I started a five year apprenticeship in printing in 1968. I gained my City & Guilds Certificate and was then earning the princely sum of £85 per week, which in 1973 was a damn good wage. I feel that if the two parties were both committed to the system then it should have proved mutually beneficial.

My Great Grandfather was an apprentice with a master carpenter and cabinet maker in Copenhagen. When he graduated or whatever happened at the end of his apprenticeship, he came to the US and they just so happened to be building a State Hospital. He showed his certificate and they made him Forman of one part of the build. He was in his late teens and was in charge of men that in some cases, were old enough to be his Father. lol

I think that the apprenticeship system is one we might reconsider in the modern world; my ex-husband (who is English by birth and upbringing) started out his professional life as an apprentice who later went on to college. He's now a highly successful engineer, well respected by his colleagues. Like any educational arrangement, safeguards against abuse must be in place; abuse and failure happen every day in modern schools so I don't think our current arrangement is substantially better than apprenticeships. Thank you for the in-depth view; you're one of the reasons I look forward to Fridays.

@clarencepcanine

Жыл бұрын

Apprenticeships still happen in some trades, like plumbers and electricians

@angelasmith5019

Жыл бұрын

The whole of the German economy depends on apprenticeships. After school, German kids either to to university or start an apprenticeship.

@nicoleroth3127

Жыл бұрын

​@@angelasmith5019 Yep, just wanted to say the same thing. It's usually three years with the practical part being working within the business or trade and the theoretical part done at a specialised school. Up until about two decades ago, you couldn't call yourself, let's say an electrician, without having gone through an apprenticeship, otherwise you were just a helper earning less money than someone who went through the apprenticeship. And only businesses who were run or had someone who was a master in this field could take on apprentices - or run their own business, for that matter. Thanks to the EU that's no longer a requiremet, and the standards have noticeably dropped since, but the majority of people stick to it anyway. But yeah, Germany still has the old system of apprentice, journeyman, and master. Even something very close to the medieval guilds to control the standards still exists in the form of Handwerks- and Handelskammern, and pre-C19 many young people, mainly carpenters, would still go on a literal journey after their apprenticeship.

While 5-7 years may seem a long time to learn some crafts, it bears remembering that many of those crafts were accomplished in much different circumstances than today, e.g., how many of us could - reliably - build and maintain a fire suitable for baking using a wood-fired oven and w/o the benefit of any form of thermometer? Also, it bears remembering that, w many crafts, it would take years to develop the muscles [blacksmithing, cooperage] or dexterity [broidery, weaving] to perform the craft proficiently. Thought provoking episode today!

@h0rriphic

Жыл бұрын

Honestly, 5 years is nothing…especially for, like op pointed out, for more involved trades like architecture/masonry, running large scale construction projects, etc. also they were given way more responsibility far earlier than people of today.

@somethingclever8916

Жыл бұрын

People started apprenticing at a very young age, sometimes in the single digits. Learning a craft takes a long time, as well as self discipline. We send kids to school for 12 years for what purpose

My Grandmother was a nurse and back then ( circa 1910) she was trained by the hospital for several years until she became a registered nurse. She had to sign a contract to work there so many years after completing her training. For context, she was trained in the city of Chicago in the USA.

I work in an NHS hospital pathology department, and we have many biomedical scientist apprentices. They work in the laboratory, four days a week and attend university one day a week. At the end of five years, they achieve a degree in biomedical sciences and become HCPC registered professionals. It is very successful.

@Jeffhowardmeade

Жыл бұрын

While in the US, it takes a four year degree just to become a nurse.

@karentucker2161

3 ай бұрын

Hands on training is better probably

@karentucker2161

3 ай бұрын

9 months in some cases. My sister did one if thise programs ​@Jeffhowardmeade

One of my favourite paintings I don't tire of looking at, albeit on my iPad. Is by Pieter Bruegel. Children's games. Showing children at play. Painted in 1560. Showing many games that are still played today. I like it as it makes me feel it wasn't all work and no play for youngsters then.

