Preliminary Programme

Wed 12 April
    08.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.30 - 18.30

Thu 13 April
    08.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.30 - 18.30

Fri 14 April
    08.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.30 - 18.30

Sat 15 April
    08.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00

All days
Go back

Friday 14 April 2023 14.00 - 16.00
K-11 LAB30 Journeymen Associations in Southern Europe at the End of the Ancien Régime: an Assessment
C22
Network: Labour Chair: Maarten Prak
Organizer: Brendan von Briesen Discussant: Maarten Prak
Mario Grassi : In Search of Compromise. Work, Threat and Identity in The Fundation of the Università dei Lavoranti Calzettai in Turin (1737)
Mutual aid: this is the widespread justification given by those who, in studying the guilds of the ancient regime, have come face to face with the presence of professional organisations of workers. According to the rare research carried out on the subject, the organisation of worship, the collection of alms ... (Show more)
Mutual aid: this is the widespread justification given by those who, in studying the guilds of the ancient regime, have come face to face with the presence of professional organisations of workers. According to the rare research carried out on the subject, the organisation of worship, the collection of alms and assistance to the confreres permeate the professional experience of the workers, who are usually depicted as poor, devout and submissive. And yet, if we approach the study of the socio-economic conjunctures that characterised corporative life in the ancient regime, the explanation often seems unsatisfactory: was the workers' devotion really so strong as to activate the complex process of social recognition underlying the foundation of a corporation? What were the terms that regulated the mutual aid activities among the confraternity? What was the threshold of indigence and submission that the workers could endure?

In the light of these doubts, I decided to study the dynamics behind the foundation of workers' guilds in the ancient regime through the presentation of a case study. In particular, with this contribution I would like to dig beneath the veneer of appearances in search of the reasons that led the workers employed in the manufacture of silk stockings on the loom in Turin to unite in a corporation separate from that of the master stocking makers. The case of those workers deserves to be studied in detail, because it is well documented and can open the way to new interpretations of the phenomenon. Through the documents preserved in the archives of Turin (Archivio di Stato di Torino – Sezioni riunite; Archivio di Stato di Torino – Sezione Corte; Archivio Storico della Città di Torino) and documentation of a different nature (fiscal, charity, notarial, census) it will be possible to reconstruct the socio-economic situation of the workers in this sector. With this contribution, in conclusion, I intend to offer new research perspectives by asking: what were the causes that led to the separation of the workers from the masters? What were the consequences of the forced collaboration between the two figures? What were their social and economic conditions? What rights did the workers demand, and what did they get? Basically, how can the presence of a guild of workers in the society of the ancien regime be interpreted? (Show less)

José A. Nieto Sánchez : Rebel Journeymen: Artisan Skills, Organisation, and Protest in Modern-era Madrid
The Madrid journeymen of certain artisan trades were a rebellious collective, which stood out both for their organization and for jealously defending their skill. Far from having as their central objective the protection of their honor, these journeymen raised demands from their associative platforms tending to face the competition represented ... (Show more)
The Madrid journeymen of certain artisan trades were a rebellious collective, which stood out both for their organization and for jealously defending their skill. Far from having as their central objective the protection of their honor, these journeymen raised demands from their associative platforms tending to face the competition represented by a heterogeneous workforce that included above all apprentices and women. Certain guilds trades were more prone to the formal organization of their journeymen, so that tailors, printers, or shoemakers developed since the 1580s important associations of defense of their collective interests (above all, through brotherhoods and confraternities). In this communication the study of some of these brotherhoods is proposed, emphasizing the example of the tailor journeymen who from 1607 to 1753 resorted to the brotherhood of San Antonio de Padua to bring together their interests and those of their proletarianized master colleagues in order to achieve an improvement in their working conditions, and especially in their salaries. This study will try to insert this problem in the context of the labor associationism of the Hispanic Monarchy and the measures deployed by the monarchy to end this peculiar and conflictive platform of demand for qualified workers. (Show less)

Juanjo Romero : Journeymen Associations of Barcelona after the Abolition of the Guilds (c.1830-1855)
During the last third of the eighteenth century, Barcelona enjoyed a period of sustained urban growth. This process favoured the urban trades and their guilds. One of the consequences was the birth of journeymen's guilds, differentiated from the masters' ones. Such was the case of the wood, building, metal, and ... (Show more)
During the last third of the eighteenth century, Barcelona enjoyed a period of sustained urban growth. This process favoured the urban trades and their guilds. One of the consequences was the birth of journeymen's guilds, differentiated from the masters' ones. Such was the case of the wood, building, metal, and dress trades. Until 1834, when most guilds were forbidden by the new liberal regime, these journeymen's guilds acted as trade unions.

The aim of this paper is twofold. On the one hand, we want to analyse the evolution of artisan workers’ associations since the prohibition of guilds untill 1855, when the first general strike took place on the city. On the other hand, we aim to show the vital and professional trajectories of journeymen, particularly those belonging to the economic sectors more involved in the town's growth.

The sources consulted include: notary and guild archives; municipal registers; tax information; and official death records in order to reconstruct the urban, familiar, and professional trajectories of the journeymen. (Show less)

Brendan von Briesen : An Orderly Rebellion: the Journeymen Guilds of Barcelona (c.1760-1830)
For a millennium, the masters of various crafts were organized around their respective guilds – a publicly recognized corporation that ruled all aspects of the trade and its respective markets in a certain jurisdiction. Most of the guilds organized their trade(s) hierarchically, based on three classes: the first two ... (Show more)
For a millennium, the masters of various crafts were organized around their respective guilds – a publicly recognized corporation that ruled all aspects of the trade and its respective markets in a certain jurisdiction. Most of the guilds organized their trade(s) hierarchically, based on three classes: the first two – apprentice and journeymen (this last known in Spanish as an “oficial” or “mancebo”) – were technically not members of the guild, but labored under its norms and regulations as servants (generally non-remunerated and remunerated, respectfully); the masters were members of the guild. In the traditional, hegemonic historiography, the conflicts of interest were muted through expectations of a progressive life cycle of the worker and through paternalistic relationships. Journeymen associations presented in the literature tend to be informal, clandestine, ephemeral expressions (as these combinations were generally illegal in most of Europe). In this paper, I discuss the conflicts between journeymen and masters and analyze the organizational strategies of the journeymen. Contrary to what occurred in other parts of Europe, where journeymen associations were illegal (and, in consequence, the journeymen relied on clandestine strategies), in Barcelona these strategies included the formation of different Journeymen Guilds, which operated openly, legitimated by the authorities. In this way, the journeymen of some trades were able to carry out a certain orderly rebellion against the economic and organizational power concentrated in the hands of the guild masters. (Show less)



Theme by Danetsoft and Danang Probo Sayekti inspired by Maksimer