8 - Apprenticeship in the Southern Netherlands, c. 1400–c. 1800

Summary

Apprenticeship had economic objectives, but was equally important for the acquisition of social status. The rules and their application concerning masterpieces make little sense from an economic perspective, but a lot when seen as markers of status, in this case separating the master from his journeymen and apprentices. Guilds in the Habsburg Low Countries designed their apprenticeships in terms that made them exclusive but also allowed migrant apprentices to be easily incorporated. In the towns of the Southern Low Countries, apprenticeship fees varied according to the duration of the apprenticeship: long apprenticeships meant low fees; short apprenticehips, high fees. In the seventeenth century and especially the eighteenth century the opportunities for apprenticeships outside the guild structures increased. In the eighteenth century, moreover, some craft workshops started to attract numerous apprentices while many masters had none. Apprenticeship thus became less of a personal contract between two individuals.