epidemic the periodic contributions would not be sufficient to cover the costs of hospitalization. He compared this case to a major fire destroying large parts of a city. In ___________ 207

Der Stadt Hamburg Anno 1685. Neu revidirte Feuer-Ordnung (1685). See p. 150, above. 209 See p. 207, above. 210 Sippel, Bamberger Dienstboten-Institut (1889), 6. 208

236

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

such a case mutual fire insurance schemes have the possibility to raise extraordinary contributions from their members, and Marcus argued that the Bamberg health insurance scheme should introduce a similar possibility. Furthermore, he concluded that health insurance schemes need to be of a certain size in order to shoulder the costs of a possible epidemic. 5. Factory health insurance schemes Factory health insurance schemes, so-called Betriebskrankenkassen, established by factory owners for the benefit of their own employees, existed since the 18th century.211 Rudolf Schwenger discusses a health insurance scheme established in 1717 at the Blaufarbenwerk (blue colour works) in Niederpfannenstiel, Saxony, which is said to be one of the oldest, or even the oldest, such scheme.212 Niederpfannenstiel was the neighbouring town and is today part of Aue in the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains). Aue had been a mining town since the 17th century. According to Schwenger, both the workers and the owner of the blue colour works contributed to the fund. If an illness lasted longer than eight days, the fund paid weekly four groschen as support. In a case of death, the fund paid six talers towards the funeral and two talers to the widow. Unfortunately, the statutes of the 1717 scheme have not survived in the archive of the Blaufarbenwerk (Nikkelhütte Aue GmbH). Schwenger mentions another example from Hildesheim dating back to 1718,213 and Uwe Perlitz refers to a factory insurance scheme from 1788 which was introduced for the benefit of the workers in the textile factory of Christoph Andreae in the city of Mühlheim am Rhein.214 Membership was compulsory. In cases of illness, the fund paid one taler weekly. In a case of death, the heirs received twelve talers. In 1789, the Berlin Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur (Royal Porcelain Factory), which was owned by the Prussian King, established a support fund for the benefit of its workers. The fund is fully analysed by Arnulf Siebeneicker.215 The Manufaktur had two classes of employees: Offizianten and Ouvriers. The former were civil servants working, for example, in the administration or having artistic ___________ 211 Compare also the analysis by Schulz, Betriebliche Sozialpolitik in Deutschland seit 1850 (1991), 137–176, who focuses, however, mostly on the 19th century; P. Koch, Von der Zunftlade zum rationellen Großbetrieb (1971), 28 f. 212 Schwenger, Betriebskrankenkassen (1934), 11. 213 Schwenger, Betriebskrankenkassen (1934), 11. 214 Perlitz, Geld-, Bank- und Versicherungswesen in Köln (1976), 307. For further examples from the early 19th century, see ibid., 312, 317–319. The 1788 example is also discussed by Schwenger, Betriebskrankenkassen (1934), 12 f. 215 Siebeneicker, Offizianten und Ouvriers (2002), 220–229, 337–381, especially 349– 381. The fund is also mentioned by Schwenger, Betriebskrankenkassen (1934), 14, and discussed by Krusekopf, (1922) 15 Die Betriebskrankenkasse 169–172, 177–180.

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

237

and supervisory positions; the latter were manual labourers. Siebeneicker points out that Offizianten simply received sick pay from the employer in cases of illness, as all civil servants did. Thus, there was no need to establish a health insurance fund for their benefit. Similarly, their right to a pension developed in parallel to that of other civil servants. For the benefit of the Ouvriers, an ArbeiterVersorgungs- und Verpflegungs-Anstalt (Workers’ Support Fund) was established in 1789. It offered support to Ouvriers in cases of illness and incapacity as well as to dependants of deceased members. According to Siebeneicker, the idea for the fund had been developed by Friedrich Anton Freiherr von Heinitz and Friedrich Philipp Rosenstiel, who also drafted the first statutes and who had made their careers in the mining administration.216 Thus, the support offered by miners’ guilds may have served as a model for designing the fund. Accordingly, the fund was at times referred to as Knappschaftskasse.217 Yet Siebeneicker also points to a similar scheme which was established in 1785 for the benefit of the workers of a Viennese porcelain factory. The following short account of the functioning of the fund is based on Siebeneicker and Schwenger, as I was able to identify only drafts for the statutes, dating from February 1789 (‘Vorläufige Grundgesetze’),218 but not the final statutes which were put in force. At first, membership in the Anstalt was voluntary, but it was soon made compulsory. The fund was administered by a committee representing the employer and the workers. According to Schwenger, the periodic contributions were paid both by the workers (two-thirds) and the employer (onethird).219 Workers received for four weeks their full wages as sick pay from their employer. After four weeks, the worker received two-thirds of his full wages. One-third was paid by the fund; the other third was paid by the employer. After three months, the worker received for another three months only one half of his full wages as support. This form of financial support was covered by the fund, only. In the first four weeks, the fund did not cover the costs of treatment, as the worker received his full salary as sick pay. Only thereafter did the fund cover the costs of treatment. Support was excluded if the illness was caused by the worker’s own fault or if it was caused by an accident which was not related to work. At first, the workers were free in the choice of their medical doctor. However, soon the fund contracted with medical practitioners which the workers had to visit. Furthermore, the fund paid a monthly pension to incapacitated workers,

___________ 216

Siebeneicker, Offizianten und Ouvriers (2002), 349. Siebeneicker, Offizianten und Ouvriers (2002), 349. 218 KPM-Archiv (Land Berlin), No. 265, fols. 34–36. 219 Schwenger, Betriebskrankenkassen (1934), 14. See also Siebeneicker, Offizianten und Ouvriers (2002), 367. 217

238

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

their widows, and orphans. Finally, as early as 1765, the Manufaktur had established a death fund for the benefit of widows of both Offizianten and Ouvriers.220 Why did factory owners introduce such schemes for the benefit of their workers? Were they acting purely voluntarily, driven by paternalistic feelings of responsibility? In 1797, Karl Gottlob Rößig noted:221 ‘Bey der Absonderung der Manufakturen und Fabriken von den Handwerkern, läßt sich auch ein eigenes Manufaktur- und Fabrikrecht im deutschen Rechte annehmen, welches vorzüglich auf die Rechtsverhältnisse zwischen dem Manufaktur- und Fabrikherrn und dessen Arbeitern sich beziehet […]. Indem hierinne durch bloße Anwendung der gemeinen fremden Rechte oft beträchtliche Nachtheile entstehen. Allein es ist bis jetzt noch zu wenig positives Recht darüber im Ganzen vorhanden.’ ‘It may be assumed that a distinct body of law concerning manufactories and factories emerged in German law following their emancipation from the crafts. This body of law primarily regulates the legal relations between the owners of manufactories and factories on the one hand and their workers on the other hand […]. It is often disadvantageous to simply apply other common legal rules. Yet hitherto, there are too few positive laws on the whole matter.’

Rößig points to a legal lacuna: the law regulating the legal relationship between factory owners and their workers was, according to Rößig, distinct from the body of law regulating the legal relationship between master craftsmen and their journeymen. However, lawmakers had, as yet, not addressed the problem of how to regulate the former relationship. Rößig was of the opinion that it was inappropriate to simply apply the legal regime regulating the crafts – this is the regime which he must have meant when speaking of ‘der gemeinen fremden Rechte’ (‘other common legal rules’). However, it seems that factory owners often acted on the assumption that the legal regime regulating the relationship between master craftsmen and journeymen was applicable to them, too – a point to which I will return further below.222 Consequently, some, but by far not all, factory owners introduced support schemes for the benefit of their workers. And the introduction of such schemes seems to have been in accordance with contemporary cameralistic literature.223 6. Widows’ and orphans’ assurances It is generally believed that so-called Witwen- und Waisenkassen (widows’ and orphans’ assurances) were established in the different German territories and ___________ 220

Siebeneicker, Offizianten und Ouvriers (2002), 227, 338–345. Rößig, Grundsätze des deutschen Privatrechts (Leipzig 1797), 200. 222 See pp. 299 ff., below. 223 Compare Landau, Die Arbeiterfrage in Deutschland im XVII. und XVIII. Jahrhundert und ihre Behandlung in der Deutschen Kameralwissenschaft (1915), 198. 221

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

239

cities in the 17th and 18th centuries.224 Modern literature generally claims that they were initially established by public authorities to benefit certain professions: at first widows and orphans of Protestant pastors, later those of professors, teachers, and more generally civil servants as well as military personnel. The Pfarr-Wittwen Kasten (pastors’ widows’ box) of 1636 in the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg is the first of these widows’ and orphans’ assurances which modern literature regularly identifies.225 Bernd Wunder has, however, pointed to some earlier examples in Saxony dating to the second half of the 16th century.226 It is believed that membership in many of these early schemes was compulsory. Only later were voluntary schemes said to have been established. At times, these voluntary schemes were not set up by public authorities; rather, they were based on private initiatives. Modern literature claims furthermore that the widows’ and orphans’ assurances of the 17th and 18th centuries were mostly financial failures.227 Their design was actuarially unsound. The contributions which members had to pay were at first too modest. The benefits which beneficiaries received in return were by comparison too high. And these assurances often had only a small number of members. Consequently, these assurances experienced financial difficulties if ___________ 224 On what follows, Wunder, (1985) 12 Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung 429– 498; Borscheid, Geschichte des Alters (1987), 72–74, 237–250; Kröger, Armenfürsorge und Wohlfahrtspflege (2006), 650–668; von Zedtwitz, Rechtsgeschichtliche Entwicklung der Versicherung (1999), 137; Ponfick, Geschichte der Sozialversicherung (1940), 56 f.; Ebel, Memorabilia Gottingensia (1969), 73–100; U. Meier, (1929) 38 Beiträge zur sächsischen Kirchengeschichte 49–134; Stockmann, (1892) 22 Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Schleswig-Holstein-Lauenburgische Geschichte 333–344; Loerke, Geschichte der Pfarrwitwenversorgung (1936), passim; Bergmann, Geschichte des rheinischen Versicherungswesens (1928), 42–46; Horstmann, Versicherungseinrichtungen in der Stadt Hannover (1965), 47–50; Schnaase, Geschichte der evangelischen Kirche Danzigs (1863), 198–204; Schöpfer, Sozialer Schutz im 16.–18. Jahrhundert (1976), 143–149; Gerlach, Personenversicherung im Herzogtum Oldenburg (1967), 13–116; Gebhard, Wittwen- und Waisen-Pensionsanstalten (1844), passim (discussing widows’ and orphans’ assurances of the 18th and early 19th centuries in Germany, Austria, and Denmark); Falck, Handbuch des Schleswig-Holsteinischen Privatrechts, vol. 2 (1831), 517–520; Biederstedt, in: idem, Sammlung aller kirchlichen Verordnungen im Herzogthume Neuvorpommern und Fürstenthume Rügen, vol. 2 (1817), 205–227; Weber, Systematisches Handbuch der Staatswirthschaft, vol. 1/2 (1805), 115–146; Kritter, (1786) Leipziger Magazin für reine angewandte Mathematik 7–43; Möser, Patriotische Phantasien, vol. 1 (1775), 84 f.; Bergius, Policey- und Cameral-Magazin, vol. 9 (1774), 104–139; Zedler (ed.), Grosses vollständiges Vniversal-Lexikon, vol. 57 (1748), 1957–1976; Jenichen/Jenichen, Abhandlung von Wittwen-Cassen (1733), passim; Marperger, Montes Pietatis (1715), 195–253; Jenichen, De fiscis viduarum (1703), passim. 225 Chur-Braunschweig-Lüneburgische Landes-Ordnungen und Gesetze, vol. 1 (1739), 840–842. On the claim that it was the first of such funds, see the reference in n. 235, below. 226 Wunder, (1985) 12 Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung 441–443. 227 Ponfick, Geschichte der Sozialversicherung (1940), 57, 68–70. For a contemporary assessment from the mining sector, see Meltzer, Historia Schneebergensis Renovata (1716), 1473.

240

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

too many members died at the same time. When this occurred, sovereigns may – in the case of a public scheme – have made up for accrued deficits. The connection between guild support and widows’ and orphans’ assurances as well as the importance of the latter for the history of insurance has been summarized by Friedrich Wilhelm Ponfick:228 ‘Die Unterstützungseinrichtungen für die Knappen, Handwerker und Gesellen finden im Zeitalter der Aufklärung ihre Ergänzung in den Hinterbliebenenversicherungskassen für bestimmte Berufsgruppen. Sie stellen das Mittelglied dar zwischen dem aus dem Mittelalter überkommenen und dem neuzeitlichen Versicherungswesen. Man wird wohl annehmen müssen, daß diese Witwen- und Waisenkassen aus den Zunftkassen hervorgegangen sind, in dem sie die der Zunft eigene Vielseitigkeit der Aufgaben abstreiften und die Schadensgarantie für den Fall des Todes zum alleinigen Zweck erhoben […].’ ‘The institutions for the support of miners, craftsmen, and journeymen were in the age of the Enlightenment complemented by funds for the benefit of surviving dependants in specific professions. These funds are the link between insurance of the Middle Ages and that of the modern era. One has to assume that these widows’ and orphans’ assurances developed from guild funds, without being, as guilds were, poly-functional institutions, and they made guarantied indemnity in the event of death their sole purpose […].’

In the crafts, widows and orphans of master craftsmen benefited from means of capacity building: widows were allowed to continue their deceased husbands’ business, and orphans were trained by fellow master craftsmen.229 In the mining sector, miners’ guilds stepped in and supported miners’ widows and orphans by offering a Gnadenlohn.230 In many other professions the provision for widows and orphans remained an open issue. It is generally believed that with respect to the dependants of pastors and civil servants, it was the public authorities that tried to solve these problems by introducing widows’ and orphans’ assurances. Ponfick is in accordance with modern literature in believing that these assurances developed from medieval guilds and that the latter served as a model for public authorities that were creating the former. However, there is an immediate problem with this narrative: widows of master craftsmen never received any form of pension from master craftsmen’s guilds. They were supported by different means of capacity building. Furthermore, the primary form of financial support offered by craftsmen’s guilds were loans which had to be repaid. By contrast, widows’ and orphans’ assurances offered a pension to widows and orphans or some kind of other financial support which they did not have to repay. The step from means of capacity building offered by master craftsmen’s guilds to non-repayable financial support offered by widows’ and ___________ 228

Ponfick, Geschichte der Sozialversicherung (1940), 66. See pp. 61 ff., above. 230 See pp. 160 ff., above. 229

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

241

orphans’ assurances is too large to make it likely that the latter simply drew on the former as a sort of direct model. If widows’ and orphans’ assurances were inspired by guild support, it is more likely to have been the support offered by miners’ guilds: miners’ guilds had already in the 16th and 17th centuries paid non-repayable financial support to widows and orphans. And there is another reason making it probable that miners’ guilds rather than craft guilds served as a model for widows’ and orphans’ assurances: miners’ guilds were already in the 16th and 17th centuries enveloped by state legislation and were closely connected to the public mining administration, whereas craft guilds were until the 17th century characterized by autonomy. It, thus, seems likely that public authorities took miners’ guilds as a model when forming and administrating widows’ and orphans’ assurances. This suggestion is confirmed by the statutes for what is thought to be the first widows’ and orphans’ assurance, the Pfarr-Wittwen Kasten (pastors’ widows’ box) of 1636 in the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg. The statutes refer to earlier plans to establish such an assurance under the reign of Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg.231 As he was the youngest of three brothers, a clerical career was planned for him, and he was trained for such career having studied in Cologne and Leuven. But his two elder brothers died in 1553, and Julius subsequently ruled the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel from 1568 to 1589. Under Julius’ reign, the Principality quickly became Lutheran. Julius’ father, Heinrich der Jüngere (Henry the Younger), Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, had in 1552 already gained control over the mines at the Rammelsberg with the Treaty of Riechenberg.232 Julius then actively reformed the economy of the Principality, rebuilt the public mining administration, and expanded the mining sector.233 Thus, it is likely that Julius was familiar with the support schemes offered by miners’ guilds. And after having converted to Lutheranism, Julius faced the problem of how pastors’ widows should be provided for. These observations support the proposition that the idea for establishing the box in Brunswick-Lüneburg supporting pastors’ widows came from the support offered by miners’ guilds. There is one further observation suggesting that pastors’ and widows’ assurances may have been inspired by miners’ guilds. As mentioned before, Wunder identifies five such assurances in Saxony in the second half of the 16th century: ___________ 231

Chur-Braunschweig-Lüneburgische Landes-Ordnungen und Gesetze, vol. 1 (1739), 840. And see Wunder, (1985) 12 Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung 449. On Julius see, e.g., Aschoff, Die Welfen (2010), 52–58; Kraschewski, Wirtschaftspolitik des 16. Jahrhunderts (1978), passim. 232 Aschoff, Die Welfen (2010), 52. 233 von Malortie, Organisation der Bergwerks-Verwaltung durch Herzog Julius (1864), 133–148; Greuer, (1962) 34 Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte 85, 129 f.

242

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

Dresden (1557), Pirna (1558), Freiberg (1558), Bischofswerda (1559), and Meißen (1559).234 Freiberg was an important mining city and Pirna a centre of the Saxon iron ore mining administration. Nonetheless, even if one assumes that pastors’ widows’ and orphans’ assurances were inspired by miners’ guilds, it needs to be clear that the latter covered a variety of risks: they supported ill, incapacitated, and old miners as well as widows and orphans. The 16th-century box planned by Julius was designed to support widows only. However, another observation adds further complexity in answering the question as to the origins of widows’ and orphans’ assurances. It is generally claimed that the Pfarr-Wittwen Kasten of 1636 in the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg was the first box for the benefit of pastors’ widows.235 Yet it seems that it was only the first such box to have been established by a sovereign. The 16th-century boxes that Wunder identifies were mutual boxes which were based on private initiatives or which were initiated by the local church administration. The support offered by the funds in Brunswick-Lüneburg and Saxony were financed through contributions paid by pastors. But there was also another model: in Hesse-Darmstadt in 1581, in Saxony in 1583, in Hesse-Kassel in 1583, and in Hesse-Marburg in 1604 the sovereigns made donations establishing trusts to support pastors’ widows.236 The 1581 fund in Hesse-Darmstadt benefited not only pastors’ widows, but also school teachers’ widows; and it supported pastors and school teachers who were incapacitated through illness or old age. Yet the fund is said to have offered primarily grain to beneficiaries. Financial support was given only exceptionally.237 With respect to the impact of widows’ and orphans’ assurances on the further development of insurance, Ponfick distinguishes between compulsory and voluntary widows’ and orphans’ assurances:238 ‘Beide Arten der Witwenkassen werden gemeinhin als die Vorläufer der Lebensversicherung bezeichnet. Diese Darstellung ist aber nur dann richtig, wenn man in den Begriff der Lebensversicherung im weitesten Sinne auch die Sozialversicherung mit einbezieht. Zur eigentlichen Lebensversicherung im engeren Sinne haben nur die nach privatwirtschaftlich-kaufmännischen Gesichtspunkten betriebenen freien Witwenkassen geführt, während die verbindlichen öffentlich-rechtlich betriebenen Kassen wegen ihres Zwangscharakters – und da die freien Kassen im allgemeinen nur für begüterte Stände in Betracht kamen – unmittelbare Bedeutung allein für die Sozialversicherung

___________ 234 Wunder, (1985) 12 Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung 441. In addition, see Jenichen/Jenichen, Abhandlung von Wittwen-Cassen (1733), 20; U. Meier, (1929) 38 Beiträge zur sächsischen Kirchengeschichte 49–134. 235 Schmitt-Lermann, Versicherungsgedanke im deutschen Geistesleben (1954), 31. 236 Wunder, (1985) 12 Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung 440 f. 237 Diehl, (1905) 2 Beiträge zur hessischen Kirchengeschichte 183. 238 Ponfick, Geschichte der Sozialversicherung (1940), 58.

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

243

erlangt haben, wenn auch beide Methoden der wechselseitiger Beziehung zueinander standen.’ ‘Both forms of widows’ assurances are generally looked upon as forerunners of life insurance. This is correct only if one adopts a broad understanding of the concept of life insurance so as to include social security. Only non-compulsory widows’ assurances which were operated on a commercial basis[239] may have developed into life insurance in the proper sense. Yet only the wealthier parts of society could afford joining a non-compulsory assurance. By contrast, compulsory state-run widows’ assurances have relevance only for modern social security. Nevertheless, both forms of assurances mutually influenced each other.’

Wunder analyses compulsory widows’ and orphans’ assurances as a forerunner not only of Germany’s modern social security, but also of Germany’s modern pension system for the benefit of Beamte, a specific class of civil servants.240 This short overview on the state of research on widows’ and orphans’ assurances in Germany already suggests that their history is complex. Furthermore, the first pastors’ widows’ and orphans’ assurances were established in different settings:241 the position of widows and their need for support differed greatly in the different Protestant territories. In some Protestant parts, widows had a right to their husbands’ pay for one year after his death, again referred to as Gnadenlohn (mercy pay). At times it was not the husband’s full pay they were entitled to, but they were sometimes entitled also to other benefits. And in some parts of Protestant Germany, the Gnadenlohn was paid only for three or six months. Some churches had an endowment which made it possible to support the widow of a deceased pastor in addition to paying the new pastor. And at times the towns took on the responsibility of supporting pastors’ widows. Finally, in Pomerania, a new pastor had since the middle of the 16th century been expected to marry the widow of his predecessor, a practice which continued to exist in the 17th century in then Swedish Pomerania. These different forms of support had developed from corresponding discussions on how to provide for pastors’ widows since the first half of the 16th century. Whereas the problem of supporting pastors’ widows first arose in the 16th century, the question of how to support the widows of civil servants gained importance only when public administration expanded. ___________ 239 Referring to non-compulsory widows’ and orphans’ assurances which were based on private initiatives as being ‘operated on a commercial basis’ (‘nach privatwirtschaftlich-kaufmännischen Gesichtspunkten betriebenen’) is misleading since they were mutual funds. 240 Wunder, (1985) 12 Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung 429–498. 241 See Wunder, (1985) 12 Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung 433–439; Kröger, Armenfürsorge und Wohlfahrtspflege (2006), 304 f.; Stockmann, (1892) 22 Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Schleswig-Holstein-Lauenburgische Geschichte 303–474; Woltersdorf, (1902) Deutsche Zeitschrift für Kirchenrecht 177–246; Gollmann, Das Leben protestantische Pastoren (2010), 81–90; Borscheid, Geschichte des Alters (1987), 72–74.

244

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

In summary, widows’ and orphans’ assurance were first established in the 16th century and existed well into the 19th century. They underwent a development of over 300 years. They were first founded by local actors and often, but not exclusively, by public authorities. They initially developed in the context of poor relief, and their development gained momentum with the emergence of modern insurance and actuarial science.242 Their designs and their internal structures differed greatly.243 Some such assurances made only a one-off payment on the occasion of death. Others paid a pension. Furthermore, the term widows’ and orphans’ assurance developed in the early 18th century into a generic term covering all sorts of different societies, boxes, and funds for the support of widows and orphans. There never was any universal paradigm for widows’ and orphans’ assurances. Such assurances shared only two common features: all of them offered support in case of death, and widows as well as orphans were beneficiaries of support. a) Pastors’ widows’ and orphans’ assurances based on public and semi-public initiatives The focus of the present study is on guild support. Widows’ and orphans’ assurances are discussed only to contextualize the development of such support. As widows’ and orphans’ assurances are still awaiting an in-depth legal-historical analysis, the following pages will only be able to give an overview of their development. I will do so by discussing some examples of such assurances. I will start with assurances for the benefit of pastors’ widows and orphans as they seem to have been the first. Some assurances seem to have been initiated by a territory’s sovereign or seem to have been based on a semi-public initiative. Other schemes seem to have been established at the initiative of private individuals. Even though, a public-private dichotomy is in general inapt for describing phenomena before the 19th century, it was already recognized in 1733 by Gottlieb August Jenichen and Gottlob August Jenichen that widows’ and orphans’ boxes had different types of founders:244 ‘Es sind demnach die Wittwen-Cassen eine Wohltat, welche gewissen Wittwen von einem Fürsten, einer Obrigkeit, oder einer Gesellschaft und Fraternität, durch Anweisung oder Zusammenlegung einer gewissen Anzahl Geldes, welches unter sie durch einen Vorsteher vertheilet wird, verordnet worden, Gott gebührend zu ehren, und denen Wittwen in ihrem Elende beyzustehen.’

___________ 242

Wunder, (1985) 12 Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung 458. Kruse, Witwen (2007), 221 (summarizing Paul Jacob Marperger). And see Fiedler, Geschichte des Versicherungswesens der Reichsstadt Nürnberg (1958), 17–25, 35–42. 244 Jenichen/Jenichen, Abhandlung von Wittwen-Cassen (1733), 28 f. 243

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

245

‘Widows’ boxes are, thus, a benefaction which is dedicated to certain widows, for the honour of God and in order to assist widows in their misery, by the order of a sovereign, a public authority, or an association and confraternity, and by allotting or pooling certain funds which are distributed among them by the Vorsteher [office holder of the box].’

And accordingly, Jenichen and Jenichen divided widows’ boxes into two categories: public boxes and special boxes (‘Die Wittwen-Cassen können füglich in öffentliche und besondere eingetheilet werden.’).245 aa) The 1559 pastors’ widows’ and orphans’ box in Meißen In 1559, the dean of the church district of Meißen established a pastors’ widows’ and orphans’ box.246 Thus, the box was not established at the sovereign’s initiative. However, it was also not a purely private undertaking that had been established by the different pastors of the church district. Rather, it seems to have been established by the district’s church administration. The 1570 revision of its statutes are reproduced by Emil Sehling.247 The box was explicitly referred to as a confraternity (‘fraternitet’). Membership was compulsory. Each pastor and each deacon of the church district had to pay four groschen into the box when taking up his position and each quarter three groschen. Those who declined to pay their contribution had to pay a fine, and if they were in default with three quarterly contributions, they were excluded from the box – the possibility of being excluded by simply not paying one’s contribution seems to be at odds with the idea of the fund being compulsory. Those who left the service of the church district were allowed to continue their membership by simply paying their contributions. If they did so, then they and their dependants benefited from the box. The administration was in the hands of four pastors who were appointed by the dean. These four pastors were ordered to be the legal guardians and custodians of the widows and orphans of deceased members. Financial support did not benefit solely members’ widows and orphans. It was also a box supporting members in need as the name of the box already indicates: Predigerunterstützungs-, Pfarrwittwen- und Waisen-Kasse (Fund for the Support of Preachers, Pastors’ Widows and Orphans). The box covered a number of different risks:248 ‘Es soll aber die hülfe aus dem fisco folgender gestalt geschehen:

___________ 245

Jenichen/Jenichen, Abhandlung von Wittwen-Cassen (1733), 31 f. See Sehling, Evangelische Kirchenordnungen, vol. 2/2 (1970), 46. 247 Sehling, Evangelische Kirchenordnungen, vol. 2/2 (1970), 50 f. The statutes of the 1558 box in Freiberg are reproduced in U. Meier, (1929) 38 Beiträge zur sächsischen Kirchengeschichte 69–74. 248 Cited from Sehling, Evangelische Kirchenordnungen, vol. 2/2 (1970), 51. 246

246

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

I. Wan ein pastor oder diaconus zu seiner neuen anfangenden haushaltung geldes benötigte, dem sol nach gelegenheit gedienet werden mit 5 oder 6 thalern, darmit einem nicht zu viel und dem andern zu wenig fürderung geschee. II. So einer einen brand oder wetter schaden (do gott vor sei) erlitte, diesem soll aus dem kasten geholfen werden. III. So einer mit langwiriger krankheit überfallen und mangel leiden würde, dem sol hieraus etwas vorgesatzt werden. IIII. Wan ein pastor oder diacon verstürbe, und ein arme wittwe und waislein hinter sich verlassen würde, denen soll nach erkundigung ihres mangels geholfen werden. V. Do eines verstorbenen bruders wittwe widerumb heiraten und freien würde, sol ihr ferner nichts aus diesem kasten folgen, im fall aber do sie die prefectos umb eine beisteuer zur hochzeit anlangen würde, soll ihr nach erkundigung ihrer notturft hieraus etwas geholfen werden. VI. So eine mutter, so zur andern ehe gegriffen, sich ganz unmütterlich und vergesslich kegen ihre kinder erzeigen würde, und derhalben an die prefectos klage gebracht, sollen sie auf wege gedenken, wie die unmündigen erzogen, und ihnen hieraus ein beisteuer zu kleidung und anderm mehr gefallen mächte. VII. Wo ein verstorbener bruder söhne hinter ihm verlassen wurde, und unter denen einer zur schuelen geschickt, und darneben zum studio lustig und vleissig sich befinden liesse, der soll mit zimlicher beisteuer versehen, und do er zu seinen jahren kömpt, zum heiligen ministerio oder schuelendienst tüchtig ist, soll er vor einem frembden gefördert werden, welchen die prefecti bei einem ehrwirdigen consistorio neben ihme zu verbitten verpflicht sein sollen. VIII. Wo eines verstorbenen pastoris tochter manbar und sich in den ehestand begeben würde, derselben soll uf anregung von den praefectis eine beisteuer, oder zu einem ehrenkleid etwas mitgeteilet werden. IX. Wo eines verstorbenen pastoris wittwen und waisen sich müssiggangs bevleissen, die almosen übel anlegen, oder (do gott vor sei) dem heiligen ampt zu unehren allerlei sünde begingen, sollen die vorsteher, do sie dessen gewisse kundschaft hetten, sie hierumb mit ernst anreden und strafen. und do keine besserung vermarkt, ihnen ferner zu helfen die hand abziehen.’ ‘Support from the fund will be offered as follows: I. If a pastor or deacon is in need of money for the purpose of establishing a new household, then he shall be offered according to the circumstances five or six talers, so that the one does not receive too much support and the other too little. II. If one suffers damage through fire or weather (which God may prevent), then he shall be helped from the box. III. If one suffers from a lengthy illness and is in need, then he shall receive something from it [the box]. IIII. If a pastor or deacon dies and if he leaves behind a poor widow and orphan, then they shall be helped after their need has been enquired. V. If a deceased brother’s widow remarries, then she shall receive nothing more from the box, but in case she asks for a contribution towards the costs of the wedding, she shall receive something after her need has been enquired.

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

247

VI. If a mother, who has remarried, proves to be unmotherly and forgetful towards her children [most probably the children of a deceased member from her first marriage], and if complaints are brought forward to the prefects [the four appointed pastors administrating the box], then they shall think of a solution of how to educate them, and they shall receive a contribution from the box towards their clothes and further more. VII. If a deceased brother leaves behind sons, one of who is sent to school and who is eager to study further and who proves to be hard-working, then he shall receive support, and if he comes of age and if he is fit to serve in the church or school services, then he shall be preferred over foreigners, […]. VIII. If the daughter of a deceased pastor wants to marry, she shall receive on request from the prefects a contribution […]. IX. If the widow or orphans of a deceased pastor indulge in idleness, if they spent their alms ill, or if they commit sins to the disgrace of the holy office (what God may prevent), then the Vorsteher [the four appointed pastors administrating the box], if they know of this behaviour, shall seriously talk with them and punish them. And if there is no improvement, they shall withdraw the helping hand.’

It seems clear that the box offered financial support. However, the statutes do not make explicit whether financial support was granted in the form of a loan or whether financial support did not have to be repaid. Nevertheless, support in the case of a lengthy illness as well as the support given to widows and orphans was most likely non re-payable. However, it would be surprising if the same applied to the support as defined in Art. I. It is striking that the support which a pastor received when moving into a new home (perhaps – though the statutes leave this point open – only when the pastor took up his first or at least a new position) is clearly defined in terms of the sum which he was to receive: five or six talers, whereas the sums offered to pastors suffering from a lengthy illness as well as to widows and orphans were not defined. Furthermore, it is striking that the statutes in 1570 had already covered the risk of fire. In the craft sector, I was only able to identify two statutes which expressly mentioned the risk of fire, and these two examples date from the second half of the 17th century: the 1669 statutes of the barber surgeons’ guild in the regions of Altmark and Prignitz249 and the 1683 statutes of the butchers’ guild in the city of Halle.250 For the mining sector, Johannes Langer has analysed guild accounts and has found that these reflected the calamities and the distress of each era: during the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) miners’ guilds gave alms to people who had lost their houses through fire in the course of the war.251 However, this form of support remained an example of informal support in the sense that it ___________ 249

See p. 55, above. See p. 76, above. 251 See p. 162, above. 250

248

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

was not regulated in the guild statutes. The first fire contract in the city of Hamburg dates from 1591.252 Schleswig-Holstein had already seen fire guilds in earlier times.253 Yet the 1570 statutes for the widows’ and orphans’ box in Meißen created, unlike the fire guilds in Schleswig-Holstein, an association in a professional setting. Finally, the detailed nature of the 1570 statutes is striking and unparalleled compared to the provisions on support in the statutes of the same time in the crafts and the mining sector. Yet though the 1570 statutes defined the situations in which support was offered in a very precise manner, the statutes are silent on the scheme’s financial design. bb) The 1636 pastors’ widows’ box in Brunswick-Lüneburg The 1636 statutes of the pastors’ widows’ box in the Duchy of BrunswickLüneburg first summarizes the late 16th-century plan to establish such a box under the reign of Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg.254 Under that plan, every pastor had to pay into the box annually a half taler. It seems that contributions to the box were compulsory. Each widow was to receive once a year a payment from the box. The amount which the widow was to receive was not defined. The 1636 box adopted the same design. All pastors of the principality had to contribute on Michaelmas a half taler to the box. On the same day, the widows were to receive support from the box. The statutes lack any details on how the box was run except for the provision that all incoming funds had to be recorded by the church administration. Furthermore, the statutes make clear that the Duke’s council was involved in the management of the funds (‘mit Raht Unsers Consistorii’). The 1636 statutes again did not define the amount which each widow was to receive. It seems clear, however, that the contributions paid by pastors were not simply distributed to all eligible widows on the same day. The statutes make clear that the Duke’s council was to give advice on how to administer and utilize the income for the benefit of the widows (‘den Wittwen zu gute verwahret, und angewandt’). Nevertheless, it seems likely that the fund’s financial design was rather primitive: only existing funds were distributed to eligible widows.

___________ 252

See p. 234, above. See p. 30, above. 254 Chur-Braunschweig-Lüneburgische Landes-Ordnungen und Gesetze, vol. 1 (1739), 840–842. 253

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

249

Compared to the 1559 box in Meißen, the 1636 assurance in Brunswick-Lüneburg benefited only widows and orphans. It did not cover the risk of fire, and it did not benefit pastors in need. Modern literature claims that the first widows’ and orphans’ assurances were mostly failures, that they were actuarially unsound, and that the promised benefits were too high in comparison to the contributions which members had to pay. Yet if only existing funds were distributed to eligible widows, the design of an assurance like that of the 1636 fund in Brunswick-Lüneburg did not require any actuarial knowledge. cc) The 1716 preachers’ widows’ and orphans’ fund in Brandenburg In 1716, Brandenburg established a royal fund for the support of Reformed preachers’ widows and orphans (Königlich Preußisch-Evangelisch-Reformirten Prediger Wittwen- und Waysen-Casse).255 The preamble to the statutes makes explicit that it was established at the initiative of the sovereign. According to Art. 1, § 1 of the 1716 statutes, each parish had to contribute to the fund: if the parish generated an income, for example by lending money on interest, of more than five or ten talers, then it had to give two per cent to the fund. According to Art. 1, § 2, each parish had to make extraordinary offerings on new year’s day or the Sunday thereafter for the benefit of the fund. According to Art. 1, §§ 3–5, each pastor had to contribute to the fund when starting his position, when being promoted to a better position, or when receiving a pay raise. Furthermore, each pastor had to make a quarterly contribution: Art. 1, § 6. It is striking that these contributions were not pre-defined and that it was up to the pastor to decide what he would give in accordance with his Christian conscience (‘Eines jeden Pastoris Christlichem Gewissen wird überlassen / daß er sein Salarium und Einkünffte selber taxire […]’). Nevertheless, the statutes gave some guidelines as to what was to be regarded as a minimum contribution. The central office of the Reformed churches in Berlin supervised the fund, and it appointed two administrators. Annually, they had to send in the accounts of the funds to the central office of the Reformed churches. Only those widows received support whose husbands had contributed to the fund. According to Art. 3, § 1 of the 1716 statutes, the support depended on the fund’s financial situation as well as on the husband’s contributions:256 ___________ 255 Fundation der Königl. Preußisch-Evangelisch-Reformirten Prediger Wittwen- und Waysen-Casse (1716). 256 Fundation der Königl. Preußisch-Evangelisch-Reformirten Prediger Wittwen- und Waysen-Casse (1716).