@ReadingthePast

Жыл бұрын

I was so close to including that painting in this video - it’s so cool!

@bluebellwood4287

Жыл бұрын

​@@ReadingthePast love that :)

@-Reagan

Жыл бұрын

@@ReadingthePast I’d love to see that painting! I hope you’ll include it in another video. It would be interesting to know the difference between how a child of the city, or country or court might be raised. I don’t know if you’ve covered this, yet but, is there any truth to the proverbial “whipping boy”? Was there a child who was made to suffer the consequences of a prince’s actions with corporal discipline, to be whipped in place of the prince? Perhaps a child of noble birth taken in by a royal family deemed suitable for a child’s companion? I don’t know exactly where I got the idea this was a real thing, but it was something I read as a child. So, I might be completely wrong. In any case, this is so interesting! I’m off to actually finish watching - maybe you’ve already covered it, here! Thanks 😊

@nataliapanfichi9933

2 ай бұрын

​​@@ReadingthePast some children did work at a young age. Like for example renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci took in 12 year old redheaded bratty boy , Giacomo "Salai" ( devil) Caprioti as his apprentice but at times he treated the kid like a servant while at other times he treated salai like a sorta adopted son, and complained once that the boy was lazy, a cretin and a lier for sasing him and trying to steal something from him.

Good morning from North Dakota USA

I have an ancestor who began indenture at the age of 12 and at the age of 18 had a trade and a homestead. I started working full-time at 13 and didn't own my own home until 20 years later. I have yet to master a trade.

The note about the apprentices who inherited their masters' businesses and/or married their daughters makes me wonder how often this was a way of "adopting" a boy in a family that had no son to carry on the business. What rights did the biological family have over the indentured child?

Good Morning from Ontario Canada

@Dice.cryptid

Жыл бұрын

Another Ontarian! How lovely

I believe apprenticeships are a valuable tool for learning trades. Not every person has the inclination to enter a career that requires a specialized degree, and honestly we've taught our children to be ashamed of manual labor or trades. There's nothing worse than a society filled with unsatisfied academics who can't make an actual living with a degree that they will never be finished paying for.

@woodrow60

Жыл бұрын

You are on the money. The push across the English speaking countries for ever greater numbers of young people to go to university is a great error. As you note, it devalues technical skills, at some cost to individuals, industries and countries, devalues tertiary education through the creation of dodgy degrees and lower standards, and has led to over-investment in universities, which now specialise in grasping income off young people whose valuable aptitudes lie elsewhere.

Apprenticeship was so important. My great great grandad was an itinerant shepherd. My great grandad was apprenticed as a joiner (we still have his ‘prentice piece) and became a master. My grandad went to grammar school and gained a scholarship to uni. He was a grammar school teacher. Such a change in just 3 generations!

I've always wished I could do that sort of thing. When we learned about it in history class as kids, I was devastated to learn most things don't work that way anymore!

Good morning Dr. Kat

I took many classes in medieval history and art history in college. I became fascinated with apprenticeship. For the time, it was a great method of maintaining a high standard of workmanship, and passing on the methods of all the trades. Excellent presentation Dr. Kat!

Good morning from Seattle Washington (US)

Very useful overview. One can imagine contracting a child for apprenticeship was not only logical for giving the child a technical education, but it aided that child's family's survival because there was one less mouth to feed. Definitely look forward to your episode about guilds. They played such an important part in politics and social structure.

Do you have examples of how apprentices struck out on their own once they've learned all there is to learn? How did they raise the capitol for a workshop and tools? Did they eventually go to work for other businesses and save their earnings? Did money lenders front the start-up costs? Did Masters ever put stipulations in their contracts stating that after completion of apprenticeships, the apprentice could not start a competitive business within the vicinity of their master's business? Did the masters eventually put the apprentice on salary?

I was an apprentice myself some 10 years ago, and it helped me tremendously. No Uni required. Apprenticeship and work qualification certificates cost way less :) And I was lucky with my "master" (office manager) and employers in general. Luckily, now you get paid during training, and I had a very good rate of around £225 per week. Then they kept me on for another 4 years until I was ready to move on.

