being formed originally for more or less religious purposes. There were four kinds of them in England, and for that matter in other countries also: namely, religious gilds; frith gilds, formed for mutual protection of the members in legal affairs or in cases of violence and fraud; merchant gilds, which generally had the monopoly of the trade in some commodity in and out of a particular town; and, lastly, craft gilds or associations of artisans or handicraftsmen in any particular industry. Only the merchant and craft gilds need concern us here. The merchants of a town used to combine together in these associations for mutual safety in their trade, and formed a combination of capitalists engaged in traffic with home-made and foreign wares, who helped each other in all business matters and relieved members if any fell into distress. These merchant gilds were of a somewhat higher rank than those of the artisans and comprised the most wealthy and powerful of the merchant class, gradually winning great political power. They were often practically identical with the municipal institutions of the town, and as such used to advance money in order to buy up the firma burgi or fixed tax due to the king, and thus to become their own assessors of taxation and to achieve practical independence from royal interference. Indeed much of the growth and the freedom of town life in the Middle Ages was due to the spirited action of the gilds. The craft gilds also were not less active. They tried to secure good handiwork on the part of their members, and to suppress the production of goods by irresponsible people who were not members of the craft or "mystery.” They took care to train young men as apprentices, so as to always have a continuation of good workmen ; and looked after their members, as all gilds did, by providing a common fund in cases of sickness and death in order to relieve the distress of a gildsman or his relatives. Both forms of gilds had a very good effect upon industry in its earlier stages, for though they discouraged competition, and were rather inclined towards monopoly, they nevertheless encouraged good workmanship and developed industry by forming industrial centres in every place of any importance. 38. The Gilds and the Towns.-Their effect upon the growth of the towns is seen very clearly in Germany. We mentioned that Henry the Fowler (918-936) founded a great many towns, and he is often regarded likewise as being the founder of that burgher class which afterwards became so important in politics and commerce, furnishing the much-needed balance to the almost overwhelming power of the feudal nobility. These towns were divided from the first into imperial towns (Reichsstädte) which stood immediately under the supremacy of the German emperor, and Landstädte or towns which owed allegiance to the lord of the territory within which they lay, whether that lord were duke, baron, or bishop. In towns of both classes there was generally a governor or magistrate, the Burggraf, Schultheiss, or burgomaster, who possessed civil and military authority as being the representative of the king or territorial lord. Now at first the class of burghers in these towns consisted only of vassals and followers of the king or noble who owned the town, together with independent landed proprietors of noble birth, sometimes called "patricians," and some of the most wealthy of the merchant class. The greater portion of the population who were engaged in industry had no share in the government, and often had little more personal freedom than the villeins on a feudal lord's estate. But gradually two great changes were made. The municipal authorities (often, as we said, identical with the merchant gilds) gradually obtained by purchase or gifts the power and authority of the governor appointed by the territorial lord or the king, and then appointed their own burgomaster, and chose also a town council (Rath) to help him. But still the government of the town was entirely in the hands of the wealthy merchants and the "patrician" families. Now here was the opportunity of the craft gilds, and by degrees they availed themselves of it. They succeeded in winning for their members complete personal freedom1 and the full 1 In England any villein who became a member of a town gild, and remained such for a year and a day without being reclaimed by his lord, became ipso facto a free man. rights of citizens, especially in elections and in eligibility to town offices, often driving out the aristocratic element altogether and constituting a regular democratic body, though generally producing a mixed form of government. These gilds also had considerable military power, for the common citizens all received training for military service under the banner of their special gild, and under the command of their own gild-master, and were by no means slow to use this power in defence of their civic rights. And it is to the great growth of the sturdy burgher class that the German towns in the Middle Ages owed so much of their power, and were enabled to develop into considerable industrial and commercial centres. North and South 39. Confederations of Towns. Europe. Many of them were practically small republics, as were several of the Hansa towns, and they used to ally themselves together in confederacies whose power was fully equal to that of the territorial lords around them. They used this power very largely in gaining security for their commerce; and it is for this reason that the growth of gilds, of towns, and of great town confederacies is of such importance to the student of commercial history. Besides the mighty Hansa, we shall have occasion to speak of the confederated cities on the Rhine and in south Germany, which, like the splendid city republics of mediæval Italy, possess for us considerable significance. We shall therefore now proceed to speak of the Italian and German commercial towns more at length. Before doing The con so, however, it may be remarked that the commerce of Europe, in the medieval times at which we have now arrived, was divided as it were into two great dominions— that of the Mediterranean ports and cities in the south, and that of the Hansa confederation in the north. necting link between these two great dominions was afforded by the natural waterway of the Rhine and by cities which grew up and flourished on its banks. We shall notice these two great commercial divisions now in detail, taking the southern one first. But we may, before concluding this chapter, refer shortly to the economic effects of feudalism and its influence upon medieval commerce generally. 40. Effects of Feudalism upon Trade.—We have said before that the feudal system encouraged the growth of towns, and thereby the increase of industry and commerce, by the fixity it gave to society after a very troubled period. But at the same time it was not an unmixed good. It involved to some extent the isolation of the dominions of the different lords, and divided up the country into small territories, each with its own restrictions upon trade, and with its own special imposts and taxes on behalf of the lord. The lords, too, constantly levied fines and tallages upon their dependants; especially if these wanted to leave their land to become traders or artisans in some town; or they would call them away from industrial occupations to go out fighting. Agriculture was similarly hampered by multitudinous restrictions. The comparative isolation and division of territories, villages, and towns which feudalism involved was also detrimental to an extensive and unrestricted commerce, so that, though at first useful as a social settlement, the system ultimately was felt as cramping the development of trade or an extended industry. CHAPTER III THE ITALIAN CITIES 41. The City Republics.-Just as we shall see that the Hansa towns owed their prosperity to the commerce of the North, so the Italian cities owed theirs to the commerce of the East. It was this that gave them the means and the strength to attain their independence, and without a knowledge of the commercial factor in their growth it is impossible to appreciate their history. Their struggle for freedom begins soon after Otto I. had united the Western Empire, as the west part of the old Roman world was called, with the German empire, in 962 A.D.; and not much more than a century afterwards their power was fully established. From the eleventh century onwards, indeed, the towns in Italy became all-important, and occupied much the same position as did the old city commonwealths of Thebes, Athens, and Corinth in ancient Greece. Nearly the whole of northern Italy was practically divided into the dominions of various cities, such as Genoa, Florence, and Venice, which formed a group of republics independent of any power except that of the Emperor. In course of time, it is true, these city republics fell under the dominion of other lords and princes, but at the time of which we are speaking, from the eleventh to the thirteenth and in some cases to the fifteenth century, their power was very great, and their commercial prosperity at its highest pitch. Most of them had shaken off the power of the nobles, just as we saw in the last chapter that many of the German towns had done. Unfortunately they afterwards fought against |