250

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

‘Diese Summe reguliret das Kirchen-Directorium nach Proportion des vom verstorbenen Prediger geschehenen Beytrags und dem Vorrath bey der Wittwen-Casse, so daß dessen Predigers Wittib / welcher nur 5. Thlr. Jährlich beygetragen hat / halb so viel bekommt / als dessen / welcher Jährlich Zehen Thl. beygetragen.’ ‘The sum is fixed by the Kirchendirektorium [central office of the Reformed churches] in proportion to the contributions paid by the deceased preacher and in accordance with the funds in the widows’ box, so that the widow of a preacher / who has annually contributed only five talers / receives only half / of one / who has contributed annually ten talers.’

In the year following her husband’s death, a widow was still entitled to his pay. Consequently, she did not receive any support from the fund in that year and had to contribute to the fund in the same way as her husband had done when he was still alive. The Kirchendirektorium was allowed to reduce the support or to cancel it altogether if a widow lived an indecent life. Underage children received the same portion as a widow. According to Art. 3, § 5, the widow received the full support even if she was eligible for support from other funds. Consequently, support was not dependant on her being in financial need. Here again, the financial design of the fund was apparently rather primitive: only existing funds were distributed to eligible widows. And again, the design of such a fund did not require any actuarial knowledge. dd) The 1719 pastors’ widows’ assurance in Baden-Durlach This assertion, that the design of early widows’ assurances did not require actuarial knowledge, is confirmed by other examples: the Pfarr-Wittwen-Fisco (pastors’ widows’ box) in the Margraviate Baden-Durlach was established in 1719/1721. When it was founded, it was projected that it would be possible to support six widows annually with 48 gulden each. If there were more widows, the amount should be split between them. However, it was impossible to pay 48 gulden even for six widows. Consequently, support was simply lowered. The box still existed in 1746.257 b) Pastors’ widows’ and orphans’ assurances based on private initiatives The 1708 statutes of the Priester-Witwen- und Waysen-Casse (pastors’ widows’ and orphans’ fund) in Görlitz adopted a similar financial design as the 1636 fund in Brunswick-Lüneburg and the 1716 fund in Brandenburg.258 The fund ___________ 257

Gerstlacher, Sammlung aller Baden-Durlachischen […] Anstalten und Verordnungen, vol. 2 (1774), 179 f. 258 Die Priester-Witwen- und Waysen-Casse in dem Görlitzischen Kreise (1708). The statutes are also reproduced in Marperger, Montes Pietatis (1715), 212–237. A further

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

251

seems to have been founded at the initiative of the pastors of Görlitz;259 there are at least no traces in the statutes that the fund was initiated by the estates of Upper Lusatia (Oberlausitz) or by the Electorate of Saxony. And there are no traces that the corresponding public authorities were involved in the administration of the fund. Nevertheless, it was a compulsory scheme. Therefore, it cannot have been a purely private initiative but must have had some connection with the church administration. According to Art. 1, all pastors who worked in the church district of Görlitz had to contribute to the scheme. Furthermore, all widows and orphans who in the first year after the death of their husbands or their fathers still received his full pay had to make contributions. Pastors working outside the church district of Görlitz were allowed to join the scheme on a voluntary basis. Equally, pastors who left Görlitz to take up a position outside the church district were allowed to remain members if they continued to pay their contributions. According to Arts. 2 f., each member had to contribute annually one imperial taler, which had to be paid on the two days following the first Sunday after Trinity. The incoming funds were registered and collected in a box which had three locks, and each of the three office holders of the box had a key to one of the locks. According to Art. 6, all incoming moneys were distributed among all widows and orphans who were eligible to support. Thus, the 1708 scheme followed the same simple design as the 1636 fund in BrunswickLüneburg and the 1716 box in Brandenburg. Accordingly, its set-up and its administration did not require any actuarial knowledge. Guild statutes in the crafts and the mining sector referred to non-repayable financial support as alms.260 Equally, the 1570 statutes of the 1559 pastors’ widows’ and orphans’ box in Meißen spoke in Art. IX of alms.261 The 1708 statutes of the pastors’ widows’ and orphans’ fund in Görlitz adopted a different thinking:262 ‘Es wird sich auch weder Wittwe noch Wayse solches zu begehren scheuen dürffen / sintemahl ihre Quote nicht schlechthin als ein Allmosen / sondern vielmehr als ein ordentliches Erbe oder Interesse des von ihnen Männern und Eltern eingelegten und geschenckten Capitals gebührend zu fordern seyn wird.’

___________ example of such a private pastors’ widows’ and orphans’ assurance is the 1707 fund in the city of Freiberg; it seems to have been a financial success: Revidirte Leges Der Freybergischen Special-Wittben- und Waysen-Cassa (Dresden 1719). 259 The pastors’ widows’ and orphans’ assurance in the city of Stralsund of 1638 seems also to have been based on private initiative; according to Biederstedt, in: idem, Sammlung aller kirchlichen Verordnungen im Herzogthume Neuvorpommern und Fürstenthume Rügen, vol. 2 (1817), 217, the founding statutes were signed by eleven pastors, but only nine pastors contributed to it. It, thus, may have been a voluntary scheme. 260 See pp. 49, 146, 197, and 224, above. 261 See pp. 245 f., above. 262 Die Priester-Witwen- und Waysen-Casse in dem Görlitzischen Kreise (1708), 11.

252

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

‘No widow and no orphan will be deterred from requesting such [support] / as their portion is not alms / but rather a real inheritance or interest in the contributions which their husbands and parents have made and which they are entitled to demand.’

Two points are noteworthy. First, the text suggests that widows had a legally enforceable claim against the box for support. Secondly, the text makes explicit that the widows’ and orphans’ entitlement to support is based on their husbands’ and parents’ contributions to the box. The statutes hint at a possible doctrinal explanation of the entitlement to support: the statutes speak of a ‘real inheritance’ (‘ordentliches Erbe’), suggesting that the widow or the orphans inherited the husband’s or father’s share in the scheme. And the statutes speak of an ‘interest in the contributions which their husbands and parents have made’ (‘Interesse des von ihnen Männern und Eltern eingelegten […] Capitals’), suggesting that the members had bought shares in the scheme. The fact that a widow’s right was based on her deceased husband’s contributions is also acknowledged in Art. 8: she received support even if she was not in financial need. Yet it was not only married pastors and pastors with children who had to contribute. Membership was compulsory for all pastors of the church district, and the statutes do not mention any exception to compulsory membership for pastors who had no dependants whom they needed to support. The distribution of the funds was simple. According to Art. 6, all income was immediately distributed to all widows and orphans who were eligible for support:263 ‘Wieviel aber allemahl auf eine Wittwe oder auf eine Wayse komen wird / kan man ietzo so genau nicht wissen / weil ihre Anzahl nicht bekant / in Zukunft aber / wenn die specification einkommen / wird mans schon besser wissen und sagen können / doch wird es allemahl jährlich was austrägliches und wenigstens 6. bis 8 Rthlr. außmachen.’ ‘How much each widow or each orphan will receive / cannot be predicted now / as their number is as yet unknown / but in the future / when the specifications have come in / one is better able to know and announce / yet each year it will be a profitable sum of at least six to eight imperial talers.’

The text is very open about the fact that the whole scheme was not based on sound actuarial knowledge and that the benefits were only roughly estimated. Article 6 of the 1706 statutes, finally, makes explicit that not all incoming moneys were to be redistributed to widows and orphans. An undefined sum was to be kept in the box. This money was to be used to support widows and orphans who experienced extraordinary hardship. The 1706 statutes contained some further details: (1) A widow received support only until she remarried. (2) The scheme was initiated in 1708 and only wives of pastors whose husband had contributed to the fund and who entered ___________ 263

Die Priester-Witwen- und Waysen-Casse in dem Görlitzischen Kreise (1708), 11.

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

253

viduity after 1708 were eligible for support. Yet according to Art. 9, support could in cases of great hardship exceptionally and on a discretionary basis also be granted to widows who had entered viduity before 1708. (3) According to Art. 10, widows lost their right to support if and as long as they lived a godless life. (4) If the fund received donations, these were not to be distributed in the same year, but according to Art. 11 they were to be invested. The profits flowing from these investments were then to be distributed annually to eligible widows and orphans. However according to Art. 15, a benefactor could order that the interest flowing from his donation would only benefit widows and orphans in financial need. And according to Art. 16, a pastor could donate a sum to the scheme with the order that the interest flowing from his donation would, after his death, benefit only his wife. After her death the interest would then be used to support all eligible widows. (5) Orphans received support until they had reached a certain age. They could receive a contribution to their dowry or to their apprentice’s dues, or a contribution could be made towards their school training. (6) Finally, the scheme also contributed to the funeral costs of widows and orphans. The 1708 scheme was administered by three office holders, each office holder representing one of the three regions of the church district. And each office holder was elected for two years by the members of the scheme coming from the respective region. If the three office holders were not able to reach a decision, they had to consult twelve members of the scheme and their majority vote resolved the matter. There was no fixed date when the accounts were checked. Instead each member had the right to consult the accounts at any time and to raise objections. Finally, there are no traces in the statutes that the church administration was involved in the running of the fund or that it supervised the fund. That allows a categorization of this fund as a private initiative despite its compulsory membership. The publication of the 1708 statutes also contained an account for that year. 104 priests had contributed 104 talers, 8 groschen, and they had made additional donations of 21 talers, 8 groschen. There were further donations of 4 talers. In the first year, no widows and orphans were eligible for support. However, 2 talers were given to one widow in accordance with Art. 9 as extraordinary support. The costs of administration amounted to 6 talers, 13 groschen. Of the remaining capital, 100 talers were invested on interest of 5% per annum. c) Widows’ and orphans’ assurances for other professions Pastors’ widows and orphans seem to have been the first group for whose benefit widows’ and orphans’ assurances were established. Some of the early

254

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

statutes coming from Protestant territories also mention teachers,264 and it is likely that the statutes referred only to those teaching positions which had been occupied by Catholic priests before these territories became Lutheran. Other professions followed.265 This chronology is somehow surprising. The problem of how to support pastors’ widows and orphans was thoroughly discussed right after the phenomenon of married Protestant pastors first appeared in the 16th century. The problem of how to support widows and orphans of civil servants arose only when public administration expanded. However, the problem of how to support widows and orphans of university professors should have been addressed at the point when the first universities were established. Yet assurances supporting widows and orphans of professors seem to have been established later than pastors’ widows’ and orphans’ assurances. The fact that pastors’ widows’ and orphans’ assurances took the lead is possibly explainable by two factors: first, the religious context may have positively influenced the development. Secondly, it was perhaps simply an image question that led sovereigns like Duke Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg to establish funds for the benefit of pastors’ widows and orphans after having converted to Lutheranism. aa) The 1707 widows’ and orphans’ assurance at the university of Rostock The university of Rostock was established in 1419, but it saw its (presumably first) widows’ and orphans’ assurance only in 1707. The statutes are signed by Friedrich Wilhelm (Frederik William), Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.266 This observation suggests that the scheme was not a purely private venture. However, the preamble of the statutes points in a different direction. It makes clear that the assurance was established on the initiative of members of the university:267 ‘Es giebet die tägliche Erfahrung / wie daß unter allen Wittwen fast diese am schlechtesten es haben / derer Männer Literati gewesen / aber bey ihren Leben / jenen nicht so viel erwerben / oder samlen mögen / daß sie davon mit ihrem Kind / oder Kindern / nach ableben derer Männer / ihren Nohtdürftigen Unterhalt haben mögen […]. Solches Nachsinnen hat dahero einige Literatos auff der Universität Rostock dahin bewogen / daß sie auff Mittel und Wege gesonnen / sothanen Bedruck / der auch die Ihrige treffen könnte / nach vermögen in Ihrem Leben vorzubauen; Haben auch geurtheilet / daß solches am füglichsten zuerhalten stünde / wann eine Cassa angeleget

___________ 264

See p. 242, above. In addition to the examples discussed below, see the statutes of the 1746 assurance for the benefit of the widows of the judges at the Oberappellations-Gerichts in Celle: Ebhardt, Sammlung der Verordnungen für das Königreich Hannover aus der Zeit vor dem Jahre 1813, vol. 1 (1854), 241–244; and also the statutes of the 1784 assurance for the benefit of the widows of the civil servants of the archbishop of Mainz: Wir Friderich Karl Joseph von Gottes Gnaden, des heiligen Stuhls zu Mainz Erzbischof […] fügen hiemit zu wissen (1784). 266 Der auff der Universität Rostock angelegte Wittwen-Kasten (1707), 55–64. 267 Der auff der Universität Rostock angelegte Wittwen-Kasten (1707), 55. 265

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

255

würde / woraus in obbemeldten Fällen Ihre Wittwen und Kinder […] ein gewisses haben könten […].’ ‘It is a daily experience / that of all widows close to the most miserable position are those / whose husbands had been literati / but during their lives / these cannot earn enough for them / or save / that they can live of it / together with their child / or children / after their husbands have deceased […]. Such reflections have therefore induced some literatos from the university of Rostock / to think of means and ways / to provide against such pressure / that could also hit their families / as much as possible during their lifetime; they have come to the conclusion / that this is best accomplished / by establishing a fund / from which in the aforementioned cases their widows and children […] may have something […].’

The statutes make furthermore explicit that they did not have the force of law but were binding on members only because they had agreed to them. Despite the approval which the statutes received from the Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the assurance seems to have been a purely private venture. Membership in the scheme was voluntary. The contributions were dependant on the age of the person who wanted to join: Art. 1, §§ 1–3. A person under the age of 50 had to pay twelve imperial talers upon admission, and each quarter one gulden or twelve Lübeck schillings. Applicants of 50 years of age and above had to pay 20 imperial talers when joining the scheme, those of 60 years and above 25 imperial talers, those of 65 years and above 30 imperial talers. The quarterly contribution remained with all age groups the same. If the age of an applicant was contested, he had to prove it by providing a church register. Members were also encouraged to make donations to the fund: Art. 1, § 4. If a member made a donation of at least 50 imperial talers, at least half of the interest flowing from the donated capital directly benefited the donator’s widow and orphans. Only those widows and orphans were eligible for support whose husbands or fathers had made their contributions. At the death of her husband, a widow received ten imperial talers and then annually ten imperial talers until she remarried. However, the statutes made explicit that any payment was dependent on the assurance scheme having sufficient funds. If a widow lost her child, she would receive, depending on the kind of funeral, twelve or eight imperial talers to cover the funeral costs. If the widow died, her children or heirs were to receive, depending again on the kind of funeral, 25 or 15 imperial talers. Orphans each received annually three imperial talers until they had reached the age of 14. The statutes contained further detailed provisions addressing, for example, the question of whether a woman and her children from a first marriage could benefit from the assurance if she married a widowed member. Each year the members of the assurance elected one member as administrator and two further members as assessors. The administrator had to see that everybody paid their contributions, and he had to pay out financial support to eligible widows and orphans. The moneys in the fund were invested for interest. The

256

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

decision on how to invest the capital was not in the hands of the administrator alone. He had to consult all members or their representatives. Annually, the administrator had to draw up the accounts and have them checked by those members who had been elected as auditors. In its last title the statutes made clear that the assurance was open also to people who were not teaching at the university as well as to people from outside Rostock. Those members who were in default of their contributions for one year lost all their rights in the assurance. Furthermore, it was hoped that in the first years of its existence no deaths would occur so that the fund could build up some capital. In the event that claims were nevertheless raised against the scheme in the first years of its existence, the members simply agreed to come together and find a solution that would allow, on the one hand, the provision of support to widows and, on the other hand, the accumulation of capital. Finally, members had the right to make multiple contributions in order to buy multiple shares for their dependants. However, it was only the annual support that was multiplied, not the payments towards the funeral costs. The statutes leave unanswered all questions concerning how the assurance functioned financially and whether it was based on any actuarial principles. The printed statutes were published together with an essay by Albrecht Joachim von Krakevitz or Kra(c)kewitz,268 who was at the time professor of oriental languages at the University of Rostock and who later became professor of theology at the University of Greifswald.269 Unfortunately, this essay does not address any questions which are of interest for the purpose of the present study. bb) The 1742 civil servants’ widows’ and orphans’ assurance in Brandenburg-Ansbach The 1742 assurance in Brandenburg-Ansbach was established for the support of the widows and orphans of civil servants in the service of the Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach.270 The preamble of the statutes makes clear that it was not a private initiative. Rather, the assurance was established at the Margrave’s initiative. Membership was compulsory for specific groups of civil servants. Furthermore, membership was compulsory even for unmarried civil servants. Membership was thus compulsory even for those civil servants who were not exposed to the risk of leaving behind a widow and orphans. Civil servants were divided into two classes (Art. 2). According to Art. 3, members of the first class had to ___________ 268 On von Krakewitz, see, e.g., Günther Ott, Kra(c)kewitz, Albrecht Joachim v., in Neue Deutsche Biographie, vol. 12 (1980), 662 f. 269 Der auff der Universität Rostock angelegte Wittwen-Kasten (1707), 3–52. 270 Ordnung der Wittwen-Cassa (1742).

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

257

pay annually three gulden, members of the second class one imperial taler. The two classes of the assurance were treated, and accounted for, separately. Civil servants who did not earn a fixed salary received special treatment in the statutes. In principle, civil servants paid their contributions towards the fund. However, it was also possible that annual contributions were deducted from the wages and paid directly into the fund. The statutes make clear that in return for these contributions, widows and orphans received support from the fund. They received support irrespective of being in financial need. With respect to orphans, support was paid only until the age of twelve years. Apparently, those civil servants who were already in the Margrave’s services when the assurance was established did not have to pay an admission fee. Those who entered his services later had to pay such admission fee: members of the first class had to pay six imperial talers, those of the second class three imperial talers. The fund was to receive further income: first and foremost, the Margrave promised to contribute annually 100 imperial talers towards the fund in its first six years of existence. Furthermore, the concession fees for establishing lotteries in the Margraviate were to benefit the fund. This further income was to secure that the assurance was able to build up the necessary capital in order to meet its obligations. To this end, it was provided that the admission fees had to go towards the capital and were not distributed among eligible widows and orphans. Finally, any interest gained from investing the capital was, in the first three years of the existence of the fund, not distributed among eligible widows and orphans but was used to increase the capital. The administration of the assurance was in the hands of two civil servants who were appointed by the Margrave. A further civil servant was appointed to keep the accounts. As recompense for their services, the two administrators only had to pay half the annual contribution to the fund, and the keeper of the records was a member for free. The two administrators and the keeper of the records were supported and supervised by the Margraviate’s public administration, and the annual accounts had to be sent in to, and had to be confirmed by, the public administration. Finally, the statutes make clear how the support was to be calculated: half of the annual contributions were distributed to eligible widows and orphans. The other half of the annual contributions went towards the capital. The interest flowing from the capital, too, was distributed to eligible widows and orphans. The support was paid half-yearly. Widows were eligible for support only as long as they remained unmarried.

258

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

cc) The 1749 assurance for the benefit of widows and orphans of servants in the royal stables in Saxony An assurance for the benefit of widows and orphans of servants working in the royal stables of the Electorate of Saxony was established in 1749, its statutes were approved by the Elector of Saxony in 1752.271 The preamble makes clear that the initiative for establishing such assurance came from the servants who worked in the royal stables, that the statutes were also drafted by them, and that they had petitioned to have their statutes approved by royal assent. The preamble furthermore makes clear that the primary purpose of the assurance was to support widows and orphans but that it supported also those servants who had been incapacitated due to a work accident without any fault of their own. Membership was not compulsory, but it was only open to servants working in the royal stables of the Electorate (Art. 1). Article 2 defined some further requirements for becoming and remaining a member in the assurance: good Christian conduct and loyalty to the sovereign. Membership was forfeited if one was convicted of certain crimes. Furthermore, all contributions which had already been paid were lost in such a case. The wives and children of such delinquents were, however, not excluded from being supported if they themselves were not guilty of the crime, but they received only half of the support which all other widows and orphans received. The reason is made explicit in the statutes: as the widow’s husband and the orphans’ father had lost his membership in the assurance, the contribution paid for their benefit may have been less compared to other widows and orphans. This detail of the scheme already proves that it was not based on sound mathematical and actuarial calculations, but rather on rough estimations. According to Art. 4, a member who was a servant in the royal stables when joining the assurance, but who was later transferred to a different position or who left the services of the Electorate altogether, was able to opt to remain a member in the assurance. However, if this individual chose not to continue his membership, the statutes drew a distinction: only those who left the services of the Electorate for reasons other than their own fault could claim a refund of the contributions which they had already made towards the fund. A member who was absent from Saxony and who kept his membership was allowed to make his monthly contributions on an annual basis. However, if he was in default beyond one year, he and his dependants lost all rights in the assurance and could not reclaim any contributions. Widows and orphans who claimed support had to send in a death certificate to prove their husbands’ or fathers’ death. Furthermore, widows only received ___________ 271

Artickel wegen Errichtung einer Invaliden-Wittwen- und Waysen-Casse (1752).

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

259

support as long as they remained unmarried and as long as they led a Christian life. Both requirements had to be certified annually by the local public authority. Orphans had to send in their certificate of baptism and a document certifying that they were still alive. The statutes included detailed provisions defining the support offered by the assurance. According to Art. 6, an unmarried member who was incapacitated due to a work accident, and who received less than three imperial talers per month as royal pension, received a pension of two imperial talers per month from the assurance for the rest of his life in order to supplement his royal pension. Furthermore, in the event of his death, the assurance paid six imperial talers to his nextof-kin to cover the funeral costs. According to Art. 7, a married member272 had two options if he was incapacitated through a work accident not of his own fault and if he received less than three imperial talers per month as royal pension. He could request a monthly pension of two imperial talers for himself for the rest of his life. However, then his widow and orphans would not receive anything after his death. Or he could refrain from claiming such pension. Then his wife and orphans kept their right to support upon his death. Once he had made his choice and given notice to the administration of the assurance, he was bound to the decision. However, if he had opted that his wife and children should keep their rights in the assurance and if they subsequently predeceased him, then he was allowed to nullify his original decision and claim a pension for himself. Thus, the assurance covered the risk of invalidity as well as the risk of death. Yet it did not cover these risks cumulatively, but only alternatively. A widow who had children received two imperial talers per month for the rest of her life or until she remarried. The sum of two imperial talers was paid irrespective of the number of children and irrespective of any financial need. Consequently, a widow without children equally received two imperial talers. However, if the deceased member’s widow had been his second wife and if there were in addition children from a first marriage, then the widow and the children each received one imperial taler. If there were orphans from even further marriages, then they had to split the one imperial taler among themselves. Furthermore, if the widow outlived the children from other marriages, then their portion of the pension accrued to her so that she received the full two imperial talers per month. Finally, if the member was predeceased by his wife, then his children received two imperial talers per month. Equally, if a widow died leaving behind underage children, they received two imperial talers per month. The two imperial talers were divided between the children. If one of them became of age, then the two imperial talers were divided between the remaining underage children, so that ___________ 272

A widowed member with children had the same two options.

260

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

the last underage child received the full two imperial talers per month. In conclusion, a member bought a pension of two imperial talers per month in return for his contributions. This pension was divided between the different eligible persons, and the statutes regulated in detail how the pension would be divided in different scenarios. If the widow and orphans were in financial need, the assurance could also offer six imperial talers towards the costs of her husband’s or their father’s funeral. However, this sum was treated as a loan and was set off against the first three payments of the pension. If the recipients died before they had repaid the advance, then these costs were written off. Members had to make a monthly contribution of four groschen. The assurance was established in September 1749. In order to build up some capital, the first pension was not to be paid out before July 1750. Those who joined the assurance after September 1749 had to make up for the monthly contributions between September 1749 and their joining month. However, they did not have to pay more than six imperial talers. This sum equalled the contributions for three full years. Article 17 of the 1752 statutes made clear that the monthly contribution towards the fund was deducted from the monthly wages and paid directly to the assurance. Article 17 included the provision that all members had agreed to this mode of payment by joining the assurance and that the royal stables had equally given their assent. Article 18 expressed the hope that the assurance was based on a sound financial plan: once the capital had reached 4,000 imperial talers, then the members would come together and agree on new terms, either increasing the monthly pensions or lowering the monthly contributions. However, they were not allowed to increase the monthly pension to more than four imperial talers. And each member had to pay his full contributions for twelve years before he could benefit from a decreased contribution. The 1752 statutes were published with a list of members and a list of widows as of January of that year. At that point in time the fund had 364 members. 14 widows and 1 incapacitated member received a pension. If each member had to pay two imperial talers as annual contributions, then the fund had earned after two years and four months 1,698.67 imperial talers. As it had started to pay out pensions only in July 1750, the pensions would have totalled 540 talers at the most. With respect to the administration of the assurance, Art. 19 provided that the capital had to be invested for 5% interest per annum. The keeper of the records was to receive a renumeration of four imperial talers annually. The members elected, furthermore, six members for a non-renewable term of six years to supervise the running of the assurance.

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

261

The approval of the statutes by the Elector of Saxony shows that he modified them. According to Art. 19 of the submitted statutes, capital had to be invested for 5% interest per annum against security in realty. The royal approval clarified that the fund was, however, under no circumstances allowed to acquire real property. Furthermore, Art. 24 contained a rather nebulous provision on the settlement of disputes. The royal approval clarified that this provision should be read in a way that disputes had to be heard before the ordinary courts. The 1749 assurance was not the first such scheme in the Electorate of Saxony. Already a year earlier a similar assurance had been established for the benefit of widows and orphans of domestic servants who worked for the court of the Saxon Elector and the Polish King.273 Both assurances ran more or less parallel, the greatest difference being that the 1748 assurance did not cover the risk of invalidity. dd) The 1768 civil servants’ widows’ and orphans’ assurance in Brandenburg-Ansbach The 1742 civil servants’ widows’ and orphans’ assurance in the Margraviate Brandenburg-Ansbach was followed by a plan in 1768 to establish another assurance for the benefit of the widows and orphans of all civil servants in the Margraviate.274 The preamble to the 1768 plan suggests that the 1742 assurance had never been established or that it had been a failure or had fallen in oblivion: the 1768 preamble gives the impression as if it were the first such assurance for civil servants’ widows and orphans in the Margraviate. Yet Part II, § 2 of the 1768 statutes acknowledged that there existed already some widows’ and orphans’ assurances for the benefit of certain parts of the Margraviate. Theses assurances were to be united with the 1768 assurance. The assurance at issue was a voluntary scheme. Those who were already in the service of the Margrave had to decide whether they wanted to join it when it was established. For them it was not possible to join at a later date. The assurance was open to unmarried civil servants. They were allowed to name a beneficiary taking the place of a wife and of children. The named beneficiary did not have to be related to the civil servant, and the beneficiary could be male or female. If the civil servant later married, then his wife and children took the place of the named beneficiary. Once a civil servant had joined the assurance, he was not free to terminate his membership again. The statutes enumerated two cases in which membership in the assurance came to an end: the member’s position in the Margrave’s services terminated, or the member was found guilty of a crime. Even if ___________ 273 274

Brüderschaftliche Fundation und Cassa (1748). Project Wittwen- und Waisen-Cassa-Ordnung (1768).

262

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

membership came to end in these cases, the former member was able to secure his rights in the scheme by continuing to pay his contributions. However, if he was in default with three consecutive quarterly contributions, he lost all rights in the scheme. The assurance had three regular sources of income. First, the Margraviate’s treasury promised to pay an annual subsidy of 1,000 talers. After twelve years, the subsidy was reduced to 500 talers. Secondly, all members had to make a contribution. They had to pay a certain part of their income towards the assurance: of every earned 100 gulden, 1 gulden and 40 kreuzer. The contributions were deducted from the wages and paid directly into the box. The third source of income was the so-called Nachsitz-Gelder that materialized on some occasions. As a general rule – and depending on the status of the civil servant – widows and orphans received from the Margraviate the original pay of their deceased husband or father for one year or for half a year. This support was, in essence, funded by the successor in office, who had to work for free during that period of time. But in cases where the civil servant died without leaving behind a widow or orphans, this forfeited pay benefited the assurance as Nachsitz-Gelder. Finally, the statutes mentioned donations as a further possible source of income. The accumulated capital which was not paid out to widows and orphans was invested for 4 or 5% interest per annum. The 1768 statutes stipulated two committees for the administration of the assurance. The greater committee (‘Der weitere oder größere Ausschuß’) had twelve members. They came from different parts of the public administration of the Margraviate. For example, one member had to be a member of the privy council. The greater committee elected by majority vote for a term of three years the smaller committee (‘der engere oder kleinere Ausschuß’), which consisted of five members. The smaller committee administrated the assurance, while the greater committee supervised and advised the smaller committee. If a member wanted to raise a complaint against the administration of the assurance, he could turn to the greater committee. The smaller committee had to appoint a treasurer. The statutes contained a special provision that the treasurer was not allowed to accept any personal presents from members of the assurance. The statutes defined in detail the beneficiaries. They did not receive a predefined sum. In the first six years of its existence, only half of the annual income was to be distributed to eligible widows and orphans. The other half was invested. In the following three years, two-thirds of the annual income was divided between eligible beneficiaries and only one-third was invested. And in the next three years, three-quarters of the income was so divided, one-quarter invested. After twelve years, it was in the hands of the greater and smaller committee to decide what portion was to be distributed and what portion was to be invested. It

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

263

seems, however, that at least three-quarters of the income had to be distributed to eligible widows and orphans. The statutes of the assurance were revised in 1781275 and again in 1785.276 This again suggests that not all widows’ and orphans’ assurances were outright failures.277 d) Private widows’ and orphans’ assurances outside professional contexts The early 18th century saw numerous widows’ and orphans’ assurances which were established outside any professional context.278 Even though some of these schemes received the approval of the respective territory’s sovereign, they seem to have been mostly private enterprises. If they did not receive such approval, they were nevertheless valid as being established by contract between its members.279 It seems that they often had a similar though not identical design. However, their statutes regularly leave a number of questions unanswered, especially with respect to the scheme’s financial design. Usually they consisted of around 50 to 100 or more members.280 The funeral, widows’, and orphans’ fund (Begräbniß-Wittwen- und WaisenCassa) in the city of Hannover seems to have been a private initiative.281 Its statutes were published around 1703. The society was restricted to 50 married couples: 50 men and their wives. They had to be of good health, and only citizens of the city of Hannover were to be admitted. They had to be of the Augsburg confession, of honest descent, and they had to lead an honest life. Military persons were not admitted. The men had to be below the age of 45 years. When the society was initiated a limited number of members above the age of 45 years (but below the age of 55) were allowed into the society. When joining the society, members had to pay ten imperial talers. If the man or the woman was above the ___________ 275

Wittwen- und Waisen-Cassa Ordnung (1781). von Bibra (eds.), Journal von und für Deutschland, vol. 2/11 (1785) 437 f. 277 For a further example, see the assurance for the benefit of widows and orphans of civil servants in the Saxon tax administration, which was first established in 1714 and which was modernized in 1761: Fundation der […] Steuer-Witben- und Waysen Cassa (1762). 278 In addition to the examples discussed below, see Wittwen-Cassa der Stadt Husum (1704); Neu aufgerichtete Wittwen-Cassa (1709); Im Nahmen Gottes […] confirmirte Todten-Cassa (1747). 279 This is stressed by Jenichen/Jenichen, Abhandlung von Wittwen-Cassen (1733), 57. 280 See the discussion by Jenichen/Jenichen, Abhandlung von Wittwen-Cassen (1733), 45–48. 281 Da unter Gottes Gnade und Beystand auff unterschiedlicher Personen Verlangen und Ansuchen, man gewillet, abermahlen eine so genandte Begräbniß-Wittwen- und Wäisen-Cassa an und auffzurichten (1703). 276

264

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

age of 45 years, then the couple had to pay 15 imperial talers. Consequently, at least 500 imperial talers were raised when the society was established. This capital was to be invested for interest. When a member, be it a man or a woman, died, a modest funeral was to be paid for from the box. Furthermore, if a man died, his surviving widow was to receive annually 25 imperial talers. If the widow then died within three years after her husband and if she left behind underage children, they were to receive annually 25 imperial talers for at least another five years. If, however, the widow died within five years after her husband and if she left behind underage children, they were to receive only 25 imperial talers towards the widow’s funeral. There were further rules regulating the case when a widower was survived by underage children. For the purpose of paying out these benefits to widows and orphans, each member had to make each quarter a certain contribution for each surviving widow. The statutes for a funeral, widows’, and orphans’ fund (Begräbnüß, Auch Witwen- und Wäisen-Cassa) in the Counties of Reuß-Plauen, Obergreiz, and Untergreiz were published in 1715.282 The society was always to have 50 members. Accordingly, if one member died, he had to be replaced by a new member, and to this end there was to be at all times a list of four candidates. They were not allowed to be above the age of 40 years, and they had to be citizens of the Counties of Reuß-Obergreiz or Reuß-Untergreiz. Each member had to contribute annually two talers and at a member’s death twelve groschen. An enrolled candidate had to pay upon being enrolled one taler and upon becoming a full member twelve groschen. There were further provisions on the contributions which candidates for membership had to make. If the funds were not sufficient to meet its expenses, then the members had to make extraordinary contributions. The fund covered the funeral costs of deceased members. Furthermore, widows and orphans received annually ten talers as support. However, if the deceased member had made double contributions, then his widow and orphans received 20 talers. A member could make up to ten contributions to secure for his surviving dependants an annual support of 100 talers. The published statutes also contain a list of the first members. More than 30 of the 50 members were craftsmen, two were pastors. Apparently, craftsmen sought additional or alternative support for their dependants. The means of capacity building offered by their guilds were either felt to be insufficient, or craftsmen wanted to ensure that their widows did not have to continue the profession.

___________ 282

Begräbnüß-, Auch Witwen- un Wäisen-Cassa, Etlicher Hochgräfl. Reuß-Plauis. Unter- und Ober Gräitzis. Einwohner in der Stadt und auff dem Landen (1715).

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

265

e) State-run widows’ and orphans’ assurances outside any professional context The middle of the 18th century then saw state-run widows’ and orphans’ assurances outside any professional context. The Herzoglich-Würtembergische allgemeine freywillige Wittwen- und Waysen-Cassa (Ducal Württemberg General Voluntary Widows’ and Orphans’ Assurance) of 1756 may serve as example. In the same year, Johann Heinrich Gottlob von Justi (1720–1771) wrote in the first edition of his treatise Grundsätze der Policey-Wissenschaft:283 ‘Endlich muß man auch vor die Witben in allen Ständen Vorsorge tragen. Je weniger arme Persohnen in dem Staate vorhanden sind, je weniger Ueberlästigkeit und Verfall hat der Nahrungsstand zu befürchten; und man siehet nicht, warum nicht eine allgemeine Witben-Casse im Lande errichtet werden könte; so wie sie die Geistlichen und Professoren in einigen Landen zu Stande gebracht haben. Die Einlage in die Witben-Casse könte auf eines jeden freyen Willen beruhen; und nach Maaßgebung dieser Einlage hätte eine jede Witbe nach ihres Mannes Tode eine jährliche Pension zu gewarten. Das Project einer solchen Witben-Casse muß auf gründlichen Ausrechnungen, auf vorsichtigen Anschlägen und auf der Anzahl Menschen, die jährlich zu sterben pflegen, beruhen.’ ‘Finally, all widows of all ranks have to be provided for. The fewer poor people there are, the less troublesome it is to provide for them. And there is no reason why it should not be possible to establish a general widows’ insurance in a territory. Just like pastors and professors have done in some territories. The contributions towards the widows’ assurance may be voluntary; and on the basis of these contributions each widow may expect an annual pension after her husband’s death. The plan for such a widows’ assurance has to be based on thorough calculations, on careful estimations, and on an assessment of the average number of people who die annually.’