My Great grandfather was from a small town near the Black Forest area of Germany. He was apprenticed to a cabinet maker in the next town over. I still have furniture he made, and use it today, as do other members of the family. My mother's first home as a newlywed left much to be desired. Specifically, the lack of a closet on the second floor, and an area of the kitchen that had been designed with a very low, slanted ceiling. When he came to the house for the first time, he told her "I fix." I never knew him, but he loved wood, and his work, and could build anything. I wish to heaven we still had this system. My nephew wanted to be a carpenter, and applied to the carpenter's union for instruction, but was told he needed a sponsor. Since no one knew a carpenter to sponsor him, he had to change his plan.

Thank you a lot - always great 👍👍👍🌹🌹

Greatly appreciate this video. As a serious, if amateur, blacksmith of more than twenty years with strong interests in the traditional craft and history, the "society of the craft" (for lack of better terms) has drawn my curiosity, and such research as I have time for. Apprenticeship drew my more focused interest when the daughter of a good friend in a living history group wished to learn smithcraft. Guided by what I and her mother could find, we had conversations and sought to conduct ourselves as best we could to portray what *might* be the case in 18th Century Colonial America. What I appreciate most is not only the bare facts, but your interpretation. I will not attempt to claim that our occasional explorations of living history of a later period on a different continent provide evidence or proof of anything. I do know that the deep bonds and connections, and frank affection you speak of bear out in my experience. We three made a very serious agreement -- serious for many good reasons -- and for about three years she took it very seriously. (I intentionally made the agreement "renegotiable" at 14 because high school in the US changes things.) The friendship, the good times, the deep bonds, and more just from three years getting together to do what we can are amazing. I can only imagine what 7 or more years of constant and close association could produce. I think you're on the right track with your opinions. I would be curious how similar Guilds and Apprenticeship in England and on the Continent were. (I know a great deal of that broke down in the American Colonies of necessity.) I would also like to reinforce what you mentioned of the affection of parents for children with things I picked up from readings in Luther's Table Talk and Letters over the years. (I use those more as historical sources than theological writings.) The frequent mention in both sources of the deep emotion and devastation and hope that affected Martin Luther during the illness and death of one of his daughters is plain and powerful. Again, I find your observations very on track with my own haphazard research. Well done, thank you, again, and I look forward to your video on Guilds.

I hope there will be something on the medieval Mystery Plays and Morality Plays at some point. Maybe at Christmas.

Dr. Kat, after reading the book “Tudor Children” please come back and share with us your review of the work and what you might have learned - what surprised you? What shocked you? What you knew but was shown in a different context, etc. I look forward to hearing what you thought of the book and its content.

My father was on the autism spectrum, his mother was stupendous and astute. She understood that he needed something to focus his mathematic and artistic brain on. She enrolled him in a carpentry apprenticeship and he became a master. He worked for his master until he ultimately opened his own business. He designed beautiful furniture and could do complex sums in his head keeping track of what needed doing while muttering to himself as he went about his work. I believe that apprenticeships still exist in Canada but more likely on a more casual basis with central bodies giving tickets. But for the less fortunate I believe that there should be a ramping up of such training for young people and people in general.

Looking forward to this!!!

I wish apprenticeship still existed. I think if we modernized it but started having apprenticeships again, especially in the US, it would be beneficial. Especially because so many people here can't afford to go to university. I'm a makeup artist, and sometimes you can work as an apprentice or assistant to an established artist to jumpstart your career and learn at the same time, and if you live in a big city, it's really good to do. I live in a very rural area, so I couldn't do that, but I know many artists who have benefitted from such a system.

Washing dishes! I always seem to be washing dishes when I'm watching your videos.

In the USA, we still do that in the different medical fields. Different names but the same principle: practicums, internships, residencies, and post-doctoral fellowships.

