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Medieval Life in Country and Town 253 Consequently, during the twelfth century there were many in- surrections of the towns against their lords, and there was a gen- eral demand that the lords should grant the townsmen charters in which the rights of both parties should be definitely stated. These charters were written contracts between the lord and the town government. 413. The Guilds. The tradesmen in the medieval towns were at once manufacturers and merchants ; that is, they made, as well as offered for sale, the articles which they kept in their shops. Those who belonged to a particular trade the bakers, the butch- ers, the sword-makers, the armorers, etc. formed unions or guilds to protect their special interests. The oldest statutes of a guild in Paris are those of the candle-makers, which go back to 1061. The number of trades differed greatly in different towns, but the guilds all had the same object to prevent anyone from prac- ticing a trade who had not been duly admitted to the union. A young man had to spend several years in learning his trade. During this time he lived in the house of a " master workman" as an "apprentice," but received no remuneration. He then became a "journeyman" and could earn wages, although he was still allowed to work only for master workmen and not directly for the public. A simple trade might be learned in three years, but to become a goldsmith one must be an apprentice for ten years. The number of apprentices that a master workman might employ was strictly limited, in order that the journeymen might not become too numerous. The way in which each trade was to be practiced was carefully regulated, as well as the time that should be spent in work each day. The system of guilds discouraged enterprise but maintained uniform standards everywhere. Had it not been for these unions the defenseless, isolated workmen, serfs as they had formerly been, would have found it impossible to secure freedom and municipal independence from the feudal lords who had formerly been their masters.