Thus, the idea for establishing an assurance like the 1756 assurance in Württemberg was widely discussed. The preamble of its 1756 statutes makes clear that a voluntary assurance for the benefit of the widows and orphans of civil servants in the Duke’s services had served as a model.284 Those who wanted to join the society had to present a certificate of baptism and an attestation of good health issued by a medical practitioner. If it turned out that the attestation was incorrect, the member lost all his rights in the society and all contributions which he had already made. Everyone between the ages of 20 and 60 was allowed to join. The contributions were based on the assumption that people reached on average the age of 62 years. Each member who reached this age should have paid 63 gulden as contributions. The annual contributions were calculated accordingly, dividing all members into different age groups. A person joining the society at the age of 20 had to pay annually 1.5 gulden; a person joining the society at the age of 60 had to pay annually ___________ 283

von Justi, Grundsätze der Policey-Wissenschaft (1756), 186 (§ 269). Herzoglich-Würtembergische Ordnung für die allgemeine freywillige Wittwenund Waysen-Cassa (1756). 284

266

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

30.5 gulden. When joining a member had the option to subscribe to up to four shares in the society. If a member was in default of paying his annual contributions, he lost all his rights in the society and all contributions which he had already made. Initially, each widow was to receive 30 gulden annually. It was hoped that there was still room to accumulate capital so that the pension could be increased over time. Each widow received a pension as long as she remained unmarried. Finally, the statutes carefully defined the rights of orphans and regulated further cases and variances in detail. It is assurances like the Herzoglich-Würtembergische allgemeine freywillige Wittwen- und Waysen-Cassa of 1756 which were financially flawed. The statutes clearly defined the contributions which members had to make and the benefits which widows were to receive. However, the design suffered from some obvious errors. The statutes give the impression that each member would pay 63 gulden in contributions on the basis that people reached on average an age of 62 years. The statutes did not, however, take into account that not all members would in fact reach the age of 62 years as some members would die earlier. Furthermore, the contributions did not reflect the different mortality rates of the different age groups. f) Conclusion The conclusion of this excursus into the history of widows’ and orphans’ assurances may be brief. The first pastors’ widows’ and orphans’ assurances may have been inspired by the support offered by miners’ guilds to widows and orphans. However, they quickly developed independent of guilds, and they developed into funds which were distinct from, and showed little resemblance to, the support offered by professional guilds. Furthermore, there never was any uniform paradigm of a widows’ and orphans’ assurance. Rather, the term widows’ and orphans’ assurance developed into a generic term covering all sorts of different societies, boxes, and funds for the support of widows and orphans, and their designs and internal structures differed greatly. 7. Pension and invalidity funds The aforementioned assurances were primarily established for the provision of widows and orphans. Nevertheless, some such funds served additional purposes. Some widows’ and orphans’ assurances supported a member – that is the husband or father – if he was incapacitated to work and consequently in need.285 In addition, the early 18th century saw the emergence of funds whose primary ___________ 285

See pp. 258–261, above.

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

267

(but not only) purpose was to support such incapacitated workmen. Contemporary literature seems to suggest that such funds were initiated, above all, for the benefit of soldiers, and it discussed such funds as one possible strategy to provide for incapacitated soldiers.286 However, the developments again seem to have been complex. Early pension and invalidity funds for the benefit of soldiers seem not to have been contribution based. The 1709 Edict wegen der Fonds, welche der Hospitalund Invaliden-Casse zufliessen (Edict concerning the Funds which Benefit the Hospital and Invalidity Funds) of the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg, for example, suggests that this fund was not contribution based.287 The Electorate designated certain public revenue to benefit the fund. And an act of 1733 ruled that the generated income was used to finance a limited number of pensions for the benefit of old and incapacitated soldiers.288 The reference to a hospital fund in the title of the 1709 Edict suggests that the fund was first planned to finance only accommodation for incapacitated soldiers, thus following an idea which had international forerunners such as the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris. However, it seems that the early 18th century then saw pension and invalidity funds which were again established in parallel to the support offered to miners. And just like the support offered by craft guilds, by miners’ and seafarers’ guilds and by the early widows’ and orphans’ assurances, these funds were at first arranged for the benefit of a clearly defined professional group. The discussions to establish a fund for the benefit of old and incapacitated lumbermen and wagoneers in the Harz Mountains in Clausthal started in 1712. The first statutes, which I was able to identify, date 18 June 1718. Five handwritten copies of these statutes have survived.289 The proposition that his fund was modelled after the support schemes for the benefit of old and incapacitated miners is supported by the simple fact that files on this fund are part of the collection of the Clausthal Public Mountain and Forest Administration (Berg- und Forstamt). The 1718 statutes make clear that the fund started in the quarter of Saint Lucia of that year. Saint Lucia’s day is on 13 December. The quarter named after Saint Lucia lasts from October to December, it is the fourth of the so-called mining quarters, and these ___________ 286 Cf., e.g., Krünitz, Oekonomische Encyklopädie, vol. 30 (1784), 455–505, 475 (with a comparative overview of the different strategies followed in Europe). 287 Chur-Braunschweig-Lüneburgische Landes-Ordnungen und Gesetze, vol. 3 (1740), 181–183. 288 Reglement, wie es zu Friedens-Zeiten und bis zu anderweiter Verordnung mit Aufnehmung derer in Unsern Kriges-Diensten zu Schaden gekommenen, auch Alters halber zu weiteren Dienstleistungen untüchtig gewordenen Gemeinen Soldaten, gehalten werden soll, Chur-Braunschweig-Lüneburgische Landes-Ordnungen und Gesetze, vol. 3 (1740), 179–181. 289 One copy each is included in Niedersächsisches Landesarchiv Hannover, 84a No. 659, 84a No. 661 and 84a No. 662; two copies are included in 84a No. 660.

268

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

mining quarters were of relevance as accounting periods in the mining sector.290 This again is a clear indication that the fund was established in parallel to the support offered to miners. The lumbermen and wagoneers were divided into ten classes, and both the contributions and the pensions were different for each of these classes. The fund was thus contribution based. It seems that such funds again influenced the schemes for the benefit of old and incapacitated soldiers. Or to put it differently: the funds for the benefit of soldiers, too, picked up elements coming from the guild tradition and they were influenced by an emerging ‘insurance thinking’. This is, for example, suggested by the 1754 Revidirte Ordnung der für die Hamburgische Stadt-Garnison errichteten Invaliden-Casse (Revised Act for the Incapacity Fund which was established for the City Garrison of Hamburg).291 The fund was contribution based: each soldier had to make a monthly contribution towards the fund. These contributions were clearly defined in the act, they depended on the soldier’s rank and they were deducted from his wages and paid directly into the fund. Furthermore, each soldier had to pay an entrance fee. And finally, the fund benefited from fines which soldiers may have had to pay. The fund financed predefined pensions which were again linked to the soldier’s rank and, thus, to his contributions. 8. Ransom insurance There was one risk that did not exist in the crafts and the mining sector, but which was specific to the seafaring sector: the risk of sailors being enslaved after having been taken captive in the Mediterranean.292 Usually, ransom had to be paid for them, and it was against this risk which sailors sought coverage. In England, private marine insurers offered premium insurance to this end, and it is usually thought that these insurance contracts were a starting point from which modern life insurance developed. In Germany, the development followed a different path. Even though it was a risk which occurred in the seafaring sector, even though Germany followed European examples in that the marine insurance sector was in the hands of private insurers offering premium-based insurance, and even though there are examples of marine insurance contracts covering the risk of being enslaved,293 Hamburg saw in the first half of the 17th century a guild-

___________ 290

See Veith, Bergwörterbuch, vol. 1 (1871), 370. Sammlung der Hamburgischen Gesetze und Verfassungen, vol. 9 (1771), 468–483. 292 On the context, see, e.g., Bohn, Sklavenkassen und Konvoifahrten (2003), 25–37. 293 See, e.g., Title X of Der Stadt Hamburg Assecuranz- und Haverey-Ordnung of 1731 (1731) (Hamburg Assurance Ordinance); Dreyer, Assecuranz- und Haverey-Ordnung (1990), 152–155. 291

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

269

like mutual insurance scheme covering this specific risk: in 1624, the Sklavenkasse (slave fund) was established.294 It was not the first initiative to cover the risk of being enslaved which the city of Hamburg witnessed: in 1622, the Cassa der Stück von Achten had been established.295 The unusual name derives from the Spanish coin which was known as a peso de á ocho, which translated into English as piece of eight and into German as a Stück von Achten.296 Thus, Cassa der Stück von Achten literally translates as Fund of the Piece of Eight. The piece of eight was a coin of international usage, and the contributions to the Cassa had to be paid in it because ransom, too, was paid in this coin in the Mediterranean. The Hamburg 1624 Sklavenkasse was initiated by the Admiralitätskollegium (Admiralty). The Admiralitätskollegium itself was established in 1623.297 The Sklavenkasse was, thus, a public initiative. Participation was compulsory.298 By contrast, the Hamburg Cassa der Stück von Achten was a private initiative. According to Magnus Ressel, the 1624 fund benefited lower-rank sailors, but it was financed also through the contributions of skippers, whereas the 1622 fund could only be joined by higher ranks.299 In 1627, the city of Lübeck established a fund similar to the Hamburg Sklavenkasse.300 According to Ernst Baasch, the Hamburg Sklavenkasse existed until 1787, and the fund in Lübeck lasted well into the 19th century.301 By contrast, Bremen did not have a similar fund.302 In 2012, Ressel observed that the 1624 fund is usually put into the contexts of the history of insurance and the history of guilds. He argues that – even though ___________ 294 On what follows, see Ressel, Zwischen Sklavenkassen und Türkenpässen (2012), 143–221; Deggim, Hafenleben im Mittelalter (2005), 161; Sulzer, Sicherungssysteme in der Seeschiffahrt (2012), 33 f.; Kresse, Von armen Seefahrern (1981), 33; Rabstein, Sozialrechtliche Entwicklungstendenzen in der Seeschiffahrt (1970), 66; Ebel, Probleme der deutschen Rechtsgeschichte (1978), 139. 295 Kresse, Von armen Seefahrern (1981), 38; Ressel, Zwischen Sklavenkassen und Türkenpässen (2012), 152–159. 296 Krünitz/Floerke/Floerke/Korth, Oekonomisch-technologische Encyklopädie, vol. 176 (1841), s.v. Stück von Achten, 548; Friedrich Freiherr von Schrötter, Peso, Peso de á ocho, in: idem (ed.), Wörterbuch der Münzkunde (2nd edn., 1970), 503 f.; Fengler/Gierow/Unger, Numismatik (3rd edn., 1982), 357 f. 297 Krieger, Geschichte Hamburgs (2006), 48; Kopitzsch/Tilgner (eds.), Hamburg Lexikon (1998), 17. 298 The 1624 statutes are reproduced in Baasch, Hansestädte und Barbaresken (1897), 210 f. The revised statutes of 1641 are printed in Staphorst, Historia ecclesiae Hamburgensis Diplomatica, vol. 1/4 (1731), 724–727. Finally, see Ressel, Zwischen Sklavenkassen und Türkenpässen (2012), 161. 299 Ressel, Zwischen Sklavenkassen und Türkenpässen (2012), 161. 300 Ressel, Zwischen Sklavenkassen und Türkenpässen (2012), 165–170. 301 Baasch, Hansestädte und Barbaresken (1897), 219. 302 Sulzer, Sicherungssysteme in der Seeschiffahrt (2012), 28.

270

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

the fund had some connection to both contexts – it should primarily be understood as being part of the history of poor relief.303 He rightly points out that the 1624 fund was distinct from premium insurance. And he claims that it has no manifest connection to the Italian confraternities which had been established for the purpose of paying ransom, even though the Hamburg fund is at times linked to these confraternities by modern literature.304 Ressel instead believes that the 1624 fund is based on local guild traditions; nevertheless, he argues that this finding should not be overstated. He stresses that the Sklavenkasse was financed through donations and that its administration was overseen by public authorities. He claims that the Sklavenkasse shared these two characteristics with poor relief, and that these two characteristics distinguished it from guilds. However, even though a public supervision may have been uncommon in the crafts, it had been common for miners’ guilds since the 16th century. Furthermore, guilds, too, were dependant on donations. There is proof that the 1624 fund was based on previous models coming from skippers’ and sailors’ guilds. A first draft of the 1624 statutes included a provision according to which a sailor who was not from Hamburg had to sail from Hamburg for three consecutive years before he benefited from the fund, even though he had to pay into the fund right from the beginning:305 ‘Auch sollen von den Geldern, so vorgemelter massen contribuiret, oder sonsten von andern hiezu gegeben worden, keine andere Persohnen, als nur dieser Stadt Bürgern und Bürgers-Kindern, die Frembden aber nicht anders als da sie beweisslich 3 Jahr nach einander von dieser guten Stadt zur See gefahren und uff Hamburger Schiffen gefangen worden, gelöst werden.’ ‘Only such persons, who are citizens of this town or who are children of such citizens, shall be freed by using the moneys, which have been contributed as aforementioned or which have been given from third parties to this fund; foreigners shall be freed only if it is proven that they had been going to the sea from this good town for three years and if they had been taken captive when being in the service of a Hamburg ship.’

A three-year waiting period was also found in the 1561 statutes of the Bremen skippers’ guild.306 However, the 1624 statutes did not adopt this provision. It was objected that there was a shortage of sailors at the time and that Hamburg skippers were, thus, dependent on recruiting sailors from outside Hamburg.307

___________ 303

Ressel, Zwischen Sklavenkassen und Türkenpässen (2012), 171. Davids, (1994) 39 International Review of Social History. Supplement II 151 f. 305 Cited from Baasch, Hansestädte und Barbaresken (1897), 207. 306 See p. 176, above. 307 Baasch, Hansestädte und Barbaresken (1897), 207. 304

IV. Contextualizing the process of transformation

271

9. The emergence of public savings banks The idea of the aforementioned 1789 Vorschußcasse in Fulda was rooted in the activities of craftsmen’s guilds offering loans to master craftsmen in need.308 The Vorschußcasse is seen as a predecessor to the Sparkasse in Fulda, a public savings institution.309 A similar institution to that in Fulda was established in Neuruppin in 1778:310 it was a Leih-Haus, which had the function of granting loans to craftsmen and small factory owners. Today, Sparkassen are local financial institutions which are usually held by the different municipalities. The first Sparkassen are said to have been established in the late 18th century.311 The observation that the 1789 Vorschußcasse was inspired by the money-lending function of master craftsmen’s guilds and that it was a predecessor of the Sparkasse in Fulda raises the question of what role this side of guild support played for the genesis of public savings banks in Germany, the Sparkassen. As far as I am able to see, the fact that modern Sparkassen may also be rooted in the guilds’ money-lending activities has thus far gone unnoticed in modern literature. Nevertheless, it seems clear that there are also other, and perhaps more important, sources of inspiration for modern Sparkassen.312 Their name itself suggests that they were primarily designed to be savings institutions (the verb sparen means to save) and that their primary function was not money lending. And many authors indeed sharply distinguish between savings institutions (Sparkassen) and money-lending institutions (Leihkassen).313 Leihkassen (the verb leihen means to lend or to loan) had been discussed in academic writing since the 17th century, and they were seen as a means to strengthen the local economy, especially the crafts, by offering credit at reasonable interest rates. Hence, they were looked upon as a means to fight usury. At

___________ 308

See pp. 190 ff., above. Berge, Fuldas öffentliches Bankwesen (1974), 17–22. 310 (1778) 6 Novum Corpus Constitutionum Prussico-Brandenburgensium Praecipue Marchicarum 1277–1284. See on the Leihhaus in Neuruppin Weber, Entwicklung der Sparkassen (1985), 143–145. 311 Wysocki, Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte der Sparkassen (1980), 16–23. 312 See Weber/Unverzagt, Kreis- und Stadtsparkasse Hünfeld (1962), 13; Berge, Fuldas öffentliches Bankwesen (1974), 15–22; Heymel, Wirtschaft in der Region Fulda (1995), 24; Wysocki, Gutachten (1986), passim; Emmerich, Geschichte der Sparkassenwerbung (1995), 32–34; Fendt, Friedberger Sparkassengeschichte (1990), 10 f.; Schubert, Wucher und Kredit in Bayern (1994), 21–44; J. Lehner, Sparkasse Schwabach (1986), 6 f.; Weber, Entwicklung der Sparkassen (1985), passim. See, however, Marperger/von Justi, Montes Pietatis (2nd edn., 1760), 125–133. 313 Trende, Geschichte der deutschen Sparkassen (reprint, 1993), 7–9. 309

272

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

first, such Leihkassen made their appearance in the form of municipal or territorial public pawn shops.314 Concerning their relationship to Sparkassen, it has been pointed out, by Josef Wysocki for example,315 that Sparkassen were established not only to give the poorer segments of the population the possibility to save money – even if this may have been the primary aim for establishing these institutions – but that some of the first Sparkassen also had the function of extending credit to these segments of the population or that they were closely linked to parallel institutions which served the function of extending credit. Consequently, Wysocki mentions different possible predecessors to modern Sparkassen, and he points out that the first Sparkassen did not present a uniform picture but instead offered a variety of products serving different functions. However, even Wysocki does not refer to guilds. Nevertheless, the 1796 founding statutes of the Spar- und Leihkasse in Kiel supports the finding that some early Sparkassen served at least similar functions as guilds. The 1796 statutes fall into two parts. The first part sets out the activities of the savings bank. The second part of the statutes then defines the institution’s money-lending activities:316 ‘Mit der bisher beschriebenen Sparkasse haben wir, wie gesagt, als eine zweite gleich wichtige Hülfsanstalt zur Verminderung der Verarmung eine Leihkasse verbunden, deren Einrichtung und wesentliche Bedingungen wir ebenfalls kürzlich anzeigen wollen. Wir eröfnen diese Leihkasse gleichzeitig, mit der Sparkasse, um unsern Mitbürgern in der gewerbsamen Klasse in der Betreibung ihres Handwerkes oder ihrer Kunst den Ankauf von Materialien, Geräthschaften, oder sonst eine erhebliche Auslage durch mäßigen Kredit oder Vorschus ohne Unterpfand, jedoch unter Verpflichtung, zur unausbleiblichen rechtzeitigen Wiedererstattung in kurzen bequemen Frist zu erleichtern. […] 1. Nur Gewerbetreibende Bürger in der Stadt Kiel können eine Unterstützung aus dieser Leihkasse erhalten. 2. Wer eine Unterstützung begehrt, mus vorher hinlänglich darthun, daß er dadurch in den Stand gesezt werde, sein Gewerbe, das er zu seinem Unterhalt erlernt oder gewählt hat, vortheilhafter als sonst zu betreiben; oder daß ein unvermutheter Umstand ihm jetzt eben eine außerordentliche Ausgabe nothwendig oder nützlich mache, die ihm

___________ 314

See, e.g., von Marenholtz, Fürstliche Macht-Kunst Oder Unerschöpfliche GoldGrube (2nd edn., 1703), 192; Leib, Dritte Probe / Wie ein Regent Land … verbessern … könne (1708), passim; Estor, Der Teutschen Rechtsgelahrheit andrer Teil (1758), 501– 505; Falck, Handbuch des Schleswig-Holsteinischen Privatrechts, vol. 2 (1831), 438– 443; Landau, Die Arbeiterfrage in Deutschland im XVII. und XVIII. Jahrhundert (1915), 178–180. 315 Wysocki, Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte der Sparkassen (1980), 16–23. 316 Cited from Wysocki, Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte der Sparkassen (1980), 205 f. In addition, see J. Lehner, Sparkasse Spalt (1986), 18 f.; Trende, Geschichte der deutschen Sparkassen (reprint, 1993), 38–50.

V. Conclusion

273

jetzt unerschwinglich, oder doch drükkend werden, und den Betrieb seines Gewerbes stöhren würde.’ ‘We have associated with the aforementioned savings bank, as mentioned before, a second, equally important institution to help reduce impoverishment, a lending bank, the establishment of which we would like to announce as well as its most significant terms and conditions. We establish the lending institution at the same time as the savings bank in order to support our fellow citizens, who are running a business, in the operation of their craft or any other art by facilitating the purchase of raw materials or equipment or the making of substantial investments through offering credit for moderate interest without the need to give security, yet under the obligation to repay on time in short periods. […] 1. Only those citizens who are running a business in the city of Kiel may receive support from the lending institution. 2. He who asks for support has to prove that this will improve his business, which he has learned or chosen; or that an unexpected event makes an extraordinary investment necessary or that such investment is advantageous, which is presently unaffordable to him or at least pressing and which would interfere with his business.’

In conclusion, the 1789 Vorschußcasse in Fulda seems to have been firmly rooted in the activities of craftsmen’s guilds offering loans to master craftsmen in need. These roots are less visible in the 1796 statutes of the Spar- und Leihkasse in Kiel. Yet the 1796 statutes still clearly exhibit that it was not a simple savings institution. It aimed at helping and supporting local businesses by offering credit at moderate interest. It primarily supported craftsmen.317 Even though craftsmen were eligible to receive credit in cases outside those of financial need – according to the statutes it was sufficient if a craftsman wished to make an advantageous investment – the mentioning of ‘unexpected events’ suggests that the founders of the Spar- und Leihkasse were in fact still thinking of craftsmen in financial need.

V. Conclusion In the aftermath of the Reichszunftordnung (Imperial Guild Ordinance or Imperial Crafts Ordinance) of 1731, craft guilds changed their legal character:318 until the early 18th century, they were based on, and derived their existence from, autonomy, even though they had always experienced different forms of state control, supervision, and intervention. From 1731, craft guilds were based on, and

___________ 317 See the last paragraph of the statutes as reproduced in Wysocki, Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte der Sparkassen (1980), 209. 318 See pp. 183 ff., above.

274

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

derived their existence from, state legislation. Furthermore, journeymen’s association were banned in most German territories,319 though journeymen were allowed to keep their support boxes. Nevertheless, these boxes were no longer organized by separate associations. Instead, journeymen were allowed to have separate boxes within, and under the supervision of, master craftsmen’s guilds. Master craftsmen’s guilds and journeymen’s boxes continued to offer traditional forms of financial and non-financial support.320 They offered loans to members in need, and master craftsmen’s widows were allowed to continue their deceased husbands’ workshops. However, beginning in the late 17th century and then especially in the 18th century, further forms of support gained importance or were added to traditional means of capacity building.321 First and foremost, guild members in need received non-repayable financial support: sick pay, coverage of medical costs, and contributions towards funeral costs. Furthermore, widows and orphans may have received one-off payments when a master craftsman died, or a pension may have been offered to incapacitated and old members as well as to their widows and orphans. Is it possible to describe these forms of support in terms of insurance or preinsurance? The process of transformation which occurred in the late 17th and then throughout the 18th century was complex. It was not coordinated by any means but was driven by local actors: the guilds and the public authorities of the different cities and territories. Some guilds remained deeply rooted in earlier traditions, whereas others clearly exhibited elements of insurance or pre-insurance. Most importantly, it became acknowledged that members had a legal entitlement to support in return for the contributions which they had paid. Thus, support was contribution based. And guild statutes started to pre-define the financial support which a member could expect. Nevertheless, at times support was not purely contribution based, and guilds also used other income – e.g. donations – to fund support schemes. Furthermore, legislation was introduced to ensure that the collected funds were only used to finance the support for the benefit of members. The respective funds were stripped of their poly-functional character. In addition, some guilds established separate sick or death boxes. However, more often there was one box only, which financed the support offered to sick and incapacitated members, as well as to widows and orphans, and which thus covered different risks like illness, death, or incapacity. Often membership in these boxes continued to be compulsory. However, the 18th century also saw voluntary boxes. Finally, the developments in the mining sector suggest that public mining authorities aimed at actuarial soundness. ___________ 319

See pp. 186 ff., above. See pp. 190 ff., above. 321 See pp. 197 ff., above. 320

V. Conclusion

275

But what about the law? In the mining sector, already in the 16th century we can identify certain details of guild support that bear a resemblance to Germany’s modern social security law. And beginning in the late 17th century and then especially in the 18th century, these details shaped guild support in the crafts and in the marine sector, too. Public legislation defined the statutory framework in which guilds acted and in which they could enact their guild statutes to define the details of guild support. Miners’ guilds remained closely connected to the public mining administrations, and even though there were elements of self-administration, the public mining administrations were strongly involved in supervising how the guild funds were managed. With many guilds, membership remained compulsory. The mechanisms whereby members’ contributions to the support funds were deducted from their wages and paid directly to the guilds remained common and spread to the crafts. The same holds true for the employers’ contributions to these funds: in the mining sector, mine operators still had to contribute to the guild funds, and a similar practice started to appear in the crafts. Finally, mechanisms to prevent fraud appeared. But what about insurance law? The legal regime regulating support funds and boxes run by compulsory guilds do not exhibit anything that could be looked upon as being a root of modern insurance law. As compulsory associations, guilds still had not developed any admission requirements which aimed at controlling the risk pool. However, there were voluntary health insurance schemes and voluntary widows’ and orphans’ assurances which seem to have been inspired by guild support. These developed admission requirements as well as detailed rules on what happened if the insured was in default paying his premiums. The developments in the crafts as well as in the mining and seafaring sectors did not occur in isolation. They were part of greater transformation processes: the money-lending functions of craft guilds seem to have had an impact on the expansion of public banking institutions in the late 18th century.322 Yet more importantly, the developments in the crafts as well as in the mining and seafaring sectors were part of the emergence of an ‘insurance thinking’.323 Consequently, the developments in the mining sector and in the crafts influenced each other,324 as did guild welfare and marine insurance as well as guild welfare and fire insurance.325 The first factory health insurance schemes seem to have been modelled after miners’ guilds.326 And it seems that the first widows’ and orphans’ assurances were inspired by the respective support schemes offered by miners’ ___________ 322

See pp. 271 ff., above. See p. 232, above. 324 See pp. on page 231 f., above. 325 See pp. 233 f., above. 326 See pp. 236 ff., above. 323

276

C. Guild support and insurance in the 17th and 18th centuries

guilds.327 However, it seems that especially the latter, together with the legal regime regulating them, developed independent of guild support, and they thus are in need of an independent legal-historical analysis.

___________ 327

See pp. 238 ff., above.

D. The evolution of Germany’s modern social security schemes in the 19th century In 1883, the Act Concerning the Health Insurance of Workers (Gesetz, betreffend die Krankenversicherung der Arbeiter) was passed, with the Work Accident Insurance Act (Unfallversicherungsgesetz) to follow in 1884 and the Workers’ Invalidity and Retirement Insurance Act (Gesetz, betreffend die Invaliditäts- und Altersversicherung) in 1889. The political, economic, and social contexts surrounding the introduction of these acts are well researched, and they need not be retold here.1 Instead, the present chapter seeks to assess to what extent Bismarck’s social security legislation drew on guild support as a model. Furthermore, the present chapter wants to assess the impact which guild support had, if any, on the formation of modern life insurance (law) in Germany.

I. 19th-century developments until Bismarck’s legislation In order to assess the extent to which Bismarck’s social security legislation drew on guild support as a model, it is not necessary to give a complete account of the developments of the diverse support and insurance schemes which existed in the 19th century.2 For a number of reasons, it would be impossible to develop such a complete account. The industrial revolution, which started in Germany

___________ 1 Stolleis, Geschichte des Sozialrechts (2003), 52–75; idem, History of Social Law in Germany (2014), 39–61; idem, Origins of the German Welfare State (2013), 30–88; Jopp, Historical Roots of the Modern Welfare State (2013), 311–338; Ayaß, Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterbewegung und Sozialversicherung (2010), 17–43; Alber, Vom Armenhaus zum Wohlfahrtsstaat (1982), passim; Frerich/Frey, Handbuch der Geschichte der Sozialpolitik, vol. 1 (1993), 29–89; Frevert, Krankheit als politisches Problem (1984), 149–219, 245–332; Wagner-Braun, Bedeutung berufsständischer Krankenkassen (2002), 39–92; Schirbel, Geschichte der sozialen Krankenversorgung (1929), 110–244. In addition, see Tennstedt, (1983) 29 Zeitschrift für Sozialreform 297–338; Richter, Sozialversicherung in Deutschland und England (1983), passim; Gladen, Geschichte der Sozialpolitik (1974), passim; Reidegeld, Staatliche Sozialpolitik (1996), passim; Zacher (ed.), Bedingungen für die Entstehung und Entwicklung von Sozialversicherung (1979), passim. And see the multi-volume edition Quellensammlung zur Geschichte der deutschen Sozialpolitik 1867 bis 1914, 36 vol. (1982– 2016). 2 On what follows, see Stolleis, Geschichte des Sozialrechts (2003), 76 f.; idem, History of Social Law in Germany (2014), 54 f.

278

D. The evolution of Germany’s social security schemes in the 19th century

only in the first half of the 19th century,3 led to fundamental economic and social transformations resulting in radical changes in professional contexts.4 These changes in turn led to new challenges which support schemes had to face. First and foremost, factory workers were not covered by traditional guild support. In addition, it became the rule that journeymen married:5 this raised the problem of how they could provide for their families in the event of their death. As a reaction to these transformations and challenges, legislators became increasingly active in regulating and re-modelling traditional support and insurance schemes for the benefit of employers. Nevertheless, these developments occurred mostly still on a state or even a local level, often in an uncoordinated fashion, with diverse support schemes existing in parallel and with legislation following different paths and adopting different approaches to regulate these schemes.6 Moreover, new actors became active in establishing support schemes, as was for example the case with newly founded workers’ unions.7 In addition, traditional schemes continued to exist and were further developed. An example in this regard is widows’ and orphans’ assurances: they continued to exist mostly on a local level, yet there was a trend to merge local funds to form state-wide schemes; some of these funds were restricted to specific professions, others were established in the context of professional guilds, and again others existed outside any professional context; some of these assurances were voluntary, others were compulsory; some were based on private initiatives, others were state-run; and these assurances offered diverse products, with some having developed into proper pension assurances.8 ___________ 3 Kiesewetter, Industrielle Revolution (1989), passim; Hahn, Industrielle Revolution (3rd edn., 2011), passim. 4 Compare Reiff, Vom Bergmann zum Arbeiter? (2001), passim. 5 Frevert, Krankheit als politisches Problem (1984), 252 f. 6 See, e.g., Kleeis, Geschichte der sozialen Versicherung (1928), 50–95. 7 On these see, e.g., Kleeis, Geschichte der sozialen Versicherung (1928), 60–62. 8 See the examples reproduced in Ebhardt, Gesetze für das Königreich Hannover, vol. 1/1 (1839), 209–267 (e.g. the 1816 statutes of the 1804 assurance for the benefit of the widows of civil servants in the former principality of Hildesheim; the 1822 statutes of an assurance for the benefit of widows of pastors and school teachers in the Duchies of Bremen and Verden; the 1828 statutes for an assurance for the benefit of the widows and orphans of school teachers, sacristans, and organists in Osnabrück; the 1838 assurance for the benefit of the widows of civil servants of the Kingdom of Hannover); Gesetz, betreffend die Vereinigung der verschiedenen Pfarr-Wittwenkassen zu einer allgemeinen Pfarr-Wittwenkasse, (1862) 15 Sammlung der landesherrlichen Verordnungen im Herzogthum Sachsen-Meiningen 27–41; Gesetz, betreffend die Vereinigung der verschiedenen Lehrer-Wittwenkassen und die Errichtung einer allgemeinen Lehrer-Wittwenkasse, (1862) 15 Sammlung der landesherrlichen Verordnungen im Herzogthum Sachsen-Meiningen 42–54; Statuten der Wittwenkasse der Aerzte, Wundärzte, Thierärzte und Apotheker des Königreichs Sachsen und der angrenzenden Herzog- und Fürstenthümer (1852); Bücher, (1888) Archiv für Frankfurts Geschichte und Kunst 236; Ebel, Memorabilia Gottingensia (1969), 73–100.

I. 19th-century developments until Bismarck’s legislation

279

Legal literature took notice of widows’ and orphans’ assurances without analysing them in detail.9 Finally, the developments were marked by conflicting interests between and among the different stakeholders:10 the municipalities’ interest was in seeing that support schemes offered sufficient support as otherwise journeymen and factory workers in need would have to be supported by means of municipal poor relief; for the same reason municipalities had an interest in seeing that support schemes were of a certain size so that it was unlikely for them to fail; however, journeymen coming from different professions and facing diverse risks of suffering from sickness or invalidity had conflicting interests when it came to the question of merging the support schemes of different professions; for the same reason, journeymen on the one hand and factory workers on the other hand had conflicting interests; and finally, there were conflicting interests among employers (factory owners as well as master craftsmen) on the one hand and their employees (journeymen as well as factory workers) on the other hand when it came to the question of how these funds and schemes were financed. 1. The crafts During the French period, craft guilds were abolished in many German territories, but thereafter they were in many (but not all) territories and towns again re-established.11 Journeymen’s associations remained banned in many territories, with journeymen still having the right to form their own boxes for the support of ill journeymen. It was only in the second half of the 19th century that craft guilds ___________ 9

See, e.g., Beseler, System des gemeinen deutschen Privatrechts, vol. 2 (1853), 367; Claproth, Eingehung der Verträge und Contracte, vol. 2 (4th edn., 1798), 1084. 10 Rauert, (1842) 1 Archiv für Geschichte, Statistik, Kunde der Verwaltung und Landesrechte der Herzogthümer Schleswig, Holstein und Lauenburg 83; Frevert, Krankheit als politisches Problem (1984), 257 f. 11 Brand, Zunft, in: Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 5 (1998), 1801; Böhmert, Geschichte des Zunftwesens (1862), 53; Nigge, Gilden der Stadt Lünen (1912), 63; Fischer, Handwerksrecht und Handwerkswirtschaft um 1800 (1955), 61–75; S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 30; Günther, Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930), 55, 60 f.; Gerlach, Personenversicherung im Herzogtum Oldenburg (1967), 135 f. See, e.g., Verordnung vom 21. März 1814, die Aufnahme der unter der Französischen Regierung sich hier niedergelassenen, nur mit Patenten versehen gewesenen Personen in die Ämter und Societäten betreffend, reproduced in Böhmert, Geschichte des Zunftwesens (1862), 136 f.; Bekanntmachung der K. Provinzial-Regierung zu Hannover, die Wiederherstellung der Zünfte, Ämter und Innungen im Fürstenthum Hildesheim betr. of 1817, reproduced in Ebhardt, Gesetze für das Königreich Hannover, vol. 7 (1840), 867 f., 876 f. (similar acts were passed for Osnabrück, reproduced in ibid., 879–891 and East Frisia, reproduced in ibid., 891–911). On guilds in 19th-century Westphalia, see the extensive account by Deter, Zwischen Gilde und Gewerbefreiheit, 2 vol. (2015), on guild welfare, especially, vol. 1, 324–343 and vol. 2, 358–440.

280

D. The evolution of Germany’s social security schemes in the 19th century

were finally dissolved throughout Germany, in Bremen for example in 186112 and in Württemberg in 1862,13 with new institutions taking their place and fulfilling their manifold functions. However, the different support boxes and funds continued to exist. Consequently, legislation of the different German states, especially the different trade acts, still regulated guilds and guild support. With respect to such support, these acts simply drew on earlier traditions. And legislation still defined only the regulatory framework, leaving many details to municipal legislation and to the statutes of the different guild boxes. a) The legislative framework In Saxony, the details concerning journeymen’s boxes were regulated as follows, and the parallels to respective 18th-century legislation are striking. § 4 of an 1810 Act stated:14 ‘Anstatt der Beiträge […] durch Auflegen oder sonst, von den Dienern und Gesellen eingesammelt worden sind, um davon ihre eingewanderte, oder außer Arbeit gesetzten, oder mit Krankheiten befallenen Mitgenossen auszusteuern und zu unterstützen oder zu verpflegen, ingleichen um die Herbergen zu unterhalten, soll hinführo, die nachfolgende Einrichtung eintreten. Es sollen nämlich a. diese Beiträge den Dienern und Gesellen von den selbigen zugestandenen Wochen[…]-Löhnen von den Herren oder Meistern […] wöchentlich oder monatlich abgezogen werden. Diese bey einer Innung eingeführten Beiträge dürfen, ohne der Contribuenten Einwilligung, von den Herren oder Meistern nicht eigenmächtig erhöhet werden. Dafern jedoch durch eintretende Umstände eine Erhöhung derselben nöthig würde, die Beitragspflichtigen aber sich dazu freywillig nicht verstehen wollten; so ist solche Erhöhung durch diejenige Obrigkeit, welcher die Innung in Zunftangelegenheiten unterworfen ist, zu bewerkstelligen. b. Zu diesen Beitrittsgeldern ist bei jeder Innung eine eigene Casse anzulegen. […] Desgleichen ist hinführo jeder Lehrling verbunden, zu gedachter Casse Vier Groschen bey seiner Aufdingung und Acht Groschen bey seiner Lossprechung zu zahlen. c. Aus diesen Cassen ist sodann der zur Unterhaltung der Herbergen, Verpflegung der armen und kranken, so wie zu Aussteuerung der wegen nicht erlangter Arbeit weiter reisenden Diener und Gesellen erforderliche Aufwand zu bestreiten. […] e. Die Verwaltung dieser Cassen soll aber keinesweges den Dienern oder Gesellen selbst überlassen werden, sondern die Innungen haben sie derselben ohne Weigerung

___________ 12 Verordnung, die Aufhebung der bisherigen Gewerbsprivilegien betreffend of 1861, reproduced in Böhmert, Geschichte des Zunftwesens (1862), 143 f. 13 (1862) Regierungs-Blatt für das Königreich Württemberg 67–86, 84. 14 Mandat, die Abstellung verschiedener Innungsgebrechen betreffend of 1810, reproduced in Herold, Rechte der Handwerker und ihrer Innungen (1835), 141. And see the discussion in ibid., 10–12; Wissell, Des alten Handwerks Recht, vol. 6 (1988), 362–374.

