Re: Guild Membership I do not think that having a father in a guild meant that a son would automatically become a member also. Like all things political, a father might have some influence is getting a son admitted as an apprentice. Guilds limited the number of members to help insure that there would be enough work for everyone to do. Additionally, some guilds did not admit sons whose fathers were in some occupations. For example, a gravedigger's son would have a hard time to gain admittance to most guilds. Before one could be admitted as a "master." he had to pass a severe training course. An analogy might be the medical or legal profession today. Having a doctor as a father did not entitle one to become a doctor. It might help to being admitted to "medical school." -- John.Blankenbaker@comcast.net

Here's the quote from the book I cited. "The guild constitution, to which Fleger [the member] had subscribed, provided that wife as well as master must dhow proof of four irreproachable grandpartne; and inasmuch as a master's children were automatically eligible for guild acceptance and support, Flege's determination to marry the Helmsen girl demanded of the tinsmiths that they sponsor the grandchildren of a bastard before the community" pp. 73-74 ----- Original Message ----- From: <john.blankenbaker@comcast.net> To: <germanna_colonies@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 3:07 PM Subject: Re: [GERMANNA] Fw: Questions about guilds in Siegen area > Re: Guild Membership > I do not think that having a father in a guild meant > that a son would automatically become a member > also. Like all things political, a father might have > some influence is getting a son admitted as an > apprentice. Guilds limited the number of members > to help insure that there would be enough work for > everyone to do. Additionally, some guilds did not > admit sons whose fathers were in some occupations. > For example, a gravedigger's son would have a hard > time to gain admittance to most guilds. Before one > could be admitted as a "master." he had to pass a > severe training course. An analogy might be the > medical or legal profession today. Having a doctor as a > father did not entitle one to become a doctor. It might > help to being admitted to "medical school." > > -- > John.Blankenbaker@comcast.net > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > GERMANNA_COLONIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >