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Chapter 7: Occupation
Guilds
Hundreds of occupations exist. Human
society gradually developed a means of organizing
most occupations. A guild 1 is a governing body for
an occupation or group of occupations. Historically,
alternative names for a guild have been a college,
fraternity, and brotherhood. All guilds are
owned by the king, though much regulation is internal
as well as mandated royally. All members of a
guild are either an apprentice, journeyman or
journeywoman, master or mistress, or guild official.
Apprentice
An apprentice is a character who is learning
an occupation from a master. To become an apprentice,
a notarized agreement must be signed between
apprentice and master. Once the contract is
signed, the apprentice becomes the lowest member
of the appropriate guild. An apprentice works for a
period of time, in which the apprentice is obliged
to learn from the master. Since all masters have a
limited right to physically punish and correct their
apprentice, most apprentices receive occasional beatings.
The daily routine of most apprentices consists
of chores, instruction, corporal punishment,
and an increase of knowledge and skill. Some apprentices
also perform domestic duties unrelated to
their occupation. Fewer than 10% of all apprentices
are female. When females are employed for
physical labor, their wages are usually half of the
wages of males. Apprentices work each day as long
as their master. Oftentimes, apprentices resent their
masters and serve their term ‘with a clenched fist,’
as they put it. Once the contract is completed, the
apprentice is either accepted or rejected as a journeyman
in the guild. Usually, a masterpiece must be
crafted to demonstrate proficiency in the occupation.
If accepted, then the apprentice must pay 200
s.p. to the guild, unless they are the son or daughter
of a member, in which case the fee is waived. If a
player creates a character who has enough years of
experience in their occupation to be a journeyman,
then consult the Aedile to determine if they are a
journeyman or a failed apprentice.
Journeyman or Journeywoman
A journeyman or jouneywoman is a character
who has completed an apprenticeship or is otherwise
recognized as competent at an occupation.
Where a guild exists for a given occupation in a community,
a journeyman must be a member of the guild
to work legally at their occupation. However, journeymen
are not fully members, since they cannot
employ their own apprentices. Most journeymen
negotiate their daily wage in their employment contracts,
though they are hired usually for months and
collect their pay weekly. However, in some occupations
it is the norm to be paid by piece-rate. The
journeyman promises their labor to their master and
no one else in the agreed period. Some journeymen
are former masters who have reverted due to
poverty. A journeyman may not serve as a guild
official. There is no limit on how many journeymen
a master may employ.
Master or Mistress
A master is a character who is experienced
at their occupation, is a full member of their guild,
owns a shop, and is self-employed. When employing
an apprentice or journeyman, a master has a clerk
of the guild write a contract, which will be signed
by the master and the employee. Some guilds limit
the number of apprentices that each master may
have at 1 time, though immediate family members
of the master always have the right to apprenticeship.
In the contract between master and apprentice,
the master promises to treat the apprentice like
their own child. Also, in the contract the master
promises to provide work on every day that is not a
holy day. Each guild has a list of days considered
holy by their guild, and on which members do not
work. All masters consider corporal punishment to
be part of educating an apprentice, and all masters
have a limited right to physically punish and correct
their apprentice. When applicable, the master gives
a set of tools to each apprentice at the end of their
service.
1. Information on guilds has been mostly obtained from Epstein’s Wage Labor and Guilds in Medieval Europe. For more
information, see the References section at the end of this book.
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