I. 19th-century developments until Bismarck’s legislation

281

zu unterziehen, und es ist ihnen nachgelassen, hierzu einen ihrer Mitgenossen, der aber ein dazu gehörig geeigneter und hinlänglich sicherer Mann seyn muß, zum Verwalter zu bestellen. f. An diese Verwalter haben die Herren und Meister die ihren Dienern oder Gesellen von ihren Löhnen abzuziehenden Beiträge, für deren richtige Abführung dieselben, bey Vermeidung eigenen Ersatzes, zu sorgen verpflichtet seyn sollen, abzuliefern. […] g. Die von den Herren und Meistern abgelieferten Beiträge, so wie die übrigen in diese Verpflegungs-Casse fließenden Gelder sind von dem Verwalter, mehrerer Sicherheit halber, in eignen, auf Kosten der Casse anzuschaffenden, mit doppelten Schlössern versehenen Behältnissen, zu denen demselben der eine Schlüssel, der ander aber dem obrigkeitlichen Innungs-Deputirten zu überlassen ist, aufzubewahren. h. Nicht minder haben diese Verwalter über die Einnahmen und Ausgaben richtige Rechnungen zu führen und solche, unter Beifügung der Belege, bey den von den Herren oder Meistern […] zu haltenden Zusammenkünften vor den versammelten Innungen und deren obrigkeitlichen Deputirten abzulegen. Es sollen aber auch bey dieser Rechnungsabnahme, zu Entfernung alles von den Dienern oder Gesellen etwa zu hegenden Mißtrauens, einige derselben, und zwar nach dem Verhältnisse der Anzahl, die sie bey einer Zunft ausmachen, zwey, vier bis höchstens sechs, die sich durch gute Aufführung ausgezeichnet haben, und von der Obrigkeit zu wählen sind, zugezogen werden. i. Von diesen Personen insgesammt sind die Rechnungen nebst den unterliegenden Belegen genau durchzugehen, nach Befinden zu monieren und, nach erfolgter Ablehnung der dagegen gemachten Erinnerungen, oder bey sonst befundener Richtigkeit derselben, behörig zu justificiren und zu unterschreiben. […] l. Ueberdieß soll diesen Instituten, wegen des auf die Verpflegung der kranken Diener und Gesellen gemachten Aufwands, so wie bey ihrem Absterben der Begräbnißkosten halber, an dem bey sich gehabten Nachlasse ein Retentions- und zugleich ein Vorzugsrecht vor andern an selbigen Anspruch machenden Gläubigern hiermit eingeräumt seyn.’ ‘Instead of the contributions […] collected from servants and journeymen for the support and care of immigrated or workless or sick brothers as well as for the maintenance of the inn, the following regulations shall be implemented. a. These contributions shall be deducted weekly or monthly by their masters from the servants’ and journeymen’s weekly pay […]. These contributions may not by increased by the masters without the assent of the contributors. However, if the circumstances require an increase and if the contributors do not consent to such an increase voluntarily, then the contributions shall be increased by the public authority which supervises the respective guild. b. Each guild shall have a separate box for these contributions. […] Henceforth, the apprentices are also obliged to contribute to the box four groschen at the commencement of the apprenticeship and eight groschen at its end. c. The box shall cover the maintenance of the inn, the support of poor and sick servants and journeymen as well as the support of those who have to travel on because they have not found work here. […]

282

D. The evolution of Germany’s social security schemes in the 19th century

e. These boxes shall not be administered by the servants and journeymen themselves. Rather, the guilds have to administer them. However, they may appoint a member, who has to be suitable and sufficiently reliable, as administrator. f. The masters have to deliver the contributions which they have deducted from the wages of their servants and journeymen to the administrator. The masters are accountable for the correct payment of these contributions; if they are not in compliance with this duty, they have to make good the damage from their own funds. […] g. The contributions which have been delivered by the masters shall be, as with the other moneys which are being paid into the support box, coffered by the administrator in special boxes. These boxes shall be paid for by the fund and they shall have double locks. One key shall be kept by the administrator, the other key shall be handed over to the Innungs-Deputierter [office holder of the public authority in charge of the guilds]. h. The administrators have to keep correct records of all revenues and spending and they have to open the accounts, including all receipts, at the meeting of all masters […] and to the obrigkeitlichen Deputierten [office holder of the public administration in charge of the guilds]. Depending on their number in the guild, two, four, or at the most six servants and journeymen, who stand out through their good conduct and who have been appointed by the public administration, shall be invited when the accounts are approved in order to prevent mistrust among the servants and journeymen. i. These persons have to check the accounts and the attached receipts thoroughly, they have to raise objections if they wish so […] or have to approve and sign them if they are found to be correct. […] l. Furthermore, these institutions shall have with respect to the costs incurred for the care of sick servants and journeymen as well as the funeral costs in the case of their death a right of retention over the estate of the deceased servant or journeyman and at the same time a priority over other creditors.’

The procedure whereby the journeymen’s contributions were deducted from their wages and paid directly into the guild box by the master craftsmen had already been common practice in the 18th century, and it continued to be so in the 19th century,15 as the Saxon 1810 Act proves. The 1810 Act still acknowledged elements of self-administration, but it subjected the administration of the funds to the supervision of public authorities. Boxes had to cover the costs of caring for sick journeymen as well as the funeral costs in the event of their death. The Saxon Trade Act (Gewerbegesetz) of 186116 then stated in § 97 that Gewerbsgehülfen, a term including basically all employees in the trades, as well as factory workers could be obliged to contribute to boxes that should provide support in cases of illness and help cover funeral expenses, thereby suggesting that ___________ 15 M. Simon, Handwerk in Krise und Umbruch (1983), 241; S. Fröhlich, Soziale Sicherung (1976), 123. And see the sources reproduced in Bücher, (1888) Archiv für Frankfurts Geschichte und Kunst 286 f. (bookbinder journeymen, Frankfurt am Main, 1810). 16 (1861) Gesetz- und Verordnungsblatt für das Königreich Sachsen 187–217, 205.

I. 19th-century developments until Bismarck’s legislation

283

the support schemes which had been established for the benefit of journeymen were simply extended to factory workers, and thereby following a development which was already foreshadowed in the 18th century.17 These boxes were supervised by the respective local authorities (§ 100). § 99 added that all employees who were not obliged to contribute to such a fund could be obliged to make periodic contributions to a local hospital so that they would receive medical care and treatment for free in the event of illness. In Austria, § 124 of the Trade Act (Gewerbe-Ordnung) of 1859 stated:18 ‘Wenn bei einer Genossenschaft eine Anstalt zur Unterstützung der hilfsbedürftigen Gehilfen durch gemeinsame Beiträge der Gewerbsinhaber und der Gehilfen mit allgemeiner Verpflichtung zum Beitritt errichtet wird, so darf der Beitrag der Gehilfen nicht höher als mit 3 Percent vom Lohngulden, und jener, welchen die Gewerbsinhaber für jeden ihrer Gehilfen aus eigenen Mitteln zuzulegen haben, nicht höher als mit der Hälfte des Beitrages seiner Gehilfen bemessen werden. Bei der Verwaltung solcher Anstalten (Unterstützungscassen) ist den Gehilfen ein angemessener Einfluß zu sichern.’ ‘If a trade association has established an institution for the support of assistants in need to which both the employer and the assistants have to contribute and which each assistant is obliged to join, then the assistant’s contribution shall not exceed 3% of his salary and the employer’s contribution shall not exceed half of the assistant’s contribution. It has to be secured that the assistants have sufficient influence in the administration of such institutions (support funds).’

There were regional differences as to whether only journeymen had to pay contributions or whether also the master craftsmen had to contribute to the box for the benefit of the journeymen working for them.19 The 1859 Act clarifies that in Austria also the employers had to contribute to the respective funds. According to § 73, the term assistant included both journeymen and factory workers. § 128 added: ‘Ist mit der Genossenschaft eine Unterstützungscasse verbunden, so haben die Statuten auch die Vorschriften über die Größe der Beiträge und die Art ihrer Einzahlung, über die Regeln zur Bestimmung des Maßes der Unterstützungen, über die Bedingungen, unter welche der Anspruch auf Unterstützung erworben wird und verloren geht, und in soferne es sich um Gesellencassen handelt, auch über den Einfluß, den die Gehilfen auf die Verwaltung derselben zu nehmen haben, zu enthalten.’ ‘If a trade association has established a support fund, its statutes have to include provisions defining (1) the contributions which have to be made to the fund, (2) how these contributions will be paid into the fund, (3) the support which is offered by the fund,

___________ 17

See pp. 236 ff., above. (1859) Reichs-Gesetz-Blatt für das Kaiserthum Oesterreich 619–650. 19 M. Simon, Handwerk in Krise und Umbruch (1983), 241. In addition, see the sources reproduced in Bücher, (1888) Archiv für Frankfurts Geschichte und Kunst 286 f. (bookbinder journeymen, Frankfurt am Main, 1810); ibid., 292 (bookbinder journeymen, Frankfurt am Main, 1862). 18

284

D. The evolution of Germany’s social security schemes in the 19th century

(4) the preconditions of the right to support as well as the circumstances when such right will be lost, and (5) if it is a journeymen’s fund, provisions defining the journeymen’s participation in the administration of the fund.’

§ 124 of the Austrian 1859 Act confirms the legislative approach which was common: legislation defined the regulatory framework. It was then for the associations to fill this framework with their statutes. In Württemberg, Art. 49 of the New Trade Act (Neue Gewerbeordnung) of 1862 authorized municipalities to oblige employers in the trades to make periodic contributions towards local hospitals so that their employees would be cared for in the event of illness, and Art. 45 authorized district authorities to oblige factory owners to raise from their workers contributions to a similar end.20 The decision as to whether membership in such boxes and funds was compulsory was indeed often made on the local level through municipal legislation.21 The Gewerbeordnung (Trade Act) of 1847 for the Kingdom of Hannover stated:22 ‘§. 88. Bei jeder Zunft soll eine Zunftcasse bestehen. §. 89. Sie ist bestimmt: 1) zur Bestreitung der der Zunft als solcher obliegenden Ausgaben, 2) zur Unterstützung bedürftiger Meister, ihrer Witwen und Kinder, 3) zur Beihülfe für Unterhaltung kranker Gesellen, 4) zur Beförderung der gewerblichen Ausbildung der Zunftglieder ihrer Gesellen und Lehrlinge. Die Ausgaben Nr. 2 bis 4 liegen der Zunftcasse jedoch nur ob, soweit sie dazu ohne außerordentliche Beiträge der Zunftgenossen im Stande ist und insofern nicht besondere Hülfscassen (§. 93) dafür bestehen. Hergebrachte sonstige Verwendungen zu wohlthätigen Zwecken sind nicht ausgeschlossen. […] §. 93. Sterbecassen, Krankencasen und ähnliche mit Zünften verbundene Hülfsvereine richten sich nach den besonderen Bestimmungen.’ ‘§. 88. Each guild shall have a guild box. §. 89. This box is designated: 1) to cover all costs which the guild incurs, 2) to support master craftsmen in need and their widows and children, 3) to support ill journeymen, 4) to further the professional training of all guild members and their journeymen and apprentices. The guild box has, however, to cover the costs enumerated in nos. 2 to 4 only if it has sufficient funds to do so without imposing extraordinary charges on guild members and if there are no special support boxes (§. 93). The traditional use of the funds for charitable purposes is not excluded. […] §. 93. Death boxes, sick boxes, and other support associations connected to guilds have to comply with [any] special provisions.’

___________ 20

(1862) Regierungs-Blatt für das Königreich Württemberg 67–86, 80–82. Reubold, (1904) 46 Archiv des historischen Vereins von Unterfranken und Aschaffenburg 5. 22 Cited from Ebhardt, Gesetze für das Königreich Hannover, vol. 2/2 (1851), 579. 21

I. 19th-century developments until Bismarck’s legislation

285

Finally, according to § 176 of the act, a widow was still allowed to continue her deceased husband’s business as long as she did not remarry, and according to § 181 the orphans of a master craftsman had the same right: their guardian was allowed to continue the business for the benefit of the orphans with the help of a journeyman.23 The 1847 Hannover Act, thus, still followed traditional lines. Guilds were still recognized as being poly-functional institutions. They were not required to have separate boxes to cover the costs of each function which they served, including the financing of the different support schemes. Furthermore, they were not required to have separate boxes to cover the different risks. Finally, the 1847 Act for the Kingdom of Hannover still recognized that a guild was only liable to support master craftsmen in need, the widows and orphans of master craftsmen, and sick journeymen if it had sufficient funds. But guilds were allowed to establish separate death and sick boxes. The Prussian General Trade Act (Allgemeine Gewerbeordnung) of 1845 held in § 144:24 ‘Den Gesellen und Gehülfen ist die Beibehaltung der zur gegenseitigen Unterstützung vorhandenen besonderen Verbindungen und Kassen gestattet; […].’ ‘Journeymen and servants are permitted to continue and to keep special associations and boxes for their mutual support; […].’

§ 168 authorized municipalities to modify and amend § 144. Such municipal legislation needed the approval of the central government. According to § 169(2), municipalities were authorized to make membership in support boxes compulsory: ‘Desgleichen [also durch Ortsstatuten wie nach Abs. 1] kann für alle an dem Orte beschäftigte Gesellen und Gehülfen die Verpflichtung festgesetzt werden, den im §. 144. erwähnten Verbindungen und Kassen zur gegenseitigen Unterstützung beizutreten, […].’ ‘Equally [that is through municipal legislation as under para. (1)], it is possible to oblige all journeymen and servants of one municipality to become a member in a mutual support association and box as mentioned in § 144 […].’

Furthermore, the central government drafted and published a model for such municipal legislation, which municipalities could simply implement.25 The Prussian Act concerning Support Boxes for the Trade (Gesetz, betreffend die gewerblichen Unterstützungskassen) of 1854 repeated § 169 of the 1845 Act.26 In § 2, it ___________ 23 Reproduced in Ebhardt, Gesetze für das Königreich Hannover, vol. 2/2 (1851), 587. In addition, see Beseler, System des gemeinen deutschen Privatrechts, vol. 3 (1855), 243; Krünitz/Floerke/Floerke/Hoffmann, Ökonomisch-technologische Encyklopädie, vol. 242 (1858), s.v. Zunft, 390 f.; Gengler, Das Deutsche Privatrecht (3rd edn., 1876), 89. 24 (1845) Gesetz-Sammlung für die Königlich Preußischen Staaten 41–78. 25 Schirbel, Geschichte der sozialen Krankenversorgung (1929), 121. 26 (1854) Gesetz-Sammlung für die Königlich Preußischen Staaten 138 f.

286

D. The evolution of Germany’s social security schemes in the 19th century

authorized municipalities to introduce compulsory membership also for self-employed traders and craftsmen if local support boxes existed.27 All support boxes were supervised by local authorities (§ 5). § 57 of the Regulations concerning the Formation of Trade Councils and Miscellaneous Amendments to the General Trade Act (Verordnung, betreffend die Errichtung von Gewerberäthen und verschiedenen Abänderungen der allgemeinen Gewerbeordnung) of 1849 authorized municipalities to oblige employers to contribute to support boxes for the benefit of journeymen and servants, but the employers’ contributions were not allowed to exceed 50% of the contributions which journeymen and servants had to pay themselves. §§ 140 f. of the Trade Act for the North German Confederation (Gewerbeordnung für den Norddeutschen Bund) of 1869 did not bring any fundamental changes.28 b) Guild statutes The different 19th-century trade acts only defined the general framework in which guilds further developed their support schemes. Two examples will show the diversity of approaches which the many guild statutes exhibit.29 The masons of Berlin had a separate sick box for foreign journeymen. Membership was compulsory. The 1838 statutes, which were approved by first mayor of the city of Berlin, defined support as follows:30 ‘§ 7. Jedes Mitglied erhält in Krankheitsfällen in den Monaten vom 1. April ab bis Ende September wöchentlich zwei Thaler, und vom 1. Oktober ab bis Ende März wöchentlich Einen Thaler Unterstützung aus der Fremdenbüchse. Hierbei wird festgestellt, daß die Unterstützung nur gewährt wird, wenn die Krankheit gehörig bescheinigt ist, und die Meldung des Kranken bis spätestens am Mittwoch Abends jeder Woche eingeht. Wer sich nach dem Mittwoche meldet hat für die laufende Woche keinen Anspruch auf das Krankengeld zu machen. […] § 8. Ganz ausgenommen von der Unterstützung sind Krätzkranke und Venerische. Wer jedoch in der Arbeit steht, und an der Krätze erkrankt, erhält die Hälfte der Krankengelder.

___________ 27 In addition, see § 56 of the Verordnung, betreffend die Errichtung von Gewerberäthen und verschiedenen Abänderungen der allgemeinen Gewerbeordnung, (1849) Gesetz-Sammlung für die Königlich Preußischen Staaten 93–110. 28 (1869) Bundesgesetzblatt des Norddeutschen Bundes 245–282. And see the Gesetz über die eingeschriebenen Hülfskassen, (1876) Deutsches Reichsgesetzblatt 125–133; Gesetz, betreffend die Abänderung der Gewerbeordnung, (1881) Deutsches Reichsgesetzblatt 233–244. Further, see the analysis by Tennstedt, (1983) 29 Zeitschrift für Sozialreform 299– 302. 29 See Krünitz/Floerke/Floerke/Hoffmann, Ökonomisch-technologische Encyklopädie, vol. 242 (1858), s.v. Zunft, 397 f. 30 Cited from Wissell, (1927) 1/5 Die Reichsversicherung 145 f.

I. 19th-century developments until Bismarck’s legislation

287

§ 9. Zugelassen wird noch, dass solchen fremden Gesellen, welche hier krank einwandern und in die Charité gehen müssen, wenn sie sich als zünftig gehörig legitimirt haben, eine wöchentliche Unterstützung von zehn Silbergroschen aus der Fremdenbüchse verabreicht werden kann, jedoch nur auf die Dauer von höchstens drei Monaten. […] § 11. An jedem Büchsentage wird vom 1. Büchsenschreiber den Mitgliedern Rechnung über Einnahme und Ausgabe abgelegt. […] § 13. Sollte der Bestand der Büchse nicht zu den vorkommenden Ausgaben hinreichen, so ist es nothwendig den Betrag eines jeden Mitgliedes für den nächsten folgenden Büchsentag von 4 Silbergroschen auf 6 Silbergroschen zu erhöhen, […]. § 14. Da nach den gesetzlichen Bestimmungen jede Gesellenkasse unter Mitverwaltung des Gewerks-Vorstandes und unter Aufsicht des Magistrates stehen soll, so ist dies auch hier bei der Fremden-Büchse gesetzlich nothwendig, da hierdurch zugleich das ordnungsgemässige Fortbestehen derselben gesichert und jedes einzelne Mitglied in seinen Rechten geschützt wird.’ ‘§ 7. In the months starting on 1 April to the end of September, each member receives in the case of sickness two talers per week as support from the box for foreign journeymen and in the months starting on 1 October to the end of March, weekly one taler. Support will be paid only if the sickness is properly certified, and if the sick journeymen reports himself at the latest on Wednesday evening. If he reports himself after Wednesday, then he is not entitled to sick support for that week. § 8. Those suffering from scabies or from sexually transmitted diseases are excluded from support. However, if somebody attracts scabies while being in service, he will receive half of the usual sick support. § 9. If a foreign journeyman arrives sick in Berlin and if his condition is such that he has to attend the Charité [hospital in Berlin] and if he has proven to belong to the profession, then one may grant him a weekly support of ten silver groschen, yet no longer than for three months. […] § 11. On each box day, the first Büchsenschreiber [elected office holder of the association] has to open the accounts to all members. […] § 13. If the funds in the box are not sufficient to meet the expenses, then it is necessary to increase the next box day’s contributions of each member from four silver groschen to six silver groschen, […]. § 14. As it is legally required that each journeymen’s box has to be co-administered by the board of the profession and that it is supervised by the magistrate, the same has to be observed with the present box for foreign journeymen, because only this will guaranty its orderly persistence, and each member will be protected in his rights.’

According to § 7, a sick journeyman received a predefined sum from which he presumably had to pay for his care. By contrast, according to § 4 c and l of the Saxon 1810 Act, guilds had to cover the costs of caring for sick journeymen.31 As will become apparent further below,32 this was an important difference. ___________ 31 32

See pp. 280 f., above. See pp. 305 f., below.

288

D. The evolution of Germany’s social security schemes in the 19th century

Another example dates to 1851: the statutes of the journeymen’s association for the support of sick members in the carpentry profession in the city of Mainz. It was an association with voluntary membership:33 ‘§ 1. Allen hier in Arbeit stehenden Zimmergesellen, ohne Unterschied der Religion, einheimisch oder fremd, steht es frei, sich in den Verein aufnehmen zu lassen, jedoch dürfen sie nicht das 45. Jahr überschritten haben. § 2. Bei ihrer Aufnahme müssen sie ein ärztliches Zeugniss, ihrer Gesundheit wegen, vorzeigen. § 3. Jedes Mitglied dieses Vereins hat gleich bei der Annahme 30 kr. Eintrittsgeld und demnächst immer den ersten Sonntag eines jeden Monats die vorläufig auf die Rate von 16 kr. festgesetzte Einlage in die gemeinschaftliche Kasse zu bezahlen. § 4. Die tägliche Unterstützung eines durch Krankheit oder sonst unverschuldetes Ereigniss arbeitsunfähig gewordenen hier ansässigen Gesellen ist auf 28 kr. festgesetzt, Sollte die Arbeitsunfähigkeit länger als ein halbes Jahr dauern, so hört die Unterstützung auf. […] § 7. Demjenigen aber, dessen Krankheit erweislich von einem unmoralischen Lebenswandel herrührt, soll diese Unterstützung nicht verabreicht werden. […] § 9. Jeder, der von einer Krankheit oder einem Gebrechen befallen wird, welches ihn bettlägrig oder arbeitsunfähig macht, soll dem Altgesellen davon Anzeige machen und dieser von einem Arzte die Krankheit desselben konstatiren lassen; die desfallsige Gebühr soll ebenfalls aus der Vereinskasse bezahlt werden. […] § 12. Wer mit zwei Monaten rückständig bleibt und während dieses Zeitraums krank wird, hat auf die § 4, 5, 6 bezeichnete Unterstützung keinen Anspruch zu machen. Sollte er auch noch mit dem dritten Monate zurückbleiben, so wird er aus dem Vereine gestrichen und hat weiter keine Ansprüche auf die Rückzahlung seiner vorher geleisteten Einlagen zu machen. […] § 14. Bei eintretendem Sterbfall der Frau eines Mitglieds erhält der Mann 5 fl. als Beitrag zu den Beerdigungskosten. […] § 16. Jedes verstorbene Mitglied soll auf Kosten des Vereins anständig beerdigt […] werden. […] § 18. Ein Mitglied, welches in die städtische Versorgungsanstalt aufgenommen wird, hat keinen Anspruch mehr an die Kasse zu machen und ist aus dem Vereine gestrichen.’ ‘§ 1. All carpenter journeymen who are working here may join the association regardless of their religion and regardless of whether they are from here or foreign, but they are not allowed to have passed the age of 45 years. § 2. On their admission to the association they have to present a certificate on their medical condition. § 3. Each member of this association has to pay 30 kreutzer into the box when being admitted and then on the first Sunday of each month the contribution which is provisionally set at 16 kreutzer.

___________ 33

Cited from Wissell, (1927) 1/5 Die Reichsversicherung 146 f.

I. 19th-century developments until Bismarck’s legislation

289

§ 4. The daily support for a local journeyman, who cannot work due to an illness or due to any other incident which is not caused by his own fault, is set at 28 kreutzer. However, if the journeyman is not able to work for longer than a half year, then support terminates. […] § 7. If it is proven that the illness has been caused by immoral conduct, support is excluded. […] § 9. Every member who falls sick so that he is bedridden and not able to work shall give notice to the Altgesellen [office holder of the association], and the Altgeselle shall have a medical practitioner confirm the state of health. The costs will be covered by the fund. […] § 12. A member who is in default with his contributions for two months and who falls sick while being in default is not entitled to the benefits which are defined in §§ 4–6. If he is in default for three months, his membership in the association terminates and he has no entitlement to have his contributions repaid. […] § 14. If the wife of a member dies, then the husband will receive five gulden towards the funeral costs. […] § 16. The association will pay for a proper funeral for each deceased member […]. § 18. A member who joins the municipal support fund has no rights against this fund and his membership in this association terminates.’

Guilds introduced rules to prevent fraud on the side of members, for example the rule that sick journeymen had to visit medical doctors who were specifically appointed by the guild.34 Voluntary boxes further developed admission requirements which aimed at controlling the risk pool: applicants had to be of a certain age and in good health; an applicant’s health status had to be certified by a medical doctor. In cases of illness, a doctor had to certify that the member was sick. And some boxes introduced waiting periods: a journeyman had to have paid his contributions for a specified number of months before he was able to claim support in the event of illness. And voluntary boxes had rules on members being in default regarding the payment of their contributions. 2. The mining sector The French period did not have the same impact on miners’ guilds as it had on master craftsmen guilds.35 It thus seems that the mining sector was shaped by uninterrupted continuity. Mine operators were still obliged to offer sick pay to miners for four or eight weeks, but this obligation was often restricted to work

___________ 34 35

Herold, Rechte der Handwerker und ihrer Innungen (1835), 10–12. Karwehl, Entwicklung und Reform des Knappschaftswesens (1907), 16.

290

D. The evolution of Germany’s social security schemes in the 19th century

accidents.36 In some mining districts, membership seems not to have been compulsory.37 However, it still proved to be a challenge for public mining administrations to generate sufficient income for the guilds such that the latter could fund their support schemes.38 To that end, some acts started to distinguish between miners and low-income day labourers, and only the former were guild members and covered by their support schemes.39 The wages of day labourers were too small for them to contribute to such schemes. By contrast, the miners’ contributions were deducted from their pay and paid by the mine operators into the guild box.40 In addition, mine operators still had to contribute to the miners’ guilds, too.41 Further, at times it proved necessary that the treasury paid off an accrued deficit.42 It is usually contended that by the middle of the 19th century miners’ guilds had been reduced to their support function and that they lost their poly-functionality during that time.43 It is clear that miners received guild support not only in the case of work accidents, but also for non-work-related illness.44 Apart from that, the benefits which miners received varied in the different states and mining districts.45 Guild support often depended on the number of years

___________ 36

Hake, Commentar über das Bergrecht (1823), 185 f.; J.F. Schmidt, Darstellung des Bergrechtes im Königreich Böhmen, vol. 1 (1833), 256, 353. In addition, see §§ 25, 31 of the Regulativ für den Betrieb und die Beaufsichtigung der Stein- und Braunkohlen-Gruben in den ehemals zum Königreich Sachsen gehörigen Landestheilen der Königlich Preussischen Provinz Sachsen of 1843, reproduced in Brassert, Berg-Ordnungen der Preussischen Lande (1858), 493. 37 Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 41. 38 See, e.g., Herthum, Sammlung der bergrechtlichen Vorschriften (1866), 131 (Verschriften über die Bergzehnt-Armuths-Kasse, Schwarzberg, 1840); Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 63; Reisel, Saarbrücker Knappschaftsverein (1925), 16 f. 39 Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 63. 40 Hake, Commentar über das Bergrecht (1823), 186; J.F. Schmidt, Darstellung des Bergrechtes im Königreich Böhmen, vol. 2 (1833), 104. 41 Hake, Commentar über das Bergrecht (1823), 186; Karsten, Grundriss der deutschen Bergrechtslehre (1828), 312; C.F. Richter, Berg- und Hütten-Lexikon, vol. 1 (1805), 103, 591; Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 42. 42 Karsten, Grundriss der deutschen Bergrechtslehre (1828), 312; Hake, Commentar über das Bergrecht (1823), 186. 43 Metzner, Fürsorge im Bergbau (1911), 106; Köhne, Die deutschen Knappschaftsvereine (1915), 8. 44 Breithaupt, Bergstadt Freiberg (2nd edn., 1847), 267. 45 See the discussions by J.F. Schmidt, Darstellung des Bergrechtes im Königreich Böhmen, vol. 2 (1833), 104–106; Breithaupt, Bergstadt Freiberg (2nd edn., 1847), 267 f.; Schneider, Lehrbuch des Bergrechtes (1867), 334 f.; Jordan, Mansfelder Bergrevier (1905), 23, 27; Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 46 f.; Hake, Commentar über das Bergrecht (1823), 185 f.; Karsten, Grundriss der deutschen Bergrechtslehre (1828), 312; C.F. Richter, Berg- und Hütten-Lexikon, vol. 1 (1805), 103.

I. 19th-century developments until Bismarck’s legislation

291

which a member had paid into the box; and as the contributions may have differed according to the income, the financial support did so, too.46 Furthermore, different measures were introduced to prevent fraud on the side of miners.47 Finally, legislators still defined only the general framework of guild support and left the details to guild statutes. a) The legislative framework The 1838 Regulations on Brown Coal Mining (Regulativ das Braunkohlenwesen betreffend) in the Duchy of Schwarzburg, for example, simply held:48 ‘In allen Punkten, über welche das gegenwärtige Regulativ nichts bestimmt, hat die Bergordnung vom Jahr 1686, und in subsidium derselben das gemein Bergrecht volle Geltung.’ ‘In all points on which the present regulations are silent, the 1686 Mining Act […] remains fully in force.’

The 1838 Regulations contained only the provision that membership in miners’ guilds was compulsory and that they were supervised by the public mining administration. And the Prussian 1801 Regulations for Miners (Reglement für die Berg-Leute) in Westphalia set out:49 ‘Wenn er diesen und den übrigen Verpflichtungen nachkömmt, so hat er sich nicht allein der im General-Privilegio den Bergleuten zugesicherten Rechte und Freyheiten zu erfreuen, sondern auch insbesondere folgende Wohltaten zu genießen: a) Freye Kur von Berg-Aerzten und Knappschafts-Chirurgen, wenn sie beschädigt oder krank werden, sie können jedoch darauf keinen Anspruch machen, wenn sie sich die Beschädigung oder Krankheit durch Schlägerei oder Ausschweifungen zugezogen haben, oder wenn sie zur Zeit der erhaltenen Krankheit oder Beschädigung willkürlich feyern. b) Genesungsgelder, wenn er bereits ein ganzes Jahr seine Beiträge zur KnappschaftsCasse geleistet hat; er verliert aber solche ganz in den vorhin bestimmten beyden Fällen und zur Hälfte, wenn er einen Quacksalber oder Pfuscher braucht, oder sich selbst zu curieren such. c) Gnaden-Gehalte, wenn er durch Alter oder sonst zur Bergarbeit unfähig geworden auf seine Lebenszeit, und nach seinem Tode seine Frau und Kinder, letztere jedoch nur bis zum 12ten jahre und so lange die Frau im Wittwenstande lebt. Es kann aber hierauf kein Anspruch gemacht werden, wenn er zwey Jahre die Bergarbeit ohne erweißliche

___________ 46 Reisel, Saarbrücker Knappschaftsverein (1925), 23; Fessner, Die märkische Knappschaft (2010), 180 f. 47 Compare Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 63. 48 Cited from Herthum, Sammlung der bergrechtlichen Vorschriften (1866), 120. 49 Cited from Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 92 f.

292

D. The evolution of Germany’s social security schemes in the 19th century

Kränklichkeit und Schwächlichkeit verlassen, oder wenn er schon bey seinen Lebzeiten im Knappschafts-Register gelöscht worden […]. Endlich d) eine Beyhülfe zu den Begrägniskosten, welcher aber ebenfalls in den vorhin bemerkten Fällen wegfällt.’ ‘If the miner fulfils these and his other obligations, then he not only enjoys all rights and privileges granted to miners in the General-Privilegio[50], but also the following benefits: a) free treatment by miners’ doctors and miners’ guild surgeons, if they are injured or sick. However, they do not have an entitlement to such treatment if they have been injured or if they have contracted such illness through a fight or an excessive lifestyle or if they have participated, when being injured or when having contracted such illness, in a feast. b) convalescence moneys, if he has already paid his contributions to the miners’ box for a full year; however, he forfeits his entitlement to moneys in full or in half if he has attended a quack doctor or if he has tried to cure himself. c) a mercy pay for the rest of his life, if he is through old age or other circumstances incapable of working in the mines, as well as after his death a mercy pay for the benefit of his wife and children, the latter however only until they reach the age of 12 years and the former as long as she lives in viduity. However, he does not have a claim to these benefits if he has quit working in mines already for two years without being sick or infirm or if his name has, during his lifetime, been deleted from the registry of the miners’ guild […]. Finally d) a contribution to the funeral costs; however, a right to this benefit is forfeited in the aforementioned cases.’

The 1838 Regulation defined the benefits offered by miners’ guilds still in the same way as miners’ guilds of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries had done. The 1824 Regulations for the Miners’ Guilds in the Mining District of Mark, Essen, and Werden (Knappschaft-Ordnung für die Bergleute in den Bezirken des Märkischen und Essen-Werdenschen Bergamts) provided further:51 ‘Dem in der freien Kur sich befindende Bergmann wird in den ersten acht Wochen, oder solange seine Krankheit in dieser Zeit dauert, ein Schichtlohn zu dem Betrage des von ihm monatlich zu entrichtenden Freischichtgeldes, unter der Benennung Krankenschichtlohn für jeden Tag, mit der alleinigen Ausnahme des Sonntages, verabreicht. Bei längerer Dauer der Krankheit wird dieses [sic] Krankenschichtlohn auf die Hälfte des Betrages herabgesetzt und wenn nach fünf Woche, also nach Verlauf von überhaupt 3 Monaten, vom Anfange der Krankheit an gerechnet, der Bergarzt und Bergwundarzt keine schriftliche Erklärung ausstellt: daß die Krankheit in einem Zeitraum von ferneren drei Monaten wahrscheinlich zu heben sein werde, so wird der Kranke

___________ 50 The provision refers to the General-Privilegium für die Bergleute im Herzogthum Cleve, Fürstenthum Moers und Graffschaft Marck of 1767, reproduced in Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 81–84. 51 Cited from Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 99.

I. 19th-century developments until Bismarck’s legislation

293

vorläufig in die Invalidenliste eingetragen und empfängt, statt der Krankenschichtlöhne, die ihm zukommende Invalidengelder so lange, bis er imstande ist, in die Reihe der arbeitenden Bergleute wieder einzutreten.’ ‘A miner who is in free medical treatment will receive during the first eight weeks of his illness, or as long as the illness lasts within this period, his shift pay […] for each day with the exception of Sundays; the pay is called sick shift pay. If the illness lasts longer the sick shift pay will be reduced to half. And if after five weeks, thus after three months in total calculated from the first day of the illness, the medical doctor of the mine does not certify that it is probable that the miner will be cured within a further three months, then the miner will be registered in the list of incapacitated miners, and he will receive the pay for incapacitated miners instead of the sick shift pay until he is again able to work.’

It is usually claimed that the Prussian Act on Miners’ Guilds (Knappschaftsgesetz) of 1854 was of special importance for the further development.52 The act’s full title was Gesetz, betreffend die Vereinigung der Berg-, Hütten, Salinen- und Aufbereitungs-Arbeiter in Knappschaften, für den ganzen Umfang der Monarchie53 (Act on the Association in Guilds of Workers in Mines, Smelters, Saltworks and Processing Facilities in the Entire Monarchy). According to § 1, a miners’ guild was established for each mining district. Membership was compulsory. The act did not allow any exception for low-income day labourers.54 § 2 made clear that each of these guilds should have its own statutes. These were enacted by the Prussian Secretary of Trade at the recommendation of the mining administration, which had to hear both the representatives of the miners and the mine owners. § 3 enumerated the minimum benefits which these associations had to offer to their members: (1) where a member was ill, free medical treatment and free medication; (2) sick pay for the time when the member was ill; if the member fell sick due to his own gross negligence, the sick pay was excluded; (3) lifelong support where a member became incapacitated not owing to his own gross negligence; (4) a contribution towards the funeral costs of a member or an incapacitated member; (5) support of widows for the rest of their lives or until they remarried; (6) support towards the upbringing of orphans of deceased members and deceased incapacitated members until they have completed the age of 14 years. The act made clear that there was a distinction between different classes of members. The lower classes only received free medical treatment, free medication, and sick pay. A contribution to the funeral costs was paid only if the ___________ 52 On the act, see the discussion of Lauf, Knappschaftsvereine bis zur Gründung der Reichsknappschaft (2010), 266 f.; Geyer, Invalidität und Existenzsicherung im Bergbau (1990), 181–202. Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 67; Karwehl, Entwicklung und Reform des Knappschaftswesens (1907), 18; Imbusch, Das deutsche Knappschaftswesen (1910), 23–27; Klostermann, Lehrbuch des Preussischen Bergrechtes (1871), 351–361. 53 Gesetzes-Sammlung für die Königlichen Preußischen Staaten (1854), 139–142. 54 Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 72.

294

D. The evolution of Germany’s social security schemes in the 19th century

member of a lower class died due to a work accident. Furthermore, § 3 allowed the statutes to regulate the further details of support.55 § 4 concerned the income of miners’ guilds and § 5 their administration. Accordingly, both the miners and the mine operators had to contribute to the boxes. The contributions of the mine operators were between half of the miners’ contributions and the full miners’ contributions. Consequently, § 9 abolished the rule that the guild box held a share in the mine and thereby participated in the mine’s profits. Each guild had a board. Half of its members represented the side of the mine owners and the other half the side of the miners. The whole administration was under the supervision of the public mining authorities. § 6 referenced the institution of medical doctors appointed by the guild. § 7 of the Act concerned the administration of the guild finances: the accounts were checked annually by office holders of the guild, the mine operators, and the public mining administration. § 8 allowed existing miners’ guilds to continue to exist. Their statutes, however, had to be brought in conformity with the Act. § 10 provided that all miners’ guilds attained the status of legal persons once their statutes were approved. Ulrich Lauf summarizes the importance of the Prussian 1854 Act as follows:56 ‘[D]ie Bedeutung des Knappschaftsgesetz von 1854 für die Entwicklung der deutschen Sozialstaatlichkeit [kann] kaum überschätzt werden. Bahnbrechend waren nicht so sehr die Versicherungsinhalte, denn diese setzten größtenteils nur bestehende Rechtstraditionen der deutschen Montanwirtschaft fort. Selbst der garantierte Rechtsanspruch auf Sozialleistungen, eines der wichtigsten Kennzeichen des modernen Sozialstaates, scheint […] bereits vor 1854 im deutschen Bergbau zumindest regional anerkannt worden zu sein. Es war vielmehr der spezifische Konstruktionsplan einer staatsfern organisierten, durch Arbeitgeber und Arbeitnehmer gemeinsam verwalteten und finanzierten staatlich nur beaufsichtigten Zwangsversicherung, der zum ersten Mal in Deutschland eine wirtschaftssektorale landesgesetzliche Sozialversicherung begründete. […] Die nachfolgende Bismarcksche Arbeitsversicherung griff auf wichtige Grundbausteine des Knappschaftsgesetzes und Detailregelungen der Knappschaftsstatuten zurück, trennte aber institutionell die einzelnen Versicherungsrisiken.’ ‘[T]he importance of the Miners’ Guild Act of 1854 for the development of the German welfare state cannot be overstated. However, it was not so much the insurance benefits which were ground-breaking. These were based on existing traditions in the mining sector. And also the guaranteed entitlement to the benefits, one of the most important characteristics of the modern welfare state, seems […] to have been accepted in the German mining sector even before 1854, at least in certain regions. It was the specific form of organization which was novel: it was a mandatory insurance, organized independent from the state, but supervised by the state, administered and financed both by employees and employers. Thereby, for the first time in Germany, a sectoral social security scheme had been established by state legislation. […] Bismarck’s workers’ insurance schemes drew on important components of the Miners’ Guild Act as well as

___________ 55 On the details in, for instance, the Ruhr region, see Bülow, Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk (1905), 73–75. 56 Lauf, Knappschaftsvereine bis zur Gründung der Reichsknappschaft (2010), 268.

I. 19th-century developments until Bismarck’s legislation

295

detailed provisions of the statutes of the different guilds, yet it introduced an institutionalized distinction between the different insurable risks.’

However, it seems that the 1854 Act was even in these latter aspects deeply rooted in earlier traditions. The provisions of the 1854 Act were further developed by §§ 165–186 of the Allgemeines Berggesetz für die Preußischen Staaten (General Mining Act for all Prussian Territories) of 1865.57 And the Prussian 1865 Act served as a model for other territories. The Principalities of Waldeck and Pyrmont had since 1867 been governed by Prussia, and in 1869 an act was passed that simply introduced by way of reference and with small adaptations the 1865 Act.58 §§ 168–189 of the Berggesetz für das Herzogthum Braunschweig (Mining Act for the Duchy of Brunswick) of 1867,59 Arts. 167–190 of the BergGesetz für das Königreich Bayern (Mining Act for the Kingdom of Bavaria) of 1869,60 §§ 157–177 of the Allgemeines Berggesetz für das Herzogthum SachsenAltenburg (General Mining Act for the Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg) of 1872,61 Arts. 151–172 of the Berggesetz für das Königreich Württemberg (Mining Act for the Kingdom of Württemberg),62 §§ 154–175 of the Berg-Gesetz für das Herzogthum Anhalt (Mining Act for the Duchy of Anhalt) of 1875,63 and §§157– 179 of the Berggesetz für das Großherzogthum Hessen (Mining Act for the Grand Duchy of Hesse) of 1876,64 for example, all introduced provisions which ran very much parallel to those of the Prussian Act of 1865 or even copied that act verbatim. §§ 98–101, 103 of the Gesetz über den Bergbau (Mining Act) of 1860 for the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was already parallel to §§ 1–4, 10 of the Prussian Act of 1854.65 The Allgemeines österreichisches Berggesetz (General Austrian Mining Act) of 1854 had included in §§ 210–214 less detailed provisions and left the details to the guild statutes,66 and these provisions were specified through the Gesetz betreffend die Regelung der Verhältnisse der nach dem allgemeinen Bergesetze errichteten oder noch zu errichtenden Bruderladen (Act Concerning the Regulation of the Affairs of the Brother Boxes which were Established or which still have to be Established in Accordance with the

___________ 57

(1865) Gesetz-Sammlung für die königlich Preußischen Staaten 705–760. (1869) Fürstlich Waldeckisches Regierungs-Blatt 3–5. 59 (1867) 54 Gesetz- und Verordnungs-Sammlung für die Herzoglich Braunschweigischen Lande 109–172. 60 (1869) Gesetz-Blatt für das Königreich Bayern 673–774. 61 (1872) Herzoglich Sachsen-Altenburgische Gesetzessammlung 29–61. 62 (1874) Regierungs-Blatt für das Königreich Württemberg 265–309. 63 (1876) 7 Gesetz-Sammlung für das Herzogthum Anhalt 167–223. 64 (1876) Großherzoglich Hessisches Regierungsblatt 73–128. 65 (1860) Gesetzsammlung für das Fürstenthum Schwarzburg-Sondershausen 85–147. 66 (1854) Reichs-Gesetz-Blatt für das Kaiserthum Oesterreich 554–602. 58

296

D. The evolution of Germany’s social security schemes in the 19th century

General Mining Act) of 1889.67 Similarly, §§ 84–86 of the Allgemeines Berggesetz (General Mining Act) for the Kingdom of Saxony of 1868 contained lessdetailed provisions compared to the Prussian Act,68 and Art. 80 of the Berggesetz (Mining Act) of 1868 for the Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen69 simply referred to Arts. 70–75 of the Duchy’s Gesetz über das Gewerbewesen (Trade Act) of 1862, which contained only very general provisions.70 b) Guild statutes The statutes of the miners’ guild in Mansfeld may serve as an example of 19th-century miners’ guild statutes. The guild statutes of the miners’ guild in Mansfeld were in accordance with the Prussian 1865 Act.71 For the purpose of defining the contributions, the statutes distinguished between three classes of members depending on their status. The lower two classes had to make fixed contributions of 10 or 20 silver groschen. For the highest class, the contributions were calculated on the basis of a member’s individual salary: for each taler in salary he had to pay 1¾ silver groschen in contributions (§ 6). These contributions were deducted from his salary and paid by the employer directly to the miners’ guild (§ 9). The mine operators had to make contributions towards the miners’ guild equal to those of the miners (§ 48). In defining the benefits which the miners’ guild offered, the statutes again made distinctions between the three aforementioned classes. The first two classes received free medical treatment including medication; the free medical treatment extended to wives, widows, and children below the age of 14 years if they still lived together with their parents (§ 12). Furthermore, the first two classes received sick pay if they had not caused their sickness by their own ‘gross fault’. They received a life-long pension if they were incapacitated and unable to work and if they had not caused this incapacity through their own ‘gross fault’. The miners’ guild provided a contribution towards the funeral costs of deceased members and incapacitated members as well as for their wives and widows. Widows received support until they remarried. And finally, orphans of members were supported until they had reached the age ___________ 67 (1889) Reichsgesetzblatt für die im Reichsrathe vertretenen Königreiche und Länder 375–384. 68 (1868) Gesetz- und Verordnungsblatt für das Königreich Sachsen 353–428. On the act see, e.g., Elsholz, Entwicklung des sächsischen Knappschaftswesen (1910), 29–32. 69 (1868) Sammlung der landesherrlichen Verordnungen im Herzogthum SachsenMeiningen 49–95. 70 (1862) Sammlung der landesherrlichen Verordnungen im Herzogthum SachsenMeiningen 67–100. In addition, see § 80 of the Berggesetz für das Fürstenthum Reuß jüngere Linie (Mining Act for the Principality of Reuss Younger Line) of 1870, (1870) Gesetzessammlung für die Fürstlich Reußischen Lande jüngerer Linie 199–238. 71 Reproduced in Schirbel, Geschichte der sozialen Krankenversorgung (1929), 173–183.

I. 19th-century developments until Bismarck’s legislation

297

of 14 years. Persons eligible for free medical treatment had to visit a specific medical doctor and had to buy the medication from specified pharmacists (§ 14). Only in cases of emergency were they allowed to visit a doctor of their choice. Furthermore, members of the first two classes received sick pay, but again only under the condition that the sickness was not caused by their own ‘gross fault’. The amount of sick pay differed for the members of the two classes and for married and unmarried members (§ 16). Sick pay was offered by the miners’ guild only if the mine operators did not offer sick pay. Furthermore, sick pay was only offered after the third day of sickness, and it was limited, in principle, to three months. After that period, the member received those benefits designated for incapacitated members. If the member was treated in a hospital, he would not receive sick pay. If he was married, then his wife received half the sick pay. The fund contributed to funeral costs: ten talers towards a member’s funeral, five talers towards the funeral of a retired member and of a member’s wife (§ 23). If a member was killed in a work accident, his dependants received 20 talers. The benefits of members of the third class were defined in parallel (§§ 36–38). The health insurance scheme was administered by elected members, and the administration was supervised by the public mining authorities. 3. Seafarers In 1854, the city of Hamburg enacted the Statutes for the Hamburg Seafarers’ Pension Fund (Statut einer Hamburgischen Seemanns-Pensionscasse).72 According to § 1, the fund offered a pension to those members who had been incapacitated by an accident or illness as well as to deceased members’ widows. Membership was compulsory for sailors; for ship masters it was voluntary (§ 2). In the mining sector, some funds excluded day labourers as they earned too little to contribute to support funds.73 Thus, the poorest labourers were excluded from benefiting from such support schemes. The 1854 statutes took the opposite approach. The fund was administered by a board of seven members representing the Chamber of Commerce (Commerz-Deputation), the ship owners, the sailors, the ship masters, and the Hamburg Admiralty (Wasserschout) (§ 4). Thus here again, public authorities participated in administering the fund. Each member had to pay one shilling for each taler in wages (§ 7). Ship masters had to pay more. Contributions were raised by the Wasserschout, an office holder of the Hamburg Admiralty. If sailors were hired abroad, it was the ship master’s duty to raise the contributions and to pay them over to the fund. A sailor was exempted from making further contributions after having paid into the fund for 25 years. ___________ 72 Lappenberg, Sammlung der Verordnungen der freien Hanse-Stadt Hamburg, seit 1814, vol. 24 (1855), 222–230. 73 See p. 290, above.

298

D. The evolution of Germany’s social security schemes in the 19th century

Ship owners, too, had to contribute to the fund: for each taler which they paid in salaries to a sailor they had to contribute one shilling to the fund (§ 8). The fund also envisioned receiving donations and legacies (§ 10). This recalls older guild traditions: the fund was not purely contribution-based, but relied on the donations of third parties and thus had elements of a charity. If a member was not by his own fault incapacitated and unable to work, he had a right to a pension (§ 12). A member’s widow received a pension until she remarried. § 13 set the annual pension at 2.5 times the average monthly salary on the basis of which the member had paid his contributions over the last two years. If the fund had sufficient reserves, it was possible to raise the annual pension to four times the average monthly salary (§ 14). If the fund had generated a deficit, it was possible to increase the contributions. § 18 of the 1854 statutes stipulated in advance that the statutes were to be revised after 20 years. And § 15 stated that it should at that time be assessed whether it would be feasible for the fund to offer a pension to retired members who had not become unable to work due to an incapacity if they had completed service on Hamburg ships for 25 years. In the same year, the city of Bremen enacted the Statutes for a Bremen Sailors’ Fund (Statut der Bremer Seemannscasse).74 It consisted of two independent funds, the first for the benefit of sailors, the second for the benefit of their widows. Bremen ship owners and marine insurance companies had provided 15,000 talers as capital stock, two-thirds for the former fund and one-third for the latter fund. Ship masters were not able to join the fund (§ 3). All other seafarers doing service on Bremen ships were obliged to join it (§ 4). Both funds were administered by the Haus der Seefahrt (§ 7), the mariners’ guild which had been established in 1545.75 The accounts were reviewed annually be the office of the Wasserschout and the city authorities (§ 9). Furthermore, a summary of the accounts had to be published annually in two newspapers. Members had to pay one groschen as contribution towards the fund for each taler in salary (§ 14). Those who had contributed to the fund for 25 years were exempted from making further contributions without losing their rights (§ 16). Ship owners, too, had to make contributions, between 12 and 48 groschen per sailor depending on the journey’s destination. Furthermore, all fines which sailors had to pay benefited the fund (§ 18), a detail which reflected older guild traditions. Two-thirds of the income went to the fund for the benefit of the sailors, one-third to that benefiting their widows (§ 19). The Bremen fund, too, envisioned receiving donations and legacies (§ 20). The benefits which the fund offered to its members and their widows were, thus, not purely contribution based, and therefore the Bremen fund, just like the Hamburg fund of the same year, exhibited elements of charity. Those members who had served a total of 56 months on Bremen ships within a ___________ 74 75

(1854) Gesetzblatt der freien Hansestadt Bremen 177–183. On the Haus Seefahrt, see p. 230, above.

I. 19th-century developments until Bismarck’s legislation

299

period of seven years had a right to an annual pension if they, not of their own fault, were incapacitated and unable to work (§ 25). The pension amount differed according to the rank of the member and according to the number of years which the member had contributed to the fund (§ 26). A member’s widow did not acquire a legally enforceable right to support. Whether the fund supported a widow was a discretionary decision of the administrator of the fund (§ 30). There is one marked difference of the Statutes for the Hamburg Seafarers’ Pension Fund Hamburg and the Statutes for a Bremen Sailors’ Fund as compared to the crafts and the mining sector: the cities did not restrict themselves to adopting legislation which only defined the general framework of support and left the details to the statutes formulated by the administrators or members of the different funds. Rather, both cities themselves stipulated detailed provisions of the respective funds. 4. Factory workers Should factory workers in need be supported by municipal poor relief? Should factory owners establish health insurance schemes for the benefit of their workers? Should it be mandatory for factory workers to join such schemes? Who should finance such schemes: factory workers and/or factory owners? According to modern literature these questions were debated in the first half of the 19th century.76 Yet already in the 18th century, Betriebskrankenkassen, i.e. health insurance schemes for the benefit of factory workers, had been introduced by factory owners for the benefit of their employees.77 Such schemes continued to be established in the first half of the 19th century, and they gained importance throughout that century.78 Their income was generated by admission fees, periodic contributions, and fines which workers had to pay when they infringed any provision of their contract.79 Early 19th-century Fabrikordnungen (factory regulations) – to a modern lawyer nothing other than standard contract terms specifying the contract of employment80 – already hint at how common such schemes were. These Fabrikordnungen usually included detailed and onerous codes of conduct for ___________ 76

See, e.g., Frevert, Krankheit als politisches Problem (1984), 185–219. See pp. 236 f., above. 78 See, e.g., Frevert, Krankheit als politisches Problem (1984), 194, 271; Schwenger, Betriebskrankenkassen (1934), 17–30; Anonymous, 150 Jahre Betriebskrankenkasse der Firma M. Dumont Schauberg (1966), 7 f. Compare also the analysis by Schulz, Betriebliche Sozialpolitik in Deutschland seit 1850 (1991), 137–176. 79 See, e.g., the sources reproduced in von Zwehl, Quellen zur Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte Bayerns (1985), 199 f. (Mechanische Baumwoll-Spinnerei und Weberei, Augsburg, 1838). 80 Hellwege, Allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen (2010), 90–93. 77

300

D. The evolution of Germany’s social security schemes in the 19th century

employed factory workers. And many of them included a provision that the fines which the factory worker had to pay when not in compliance with the codes of conduct benefited the factory’s health insurance scheme,81 a manner of financing which resembles older guild traditions.82 a) Statutes of factory health insurance schemes The statutes of the health insurance fund of 1824 for Johann Peter Bachem’s printing company in Cologne may serve as an example of such funds in the first half of the 19th century:83 ‘Art. 1. Jeder gegenwärtig konditionirende Gesell jeden Alters, so wie jeder neu eintretende, wenn er noch nicht fünfzig Jahre erreicht hat und einer vollkommenen Gesundheit genießt, ist verbunden, sich einschreiben zu lassen. 2. Jedem Theilnehmer werden wöchentlich zwei Silbergroschen von seinem Wochenlohne eingehalten, welche in diese Kasse fließen. 3. Jeder, so nach dem heutigen Tage eintritt, zahlt einen Berliner Thaler Eintrittsgeld, welches nach Belieben auch in sechs Wochen teilweise vom Wochenlohne abgehalten werden kann; jedoch kann nicht eher Anspruch auf Krankengeld gemacht werden, bis das ganze Eintrittsgeld, neben der wöchentlichen Einlage, entrichtet ist. […] 5. Jeder Kranke erhält per Woche zwei Thaler und drei Silbergroschen oder neun Silbergroschen per Tag. […] 7. Der Faktor, so wie alle Mitglieder überhaupt, müssen sich von der Richtigkeit der Krankheit überzeugen. Erheben sich Zweifel, ob die angegeben Krankheit erdichtet, durch Rauferei oder andere Ausschweifungen entstanden sey, so muß der Kranke von einem Arzte, auf Kosten der Kasse, untersuch werden, und im Falle, daß die Zweifel gegründet find, muß er das schon erhaltene Geld zurückgeben und verliert seine Kondition. Ein mit der Lustseuche behafteter Kranker erhält kein Krankengeld. 8. Stirbt ein Mitglied, so werden an dessen Familie sechs Berliner Thaler für Beerdigungskosten verabreicht. […] 9. Jeder durchreisende Buchdrucker, wenn er ein ordentlicher Mensch ist, erhält aus dieser Kasse zwei Silbergroschen Reisegeld. […] 13. Sobald das Kapital der Sparkasse eine hinreichende Größe hat, wird der Prinzipal es sich angelegen seyn lassen, zur bessern Verpflegung der Kranken, mit einem tüchtigen Arzte eine Übereinkunft zu treffen, daß er gegen ein angemessenes, billiges Jahrgehalt sämmtliche Kranken der Druckerei bediene; die nämlichen Vortheile wird er, in so weit es thunlich ist, durch einen Vertrag mit einem gewissenhaften Apotheker zu erringen suchen.

___________ 81 See the example reproduced in Böth, Landsberg-Velen (2009), 249 f. (Freyherrlich von Landsberg Velensche Chemische Fabrick, 1837). 82 See pp. 85 ff., above. 83 Cited from K. Bachem, Josef Bachem, vol. 1 (1912), 353–355.

I. 19th-century developments until Bismarck’s legislation

301

14. Über Einnahme und Ausgabe soll durch den Faktor ein Buch geführt werden, welches jedem Gesellen zur Einsicht offen liegt; […]. 16. Jeder Arbeiter, welcher fünf volle Jahre ohne andere, als durch Krankheit erzeugte Unterbrechung in der Druckerei gearbeitet und immer treu und redlich seine Pflichten erfüllt hat, erhält, wenn er nach dieser Zeit durch Altersschwäche oder sonstige unverschuldete Gebrechen arbeitsunfähig wird, so lange lebenslängliche eine Unterstützung im Verhältnisse des Kassenvorrathes bis zum höchsten Betrage von einem Berliner Thaler wöchentlich. Dieser Artikel soll jedoch nur in so weit in Anwendung gebracht werden, als er in Hinsicht des Kassenvorrathes den Art. 5 und 8 dieses Reglements keinen Abbruch thut, indem die Kranken und Sterbenden der wirklich arbeitenden Klasse den Vorzug haben müssen, […].’ ‘Art. 1. Every journeyman of any age, currently working [in the present company] or being hired in the future, has to enrol [in the present fund] if he is below the age of 50 years and if he enjoys perfect health. 2. Two silver pennies will be deducted from the weekly pay of every member, and they will be paid over to the fund. 3. Everyone who joins [this fund] after the present day shall pay an admission fee of one Berlin taler. One may choose that this admission fee will be deducted from the weekly pay stretching over a period of six weeks. However, no one is entitled to sick pay before he has paid the full admission fee in addition to the weekly contributions. […] 5. Each sick worker will receive two talers and three silver pennies per week or nine silver pennies per day. […] 7. The Faktor, as well as all members, has to reassure himself of the illness. If there are doubts whether the member is sick or whether it was caused by a brawl or by debauchery, then the sick will be examined by a medical practitioner at the expense of the fund. If the doubts are founded, the member has to repay the sick benefits which he already has received, and the contract of employment will be terminated. A member suffering from a sexually transmitted disease will not receive sick pay. 8. Upon a member’s death, his family will receive six Berlin talers towards the funeral costs. […] 9. Each printer who is travelling through [Cologne] will receive two silver groschen travel money, if he is a decent person. […] 13. As soon as the fund has sufficient capital, the principal will, for the better care of all sick workers, reach an agreement with a competent medical practitioner that he will treat all sick workers of this printing company in exchange for a reasonable and fair annual renumeration. If this is doable, he [the principal] will, to the same end, reach a similar agreement with a diligent pharmacist. 14. The Faktor shall keep records on the [fund’s] income and expenses. Each journeyman [worker] has a right to inspect these records; […]. 16. Each worker who has worked in the present company for full five years, interrupted only by periods of sickness, and who has always faithfully and honestly fulfilled his duties, shall, if he becomes incapacitated for work due to old age or due to an infirmity which he has not caused by his own fault, receive financial support for the rest of his life, depending on the reserves in the fund, but not more than one Berlin taler per week. However, such financial support shall be paid only if this does not limit the support

302

D. The evolution of Germany’s social security schemes in the 19th century

paid in accordance with Arts. 5 and 8, as the sick and the dying of the working people receive preferential treatment, […].’

The scheme was compulsory. However, workers above the age of 50 years were excluded from joining the scheme. The fund paid a pre-defined sum in the case of sickness: two talers and three silver pennies per week. Apparently, workers had to live from these benefits and in addition cover their medical expenses, as the statutes only stated that the fund may in the future contract with a medical practitioner for the workers to be treated for free. The fund was not limited to offering sick pay. It also made contributions towards a member’s funeral costs and paid a pension in cases of incapacity and old age. Finally, it is obvious that these statutes made recourse to older guild traditions: the fund still paid a Zehrpfennig to travelling printers.84 b) The legislative framework Authors of the late 18th century had identified a legal lacuna: the law had not addressed the problem of how to regulate the legal relationship between factory owners and their workers. In 1797, Karl Gottlob Rößig had argued that it is inappropriate to simply apply the legal rules regulating the legal relationship between master craftsmen and journeymen.85 However, it seems that factory owners often acted on the assumption that it was this legal regime that was applicable. Consequently, some factory owners had already introduced in the 18th century support schemes for the benefit of their workers, imitating those for the benefit of journeymen and miners. And the 1824 statutes of the health insurance fund for Johann Peter Bachem’s printing company again suggest that factory owners simply made recourse to older guild traditions when establishing such factory health insurance schemes. Starting in the second half of the 19th century, legislators adopted the same approach. In Württemberg, Art. 49 of the New Trade Act (Neue Gewerbeordnung) of 1862 authorized municipalities to oblige employers in the trades to make periodic contributions towards local hospitals so that their employees would be cared for in cases of illness, and Art. 45 authorized district authorities to oblige factory owners to raise from their workers contributions to a similar end. Art. 45 also hints that factory owners had already in the past voluntarily established funds for the support of their workers:86

___________ 84

See pp. 135 and 231, above. See p. 238, above. 86 (1862) Regierungs-Blatt für das Königreich Württemberg 67–86. 85

I. 19th-century developments until Bismarck’s legislation

303

‘Die Unternehmer von Fabriken können durch die zuständige Kreisregierung verpflichtet werden, für die Unterstützung ihrer Arbeiter in Fällen der Erkrankung, insoweit hiefür nicht durch örtliche Einrichtungen (Art. 49) oder durch von denselben aus freien Stücken getroffene Einrichtungen genügend gesorgt ist, regelmäßige periodische Beiträge von ihren Arbeitern zu erheben und solche nach einem unter Genehmigung der Kreisregierung festzustellenden Statute zu jenen Zwecken zu verwenden.’ ‘If there are no local institutions for the purpose of supporting sick workers (Art. 49) or if factory owners have not sufficiently provided for them on a voluntary basis, factory owners may be obliged by the district authority to raise from their workers regular and periodic contributions and to use them to that end and in accordance with the [fund’s] statutes that have to be approved by the district authority.’

The Saxon Trade Act (Gewerbegesetz) of 1861 stated in § 76 that factory owners with more than 20 workers had to draft Fabrikordnungen (factory regulations), which were nothing other than standard contracts terms regulating each contract of employment between a factory owner and his workers. And factory owners were obliged to regulate in their Fabrikordnungen the details of support and sick funds, if such funds existed in the factory.87 And according to § 97, factory workers could be obliged to contribute to boxes for support in cases of illness and for covering funeral expenses. In Prussia, the General Trade Act (Allgemeine Gewerbeordnung) of 1845 held in § 144:88 ‘Den Gesellen und Gehülfen ist die Beibehaltung der zur gegenseitigen Unterstützung vorhandenen besonderen Verbindungen und Kassen gestattet; […].’ ‘Journeymen and servants are permitted to keep those special associations and boxes for their mutual support; […]’.

And § 145 simply stated that § 144 also applied to factory workers. According to § 169(2), municipalities were authorized to make membership in such support boxes mandatory, yet the provision only mentioned journeymen and servants. § 1 of the Prussian Act concerning Support Boxes for the Trade (Gesetz, betreffend die gewerblichen Unterstützungskassen) of 1854 then extended the possibility to introduce compulsory membership also to factory workers:89 ‘Durch Ortsstatuten (§§. 168. ff. der Allgemeinen Gewerbe-Ordnung vom 17. Januar 1845.) kann für Gesellen, Gehülfen und Fabrikarbeiter die Verpflichtung festgesetzt werden, Kassen und Verbindungen zu gegenseitiger Unterstützung zu bilden, oder bereits bestehende Einrichtungen dieser Art beizutreten.’

___________ 87

(1861) Gesetz- und Verordnungsblatt für das Königreich Sachsen 187–217, 205. (1845) Gesetz-Sammlung für die Königlich Preußischen Staaten 41–78. 89 (1854) Gesetz-Sammlung für die Königlich Preußischen Staaten 138 f. In addition, see § 58 of the Verordnung, betreffend die Errichtung von Gewerberäthen und verschiedenen Abänderungen der allgemeinen Gewerbeordnung, (1849) Gesetz-Sammlung für die Königlich Preußischen Staaten 93–110. 88

304

D. The evolution of Germany’s social security schemes in the 19th century

‘Municipal legislation (§§ 168 ff. of the General Trade Act of 17 January 1845) may introduce the obligation for journeymen, servants, and factory workers to form a fund and association for mutual support or to join existing institutions of that kind.’

§§ 140 f. of the Trade Act for the North German Confederation (Gewerbeordnung für den Norddeutschen Bund) of 1869 did not bring about any changes.90 And § 77 of the Trade Act (Gewerbeordnung) of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach of 1862 simply stated that trade workers and factory workers could be obliged to contribute to funds which had been established for the purpose of supporting them in cases of sickness and which covered funeral costs.91 5. Poor relief and municipal health insurance funds There is a final facet of health insurance: as part of poor relief, municipalities were obliged to cover the medical expenses for poor members of their communities. In Bavaria, this was, for example, regulated in Art. 10 of the Act concerning Poor Relief and the Care for the Sick (Gesetz die öffentliche Armen- und Kranken-Pflege betreffend) of 1869.92 A municipality was also responsible for covering the medical expenses of those servants, journeymen, apprentices, factory workers, and all other workers who were employed within the municipality (Art. 11). To finance these medical expenses, municipalities were allowed to raise a contribution from these employees towards a health insurance fund (Art. 20). The employers were held liable for the correct payment of these contributions. Friedrich Kleeis looks upon such funds as bridging the gap between poor relief and health insurance, and according to him such municipal health insurance funds existed predominantly in the southern parts of Germany.93 Furthermore, Art. 21 of the same Act allowed municipalities to oblige factory owners to pay for the medical expenses of their workers; in turn, the factory owners were allowed to establish to that end health insurance funds and they could collect contributions towards these funds from their employees. A similar provision is to be found in § 34 of the Act concerning Public Poor Relief (Gesetz die öffentliche Armenpflege betreffend) in the Grand Duchy of Baden of 1870.94

___________ 90

(1869) Bundesgesetzblatt des Norddeutschen Bundes 245–282. (1862) Regierungs-Blatt für das Großherzogthum Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach 63– 94, 90. 92 (1869) Gesetzblatt für das Königreich Bayern 1093–1126. 93 Kleeis, Geschichte der sozialen Versicherung (1928), 74. And see Tennstedt, (1983) 29 Zeitschrift für Sozialreform 298. 94 (1870) Gesetzes- und Verordnungs-Blatt für das Großherzogthum Baden 387–395. 91

I. 19th-century developments until Bismarck’s legislation

305

6. Conclusion 19th-century Germany had inherited a multitude of different support schemes for the benefit of journeymen, miners, and seafarers. In the crafts and in the seafaring sector, these schemes had undergone fundamental changes since the second half of the 17th century and then especially in the 18th century, putting them closer to insurance-like schemes. The process of transformation had been driven mostly by public actors, in particular the legislatures of the different German states and the different municipalities. The mining sector witnessed in the 18th century changes which were less fundamental than in the crafts; but it should be recalled that miners’ guilds were under the influence of insurance thinking and they were remodelled accordingly. Here again, the developments had been driven by public actors – namely the public mining administrations of the different mining districts. Finally, starting in the 18th century, support schemes for the benefit of factory workers had been established, imitating those schemes of the mining sector. This multitude of different support schemes was still present in the first half of the 19th century, and such schemes continued to exhibit their heritage in guild traditions. Yet the uncoordinated developments and reforms on the state or even the municipal level resulted in a number of problems.95 Some funds covered, for example, the full medical expenses, whereas others offered only a pre-defined sum as sick pay. These pre-defined sums may have proven insufficient to cover the entirety of medical costs, e.g. the full cost of hospitalization.96 In such cases, municipal poor relief had to step in. The fragmented system caused further problems: for some professions and territories support schemes had been established; for others this did not occur. This left many journeymen and factory workers without any support in cases of need. Some schemes were compulsory; others were based on voluntary membership. And as poor relief, too, was regulated differently across Germany, it apparently occurred that sick journeymen without coverage migrated, or were transferred, to towns where they received treatment as part of poor relief, overburdening these towns financially.97 Each scheme may have calculated the contributions towards the fund – as well as the benefits which the scheme offered – differently. This led to problems of coordination:98 in some territories, it was the home municipality which was responsible for poor relief. A travelling journeyman, however, usually joined a support scheme where he ___________ 95

See in detail Tennstedt, (1983) 29 Zeitschrift für Sozialreform 302–309. See, e.g., Dannenberg, Das Handwerk und die sociale Frage (1872), 68–70. 97 Frevert, Krankheit als politisches Problem (1984), 158; Deter, Zwischen Gilde und Gewerbefreiheit, vol. 2 (2015), 360. 98 Rauert, (1842) 1 Archiv für Geschichte, Statistik, Kunde der Verwaltung und Landesrechte der Herzogthümer Schleswig, Holstein und Lauenburg 83. 96

306

D. The evolution of Germany’s social security schemes in the 19th century

had his current domicile. Consequently, a municipality which had introduced compulsory support schemes for journeymen working in this municipality still had to support journeymen who originated from this municipality but who now lived and worked in another municipality which had an insufficient support scheme. And more fundamentally: a fragmented system as had developed in Germany up until the middle of the 19th century hindered the mobility of workers. This was especially the case in some areas which had introduced schemes with voluntary membership and with restrictive admission requirements. Finally, small support funds proved to be financially unsound. However, forming larger funds was equally problematic. For example, the traditional mechanism of mutual control that had been in place to determine whether a member of the scheme was truly ill did not function in larger funds.99

II. Bismarck’s social security legislation The political, economic, and social contexts surrounding Bismarck’s introducing social security legislation are well researched.100 However, there was also a more legal and technical level to the introduction of Bismarck’s legislation which has thus far escaped the eyes of modern research: the system of support schemes as it had developed up to the second half of the 19th century was in great need of reform. Accordingly, did Bismarck’s legislation introduce new ideas and elements to social security, or did it (and if so, to what extent) draw on older traditions of guild support as a model? 1. The 1883 Act Concerning the Health Insurance of Workers The Act Concerning the Health Insurance of Workers (Gesetz, betreffend die Krankenversicherung der Arbeiter) was enacted in 1883.101 According to § 1, membership in a health insurance fund was compulsory for workers in the mining sector, the railway sector, and the inland steam shipping sector; for the crafts and all other standing commercial establishments; and for some further industries. According to § 2, municipalities had the power to extend mandatory membership to further industries. § 4 distinguished between local health insurance funds (Ortskrankenkassen), various forms of company health insurance funds (Betriebskrankenkassen) – including factory health insurance funds (Fabrik___________ 99

Dannenberg, Das Handwerk und die sociale Frage (1872), 70 f. See p. 277, above. 101 (1883) Deutsches Reichsgesetzblatt 73–104. On the act, see, e.g., von Woedtke, Reichsgesetz, betreffend die Krankenversicherung (1883), passim; Tennstedt, (1983) 29 Zeitschrift für Sozialreform 309–316. 100

II. Bismarck’s social security legislation

307

krankenkassen), guild health insurance funds (Innungskrankenkassen), and miners’ guild health insurance funds (Knappschaftskassen) – and municipal health insurance funds (Gemeindekrankenversicherungen). a) Gemeindekrankenversicherungen §§ 4–15 regulated the municipal health insurance funds (Gemeindekrankenversicherungen). They were of a subsidiary nature in the sense that all workers who were subject to compulsory insurance and who were not member of another insurance fund became members of a municipal health insurance fund. Furthermore, employees who were not subject to compulsory insurance were able to join a municipal health insurance fund voluntarily. They had to join the fund of the municipality where they were employed. Health conditions which already existed when joining such fund were not covered. If a voluntary member was in default with two consecutive contributions, his membership terminated automatically. § 6 defined the benefits which such funds had to offer: free medical treatment including free medication as well as sick pay in case the worker had to take sick leave. Sick pay was paid starting on the third day of sick leave. It was calculated per day, but it was paid on a weekly basis. It amounted to half the local average daily pay of a common worker. Free medical treatment and sick pay were offered for only 13 weeks. It seems that sick pay was not offered if the sick worker was treated in a hospital, as § 7 stated that a worker who was treated in a hospital received half of the sick pay if he had to support dependants. According to § 8, the local average daily pay of a common worker was defined by higher public authorities, and a distinction was made between male and female as well as young and adult workers. § 6 also mentioned possible exclusions from the right to medical treatment and sick pay. However, § 6 did not itself introduce these exclusions. Rather, it empowered municipalities to introduce these exclusions on the local level through municipal legislation. The first of these exclusions concerned sick pay. Municipalities were allowed to exclude or reduce sick pay for illness caused wilfully or by culpable participation in a fight or brawl, through alcohol abuse, or through sexual promiscuity. The second exclusion concerned the right to both medical treatment and sick pay, and it affected only those who had joined the municipal health insurance funds on a voluntary basis. § 6 allowed municipalities to introduce a rule according to which insurance coverage started for such members only six weeks after they had joined such funds. § 9 fixed the contributions which members had to pay at a maximum of 1.5% of the local average daily wages. If these contributions were not sufficient to cover the expenses, the local authority had to offer an advance to the fund in

308

D. The evolution of Germany’s social security schemes in the 19th century

order to make up for the deficit (§ 9), and the contributions could be raised to a maximum of 2% (§ 10). The local authority was reimbursed from a reserve fund which the municipal health insurance fund had to build up. Any surplus was paid into this reserve fund. If the reserve fund amounted to the average annual income of the municipal health insurance fund, then the contributions had to be reduced. § 11 allowed a member, who lost his employment on the basis of which he had joined the fund, to continue his membership in the fund. § 12 allowed different municipalities to merge their municipal health insurance funds. § 13 introduced the possibility that different municipal health insurance funds could be merged by the decision of a higher administrative authority at the request of one municipality and without the consent of the other municipality. The higher administrative authority was allowed to act on the basis of § 13 if, for example, the municipal health insurance fund of one municipality had less than 50 members. b) Ortskrankenkassen §§ 16–48 regulated local health insurance funds (Ortskrankenkassen). According to § 16, local authorities were allowed to establish a local health insurance fund for a specific profession if the fund was expected to have a minimum of 100 members. Furthermore, a local authority was allowed to establish a joint local health insurance fund for different professions if the separate funds for each profession had less than 100 members. According to § 17, a local health insurance fund could also be established by a higher administrative authority at the request of the employees of a certain profession. The requirement of a minimum of 100 members was introduced to safeguard the solvency of such funds, as § 18 made clear. Accordingly, a local health insurance fund could be established even if it had less than 100 members if the fund’s continuing solvency was demonstrated. Employees who were subject to compulsory insurance and who entered the profession became members of the local health insurance fund unless they could prove that they continued to be members of another health insurance fund (§ 19). And they could terminate their membership only if they could prove that they had become member of another health insurance fund. Furthermore, employees who were not subject to compulsory insurance were allowed to join a local health insurance fund voluntarily. §§ 20 f. distinguished between compulsory and voluntary health benefits. According to § 20, each local health insurance fund had to offer the same support as municipal health insurance funds (§§ 7–8): free medical treatment, including free medication as well as sick pay. In addition, a local health insurance fund had to pay death benefits (Sterbegeld) to the dependants of a deceased member, amounting to twenty times the local average daily pay of a common worker (§ 8).

II. Bismarck’s social security legislation

309

Pursuant to § 21, local health insurance funds were allowed to offer more benefits than compulsory health support. Accordingly, they were allowed to extend the period within which support was offered beyond 13 weeks; they were allowed to increase the sick pay within certain limits; they were allowed to extend the catalogue of offered medical therapies; they were allowed to extend free medical treatment and free medication to a member’s family; they were allowed to offer health benefits to women up to six weeks after they have given birth; and they were allowed to increase the Sterbegeld. However, local health insurance funds were not allowed to offer any benefits which were not specifically referred to in § 21. Unlike with municipal health insurance funds, the contributions to local health insurance funds were not defined in the 1883 Act. The reason is simple: the benefits which local health insurance funds offered could differ greatly. Thus, § 22 simply stated that such contributions had to be raised which ensured that all health benefits, the costs of administration, and the building up of a reserve fund were covered. Of course, the contributions were reviewed by the higher administrative authority on the basis of § 30; additionally, § 31 set out limits. According to § 23, each local health insurance fund had to have its own bylaws. These statutes had to define (1) who was obliged to be a member in the fund, (2) the health benefits which members were to receive, (3) the contributions which members had to make, (4) the details concerning the managing board of the fund and its powers, (5) the details concerning the fund’s general assembly, (6) the procedures for how to change the statutes, and (7) the details concerning the annual financial statement. The statutes needed the approval of the higher administrative authority (§ 24). Furthermore, the statutes could (1) regulate that a member who had repeatedly defrauded the fund could be excluded, (2) exclude or reduce sick pay in the event of an illness caused wilfully or by culpable participation in a fight or brawl, through alcohol abuse, or through sexual promiscuity, and (3) introduce a waiting period of six weeks for those members who had joined the fund voluntarily (§ 26). Membership terminated if a member was in default with two consecutive contributions (§ 27). The contributions which had to be made by the members themselves were not allowed to exceed 2% of the average salary, but they were allowed to be raised to up to 3% of the average salary if this was necessary to cover the expenses for voluntary health benefits (§ 31). The representatives of both the employers and of the members had to agree to such an increase. Each health insurance fund was obliged to establish a reserve fund amounting to the sum of the average expenses of one year (§ 32). If the health insurance fund generated a deficit, it had to either increase the contributions or it had lower voluntary health support (§ 33).

310

D. The evolution of Germany’s social security schemes in the 19th century

The general assembly elected a managing board (§ 34). All members formed the general assembly (§ 37). However, it was possible for members to elect representatives to serve on the general assembly. If the fund had more than 500 members, then it was mandatory that the general assembly consisted of elected representatives. Furthermore, employers were represented both in the managing board and in the general assembly, and they were represented in relation to the employers’ mandatory contribution, but they could not have more than one-third of the votes in the general assembly and the managing board (§ 38). The 1883 Act contained provisions on how funds could be invested (§ 40). Different municipalities were allowed to establish common local health insurance funds (§ 43). The management of the funds was supervised by the public administration, which had the right to examine all accounts and to call meetings of the managing board and the general assembly as well as the right to preside over meetings (§ 44 f.). Different local health insurance funds of one district were allowed to form associations in order to negotiate joint contracts with medical practitioners, pharmacists, and hospitals and in order to establish and run joint medical facilities (§ 46).102 c) Common Provisions for Gemeindekrankenversicherungen and Ortskrankenkrassen §§ 49–58 of the 1883 Act contained provisions which applied to both municipal health insurances and local health insurance funds. According to § 49, employers had to register each employee with the municipal health insurance or with the local health insurance fund within three days after the start of the contract of employment, and they had to de-register them within three days after the termination of the contract of employment. The employers had to deduct the employees’ contribution to the fund from their wages and pay them directly to the health insurance fund (§ 53). In principle, employers had to make an additional contribution to the fund, and their contribution amounted to one-third of the employee’s contribution (§ 52). d) Betriebs- and Fabrikkrankenkassen It was in particular companies and factories with more than 50 employees that were allowed to establish their own health insurance funds: company health insurance funds (Betriebskrankenkassen) and factory health insurance funds (Fabrikkrankenkassen) (§ 60). And the higher administrative authority could ___________ 102

On a predecessor agreement of such nature dating from 1850 in Berlin, see Schirbel, Geschichte der sozialen Krankenversorgung (1929), 137.

II. Bismarck’s social security legislation

311

oblige companies and factories to establish such funds. Employers had to ensure that employees who were subject to compulsory insurance entered the health insurance fund when concluding the contract of employment (§ 59). It was also possible for employees who were not subject to compulsory insurance to join their company’s or factory’s health insurance fund on a voluntary basis (§ 63). However, health issues which employees already had when joining the fund were not covered. And their membership terminated if they were in default with two consecutive contributions. Most provisions of the 1883 Act concerning local health insurance funds also applied to company health insurance funds and factory health insurance funds (§ 64). However, such funds had the power to depart from some of these provisions. They could, for example, decide that the contributions per employee were not to be calculated on the basis of an average salary but on the basis of the individual salary of each employee. e) Innungsgkrankenkassen and Knappschaftskassen The successors of craft guilds (Innungen) still had the right to establish health insurance funds for their members’ apprentices and journeymen (§ 73). Most provisions on local health insurance funds were also applicable to these guild health insurance funds. Finally, miners’ guild health insurance funds (Knappschaftskassen) remained more or less unchanged (§ 74 f). f) Conclusion In his analysis of the 1883 Act, Michael Stolleis correctly observed:103 ‘In keinem anderen Zweig der Sozialversicherung reichte die Tradition genossenschaftlicher Selbsthilfe so weit zurück wie in der Krankenversicherung. Die traditionellen “Kranken-, Hülfs- und Sterbekassen” der Gilden, Innungen, Bruderschaften, Zünfte, Gewerkschaften und Knappschaften bestanden immer noch, wenn auch verändert […].’) ‘In no other sector of social insurance did the tradition of cooperative self-help reach back as far as in the case of sickness insurance. The traditional “sickness, aid, and funeral funds” of the guilds, fraternities, unions, and miners’ associations still existed, even if in modified form […].’

___________ 103 Stolleis, Geschichte des Sozialrechts (2003), 76. The translation is taken from idem, Origins of the German Welfare State (2013), 69; idem, History of Social Law in Germany (2014), 54. In addition, see Companje/Hendriks/Veraghtert/Widdershoven, Two Centuries of Solidarity (2009), 69.

312

D. The evolution of Germany’s social security schemes in the 19th century

However, continuities went beyond the mere observation that the 1883 Act relied on traditional institutions like guild funds. First, the 1883 Act did not introduce compulsory insurance in general. It made insurance compulsory only for workers who were employed in certain professions. It thereby followed the fundamental design of guilds, which similarly were compulsory only for those employers who worked in a specific profession. Further, those who were unemployed were not eligible to participate in guilds, and in a like fashion they were not subject to compulsory insurance under the 1883 Act. However, the 1883 Act also allowed for voluntary membership in health insurance schemes for those employees who belonged to a profession which was not subject to compulsory insurance. Secondly, the general legislative approach which had been adopted in the mining sector since the 16th century and which in the 18th century had been extended to the crafts was also adopted by the 1883 Act. The 1883 Act defined only the regulatory framework for various local health insurance schemes. The mining sector had seen in the 16th century public mining acts for individual mines, the 17th century had seen public mining acts for whole mining districts, and the 18th century had seen public mining acts for entire territories. The latter approach had also been adopted by the first craft legislation of the 18th century. The 1883 Act then defined the regulatory framework for the individual health insurance funds on the imperial level. Furthermore, the 1883 Act went beyond the different sectors. The 1883 Act defined the minimum and maximum contributions which employers and employees had to make. And it defined the minimum and maximum health benefits which they could offer to members. The different health insurance funds which operated on a local level were then allowed to specify the details in their statutes. However, by defining the general regulatory framework on the imperial level and cross-sectorial, the 1883 Act ensured a solution for the problems resulting from the patchwork legal regimes as they had existed up until that point. Thirdly, the individual health insurance funds were under the supervision of public authorities, a system which had been implemented in the mining sector since the 16th century and in the crafts since the 18th century. Fourthly, the individual health insurance funds were non-profit entities. They were mutual insurance funds as had been common in the crafts since the Middle Ages. Fifthly, the health insurance funds which were acknowledged in the 1883 Act had a long history. The Knappschaftskassen were essentially miners’ guild health insurance schemes. The Innungskrankenkassen were fundamentally craft guild health insurance schemes. Neither was any longer recognized as a poly-func-

II. Bismarck’s social security legislation

313

tional institution. They were reduced to a single function, that of offering insurance to members. Furthermore, they no longer covered different risks but were instead more or less reduced to covering the risk of illness. The Fabrikkrankenkassen were successors to those factory health insurance schemes which had been modelled after miners’ guilds since the early 18th century. The Ortskrankenkassen were successors to those schemes which had been established in towns since the late 18th century, imitating the support schemes offered by craft guilds, but going beyond the individual crafts and offering support schemes for all journeymen of a town. Examples were the 1786 fund in Würzburg and the 1789 fund in Bamberg. It is, however, noteworthy that the 1789 fund in Bamberg was not able to continue its work as a health insurance fund under the 1883 Act despite its having applied to be recognized as Innungskrankenkasse.104 This exemplifies that the phase of transition proved difficult for some existing health insurance schemes. Finally, the Gemeindekrankenkassenversicherung, which stepped in only subsidiarily, seems to have been a recent invention. It was modelled after those funds which were established only in the 19th century, in Bavaria for example on the basis of the Act concerning Poor Relief and the Care for the Sick (Gesetz die öffentliche Armen- und Kranken-Pflege betreffend) of 1869.105 Such funds were an instrument of poor relief. In all, under the 1883 Act, health insurance remained organized mostly on a local level – just as it had been practised in the crafts since the Middle Ages and in the mining sector since the 16th century. Sixthly, and finally, the 1883 Act reflects also in substance older guild traditions. According to § 20, the various health insurance schemes had to offer the same health benefits which had been offered by miners’ guilds since the 16th century. The contributions which members had to pay were still deducted from their salary, and the employer paid them directly into the fund, a procedure which had been common in the mining sector since the 16th century and which had first appeared in the crafts in the 17th century. Finally, employers, too, had to contribute to the funds. In all, the 1883 Act was deeply rooted in guild traditions. Yet at the same time, it reacted to, and solved, the many problems which had been experienced in the fragmented system prior to the 1883 Act.

___________ 104 Gesellen-Institut, Zum 100jährigen Jubiläum (1889), 4 f.; Göller, Das ‘Institut kranker Handwerksgesellen’ in Bamberg (1889), vi f. 105 von Woedtke, Reichsgesetz, betreffend die Krankenversicherung (1883), XIX; Tennstedt, (1983) 29 Zeitschrift für Sozialreform 315; Karwehl, Entwicklung und Reform des Knappschaftswesens (1907), 23. And see Kleeis, Geschichte der sozialen Versicherung (1928), 19.

314

D. The evolution of Germany’s social security schemes in the 19th century

2. The 1884 Work Accident Insurance Act and the 1889 Workers’ Invalidity and Pension Insurance Act In 1884, the Work Accident Insurance Act (Unfallversicherungsgesetz) followed.106 Whereas the Act Concerning the Health Insurance of Workers (Gesetz, betreffend die Krankenversicherung der Arbeiter) of 1883 still showed a great resemblance to older guild welfare, the same is not true for the Work Accident Insurance Act of 1884. The 1884 Act regulated insurance coverage for work accidents. Only dangerous professions were subject to mandatory insurance. Employees suffering from a work accident received free medical treatment and a pension if they were incapacitated. The benefits began only in the 14th week after the work accident occurred. Until the 14th week, the employee was still entitled to health benefits offered by the various health insurance funds under the 1883 Act. In the event of death, the insurance contributed towards funeral costs and paid a pension to widows and orphans. To that end, employers formed a mutual insurance entity, what was known as a Berufsgenossenschaft. Finally, the Gesetz, betreffend die Invaliditäts- und Altersversicherung (Act on Workers’ Invalidity and Pension Insurance) was enacted in 1889.107 According to § 1, membership was compulsory primarily for factory workers, servants, journeymen, apprentices, and seamen. The act thus covered chiefly those groups of employees which had previously been covered by the numerous schemes of guild support. Apart from these general observations, the 1889 Act does not show any resemblance to older guild traditions.

III. Guild welfare and modern life insurance? But what about insurance? After all, modern research on the history of insurance stresses the importance of guilds for the shaping of today’s insurance and insurance law.108 Nevertheless, there seems to be no direct link between guild support and either modern insurance or modern insurance law. In the early modern period, guild welfare was further developed under the influence of an emerging ‘insurance thinking’; the development of insurance was, vice versa, influenced by guild support.109 More importantly, the 17th and then especially the 18th century saw new, often voluntary, support boxes and funds which were rooted in – and which further developed – the ideas of guild welfare, especially voluntary widows’ and orphans’ assurances. Yet even though the first pastors’ ___________ 106

(1884) Deutsches Reichsgesetzblatt 69–111. (1889) Deutsches Reichsgesetzblatt 97–114. 108 See pp. 20 ff., above. 109 See pp. 230 ff., above. 107

III. Guild welfare and modern life insurance?

315

widows’ and orphans’ assurances may have been inspired by the support offered by miners’ guilds to widows and orphans, they seem to have subsequently developed independent of guilds, and they developed into funds which were distinct from the support offered by professional guilds. Thus, guilds may have had, via such voluntary support boxes and funds, an indirect influence on modern insurance and insurance law. However, assessing the importance of these voluntary support boxes of the 17th and 18th centuries for the development of insurance and insurance law is another research question waiting to be addressed.

E. Conclusion The overall conclusion of the present volume can be brief. Modern literature is correct in holding that Germany’s social security is rooted in guild welfare. However, it was not medieval guild support that was a model for Germany’s social security legislation. Medieval guild support had to go through two phases of transformation in, respectively, the early modern period and in the 19th century before it was apt as a model for Bismarck’s social security legislation, especially the 1883 Act Concerning the Health Insurance of Workers (Gesetz, betreffend die Krankenversicherung der Arbeiter). By contrast, support offered by professional guilds had no direct impact on modern insurance and insurance law.

Archival and printed sources Archival sources Archiv des Juliusspitals zu Würzburg – A 4034: Errichtung eines Kranken- und Geselleninstituts in Würzburg 1785–1872. – A 4035: Errichtung des Instituts für kranke Dienstboten mit Statuten 1786–1823. KPM-Archiv (Land Berlin), Stiftung Preussische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg – No. 265: Acta die Versorgungs-Anstalt bey der Königlichen Porzellan-Manufaktur betreffend, vol. 1, 1789–1791. – No. 269: Acta die Versorgungs-Anstalt bey der Königlichen Porzellan-Manufaktur betreffend, vol. 5, 1798–1800. Niedersächsisches Landesarchiv Hannover – NLA HA Hann. 84a Nr. 659: Die Invalidenkasse für die Waldarbeiter und Fuhrleute zu Clausthal, 1712. – NLA HA Hann. 84a Nr. 660: Die Errichtung der Waldarbeiter-Invalidenkasse, 1713– 1757. – NLA HA Hann. 84a Nr. 661: Die Invalidenkasse für Fuhrleute, Wald- und Wegearbeiter im Bezirk des Kommunion-Harzes, 1718. – NLA HA Hann. 84a Nr. 662: Reglements von der am einseitigen Harz für Fuhrleute, Köhler und Holzhauer zu etablierenden Invalidenkasse, 1718–1735. Niedersächsisches Landesarchiv Hannover, Bergarchiv Clausthal – NLA HA BaCl Hann. 84a No. 5537: Gnadenlohn und Büchsengeld für Unteroffizianten und Arbeiter und deren Angehörige – Generalia, 1758–1847. Stadtarchiv Bamberg – B 9 + 719: Entwurf eines Instituts für kranke Dienstboten und deren Aufnahme in das Krankenhospital. – B 9 + 799: Statuten des Krankengesellen-Instituts. – B 9 + 800: Statuten des Krankengesellen-Instituts. Stadtarchiv Mainz – 21/350: Zunftbuch der Schneider. Stadtarchiv Würzburg – Des gnädigst bestätigten bürgerlichen kranken Gesellen Instituts fünfte Rechnung für das Jahr 1790.

320

Archival and printed sources

– Vierte Jahres Rechnung des gnädigst bestätigten bürgerlichen kranken Gesellen Instituts vom Jahre 1789.

Printed sources Abdrück etzlicher Artickel: damit Der Durchleuchtigst Hochgeborene Fürst vnd Herr Augustus Hertzog zu Sachsen … Seiner Churfürstlichen Gnaden Bergkordnung … jtzo von Newem hat erkleren vormehren vnd vorbessern lassen (Dresden 1571). Artickel wegen Errichtung einer Invaliden-Wittwen- und Waysen-Casse vor Ihre Königl. Majestät in Pohlen und Churfürstl. Durchl. zu Sachsen etc. Auch dero Königl. Churführstl. Sächsischen Haußes Stall-Bedienten, Kutscher, Vorreuter und Knechte, Wie solche von denen Mitgliedern verglichen (Dresden 1752). Begräbnüß-, Auch Witwen- un Wäisen-Cassa, Etlicher Hochgräfl. Reuß-Plauis. Unterund Ober Gräitzis. Einwohner in der Stadt und auff dem Landen (Greiz 1715). Berckordnung, wie es uff unser Wolffgangs von Gottes gnaden Pfaltzgrave bey Rhein, ... Silber, Kupffer, Bley, und Quecksilber Berckwercken inn unserm Fürstenthumb Zweybrücken gehalten werden solle (Laugingen 1565). BergkOrdenung / des … Fürsten und Herrn /Herrn Christianen / Hertzogen zu Sachssen (Dresden 1589). Bergkordnung des freyen königlichen Bergkwercks Sanct Joachimsthal / sambt anderen umbligenden und eingeleibten Silberbergkwercken (Zwickau 1548). Brüderschaftliche Fundation und Cassa Derer in Ihre Königl. Majestät in Pohlen und Churführstl. Durchl. zu Sachsen etc. Auch des Königl. Churfürstl. Sächsischen Hauses Diensten, in guter Livrée stehende Hof-Laqvais, Lauffer, Heyducken und Stubenheitzer, Wegen Versorgerung Ihrer nachgelassenen Wittwen und unmündigen Waysen, unter allgnädigster Genehmhaltung und Confirmation (Dresden 1748). Chur-Braunschweig-Lüneburgische Landes-Ordnungen und Gesetze, vol. 1 (Göttingen 1739), vol. 3 (Göttingen 1740). Da unter Gottes Gnade und Beystand auff unterschiedlicher Personen Verlangen und Ansuchen, man gewillet, abermahlen eine so genandte Begräbniß-Wittwen- und Wäisen-Cassa an und auffzurichten (1703). Der auff der Universität Rostock angelegte Wittwen-Kasten / Das ist: Statuta und Verordnung (Rostock 1707). Der Stadt Hamburg Anno 1685. Neu revidirte Feuer-Ordnung (Hamburg 1685). Der Stadt Hamburg Assecuranz- und Haverey-Ordnung (Hamburg 1731). Die New gegebene Bergkfreyheit uber die Vichtelbergischen Ertzgebirge (Zwickau 1550). Die Priester-Witwen- und Waysen-Casse, Welche die Priesterschafft auff dem Lande in dem Görlitzischen Kreiße und was zu desselben gantzen Hochlöbl. Ampts-Territorio gehörig ist (Görlitz 1708). Fundation Der Bey denen Königlichen Chur-Fürstlich Sächsischen Steuer-Expeditionen zu Dreßden anno 1714 mit Gott aufgerichteten und anno 1761 erneuerte SteuerWitben- und Waysen-Cassa (Dresden 1762).

Archival and printed sources

321

Fundation der Königl. Preußisch-Evangelisch-Reformirten Prediger Wittwen- und Waysen-Casse in der Chur-Marck Brandenburg (Berlin 1716). Herzoglich-Würtembergische Ordnung für die allgemeine freywillige Wittwen- und Waysen-Cassa (Stuttgart 1756). Im Nahmen Gottes Ist diese von Anthon Behrmann und andern Guten Freunden Freywillige Neu auffgerichtete nunmehro aber zum vierten mahl renovirte Und von E.E. Hochweisen Raht confirmirte Todten-Cassa, Denen nachbleibenden Wittwen aus dieser Societät alhie in Lüneburg zum Besten und zum Vortheil beybehalten (Lüneburg 1747). Neu aufgerichtete Wittwen-Cassa, Angefangen am Tage Martin Luther (Jena 1709). Ordnung der Wittwen-Cassa, Bey gesammten Hoch-Fürstl. Canzleyen (Ansbach 1742). Project Wittwen- und Waisen-Cassa-Ordnung für die weltliche Dienerschafft in den Hoch-Fürstl. Brandenburg-Onolzbachischen Landen (Ansbach 1768). Revidirte Berg-Ordnung vor das Sourveraine Herzogthum Schlesien und vor die Graffschaft Glatz (Berlin 1769). Revidirte Leges Der Freybergischen Special-Wittben- und Waysen-Cassa, Wie sie Von dem Stadt-Ministerio zu Freyberg übersehen, und auffs neue abgefaßet worden (Dresden 1719). Sammlung der hamburgischen Gesetze und Verfassungen, vol. 9 (Hamburg 1771). Sammlung derer samtlichen Handwercks-Ordnungen des Herzogthums Würtemberg (Stuttgart 1758). Statuten der Wittwenkasse der Aerzte, Wundärzte, Thierärzte und Apotheker des Königreichs Sachsen und der angrenzenden Herzog- und Fürstenthümer (1852). Statuten des Instituts für kranke Dienstleute in der fürstlichen Residenzstadt Würzburg (1801). Wir Friderich Karl Joseph von Gottes Gnaden, des heiligen Stuhls zu Mainz Erzbischof […] fügen hiemit zu wissen. Es ware von jeher eine Unserer angelegentlichsten Wünsche, die Bedürfnisse eines jeden Unserer Diener so vollständig zu befriedigen, daß das Augenmerk auf die Pflichten des Dienstes durch keine Nebensorgen zerstreuet […]. Da Wir nun der Erfüllung dieses Wunsches sehr nahe zu kommen glauben, wenn wir den künftigen Wittwen, und Waisen Unserer gesammten Civildienerschaft eine ständige Versorgung verschaffen […] (Mainz 1784). Wittwen- und Waisen-Cassa Ordnung für die weltliche Dienerschaft den Hochfürstl. Brandenburg-Onolzbachischen Landen (Ansbach 1781). Wittwen-Cassa der Stadt Husum / Auffgerichtet Anno 1704 (Schleswig 1704).

Bibliography Abel, Ulrich: Die Grundzüge des deutschen Seearbeitsrechts und seine geschichtlichen Grundlagen (1938). Adler, Georg: Ueber die Epochen der Deutschen Handwerker-Politik (1903). Alber, Jens: Vom Armenhaus zum Wohlfahrtsstaat. Analysen zur Entwicklung der Sozialversicherung in Westeuropa (1982). Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, vol. 11 (1880). Allgemeine Schatz-Kammer der Kauffmannschafft Oder Vollständiges Lexicon Aller Handlungen und Gewerbe, vol. 4 (Leipzig 1742). Allgemeines Juristisches Oracvlvm, Oder des Heil. Römisch-Teutschen Reichs JuristenFacultät, vol. 4 and vol. 5 (Leipzig 1748). Anonymous: 150 Jahre Betriebskrankenkasse der Firma M. Dumont Schauberg. 1815– 1965 (1966). Anonymous: Abhandlung von den Handwerksgesellen und ihren Zünften, in: Georg Heinrich Zincke (ed.), Leipziger Sammlung von Wirthschaftlichen, Policey- Cammer- und Finantz-Sachen, vol. 8 (1752), 324–343. Anonymous: Brief. Würzburg im Juny 1787. Institut für kranke Handwerksgesellen, (1786) Real-Zeitung 13–17. Arendt, Max: Die Geschichte der Berliner Klempner-Innung in den letzten drei Jahrhunderten (1927). Aschoff, Hans-Georg: Die Welfen. Von der Reformation bis 1918 (2010). Ayaß, Wolfgang: Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterbewegung und Sozialversicherung bis zur Jahrhundertwende, in: Ulrich Becker et al. (eds.), Sozialstaat Deutschland. Geschichte und Gegenwart (2010), 17–43. Baasch, Ernst: Die Hansestädte und die Barbaresken (1897). Bachem, Karl: Josef Bachem. Seine Familie und die Firma J.P. Bachem in Köln, vol. 1 (1912). Baczko, Ludwig von: Versuch einer Geschichte und Beschreibung Königsbergs (2nd edn., 1804). Batzer, Ernst: Die Satzungen der Bäcker- und Müllerknecht-Bruderschaft in Offenburg, (1906/07) 34 Alemannia. Zeitschrift für alemannische und fränkische Geschichte, Volkskunde, Kunst und Sprache 96–102. Baum, Hans-Peter: Handwerk, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 4 (1989), 1910–1914. Baumann, Horst / Beckmann, Roland Michael / Johannsen, Katharina / Johannsen, Ralf / Koch, Robert (eds.): Bruck/Möller. Versicherungsvertragsgesetz. Großkommentar, vol. 8/1 (9th edn., 2013).

Bibliography

323

Benseler, Gustav Eduard: Geschichte Freibergs und seines Bergbaus, vol. 1 (1846), vol. 2 (1853). Berge, Otto: Fuldas öffentliches Bankwesen (1974). Berger, Eva: Frühmodernes Krankenhaus und ‘Pflegeversicherung’ in der ersten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts. Instrumente städtischer Armenfürsorge?, in: Alfons Labisch, Reinhard Spree (eds.), ‘Einem jeden Kranken in einem Hospitale sein eigenes Bett’. Zur Sozialgeschichte des Allgemeinen Krankenhauses in Deutschland im 19. Jahrhundert (1996), 208–235. Bergholz, Gerda: Die Beckenwerkergilde zu Braunschweig (1954). Bergius, Johann Heinrich Ludwig: Policey- und Cameral-Magazin, vol. 9 (Frankfurt am Main 1774). Bergmann, Rudolf: Geschichte des rheinischen Versicherungswesens bis zur Mitte des XIX. Jahrhunderts (1928). Berlepsch, Hermann Alexander: Chronik der Gewerke. Nach Forschungen in den alten Quellensammlungen und Archiven vieler Städte Deutschlands und der Schweiz, vol. 4 (1850). Beseler, Georg: System des gemeinen deutschen Privatrechts, vol. 2 (1853), vol. 3 (1855). Bibra, Siegmund Freiherr von (ed.): Journal von und für Deutschland, vol. 2/11 (Fulda 1785). Biederstedt, Diedrich Hermann: Was beym eingetretenen Todesfalle eines Predigers sogleich besorget werden soll?, in: idem, Sammlung aller kirchlichen, das Predigtamt, dessen Verwaltung, Verhältnisse, Pflichten und Rechte betreffenden, Verordnungen im Herzogthume Neuvorpommern und Fürstenthume Rügen, vol. 2 (1817), 205–227. Biermer, M.: Gesellenverbände, in: Ludwig Elster (ed.), Wörterbuch der Volkswirtschaft, vol. 1 (3rd edn. 1911), 1022–1023. Bingener, Andreas: Armenkaste oder Knappschaftsbüchse? Die Goslaer Bergknappen erhalten eine eigene soziale Absicherung, in: Michael Fessner et al. (eds.), Auf breiten Schultern. 750 Jahre Knappschaft (2010), 52–59. – Bruderschaften und soziale Sicherheit. Zur Entwicklung des Knappschaftswesens in Tirol, in: Michael Fessner et al. (eds.), Auf breiten Schultern. 750 Jahre Knappschaft (2010), 60–70. – Das knappschaftliche Rechnungswesen vom 16. bis zum 18. Jahrhundert am Beispiel der Freiberger, Schneeberger und Johanngeorgenstädter Knappschaftsrechnungen, in: Christoph Bartels (ed.), … höchst verpönte Selbst-Hülfe … Zur Entstehung und Entwicklung der Sozialversicherung in Bergbau, Seefahrt und Eisenbahnwesen (2012), 64–87. – Die Anfänge der knappschaftlichen Selbstverwaltung bis zum preußischen Knappschaftsgesetz von 1854, in: Christoph Bartels (ed.), … höchst verpönte Selbst-Hülfe … Zur Entstehung und Entwicklung der Sozialversicherung in Bergbau, Seefahrt und Eisenbahnwesen (2012), 45–64. – Knappschaft, in: Albrecht Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 2 (2nd edn., 2012), 1907–1909.

324

Bibliography

– Zum Knappschaftswesen in Goslar vom späteren Mittelalter bis zur ersten Hälfte des 16. Jahrhunderts, in: Christoph Bartels (ed.), … höchst verpönte Selbst-Hülfe … Zur Entstehung und Entwicklung der Sozialversicherung in Bergbau, Seefahrt und Eisenbahnwesen (2012), 14–26. – Zur Entwicklung des Knappschaftswesens in Tirol, in: Christoph Bartels (ed.), … höchst verpönte Selbst-Hülfe … Zur Entstehung und Entwicklung der Sozialversicherung in Bergbau, Seefahrt und Eisenbahnwesen (2012), 26–45. Bingener, Andreas / Bartels, Christoph / Fessner, Michael: Die große Zeit des Silbers. Der Bergbau im deutschsprachigen Raum von der Mitte des 15. bis zum Ende des 16. Jahrhunderts, in: Klaus Tenfelde et al. (eds.), Geschichte des deutschen Bergbaus, vol. 1 (2012), 317–452. Blaich, Fritz: Das zünftige Handwerk als Problem des Immerwährenden Reichstags, in: Dieter Albrecht (ed.), Regensburg – Stadt der Reichstage. Vom Mittelalter zur Neuzeit (1994), 127–142. Blaschke, Karlheinz: Die Arbeitsverfassung im Freiberger Bergbau während des späten Mittelalters, in: Karl Heinz Ludwig and Peter Sika (eds.): Bergbau und Arbeitsrecht. Die Arbeitsverfassung im europäischen Bergbau des Mittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit (1987), 83–95. Blümcke, Otto: Die Handwerkszünfte im mittelalterlichen Stettin (1884). Bodemann, Eduard: Die Älteren Zunfturkunden der Stadt Lüneburg (1883). Böhmert, Victor: Beiträge zur Geschichte des Zunftwesens (1862). Bohn, Robert: Von Sklavenkassen und Konvoifahrten. Die arabischen Seeräuber und die deutsche Seefahrt im 17. und 18. Jahrhundert, in: Thomas Stamm-Kuhlmann et al. (eds.), Geschichtsbilder. Festschrift für Michael Salewski zum 65. Geburtstag (2003), 25–37. Boldt, G.: Knappschaft, in: Adalbert Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 2 (1978), 893–895. Bopp, Hartwig: Die Entwicklung des deutschen Handwerksgesellentums im 19. Jahrhundert unter dem Einfluß der Zeitströmungen (1932). Börner, M.: Über die Entwicklung der knappschaftlichen Versicherung in Sachsen, (1924) 98 Jahrbuch für das Berg- und Hüttenwesen in Sachsen 57–68. Borscheid, Peter: Geschichte des Alters. 16. – 18. Jahrhundert (1987). Böth, Gitta: Johann Ignaz Franz Maria von Landsberg-Velen (1788–1863). Ein adeliger Unternehmer im bürgerlichen Zeitalter (2009). Brand, Jürgen: Zunft, in: Adalbert Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 5 (1998), 1792–1803. Brassert, Hermann: Berg-Ordnungen der Preussischen Lande. Sammlung der in Preussen gültigen Berg-Ordnungen (1858). Bräuer, Helmut: Armut in Bergstädten des sächsischen Erzgebirges während der frühen Neuzeit, in: Karl Heinrich Kaufhold and Wilfried Reininghaus (eds.), Stadt und Bergbau (2004), 199–238. – Gesellen im sächsischen Zunfthandwerk des 15. und 16. Jahrhundert (1989).

Bibliography

325

Braumüller, J.G.: Beweis, daß Gilden, Innungen und Zünfte einem wohlgeordneten Staate nützlich und nöthig sind; nebst einigen Gedanken über Monopolien (Berlin 1795). Braun, Heinrich: Geschichte der Lebensversicherung und der Lebensversicherungstechnik (2nd edn., 1963). – Urkunden und Materialien zur Geschichte der Lebensversicherung und der Lebensversicherungstechnik (1937). Breithaupt, August: Die Bergstadt Freiberg im Königreich Sachsen in Hinsicht auf Geschichte, Statistik, Cultur und Gewerbe, besonders auf Bergbau und Hüttenwesen (2nd edn., 1847). Breuer, Heinz: Das Wesen der deutschen Zünfte im Mittelalter. Eine literarisch-kritische Untersuchung (1942). Brinkschulte, Eva: Die Institutionalisierung des modernen Krankenhauses im Rahmen aufgeklärter Sozialpolitik. Die Beispiele Würzburg und Bamberg, in: Alfons Labisch, Reinhard Spree (eds.), ‘Einem jeden Kranken in einem Hospitale sein eigenes Bett’. Zur Sozialgeschichte des Allgemeinen Krankenhauses in Deutschland im 19. Jahrhundert (1996), 187–207. – Krankenhaus und Krankenkasse. Soziale und ökonomische Faktoren der Entstehung des modernen Krankenhauses im frühen 19. Jahrhundert. Die Beispiele Würzburg und Bamberg (1998). Brück, Thomas: Korporationen der Schiffer und Bootsleute. Untersuchungen zu ihrer Entwicklung in Seestädten an der Nord- und Ostseeküste vom Ende des 15. bis zum Ende des 17. Jahrhunderts (1994). – Stellung und Aufgaben von Bootsleutebruderschaften vom Ende des 15. bis zum Ende des 17. Jahrhunderts, in: Peter Johanek (ed.), Einungen und Bruderschaften in der spätmittelalterlichen Stadt (1993), 45–69. Brucker, Johann Karl: Strassburger Zunft- und Polizei-Verordnungen des 14. und 15. Jahrhunderts (1889). Brunn, Walter von: Von den Gilden der Barbiere und Chirurgen in den Hansestädten (1921). Bruns, Alexander: Privatversicherungsrecht (2015). Bucher, Bruno: Die alten Zunft- und Verkehrs-Ordnungen der Stadt Krakau (1889). Bücher, Karl: Frankfurter Buchbinder-Ordnungen vom XVI. bis zum XIX. Jahrhundert, (1888) Archiv für Frankfurts Geschichte und Kunst 224–296. Büchner, Franz: Geschichte, in: Eberhardt Finke (ed.), Handwörterbuch des Versicherungswesens, vol. 1 (1958), 792–805. – Geschichtliche Betrachtungen zum Begriff der Versicherung, in: Reimer Schmidt and Karl Sieg (eds.), Grundprobleme des Versicherungsrechts. Festgabe für Hans Möller zum 65. Geburtstag (1972), 111–134. Bülow, Wilhelm: Das Knappschaftswesen im Ruhrkohlenbezirk bis zum allgemeinen preußischen Berggesetz vom 24. Juni 1865 (1905). Bütow, Paul: Die Versicherung auf Gegenseitigkeit (1883).

326

Bibliography

Bunge, Friedrich Georg von: Liv-, Esth- und Curländisches Urkundenbuch nebst Regesten, vol. 4 (1859). Burmeister, Carl Christoph Heinrich: Alterthümer des Wismarschen Stadtrechtes aus den ältesten bisher ungedruckten Stadtbüchern nebst den ältesten Zunftrollen aus dem vierzehnten Jahrhunderte (1838). Claproth, Justus: Rechtswissenschaft von richtiger und vorsichtiger Eingehung der Verträge und Contracte, vol. 2 (4th edn., Göttingen 1798). Clasen, Claus-Peter: Streiks der Augsburger Schuhknechte (2002). Cleirac, Étienne: Les us et coutumes de la mer (Bordeaux, 1647). Cohn, Julius: Die Entwicklung der Krankenversicherung in Deutschland (1924). Coing, Helmut: Europäisches Privatrecht, vol. 1 (1985). Companje, Karel-Peter / Hendriks, R.H.M. / Veraghtert, K.F.E. / Widdershoven, B.E.M.: Two Centuries of Solidarity. German, Belgian and Dutch social health insurance 1770– 2008 (2009). Dalmer, Paul: Das Innungswesen der Stadt Zerbst bis zum Ausgang des 18. Jahrhunderts (1910). Dannenberg, J.F.H.: Das deutsche Handwerk und die sociale Frage (1872). Danz, Wilhelm August Friedrich: Handbuch des heutigen deutschen Privatrechts, vol. 2 (Stuttgart 1797), vol. 5 (Stuttgart 1799). Dapprich, Gerhard: Geschichtliche Entwicklung der Knappschaft, in: Bundesknappschaft (ed.), 10 Jahre Bundesknappschaft (1979), 19–54. Davids, Karel: Seamen’s Organizations and Social Protest in Europe, c. 1300–1825, (1994) 39 International Review of Social History. Supplement II 145–169. Decken, Jutta von der: Das Seearbeitsrecht im Hamburger Stadtrecht von 1301 bis 1603 (1995). Deggim, Christina: Hafenleben im Mittelalter und Früher Neuzeit. Seehandel und Arbeitsregelungen in Hamburg und Kopenhagen vom 13. bis zum 17. Jahrhundert (2005). Deter, Gerhard: Zwischen Gilde und Gewerbefreiheit. Rechtsgeschichte des selbständigen Handwerks im Westfalen des 19. Jahrhunderts, 2 vol. (2015). Dettmering, Wilhelm: Beiträge zur älteren Zunftgeschichte der Stadt Strassburg (1903). Diehl: Einleitung. Zur Geschichte der separaten geistlichen Witwenkassen in Darmstadt, (1905) 2 Beiträge zur hessischen Kirchengeschichte 183–185. Dieling, Friedrich: Zunftrecht. Eine Rechtsquellenstudie mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Schneiderhandwerks (1932). Dilcher, Gerhard: Die genossenschaftliche Struktur von Gilden und Zünften, in: Berent Schwineköper (ed.), Gilden und Zünfte. Kaufmännische und gewerbliche Genossenschaften im frühen und hohen Mittelalter (1985), 71–111. Dirke, Arno von: Die Rechtsverhältnisse der Handwerks-Lehrlinge und Gesellen nach den deutschen Stadtrechten und Zunftstatuten des Mittelalters (1914). Dirr, Pius: Studien zur Geschichte der Augsburger Zunftverfassung 1368–1548, (1913) 39 Zeitschrift des Historischen Vereins für Schwaben und Neuburg 144–243.

Bibliography

327

Döhler, Christian: Kurtze Beschreibung der Handwercks-Rechte und Gewohnheiten. Nach der heutigen Observanz (Jena 1730). Dörner, Robert: Das Sarworter- und das Schwertfegeramt in Köln von den ältesten Zeiten bis zum Jahr 1550 (1915). Dreher, Meinrad: Die Versicherung als Rechtsprodukt. Die Privatversicherung und ihre rechtliche Ausgestaltung (1991). Dreyer, Thomas: Die ‘Assecuranz- und Haverey-Ordnung’ der Freien und Hansestadt von 1731 (1990). Dubler, Anne-Marie: Handwerk, Gewerbe und Zunft in Stadt und Landschaft Luzern (1982). Dupin, Carl Baron: Reisen nach Großbritannien, vol. 3/2 (1826). Düttmann, Augustin: Die deutsche Sozialversicherung in ihrem Entwicklungsgange (1926). Ebel, Wilhelm: Die Hamburger Feuerkontrakte und die Anfänge des deutschen Feuerversicherungsrechts (1936). – Gewerbliches Arbeitsvertragsrecht im deutschen Mittelalter (1934). – Memorabilia Gottingensia. Elf Studien zur Sozialgeschichte der Universität (1969). – Probleme der deutschen Rechtsgeschichte (1978). Eberstadt, Rudolf: Der Ursprung des Zunftwesens und die älteren Handwerkerverbände des Mittelalters (2nd edn., 1915). Ebhardt, Christian Hermann (ed.): Gesetze, Verordnungen und Ausschreiben für das Königreich Hannover aus dem Zeitraum von 1813 bis 1839, vol. 1/1 (1839), vol. 7 (1840). – Gesetze, Verordnungen und Ausschreiben für das Königreich Hannover aus dem Zeitraume von 1813 bis 1839, 2nd series: 1846 bis 1850, vol. 2 (1851). – Sammlung der Verordnungen für das Königreich Hannover aus der Zeit vor dem Jahre 1813, vol. 1 (1854), vol. 3 (1855). Eccardt, Gustav: Historisch-dogmatische Studie zum Bergrecht im vormaligen Fürstentum Bayreuth (1907). Ecker, Franz-Rudolf: Die Entwicklung des Bergrechts im Saarbrücker Steinkohlerevier bis zum Endes 18. Jahrhunderts. Ein Vergleich mit dem älteren deutschen Bergrecht (1997). Egg, Erich: Die Bergleute als neuer Berufsstand im Schwazer Silberbergbau 1450–1550, in: Karl Heinz Ludwig and Peter Sika (eds.): Bergbau und Arbeitsrecht. Die Arbeitsverfassung im europäischen Bergbau des Mittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit (1987), 221–222. Ehmck, Diedrich R. / Bippen, Wilhelm von: Bremisches Urkundenbuch, vol. 1 (1873). Ehmer, Josef: Zünfte in Österreich in der frühen Neuzeit, in: Heinz-Gerhard Haupt (ed.), Das Ende der Zünfte. Ein europäischer Vergleich (2002), 87–126. Ehrenberg, Victor: Versicherungsrecht, vol. 1 (1893). Eichenhofer, Eberhard: Geschichte des Sozialstaats in Europa. Von der ‘sozialen Frage’ bis zur Globalisierung (2007).

328

Bibliography

– Sozialrecht (11th edn., 2019). Elsholz, Ulrich: Entwicklung des sächsischen Knappschaftswesen (1910). Emmerich, Norbert: Geschichte der deutschen Sparkassenwerbung 1750 bis 1995 (1995). Engelbrecht, Johann Andreas: Corpus iuris nautici oder Sammlung aller Seerechte der bekanntesten handelnden Nationen alter und neuer Zeiten nebst den Assecuranz-Havarey und andern zu den Seerechten gehörenden Ordnungen, vol. 1 (Lübeck 1790). Engemann, Herbert: Die Gilden der Stadt Goslar im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert (1957). Ennen, Leonard: Geschichte der Stadt Köln, meist aus den Quellen des Kölner Stadt-Archivs, vol. 2 (1865). Ennen, Reinald: Zünfte und Wettbewerb. Möglichkeiten und Grenzen zünftlerischer Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen im städtischen Handel und Gewerbe des Spätmittelalters (1971). Ermisch, Hubert: Das sächsische Bergrecht des Mittelalters (1887). Estor, Johann Georg: Der Teutschen Rechtsgelahrheit andrer Teil (Marburg 1758). Eulenburg, Franz: Das Wiener Zunftwesen, (1893) 1 Zeitschrift für Social- und Wirthschaftsgeschichte 264–317. – Über Innungen der Stadt Breslau vom 13. bis 15. Jahrhundert (1892). Falck, Niels Nikolaus: Handbuch des Schleswig-Holsteinischen Privatrechts, vol. 2 (1831). Fendt, Stefan: Friedberger Sparkassengeschichte (1990). Fengler, Heinz / Gierow, Gerhard / Unger, Willy: Numismatik (3rd edn., 1982). Fessner, Michael: Steinkohlebergbau. Die märkische Knappschaft von ihrer Gründung 1767 bis zum preußischen Knappschaftsgesetz von 1854, in: idem et al. (eds.), Auf breiten Schultern. 750 Jahre Knappschaft (2010), 176–184. Fiedler, Walter: Die Geschichte des Versicherungswesens der Reichsstadt Nürnberg (1958). Fischer, Wolfram: Handwerksrecht und Handwerkswirtschaft um 1800. Studien zur Sozial- und Wirtschaftsverfassung vor der industriellen Revolution (1955). Flemming, Max: Das Lehrlingswesen der Dresdner Innungen vom 15. bis zum Ende des 17. Jahrhunderts (1887). – Die Dresdner Innungen von ihrer Entstehung bis zum Ausgang des 17. Jahrhunderts, vol. 1 (1896). Föge, Herbert: Bremer Bergenfahrt und Bergenfahrer vom 16. – 18. Jahrhundert (1958). Fouquet, Gerhard: Gilde, in: Albrecht Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 2 (2nd edn., 2012), 383–386. Frensdorff, Ferdinand: Das Zunftrecht insbesondere Norddeutschlands und die Handwerkerehre, (1907) 13 Hansische Geschichtsblätter 1–89. Frerich, Johannes / Frey, Martin: Handbuch der Geschichte der Sozialpolitik in Deutschland, vol. 1 (1993).

Bibliography

329

Frevert, Ute: Krankheit als politisches Problem 1770–1880. Soziale Unterschichten in Preußen zwischen medizinischer Polizei und staatlicher Sozialversicherung (1984). Fricke, Johann Heinrich: Grundsätze des Rechts der Handwerker (2nd edn., 1778). Fröhlich, Sigrid: Die soziale Sicherung bei Zünften und Gesellenverbänden. Darstellung, Analyse, Vergleich (1976). Frölich, Karl: Goslaer Bergrechtsquellen des früheren Mittelalters, insbesondere das Bergrecht des Rammelsberges aus der Mitte des 14. Jahrhunderts (1953). Fromm, Emmanuel: Frankfurts Textilgewerbe im Mittealter, (1899) Archiv für Frankfurts Geschichte und Kunst 1–103. Frommknecht, Heinrich: Zur Geschichte der berufsständischen Versicherungsvereine auf Gegenseitigkeit, in: Wolfgang Peiner (ed.), Grundlagen des Versicherungsvereins auf Gegenseitigkeit (1995), 76–88. Fuchs, Maximilian / Preis, Ulrich: Sozialversicherungsrecht. Lehrbuch für Studium und Praxis (2nd edn., 2009). Gebhard, Dismas A.: Ueber Wittwen- und Waisen-Pensions-Anstalten nebst Bemerkungen über Lebens-Versicherungs-Anstalten (1844). Geering, Traugott: Handel und Industrie der Stadt Basel. Zunftwesen und Wirtschaftsgeschichte bis zum Ende des XVII. Jahrhunderts, aus den Archiven dargestellt (1886). Gengler, Heinrich Gottfried: Das deutsche Privatrecht in seinen Grundzügen für Studierende erörtert (3rd edn., 1876). Gerlach, Joachim: Die Personenversicherung im Herzogtum Oldenburg bis zum Jahr 1876 (1967). Gerstlacher, Carl Fridrich: Sammlung aller Baden-Durlachischen […] Anstalten und Verordnungen, vol. 2 (Frankfurt und Leipzig 1774). Gesellen-Institut: Zum 100jährigen Jubiläum des Gesellen-Instituts in Bamberg (1889). Geyer, Martin H.: Invalidität und Existenzsicherung im Bergbau 1770–1870, in: Gerd Göckenjan (ed.), Recht auf ein gesichertes Alter? Studien zur Geschichte der Alterssicherung in der Frühzeit der Sozialpolitik (1990), 181–202. Gierke, Otto: Das deutsche Genossenschaftsrecht, vol. 1 (1868). Gladen, Albin: Geschichte der Sozialpolitik in Deutschland. Eine Analyse ihrer Bedingungen, Formen, Zielsetzungen und Auswirkungen (1974). Goldschmidt, Levin: Handbuch des Handelsrechts, vol. 1/1 (3rd edn., 1891). Göller, Friedrich: Das ‘bürgerl. Institut kranker Handwerksgesellen’ ‘Krankengeselleninstitut’ oder ‘Geselleninstitut’ in Bamberg (1889). Gollmann, Friederike: Das Leben protestantischer Pastoren in Deutschland vom Ende des 17. Jahrhunderts bis zur Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts (Diplomarbeit, Universität Wien, 2010). Göttmann, Frank: Handwerk und Bündnispolitik. Die Handwerkerbünde am Mittelrhein vom 14. bis zum 17. Jahrhundert (1977). Götz-Lurati, Martina: Der Würzburger Stadtarzt Philipp Joseph Horsch (1772–1820) und seine medizinische ‘Topographie der Stadt Würzburg’ (1805) (2006).

330

Bibliography

Gramich, Victor: Verfassung und Verwaltung der Stadt Würzburg vom 13. bis zum 15. Jahrhundert (1882). Greuer, Johannes-Traugott: Elemente der Sozialordnung beim alten Oberharzer Bergbau, (1962) 34 Niedersächsisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte 70–156. Greve, Georg / Gratzel, Gilbert / Graf, Eberhard: Die Knappschaft als sozialer Pfadfinder. Stationen der deutschen und europäischen Sozialgeschichte, in: Michael Fessner et al. (eds.), Auf breiten Schultern. 750 Jahre Knappschaft (2010), 23–38. Groß, Reiner: Geschichte Sachsens (2001). Grünbeck, Wolfgang: Der Bamberger Arzt Dr. Adalbert Friedrich Markus (1971). Günther, Richard: Das Zunftwesen der Stadt Bad Salzuflen (1930). Haber, Josef: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Zünfte der Stadt Lauenburg in Pommern (1878). Hach, Johann Friedrich: Das Alte Lübische Recht (1839). Hagena, Wilhelm: Die Ansichten der deutschen Kameralisten des 18. Jahrhunderts über das Versicherungswesen (1910). Hahn, Hans-Werner: Die Industrielle Revolution in Deutschland (3rd edn., 2011). Hahnemann, Ulrich: Von Berg- und Salzordnungen. Zum schwarzburgischen Bergrecht vor dem Einsetzen des Kalibergbaus im Fürstentum Schwarzburg-Sondershausen 1892 (2005). Hähnsen, Fritz: Geschichte der Kieler Handwerksämter. Ein Beitrag zur Schleswig-Holsteinischen Gewerbegeschichte (1920). Hake, Christian Heinrich Gottlieb: Commentar über das Bergrecht mit steter Rücksicht auf die vornehmsten Bergordnungen verbunden mit der für den Juristen nothwendigen Technik (1825). Hallauer, Werner: Knappschaftswesen und Wohlfahrtspflege im Saarbergbau (1922). Hänlein, Andreas: Geschichte des Sozialrechts, in: Franz Ruland et al. (eds.), Sozialrechtshandbuch (6th edn., 2018), 83–130. Hardtwig, Wolfgang: Genossenschaft, Sekte, Verein in Deutschland, vol. 1 (1997). Hartfelder, Karl: Die alten Zunftordnungen der Stadt Freiburg i.B., vol. 1 (1879). Hartmann, Moritz: Geschichte der Handwerkerverbände der Stadt Hildesheim im Mittelalter (1905). Hartung, Wolfgang: Die Oldenburgische Schiffergesellschaft von 1574 (1975). Hasse, Paul Ewald: Aus der Vergangenheit der Schiffergesellschaft in Lübeck. Festschrift zur Feier des fünfhundertjährigen Bestehens (1901). Hattenhauer, Hans (ed.): Allgemeines Landrecht für die Preußischen Staaten von 1794 (2nd edn., 1994). Haupt, Heinz-Gerhard: Neue Wege zur Geschichte der Zünfte in Europa, in: idem (ed.), Das Ende der Zünfte. Ein europäischer Vergleich (2002), 9–37.

Bibliography

331

Hecker, A.F.: Beantwortung der von der königlichen Societät der Wissenschaft in Göttingen auf den Monat Julius 1793 aufgegebene Preisfrage: Welches sind die bequemsten und wohlfeilsten Mittel, kranken Armen in den Städten die nöthige Hülfe zu verschaffen?, (1793) 3 Neues Hannöverisches Magazin 1346–1360. Hegel, Karl von: Städte und Gilden der Germanischen Völker im Mittelalter, vol. 2 (1891). Heideloff, Carl Alexander von: Die Bauhütte des Mittelalters in Deutschland (1844). Heinz, Bernd: Zur Geschichte der Bergknappschaft von Eibenstock (1989). Heirbaut, Dirk: Mutual aid in the craft guilds of the late medieval and early modern Southern Netherlands (Belgium), in: Phillip Hellwege (ed.), Professional Guilds and the History of Insurance. A Comparative Analysis (2020), 21–45. Hellwege, Phillip: A History of Tontines in Germany. From a multi-purpose financial product to a single-purpose pension product (2018). – Allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen, einseitig gestellte Vertragsbedingungen und die allgemeine Rechtsgeschäftslehre (2010). – Die historischen Wurzeln der Arbeiterschutzgesetzgebung, (2015) 37 Zeitschrift für Neuere Rechtsgeschichte 206–226. – Germany, in: idem (ed.), A Comparative History of Insurance Law in Europe. A Research Agenda (2018), 171–197. – Introduction, in: idem (ed.), A Comparative History of Insurance Law in Europe. A Research Agenda (2018), 9–26. Hellwege, Phillip (ed.): Professional Guilds and the History of Insurance. A Comparative Analysis (2020). – The Past, Present, and Future of Tontines. A Seventeenth Century Financial Product and the Development of Life Insurance (2018). Helmer, Georg: Die Geschichte der privaten Feuerversicherung in den Herzogtümern Schleswig und Holstein, insbesondere die Geschichte der Entstehung und Entwicklung der Brandgenossenschaften oder ‘Brandgilden’ in Schleswig-Holstein, 2 vol. (1925). Hemmen, Hans: Die Zünfte der Stadt Oldenburg im Mittelalter, (1910) 18 Jahrbuch für die Geschichte des Herzogtums Oldenburg 191–304. Hermandung, Alex: Das Zunftwesen der Stadt Aachen bis zum Jahre 1681 (1910). Herold, Georg Eduard: Die Rechte der Handwerker und ihrer Innungen. Nach den im Königreiche Sachsen gültigen Gesetzen zusammengestellt (1835). Herthum, F.: Sammlung der in dem Fürstenthume Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt und theilweise auch in dem Fürstenthume Schwarzburg-Sondershausen erschienenen bergrechtlichen und bergbaulichen Vorschriften, mit Beiträgen zur Kenntniss Schwarzburgischer Berggewohnheiten (1866). Heusinger, Sabine von: Die Zunft im Mittelalter. Zur Verflechtung von Politik, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft in Straßburg (2009). – Geselle, in: Albrecht Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 2 (2nd edn., 2012), 282–286. Heymel, Hans: Die Wirtschaft in der Region Fulda im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert (1995).

332

Bibliography

Hodel, Christian: Die Anfänge der Krankenversicherung in Basel während des 19. Jahrhunderts und ihre geschichtlichen Voraussetzungen (1965). Hof, Hagen: Wettbewerb im Zunftrecht. Zur Verhaltensgeschichte der Wettbewerbsregeln durch Zunft und Stadt, Reich und Landesherr bis zu den Stein-Hardenbergschen Reformen (1983). Hoff, Heinrich Georg: Gesammelte sehr merkwürdige Briefe aus dem letzten Jahrzehend, und aus verschiedenen Orten Europas, vol. 2 (Graz 1794). Hoffmann, Johann Gottfried: Das Interesse des Menschen und Bürgers bei den bestehenden Zunftverfassungen (1803). Hogen, Georg: Erwerbsordnung und Unterstützungswesen in Deutschland von den letzten Jahrhunderten des Mittelalters bis zum Dreißigjährigen Kriege, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Zunftverfassung (1913). Hohmann, Josef: Das Zunftwesen der Stadt Fulda von seinen Anfängen bis zur Mitte des 17. Jahrhunderts (1909). Hölscher, Uvo: Geschichte der Reformation in Goslar , nach dem Berichte der Akten im städtischen Archive (1902). Hörl, Lina: Bey einer ihn anfallen könnenden Krankheit. Das Gesellenkrankeninstitut in Bamberg von 1789 bis 1803, in: Mark Häberlein et al. (eds.), Bamberg in der Frühen Neuzeit. Neue Beiträge zur Geschichte von Stadt und Hochstift (2008), 347–372. Horsch, Friedrich: Die Konstanzer Zünfte in der Zeit der Zunftbewegung bis 1430 (1979). Horsch, Philipp Joseph: Versuch einer Topographie der Stadt Würzburg (1805). Horstmann, Friedrich-Edmund: Versicherungseinrichtungen in der Stadt Hannover in der Zeit von 1728 bis 1885. Eine rechtshistorische Studie (1965). Huber-Liebenau, Thomas von: Das Deutsche Zunftwesen im Mittelalter (1878). Hue, Otto: Die Bergarbeiter. Historische Darstellung der Bergarbeiter-Verhältnisse von der ältesten bis in die neueste Zeit, vol. 1 (1910). Huth, Eugen: Die Wollenweberzunft in Herborn. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des deutschen Zunftwesens (1910). Imbusch, Heinrich: Arbeitsverhältnis und Arbeiterorganisationen im deutschen Bergbau. Eine geschichtliche Darstellung (1908). – Das deutsche Knappschaftswesen. Eine Darstellung seiner Entwicklung und seines heutigen Standes, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Knappschaftsrechtes und des Wirkens der Knappschaftsvereine in der Praxis (1910). Ingenhaeff, Wolfgang: Der Anspruch kranker und verletzter Bergleute auf kostenlose berggerichtliche Obsorge. Zum sozialen Netz beim Schwazer Bergbau, in: idem and Johann Bair (eds.), Schwazer Silber – vergeudeter Reichtum? Verschwenderische Habsburger in Abhängigkeit vom oberdeutschen Kapital an der Zeitwende vom Mittelalter zur Neuzeit (2003), 95–102. Ingenhaeff, Wolfgang / Bair, Johann (eds.): Bergbau und Recht. Schwazer Silber. 5. Internationaler Montanhistorischer Kongress. Schwaz 2006 (2007).

Bibliography

333

Irsigler, Franz: Zur Problematik der Gilde- und Zunftterminologie, in: Berent Schwineköper (ed.), Gilden und Zünfte. Kaufmännische und gewerbliche Genossenschaften im frühen und hohen Mittelalter (1985), 52–70. Jacobs, Eduard: Urkundenbuch der Stadt Wernigerode bis zum Jahre 1460 (1891). Jäger, Carl: Ulms Verfassungs, bürgerliches und commercielles Leben im Mittelalter. Meist nach handschriftlichen Quellen samt Urkundenbuch (1831). Jahn, Georg: Zur Gewerbepolitik der deutschen Landesfürsten vom 16. bis zum 18. Jahrhundert (1909). Jenichen, Gottlieb August: Dissertatio juridica inauguralis de fiscis viduarum (Leipzig 1703). Jenichen, Gottlieb August / Jenichen, Gottlob August: Abhandlung von Wittwen-Cassen, Darinnen Von deren Ursprung, Aufrichtung, Bestätigung, Erhaltung, Verwaltung, Rechten und Freyheiten ausführlich und gründlich gehandelt wird (Leipzig 1733). Jeroch, Friedrich-Wilhelm: Innungsverfassungen der Stadt Brandenburg vom 13. bis 18. Jahrhundert (1927). Jopp, Tobias A.: Insurance, Fund Size, and Concentration. Prussian Miners’ Knappschaften in the Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Centuries and Their Quest for Optimal Scale (2013). – On the Historical Roots of the Modern Welfare State: The Knappschaft Statistics of 1861 to 1920 as a Source for Quantitative Historical Social Research, in: Cornel Zwierlein and Beatrice de Graaf (eds.), Security and Conspiracy in History, 16th to 21st Century (2013), 311–338. Jordan, Gerhard: Die Geschichte des Knappschaftswesens im Mansfelder Bergrevier (1905). Justi, Johann Heinrich Gottlob von: Grundsätze der Policey-Wissenschaft (Göttingen 1756). – Grundsätze der Policey-Wissenschaft (2nd edn., Göttingen 1759). Kähler, Julius: Die Gilden in den holsteinischen Elbmarschen. Mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des Versicherungswesens (1904). Karsten, Carl J.B.: Grundriss der deutschen Bergrechtslehre mit Rücksicht auf die französische Bergwerkgesetzgebung (1828). Karwehl, Harry: Die Entwicklung und Reform des deutschen Knappschaftswesens. Mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der preussischen Knappschaftsnovelle vom 19. Juni 1906 (1907). Kaufhold, Karl Heinrich: Das Handwerk der Stadt Hildesheim im 18. Jahrhundert. Eine wirtschaftsgeschichtliche Studie (2nd edn., 1980). Keller, Katrin: Landesgeschichte Sachsen (2002). Keutgen, Friedrich: Ämter und Zünfte. Zur Entstehung des Zunftwesens (1903). Kiesewetter, Hubert: Industrielle Revolution in Deutschland. 1815–1914 (1989). Klapper, Hans: Das Zunftwesen der Stadt Guhrau (1936). Kleeis, Friedrich: Die Geschichte der sozialen Versicherung in Deutschland (1928).

334

Bibliography

Klostermann, Rudolf: Lehrbuch des Preussischen Bergrechtes mit Berücksichtigung der übrigen deutschen Bergrechte (1871). Kluge, Arnd: Die Zünfte (2009). Knebel, Konrad: Handwerksbräuche früherer Jahrhunderte insbesondere in Freiberg, (1886) 23 Mitteilungen vom Freiberger Altertumsverein 27–90. Knoll, Alexander: Handwerksgesellen und Lehrlinge im Mittelalter (1931). Knoll, Frank-Lothar: Geschichte Sachsens (2014). Koch, Peter: Bilder zur Versicherungsgeschichte (1978). – Die historische Entwicklung des Versicherungsvereins auf Gegenseitigkeit, in: Wolfgang Peiner (ed.), Grundlagen des Versicherungsvereins auf Gegenseitigkeit (1995), 13–26. – Geschichte der Versicherungswirtschaft in Deutschland (2012). – Geschichte der Versicherungswissenschaft in Deutschland (1998). – Versicherungsplätze in Deutschland. Geschichte als Gegenwart (1986). – Versicherungswesen, in: Adalbert Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 5 (1998), 815–826. – Von der Zunftlade zum rationellen Großbetrieb. Kleine Geschichte der privaten Krankenversicherung in Deutschland (1971). – Zur Geschichte der versicherungsvertragsrechtlichen Kodifikationen in Deutschland und Österreich, in: Fritz Reichert-Facilides et al. (eds.), Festschrift für Reimer Schmidt (1976), 299–323. Kohl, Johann Georg: Das Haus Seefahrt zu Bremen (1862). Köhne, August: Die deutschen Knappschaftsvereine, ihre Einrichtung und ihre Bedeutung (1915). Kokemoor, Axel: Sozialrecht (7th edn., 2016). Kolb, Peter: Das Spital- und Gesundheitswesen, in: Ulrich Wagner (ed.), Geschichte der Stadt Würzburg, vol. 2 (2004), 540–568. Kopitzsch, Franklin / Tilgner, Daniel (eds.): Hamburg Lexikon (1998). Koppenfels-Spies, Katharina von: Sozialrecht (2018). Kötzschke, Rudolf / Kretzschmar, Hellmut: Sächsische Geschichte. Werden und Wandlungen eines Deutschen Stammes und seiner Heimat im Rahmen der Deutschen Geschichte (3rd edn., 1977). Kraschewski, Hans-Joachim: Das Spätmittelalter. Die Zeit des Aufbruchs, in: Klaus Tenfelde et al. (eds.), Geschichte des deutschen Bergbaus, vol. 1 (2012), 249–316. – Wirtschaftspolitik im deutschen Territorialstaat des 16. Jahrhunderts. Herzog Julius von Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel 1528–1589 (1978). – Zur Arbeitsverfassung des Goslarer Bergbaus am Rammelsberg im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert, in: Karl Heinz Ludwig and Peter Sika (eds.): Bergbau und Arbeitsrecht. Die Arbeitsverfassung im europäischen Bergbau des Mittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit (1987), 275–304.

Bibliography

335

Krause, Oskar / Kunze, Karl: Die älteren Zunfturkunden der Stadt Greifswald, (1900) 1 Pommersche Jahrbücher 99–169, (1901) 2 Pommersche Jahrbücher 111–157. Krebs, Peter-Per: Die Stellung der Handwerkerswitwe in der Zunft vom Spätmittelalter bis zum 18. Jahrhundert (1974). Kresse, Walter: Von armen Seefahrern und den Schifferalten zu Hamburg (1981). Kreutzberger, Eberhard: Das Gewerberecht der Reichsstadt Goslar im 18. Jahrhundert und der Reichsschluß von 1731 (1959). Krieger, Martin: Geschichte Hamburgs (2006). Kritter, Johann Augustin: Geschichte der in Deutschland so sehr überhandnehmenden Sterbekassen- oder Trauerpfennig- und Denkthaler-Gesellschaften, nebst einer Beurtheilung über die Gerechtigkeit und den Bestand derselben, (1786) Leipziger Magazin für reine und angewandte Mathematik 7–43. Kroeschell, Karl: Amt, in: Adalbert Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 1 (1971), 150–154. – Einigung, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 3 (1986), 1746. – Einung, in: Adalbert Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 1 (1971), 910–912. Kroeschell, Karl / Cordes, Albrecht: Einung, in: Albrecht Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 1 (2nd edn., 2008), 1306–1309. Kröger, Silke: Armenfürsorge und Wohlfahrtspflege im frühneuzeitlichen Regensburg (2006). Krumbholtz, Robert: Die Gewerbe der Stadt Münster bis zum Jahre 1661 (1898). Krünitz, Johann Georg: Oekonomische Encyklopädie, oder allgemeines System der Staats-, Stadt-, Haus- u. Landwirthschaft, vol. 30 (Berlin 1784). – Oekonomisch-technologische Encyklopädie, oder allgemeines System der Stats-, Stadt-, Haus- und Land-Wirthschaft, und der Kunst-Geschichte, vol. 41 (Berlin 1787). Krünitz, Johann Georg / Floerke, Friedrich Jakob / Floerke, Heinrich Gustav / Hoffmann, Carl Otto: Oekonomisch-technologische Encyklopädie, oder allgemeines System der Staats-, Stadt, Haus- und Landwirthschaft, und der Kunstgeschichte, vol. 242 (1858). Krünitz, Johann Georg / Floerke, Friedrich Jakob / Floerke, Heinrich Gustav / Korth, Johann Wilhelm David: Oekonomisch-technologische Encyklopädie, oder allgemeines System der Staats-, Stadt, Haus- und Landwirthschaft, und der Kunstgeschichte, vol. 176 (1841). Kruse, Britta-Juliane: Witwen. Kulturgeschichte eines Standes in Spätmittelalter und Früher Neuzeit (2007). Krusekopf, Erich: Entwicklung der Betriebskrankenkasse der Staatlichen Porzellan-Manufaktur in Berlin, (1922) 15 Die Betriebskrankenkasse 169–172, 177–180. Kulenkamp, Elard Johannes: Das Recht der Handwerker und Zünfte nach den Reichs- und Kurhessischen Landes-Gesetzen (1807). Lahmeyer: Die Bergknappschaftskassen des hannoverschen Harzes, (1861) Zeitschrift für das Berg-, Hütten und Salinenwesen im Deutschen Reich 306–315.

336

Bibliography

Landau, Johann: Die Arbeiterfrage in Deutschland im XVII. und XVIII. Jahrhundert und ihre Behandlung in der Deutschen Kameralwissenschaft. Studien zur Frage der Entstehung und des Ursprungs arbeiterpolitischer Probleme und Ideen der Neuzeit (1915). Langer, Johannes: Die Freiberger Bergknappschaft, (1931) 61 Mitteilungen des Freiberger Altertumsvereins 18–92, (1932) 62 Mitteilungen des Freiberger Altertumsvereins 68–88. Langheid, Theo / Wandt, Manfred (eds.): Münchener Kommentar zum Versicherungsvertragsgesetz, vol. 2 (2nd edn., 2017). Lappenberg, Johann Martin (ed.): Beiträge zur älteren Kunstgeschichte Hamburgs, (1866) 5 Zeitschrift des Vereins für hamburgische Geschichte 224–366. – Die ältesten Stadt- Schiff- und Landrechte Hamburgs (1845). – Sammlung der Verordnungen der freien Hanse-Stadt Hamburg, seit 1814, vol. 24 (1855). Lauf, Ulrich: Die Knappschaft. Ein Streifzug durch tausend Jahre Sozialgeschichte (1994). – Die Knappschaftsvereine bis zur Gründung der Reichsknappschaft, in: Michael Fessner et al. (eds.), Auf breiten Schultern. 750 Jahre Knappschaft (2010), 266–276. Lehner, Julia: Die Sparkasse Schwabach und ihre Geschichte (1986). – Die Sparkasse Spalt und ihre Geschichte (1986). Lehner, Peter Ulrich: Zur Entstehung des Versicherungswesens. Versuch einer gesellschaftsgeschichtlichen Begründung, in: Wolfgang Rohrbach (ed.), Versicherungsgeschichte Österreichs, vol. 1 (1988), 1–44. Leib, Johann Georg: Dritte Probe / Wie ein Regent Land und Leute verbessern / des Landes Gewerbe und Nahrung erheben / seine Gefälle und Einkommen sonder Ruin derer Unterthanen billigmäßiger Weise vermehren / und sich dadurch in Macht und Ansehen setzen könne (Leipzig 1708). Lentze, Hans: Der Kaiser und die Zunftverfassung in den Reichsstädten bis zum Tode Karls IV. Studien zur städtischen Verfassungsentwicklung im späten Mittelalter (1933). – Handwerk, in: Adalbert Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 1 (1971), 1977–1984. Leopold, Dieter: Von den Frankenaposteln zum Sozialgesetzbuch. Sozialversicherung in Würzburg (2003). Lindtke, Gustav: Die Schiffergesellschaft zu Lübeck (1997). Lingelbach, Gerhard (ed.): Die Henneberger Bergordnung von 1566 (2002). – Merkantilismus, in: Albrecht Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 3 (2nd edn., 2016), 1462–1467. Loerke, Günther: Die Geschichte der Pfarrwitwenversorgung in der Evangelischen Kirche der altpreußischen Union (1936). Loersch, Hugo: Die Rolle der Aachener Goldschmiedezunft vom 16. April 1573, (1891) Zeitschrift des Aachener Geschichtsvereins 230–258.

Bibliography

337

Loesch, Heinrich von: Die Kölner Zunfturkunden nebst anderen Gewerbeurkunden bis zum Jahre 1500, 2 vol. (1907). Lori, Johann Georg von: Sammlung des baierischen Bergrechts mit einer Einleitung in die baierische Bergrechtsgeschichte (München 1764). Löscher, Hermann: Das erzgebirgische Bergrecht des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts, vol. 1 (1959), vol. 2/1 (2003) vol. 2/2 (2005), vol. 2/3 (2009). – Die Anfänge der erzgebirgischen Knappschaft, (1954) 40 Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte (Kanonistische Abteilung) 223–238. – Die erste Annaberger Bergordnung vom 11. Februar 1493, (1956) 68 Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte (Germanistische Abteilung) 435–444. – Die erzgebirgischen Knappschaften vor und nach der Reformation, (1956) 92 Blätter für deutsche Landesgeschichte 162–190. – Kerzenheller, Wochen- oder Büchsenpfennig der erzgebirgischen Knappschaft, (1956) 42 Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte (Kanonistische Abteilung) 392–397. Lück, Heiner: Bergrecht, Bergregal, in: Albrecht Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 1 (2nd edn., 2008), 527–533. Ludwig, Karl Heinz: Aspekte der Arbeitsverfassung im europäischen Bergbau des Mittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit, in: idem and Peter Sika (eds.): Bergbau und Arbeitsrecht. Die Arbeitsverfassung im europäischen Bergbau des Mittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit (1987), 11–35. Ludwig, Karl Heinz / Sika, Peter (eds.): Bergbau und Arbeitsrecht. Die Arbeitsverfassung im europäischen Bergbau des Mittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit (1987). Lusiardi, Ralf: Caritas – Fraternitas – Solidarität. Überlegungen zur kollektiven Daseinsvorsorge in spätmittelalterlichen Zünften und Gesellenvereinigungen, in: Hans-Jörg Gilomen et al. (eds.), Von der Barmherzigkeit zur Sozialversicherung. Umbrüche und Kontinuitäten vom Spätmittelalter bis zum 20. Jahrhundert (2002), 139–151. Luther, Rudolf: Gab es eine Zunftdemokratie? (1968). – Innung, in: Adalbert Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 2 (1978), 368–370. MacLeod, John: England and Scotland, in: Phillip Hellwege (ed.), A Comparative History of Insurance Law in Europe. A Research Agenda (2018), 149–169. Majer, Jiří: Die Constitutiones Wenceslai II (ius regale montanorum) und ihr Umeld, in: Karl Heinz Ludwig and Peter Sika (eds.): Bergbau und Arbeitsrecht. Die Arbeitsverfassung im europäischen Bergbau des Mittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit (1987), 51– 81. Malortie, Ernst von: Die Organisation der Oberharzischen Bergwerks-Verwaltung durch Herzog Julius von 1568–1577, in: idem, Beiträge zur Geschichte des BraunschweigLüneburgischen Hauses und Hofes, vol. 4 (1864), 133–148. Manes, Alfred: Krankenversicherung, in: Ludwig Elster (ed.), Wörterbuch der Volkswirtschaft, vol. 2 (3rd edn. 1911), 182–190. – Lebensversicherung, in: Ludwig Elster (ed.), Wörterbuch der Volkswirtschaft, vol. 2 (3rd edn. 1911), 274–280.

338

Bibliography

– Sozialversicherung, in: Ludwig Elster (ed.), Wörterbuch der Volkswirtschaft, vol. 2 (3rd edn. 1911), 882–895. Marcus, Adalbert Friedrich: Entwurf eines zu errichtenden Instituts für kranke Dienstbothen (1790), in: Christian Pfeufer, Geschichte des allgemeinen Krankenhauses zu Bamberg von seiner Entstehung bis auf die gegenwärtige Zeit (1825), 76–93. Marenholtz, Asche Christoph von: Fürstliche Macht-Kunst Oder Unerschöpfliche GoldGrube / Wordurch ein Fürst sich kann mächtig und seine Unterthanen reich machen (2nd edn., Weißenfels 1703). Marperger, Paul Jacob: Montes Pietatis, oder Leyḧ-Assistentz- und Hülffs-Häuser, LehnBanquen und Lombards (Leipzig 1715). – Montes Pietatis oder Leih-Assistenz- und Hülfshäuser, Leihebanken und Lombards (2nd edn., with notes by Johann Heinrich Gottlob von Justi, Leipzig 1760). Martens, Volker: Toten- und Knochenbruchgilden im Herzogtum Schleswig. Die Entwicklung der Sterbekassen und die Anfänge der Kranken- und Unfallversicherung (1967). Mascher, Heinrich A.: Das deutsche Gewerbewesen von der frühesten Zeit bis auf die Gegenwart (1866). Maurer, Ernst: Zunft und Handwerk der alten Zeit. Ein volkssoziologischer Versuch (1940). Maurer, Georg Ludwig von: Geschichte der Städteverfassung in Deutschland, vol. 2 (1870), vol. 3 (1870). Mayer, Johann B.: Bergmännische Miscellaneen für Theorie und Praxis (1841). Meier, Ulrich: Die Witwen- und Waisenkassen der Geistlichen in Sachsen bis 1837, (1929) 38 Beiträge zur sächsischen Kirchengeschichte 49–134. Meltzer, Christian: Historia Schneebergensis Renovata. Das ist: Erneuerte Stadt- u. BergChronica Der im Ober-Ertz-Gebürge des belobten Meißens gelegenen Wohl-löbl. Freyen Berg-Stadt Schneeberg (Schneeberg 1716). Menzel, Adolf: Sociale Gedanken im Bergrecht. Rechtsgeschichtliche Studie, (1891) 32 Zeitschrift für Bergrecht 482–511. Mernik, Peter: ‘Codex Maximilianeus’. Bergwerkserfindungen für Tirol 1408 bis 1542 in 422 Artikeln. Transkription der Handschrift. Übertragung in den heutigen Sprachgebrauch. Kommentar (2005). Metger, Konrad Hermann: Die Statuten des Verbandes der Schmiedegesellen in Flensburg aus dem 15., 16. und 17. Jahrhundert (1883). Metzner, Max: Die soziale Fürsorge im Bergbau unter besonderer Berücksichtigung Preußens, Sachsens, Bayerns und Österreichs (1911). Meyer, Moritz: Geschichte der Preussischen Handwerkerpolitik, vol. 1 (1884), vol. 2 (1888). Michaelis, H.-Th.: Schützengesellschaften, Schützengilden, in: Adalbert Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 4 (1990), 1531–1535. Michaelis, Philipp: Wohltätiges Institut für kranke Handwerksgesellen in Würzburg, (1791) 13/6 Ernst Gottfried Baldingers Neues Magazin für Aerzte 523–544.

Bibliography

339

Moldt, Dirk: Deutsche Stadtrechte im mittelalterlichen Siebenbürgen. Korporationsrechte – Sachsenspiegelrecht – Bergrecht (2009). Möller, Andreas: Theatrum Freibergense Chronicum. Beschreibung der alten löblichen BergHauptStadt Freyberg in Meissen, vol. 1 (Freiberg 1653). Mone, Franz Josef: Die Weberei und ihre Beigewerbe vom 14. bis 16. Jahrhundert, (1858) 9 Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 129–189. – Zunftorganisation vom 13 bis 16. Jahrhundert, (1863) 15 Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 1–57, (1865) 17 Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 30–68, (1865) 18 Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 12–33. Möser, Justus: Patriotische Phantasien, vol. 1 (Berlin 1775). Müller, Walther: Zur Frage des Ursprungs der mittelalterlichen Zünfte (1910). Neue Deutsche Biographie, vol. 12 (1980). Nigge, Franz: Die alten Gilden der Stadt Lünen. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des westfälischen Gewerbes (1912). Nyrop, Camillus: Danmarks Gilde- og Lavsskraaer Fra Middelalderen, vol. 2 (1895– 1904). Oberholzer, Hans-Martin: Zur Rechts- und Gründungsgeschichte der Privatversicherung – insbesondere in der Schweiz (1992). Oelrichs, Gerhard: Volstaendige Sammlung alter und neuer Gesez-Bücher der Kaiserlichen und des Heil. Römischen Reichs Freien Stadt Bremen (Bremen 1771). Oexle, Otto Gerhard: Conjuratio und Gilde im frühen Mittelalter. Ein Beitrag zum Problem der sozialgeschichtlichen Kontinuität zwischen Antike und Mittelalter, in: Berent Schwineköper (ed.), Gilden und Zünfte. Kaufmännische und gewerbliche Genossenschaften im frühen und hohen Mittelalter (1985), 151–214. – Die mittelalterlichen Gilden: ihre Selbstdeutung und ihr Beitrag zur Formung sozialer Strukturen, in: Albert Zimmermann (ed.), Soziale Ordnung im Selbstverständnis des Mittelalters, vol. 1 (1979), 203–226. – Die mittelalterliche Zunft als Forschungsproblem. Ein Beitrag zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte der Moderne, (1982) 118 Blätter für deutsche Landesgeschichte 1–44. – Genossenschaft, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 4 (1989), 1234–1236. – Gilde, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 4 (1989), 1452–1453. – Schützengilden, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 7 (1995), 1595. Ogis, Sinem: The Influence of Marine Insurance on the Legal Development of Life and Fire Insurance in England (2019). Ogris, Werner: Geschichte des Arbeitsrechts vom Mittelalter bis in das 19. Jahrhundert. Ein Überblick, in: idem, Elemente europäischer Rechtskultur. Rechtshistorische Aufsätze aus den Jahren 1961–2003 (2003), 575–607. Orda, Karl-Heinz: Knappschaften, in: Eberhardt Finke (ed.), Handwörterbuch des Versicherungswesens, vol. 1 (1958), 1096–1100. Ortloff, Johann Andreas: Corpus Juris Opificiarii oder Sammlung von allgemeinen Innungsgesetzen und Verordnungen für die Handwerker (1803).

340

Bibliography

– Das Recht der Handwerker nach den allgemeinen in den deutschen Staaten geltenden Gesetzen und Zunft- und Innungsverordnungen (2nd edn., 1818). Otto, Eduard: Das deutsche Handwerk in seiner kulturgeschichtlichen Entwickelung (3rd edn., 1908). Pachner von Eggenstorff, Johann Joseph: Vollständige Sammlung Aller Von Anfang des noch fürwährenden Deutschen Reichs-Tags de Anno 1663 biß anhero abgefaßten Reichs-Schlüsse (Regensburg 1740). Pansa, Martin: Consilium Peripneumoniacum: Das ist / Ein getrewer Rath in der beschwerlichen Berg- und Lungensucht / darinnen verfasset / was die fürnemsten Ursachen seyn beyderley Beschwerungen / beydes der gifftigen / die vom Bergwerck entstehet: so wol der gemeinen / die von Flüssen herrühret: Zuvor aber / wie der Mensch mit der kleinen Welt / und mit dem Bergwerck artlich zu vergleichen / und wie beyde Suchten zu vertreiben seyn (Leipzig 1614). Peitsch, Dietmar: Zunftgesetzgebung und Zunftverwaltung Brandenburg-Preußens in der frühen Neuzeit (1985). Perlitz, Uwe: Das Geld-, Bank- und Versicherungswesen in Köln 1700–1815 (1976). Peters, Horst: Die Geschichte der sozialen Versicherung (3rd edn., 1978). Pfeufer, Christian: Geschichte des allgemeinen Krankenhauses zu Bamberg von seiner Entstehung bis auf die gegenwärtige Zeit (1825). Philippi, Friedrich: Die ältesten Osnabrückischen Gildeurkunden (bis 1500) mit einem Anhange über das Rathssilber zu Osnabrück (1890). Pietsch, Georg: Das Knappschaftswesen in Elsaß-Lothringen (1911). Ponfick, Friedrich Wilhelm: Geschichte der Sozialversicherung im Zeitalter der Aufklärung (1940). Potthoff, Ossip D.: Kulturgeschichte des deutschen Handwerks mit besonderer Berücksichtigung seiner Blütezeit (1938). Proesler, Hans: Das gesamtdeutsche Handwerk im Spiegel der Reichsgesetzgebung von 1530 bis 1806 (1954). Puschner, Uwe: Reichshandwerksordnung und Reichsstädte. Der Vollzug des Reichsschlusses von 1731 in den fränkischen Reichsstädten, in: Rainer A. Müller (ed.), Reichsstädte in Franken, vol. 2 (1987), 33–45. Rabenau, Karl: Das bayerische Knappschaftswesen. Mit Berücksichtigung der Arbeiterfürsorge des Staates als Berwerks-, Hütten- und Salinen-Besitzer bis zum Erlass des Berggesetzes vom 20. März 1869 (1909). Rabstein, Klaus-Dieter: Sozialrechtliche Entwicklungstendenzen in der Seeschiffahrt der Freien Hansestadt Bremen (1970). Rau, Georg: Die Regiments-Verfassung der freien Reichsstadt Speier, in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwicklung urkundlich geschildert, vol. 2 (1845). Rau, Karl Heinrich: Ueber das Zunftwesen und die Folgen seiner Aufhebung (1816). Rauert: Ueber Gesellen-Brüderschaften und die Verpflichtung zur Verpflegung erkrankter Handwerks-Gesellen, (1842) 1 Archiv für Geschichte, Statistik, Kunde der Verwaltung und Landesrechte der Herzogthümer Schleswig, Holstein und Lauenburg 78–93.

Bibliography

341

Reidegeld, Eckart: Staatliche Sozialpolitik in Deutschland. Historische Entwicklung und theoretische Analyse von den Ursprüngen bis 1918 (1996). Reiff, Ulrich: Vom Bergmann zum Arbeiter? Die Verbrüderung der Bergmanns-, Handwerker- und Arbeitervereine in der Revolution 1848/49 im Oberharz (2001). Reininghaus, Wilfried: Die Entstehung der Gesellengilden im Spätmittelalter (1981). – Zünfte und Zunftpolitik in Westfalen und im Rheinland am Ende des Alten Reiches, in: Heinz-Gerhard Haupt (ed.), Das Ende der Zünfte. Ein europäischer Vergleich (2002), 71–86. Reintges, Theo: Ursprung und Wesen der spätmittelalterlichen Schützengilden (1963). Reisel, Otto: Die Entstehung und Entwicklung des „Saarbrücker Knappschaftsvereins“ (1925). Reith, Reinhold: Altersproblem und Alterssicherung im Handwerk der frühen Neuzeit, in: Gerd Göckenjan (ed.), Recht auf ein gesichertes Alter? Studien zur Geschichte der Alterssicherung in der Frühzeit der Sozialpolitik (1990), 14–34. – Arbeits- und Lebensweise im städtischen Handwerk. Zur Sozialgeschichte Augsburger Handwerksgesellen im 18. Jahrhundert (1700–1806) (1988). – Zünfte im Süden des Alten Reiches: Politische, wirtschaftliche und soziale Aspekte, in: Heinz-Gerhard Haupt (ed.), Das Ende der Zünfte. Ein europäischer Vergleich (2002), 39–69. Ressel, Magnus: Zwischen Sklavenkassen und Türkenpässen. Nordeuropa und die Barbaresken in der Frühen Neuzeit (2012). Reubold, Wilhelm: Beiträge zur Geschichte der Krankenkassen von Würzburg, (1904) 46 Archiv des historischen Vereins von Unterfranken und Aschaffenburg 1–26. Richter, Arnt: Grundlagen des Rechts der Sozialen Sicherheit (1979). Richter, Carl Friedrich: Neuestes Berg- und Hütten-Lexikon, oder alphabetische Erklärung aller bei dem Berg- und Hüttenwesen vorkommenden Arbeiten, Werkzeuge und Kunstwörter, vol. 1 (1805). Richter, Paul: Die Geschichte der Berliner Buchbinder-Innung während zweier Jahrhunderte (1882). Rigó, Balázs: Guild Support in Hungary (1307–1872), in: Phillip Hellwege (ed.), Professional Guilds and the History of Insurance. A Comparative Analysis (2020), 239–269. Ritter, Gerhard A.: Sozialversicherung in Deutschland und England. Entstehung und Grundzüge im Vergleich (1983). Rohrbach, Wolfgang: Versicherungsgeschichte Österreichs von den Anfängen bis zum Börsenkrach des Jahres 1873, in: idem (ed.), Versicherungsgeschichte Österreichs, vol. 1 (1988), 47–432. Rösler, Rudolf: Beitrag zur Geschichte des Zunftwesens. Älteres Zunftwesen in Hermannstadt bis zum Jahre 1526 (1912). Rößig, Karl Gottlob: Erste Grundsätze des deutschen Privatrechts (Leipzig 1797). Ruby, Franz: Das Iglauer Handwerk in seinem Thun und Treiben von der Begründung bis zur Mitte des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts (1887).

342

Bibliography

Rückert, Joachim: Entstehung und Vorläufer der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung, in: Franz Ruland (ed.), Handbuch der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung. Festschrift aus Anlaß des 100jährigen Bestehens der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung (1990), 1–50. Rüdiger, Otto: Die ältesten Hamburgischen Zunftrollen und Brüderschaftsstatuten (1874). Rüger, Willi: Mittelalterliches Almosenwesen. Die Almosenordnungen der Reichsstadt Nürnberg (1932). Schaefer, Franz Friedrich: Das Hospital zum hl. Geist auf dem Domhofe zu Köln nebst Notizen zur Geschichte der rheinischen und westfälischen hl. Geisthofspitäler (1910). Schanz, Georg: Zur Geschichte der deutschen Gesellen-Verbände mit 55 bisher unveröffentlichten Documenten aus der Zeit des 14.–17. Jahrhunderts (1877). Schempf, Herbert: Lade, in: Albrecht Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 3 (2nd edn., 2016), 386–388. Scherner, Karl Otto: Sozialrechtsgeschichte der Neuzeit. Stand der Forschung und offene Fragen, (1996) 18 Zeitschrift für Neuere Rechtsgeschichte 102–148. Scheschkewitz, Ulrich: Das Zunftwesen der Stadt Lüneburg von den Anfängen bis zur Änderung der Stadtverfassung im Jahre 1639 (1966). Schewe, Dieter: Geschichte der sozialen und privaten Versicherung im Mittelalter in den Gilden Europas (2000). Schichtel, Peter: Das Recht des zünftigen Handwerks im Herzogtum Pfalz-Zweibrücken während des 18. Jahrhunderts. Ein Beitrag zum Gewerberecht eines deutschen Kleinstaates gegen Ende des Ancien Régime (1986). Schiller, Karl / Lübben, August: Mittelniederdeutsches Wörterbuch, vol. 1 (1875). Schirbel, Eugen: Geschichte der sozialen Krankenversorgung vom Altertum bis zur Gegenwart (1929). Schlüter, Wilhelm: Preussisches Bergrecht. Der Aufbau und die Aufgaben der Preussischen Bergbehörden unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Ruhrbergbaus (1928). Schlyter, Carl J.: Codices iuris Visbyensis urbici et maritimi (1858). Schmidt, Benno: Frankfurter Zunfturkunden bis zum Jahre 1612, 2. vols. (1914). Schmidt, Franz Anton: Chronologisch-systematische Sammlung der Berggesetze der österreichischen Monarchie, vol. 1 (1832). Schmidt, Johann Ferdinand: Versuch einer systematisch geordneten Darstellung des Bergrechtes im Königreich Böhmen, 2 vols. (1833). Schmidt-Wiegand, Ruth: Die Bezeichnung Zunft und Gilde in ihrem historischen und wortgeographischen Zusammenhang, in: Berent Schwineköper (ed.), Gilden und Zünfte. Kaufmännische und gewerbliche Genossenschaften im frühen und hohen Mittelalter (1985), 31–52. – Kerze, in: Albrecht Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 2 (2nd edn., 2012), 1710–1713. – Zeche, in: Adalbert Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 5 (1998), 1627.

Bibliography

343

Schmieder, Eberhard: Geschichte des Arbeitsrechts im deutschen Mittelalter, vol. 1 (1939). Schmitt-Lermann, Hans: Der Versicherungsgedanke im deutschen Geistesleben des Barock und der Aufklärung (1954). Schmoller, Gustav: Die geschichtliche Entwicklung der Unternehmung, (1891) 15 Jahrbuch für Gesetzgebung, Verwaltung und Volkswirtschaft im Deutschen Reich 963– 1029. Schnaase, Eduard: Geschichte der evangelischen Kirche Danzigs (1863). Schneider, Franz Xaver: Lehrbuch des Bergrechtes (1867). Schoenlank, Bruno: Sociale Kämpfe vor dreihundert Jahren. Altnürnbergische Studien (1907). Schöpfer, Gerald: Sozialer Schutz im 16.–18. Jahrhundert. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Personenversicherung und der landwirtschaftlichen Versicherung (1976). Schrader, Hans: Die Schleswiger Zünfte mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Flensburger Gilden und Brüderschaften bis zum Beginn des 16. Jahrhunderts (1913). Schragmüller, Elsbeth: Die Bruderschaft der Borer und Balierer von Freiburg und Waldkirch. Beitrag zur Gewerbegeschichte des Oberrheins (1914). Schreber, Daniel Gottfried: Sammlung verschiedener Schriften, welche in die öconomischen, Policey- und cameral- und andere verwandte Wissenschaften einschlagen, vol. 8 (Halle 1761). Schröder, Rainer: Zur Arbeitsverfassung des Spätmittelalters. Eine Darstellung mittelalterlichen Arbeitsrechts aus der Zeit nach der großen Pest (1984). Schrötter, Friedrich Freiherr von (ed.), Wörterbuch der Münzkunde (2nd edn., 1970). Schubert, Ernst: Wucher und Kredit in Bayern vom 18. bis zur Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts, in: Manfred Pix (ed.), Daseinsvorsorge und Kreditvergabe vom 17. bis zum 20. Jahrhundert (1994), 21–44. Schug, Albert: Der Versicherungsgedanke und seine historischen Grundlagen (2011). Schulz, Günther: Betriebliche Sozialpolitik in Deutschland seit 1850, in: Hans Pohl (ed.), Staatliche, städtische, betriebliche und kirchliche Sozialpolitik vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart (1991), 137–176. Schulz, Knut: Gesellen, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 4 (1989), 1386–1387. – Handwerksgesellen und Lohnarbeiter. Untersuchungen zur oberrheinischen und oberdeutschen Stadtgeschichte des 14. bis 17. Jahrhunderts (1985). – Zunft, -wesen, -recht, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 9 (1998), 686–690. Schulz-Nieswandt, Frank: Gilden als ‘totales soziales Phänomen’ im europäischen Mittelalter. Rechts- und religionsgeschichtliche Wurzeln der Genossenschaftlichkeit als Archetypus menschlicher Gesellung im Lichte ethnologischen Vergleichsmaterials (2000). Schulze, Hans K.: Kaufmannsgilde und Stadtentstehung im mitteldeutschen Raum, in: Berent Schwineköper (ed.), Gilden und Zünfte. Kaufmännische und gewerbliche Genossenschaften im frühen und hohen Mittelalter (1985), 377–412.

344

Bibliography

Schuster, Dora: Die Stellung der Frau in der Zunftverfassung (1927). Schwarz, Klaus: Die Lage der Handwerksgesellen in Bremen während des 18. Jahrhunderts (1975). – Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der deutschen Berglaute im späteren Mittelalter (1958). Schwarzwälder, Herbert: Geschichte der freien Hansestadt Bremen, vol. 1 (1975). Schwebel, Karl Heinz: ‘Haus Seefahrt’ Bremen. Seine Kaufleute und Kapitäne. Vierhundert Jahre Dienst am deutschen Seemann. 1545–1945 (1947). Schwenger, Rudolf: Die deutschen Betriebskrankenkassen (1934). Scotti, Johann Josef: Sammlung der Gesetze und Verordnungen, welche in dem vormaligen Churfürstenthum Cöln … ergangen sind, vol. 1/1 (1830). Segger, Heimdal: Entwicklung des Seerechts unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Schiffahrt Bremens (1952). Sehling, Emil: Die Evangelischen Kirchenordnungen des XVI. Jahrhunderts, vol. 2/2 (1970). Siebeneicker, Arnulf: Offizianten und Ouvriers. Sozialgeschichte der Königlichen Porzellan-Manufaktur und der Königlichen Gesundheitsgeschirr-Manufaktur in Berlin 1763– 1880 (2002). Siegl, Karl: Die Egerer Zunftordnungen. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Zunftwesens (1909). Simon, Manfred: Handwerk in Krise und Umbruch. Wirtschaftliche Forderungen und Sozialpolitische Vorstellungen der Handwerksmeister im Revolutionsjahr 1848/49 (1983). Simon, Thomas: Kameralistik, in: Albrecht Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 2 (2nd edn., 2012), 1540–1544. Sippel, Heinrich: Das Bamberger Dienstboten-Institut. Geschichtliche Entwicklung und Statistik einer hundertjährigen Dienstbotenkrankenkasse (1790–1889) (1889). Spieß, P.: Kaufmannsgilde, in: Adalbert Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 2 (1978), 687–694. Stahl, Wilhelm: Das deutsche Handwerk, vol. 1 (1874). Stalmann, Martin: Beiträge zur Geschichte der Gewerbe in Braunschweig bis zum Ende des XIV. Jahrhunderts (1907). Staphorst, Nicolaus: Historia Ecclesiae Hamburgensis Diplomatica, das ist: Hamburgische Kirchen-Geschichte, vol. 1/4 (Hamburg 1731). Stetter, Georg: Die Geschichte der Knappschaftskrankenhäuser im Raum Gelsenkirchen und ihre Bedeutung für die Industriebevölkerung (1984). Stieda, Wilhelm / Mettig, Constantin: Schragen der Gilden und Aemter der Stadt Riga bis 1621 (1896). Stier, Wilhelm: Die Schiffergesellschaft (1964). Stock: Die Gewerbsgilden, Innungen und Handwerksvereine vom Mittelalter bis 1731, (1841) 4/2 Neue Jahrbücher der Geschichte und Politik 97–128.

Bibliography

345

Stockmann, W.: Die Versorgung der Prediger-Wittwen und Waisen in der evangelischlutherischen Kirche der Provinz Schleswig-Holstein, (1892) 22 Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Schleswig-Holstein-Lauenburgische Geschichte 303–474. Stöger, Georg /Reith, Reinhold: Actors and Practices of German Apprenticeship, Fifteenth–Nineteenth Centuries, in: Maarten Prak and Patrick Wallis (eds.), Apprenticeship in Early Modern Europe (2020), 138–162. Stolleis, Michael: Geschichte des Sozialrechts in Deutschland (2003). – History of Social Law in Germany (2014). – Origins of the German Welfare State. Social Policy in Germany to 1945 (2013). Stradal, H.: Gilde, in: Adalbert Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 1 (1971), 1687–1692. Strelow, Peter: Landesherrschaft und Bergrecht in Südwestdeutschland zwischen 1450 und 1600. Ein Vergleich (1997). Stürmer, Michael: Herbst des Alten Handwerks. Meister, Gesellen und Obrigkeit im 18. Jahrhundert (1986). Sulzer, Melanie: Soziale Sicherungssystem in der Seeschiffahrt. Von der berufsständischen Armenfürsorge zur See-Sozialversicherung (2012). Sulzer, Melanie / Scholl, Lars U.: Einrichtungen zur sozialen Absicherung in der Seeschifffahrt. 1535–1928, in: Christoph Bartels (ed.), … höchst verpönte Selbst-Hülfe … Zur Entstehung und Entwicklung der Sozialversicherung in Bergbau, Seefahrt und Eisenbahnwesen (2012), 371–412. Tampke, Jürgen: Bismarcks Sozialgesetzgebung: Ein wirklicher Durchbruch?, in: Wolfgang J. Mommsen (ed.), Die Entstehung des Wohlfahrtsstaates in Großbritannien und Deutschland 1850–1950 (1982), 79–91. Tenfelde, Klaus: Sozialgeschichte der Bergarbeiterschaft an der Ruhr im 19. Jahrhundert (1977). Tenholt, August: Das Gesundheitswesen im Bereiche des Allgemeinen KnappschaftsVereins zu Bochum (1897). Tennstedt, Florian: Die Errichtung von Krankenkassen in deutschen Städten nach dem Gesetz betr. die Krankenversicherung der Arbeiter vom 15. Juni 1883. Ein Beitrag zur Frühgeschichte der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung in Deutschland, (1983) 29 Zeitschrift für Sozialreform 297–338. Teuber, Christian: ‘Medicus Silesiacus’. Martin Pansa (1580–1626). Sozialmediziner und Volksaufklärer Ostdeutschlands. Sein Leben, sein Werk als Beitrag zur spätmittelalterlich-frühneuzeitlichen ‘Medizin für den gemeinen Mann’ (1991). Theisen, Frank: Bruderschaft, in: Albrecht Cordes et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 1 (2nd edn., 2008), 686–689. Thielmann, Hans: Die Geschichte der Knappschaftsversicherung (1960). Todeskino, Heinz: Von den mittelalterlichen Knappschaften bis zur Bundesknappschaft (1974). Trende, Adolf: Geschichte der deutschen Sparkassen bis zum Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts (reprint, 1993).

346

Bibliography

Trüb, Paul: Krankenversicherung – Sozialversicherung, in: Eberhardt Finke (ed.), Handwörterbuch des Versicherungswesens, vol. 1 (1958), 1166–1180. Tuckermann, Walther: Das Gewerbe der Stadt Hildesheim bis zur Mitte des fünfzehnten Jahrhunderts (1906). Tyszka, Carl von: Handwerk und Handwerker in Bayern im 18. Jahrhundert. Eine wirtschaftsgeschichtliche Studie über die bayerische Gewerbeverfassung im 18. Jahrhundert (1907). Uhl, Harald: Handwerk und Zünfte in Eferding. Materialien zum Grundherrschaftlichen Zunfttypus (1973). Varnas, Juozas: Die Knappschaften als Vorbilder der deutschen Sozialversicherung (1947). Veith, Heinrich: Deutsches Bergwörterbuch, vol. 1 (1870). Voß, Magnus: Die Innungen und Zünfte in Husum, ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Orts (1896). Wagner, Thomas von: Ueber die Chursächsische Bergwerksverfassung. Ein Beytrag zur Statistik von Sachsen (Leipzig 1787). Wagner-Braun, Margarete: Zur Bedeutung berufsständischer Krankenkassen innerhalb der privaten Krankenversicherung in Deutschland bis zum Zweiten Weltkrieg. Die Selbsthilfeeinrichtungen der katholischen Geistlichen (2002). Waldheim, Harald von: Das Versicherungswesen in seiner Entwicklung mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Sozialversicherung (without date). Wallis, Patrick: Guilds and Mutual Aid in England, in: Phillip Hellwege (ed.), Professional Guilds and the History of Insurance. A Comparative Analysis (2020), 99–121. Waltermann, Raimund: Sozialrecht (13th edn., 2018). Wannagat, Georg: Lehrbuch des Sozialversicherungsrechts, vol. 1 (1965). Wappler, A.F.: Über die alten Freiberger Berg-Knapp- und Brüderschaft, (1901) 37 Mitteilungen vom Freiberger Altertumsverein 48–71. Weber, August / Unverzagt, Friedrich: Die Kreis- und Stadtsparkasse Hünfeld im Wandel der Zeiten (1962). Weber, Friedrich Benedict: Systematisches Handbuch der Staatswirthschaft mit vorzüglicher Rücksicht auf die Literatur derselben, vol. 1/2 (1805). Weber, Matthias: Die Reichspolizeiordnungen von 1530, 1548 und 1577. Historische Einführung und Edition (2002). Weber, Walter: Die Entwicklung der Sparkassen zu selbständigen Anstalten des öffentlichen Rechts (1985). Wege, Erich: Die Zünfte als Träger wirtschaftlicher Kollektivmaßnahmen (1930). Wegener, W: Bergrecht, in: Adalbert Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 1 (1971), 374–378. Wehrmann, Carl (ed.): Die älteren Lübeckischen Zunftrollen (1864). Weichs, Engelhart Freiherr von: Studien zum Handwerkerrecht des ausgehenden 17. Jahrhunderts unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Schriften von Adrian Beier (1939).

Bibliography

347

Weider, Manfred: Das Recht der deutschen Kaufmannsgilden des Mittelalters (1931). Weidner, Frank: Der lange Kampf um die Einführung von Witwen- und Witwerrenten. Analyse der sozialpolitischen Diskussionen von 1890 bis 1911 (2016). Weiß, Johann Adam: Ueber das Zunftwesen und die Frage: Sind die Zünfte beyzubehalten oder abzuschaffen? Eine von der Hamburgischen Gesellschaft zur Beförderung der Künste und nützlichen Gewerbe am 25. Oct. 1798 gekrönte Preisschrift (Frankfurt am Main 1798). Weisser, Johann Fridrich Christoph: Das Recht der Handwerker nach allgemeinen Grundsätzen und insbesondere nach den Herzogl. Wirtembergischen Gesezen entworfen (Stuttgart 1779). Weizsäcker, Wilhelm: Sächsisches Bergrecht in Böhmen. Das Joachimsthaler Bergrecht des 16. Jahrhunderts (1929). Welge, Hans-Dieter: Handwerkerrecht und Handwerkerpolitik der braunschweig-lüneburgischen Lande von 1648 bis 1731 und die Reichszunftordnung (1962). Welter, Julian: Studien zur Geschichte des hamburgischen Zunftwesens im Mittelalter (1895). Werkstetter, Christine: Frauen im Augsburger Zunfthandwerk. Arbeit, Arbeitsbeziehungen und Geschlechterverhältnisse im 18. Jahrhundert (2001). Wernet, Wilhelm: Soziale Handwerksordnung. Aufriß einer deutschen Handwerksgeschichte im Hinblick auf die Sozialtätigkeit der handwerklichen Berufsorganisationen (1939). Werth, Wolfgang: Sozialversicherung, in: Eberhardt Finke (ed.), Handwörterbuch des Versicherungswesens, vol. 2 (1958), 1926–1935. Wesoly, Kurt: Lehrlinge und Handwerksgesellen am Mittelrhein. Ihre soziale Lage und ihre Organisation vom 14. bis zum 17. Jahrhundert (1985). – Zur Vereinigung von Handwerksgesellen im Spätmittelalter, (1984) 132 Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins 405–411. Wilda, Wilhelm Eduard: Das Gildewesen im Mittelalter (1831). Willecke, Raimund: Bergrecht, in: Lexikon des Mittelalters, vol. 1 (1980), 1957–1959. – Die deutsche Berggesetzgebung. Von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart (1977). Wilmes, Jan (ed.): Bach/Moser. Private Krankenversicherung (5th edn., 2015). Wilsdorf, Helmut: Zur Geschichte der erzgebirgischen Bergbrüderschaften und Bergknappschaften (1986). Wingenroth, Max: Die Kunstdenkmäler des Kreises Offenburg (1908). Winzen, Kristina: Handwerk – Städte – Reich. Die städtische Kurie des immerwährenden Reichstags und die Anfänge der Reichshandwerksordnung (2002). Wissell, Rudolf: Der soziale Gedanke im alten Handwerk (1930). – Des Alten Handwerks Recht und Gewohnheit, 6 vol. (2nd edn., 1971–1988). – Die Geschichte der deutschen Sozialversicherung. Von der Krankenfürsorge im Mittelalter zur Krankenversicherung der Neuzeit. Jahre 1270 bis 1838, (1927) 1/5 Die Reichsversicherung 138–146.

348

Bibliography

Wißmann, Georg: Entstehung und Entwicklung des deutschen Knappschaftswesens bis zum Jahre 1920 (1920). – Entstehung und Entwicklung des Knappschaftsvereins Saarbrücken (1918). Witte, F.W.: Wehrordnung der Städte, in: Adalbert Erler et al. (eds.), Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, vol. 5 (1998), 1190–1199. Woedtke, Erich von: Das Reichsgesetz, betreffend die Krankenversicherung der Arbeiter (1883). Woltersdorf, D.Th.: Die Konservierung der Pfarr-Wittwen und -Töchter bei den Pfarren und die durch Heirat bedingte Berufung zum Predigtamte in Neuvorpommern und Rügen, (1902) Deutsche Zeitschrift für Kirchenrecht 177–246. Wunder, Bernd: Pfarrwitwenkassen und Beamtenwitwen-Anstalten vom 16.–19. Jahrhundert. Die Entstehung der staatlichen Hinterbliebenenversorgung in Deutschland, (1985) 12 Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung 429–498. Wysocki, Josef: Gutachten über die Frage der „ältesten Sparkasse“ (1986). – Untersuchungen zur Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte der deutschen Sparkassen im 19. Jahrhundert (1980). Zacher, Hans F. (ed.): Bedingungen für die Entstehung und Entwicklung von Sozialversicherung (1979). Zahn, Wilhelm: Die Tangermünder Gildebriefe, (1901) 28 Jahresbericht des Altmärkischen Vereins für vaterländische Geschichte und Industrie zu Salzwedel 39–104. Zatschek, Heinz: Aus der Vergangenheit des deutschen Handwerks, (1955) 37 Archiv für Kulturgeschichte 44–59. Zedler, Johann Heinrich (ed.): Grosses vollständiges Vniversal Lexicon Aller Wissenschafften und Künste, vol. 57 (Leipzig 1748), vol. 64 (Leipzig 1750). Zedtwitz, Clemens von: Die rechtsgeschichtliche Entwicklung der Versicherung (1999). Zimmer, Steffen: Ostalpine Bergrechtsaufzeichnungen im Mittelalter. Ein bergrechtliches Entwicklungsprofil (2006). Zwehl, Konrad von: Quellen zur Wirtschafts- und Sozialgeschichte Bayerns vom ausgehenden 18. Jahrhundert bis zur Mitte des 19. Jahrhunderts (1985). Zycha, Adolf: Das böhmische Bergrecht des Mittelalters auf Grundlage des Bergrechts von Iglau, vol. 1 (1900). – Ein altes soziales Arbeiterrecht Deutschlands, (1900) 41 Zeitschrift für Bergrecht 445– 470.