Another absolutely wonderful video. This is the highlight of my day

The system in a moderniced form is still in function in Denmark to this day. Some of my Dad's peers went on "Valsen", meaning they travelled as semi-Navers in the 1930'es I've got my brother's Jouneyman Certificate (in four languages) he finished his apprenticeship as a baker in 1969. I finished an apprentenceship as an office assistent in 1991. Not a jouneyman though, just skilled, with a certicate. My friend's son will be finished as a skilled car mechanic in the autum. I had the wonderful expierience of meeting a REAL NAVER less that ten years ago: A young Dutch carpenter - he had the gold buttons, the bag on his walking stick, the right clothes and everything - on his way around in Scandinavia. Working for food and board, not allowed to return to the same place twice, and not allowed home for 3 years and a day (if I remember right) History alive right there, in front of my eyes. I love it!

"apprentinceships had no set end dates" except for pirates of course, who always ended apprenticeships on the 21 birthday. (also, the fact that the skill in question is called a "mystery" makes me think of a Scooby doo situation!)

Though not everyone’s lucky enough to get an apprenticeship in New Zealand these days some, like my nephew (now well into his 40s and established in a successful career), still do. In my opinion they’re a great thing. Thank you also for informing us about medieval childhood. It certainly cleared up a few myths for me. I’ve been a subscriber for several years now and love your programmes!

Really appreciated your perspectives on apprenticeship, when it might start and how old children might have been at that time. I’m interested in how many children left their apprenticeships before the end of their contract, and what consequences there would have been.

Wow. You've busted the family genealogy myth that a distant great-grandfather was 'held against his will' at 14 yrs. in coming to The New World as an indentured apprentice. In reality? He and his family possibly thrived because of the courage in leaving family poverty in 1600's England for America. Will absolutely dig deeper. Thank you!

@ReadingthePast

Жыл бұрын

I haven’t looked into international apprenticeships like this, I wonder if something different to what I discussed may be going on with them - it would be interesting to know who contracted with the master on his behalf. Was it a parent? Or a local authority? Had he been orphaned for example? That might take you down an interesting path.

Fascinating! Thank you Dr Kat. We have 'mentors' in various professions and social groups which isn't nearly as involved. It must have been so exciting for a family to secure a well-placed apprenticeship for their son or daughter.

In the early 2000s I learned dental assisting through a voluntary program which led to several years of employment. It was an excellent program and filled needs for the community, the dental clinics, and the students.

As a former small business owner, some of this still rings true. When hiring a young person, they generally arrive with almost no skills pertinent to the business. So, in the beginning, they're being paid for listening and watching. I would tease them that they are "grossly overpaid". This, in the hope that they could eventually stand in my place and generate revenue at a high standard. A hit and miss situation, at best. In so far as that is recognizable as an "apprenticeship", it continues all over the world.

O think apprenticeship is an excellent way to learn a trade. I am across the pond and the story of one of our Founding Fathers shows the pluses and minuses to this system. Benjamin Franklin was apprenticed to his older brother to learn the trade of typesetting and publishing. They had problems and Benjamin ran away from his brother in Boston to Philadelphia. I think maybe the sibling relationship was one of rivalry. However, Benjamin being inordinately bright picked up his craft very quickly. He was able to set up a shop in Philadelphia. And we all know how that turned out. He was a very active citizen in local matters as well as Colonial and later in Continental matters. The apprenticeship was of benefit to him even though he left early breaking any agreement he may have had with his brother. Modern apprenticeship would look much different from those of centuries ago, but, I think it would benefit both the craft and the apprentice as well as the master of the craft. Perhaps in their 16th or 17th year these apprenticeships could commence.

I was so excited. The other day I saw you on a documentary I was watching. I literally screamed. Good for you girl

My father grew up in Europe in the 1930s, and he tells me that boys wore only shorts, not long trousers, until a certain age, something between 12 and 14. This persists in formal wear for boys, their suits still have shorts, not long trousers. If younger boys attend formal events like investitures (or US equivalents, lime “swearings-in”), coronations, formal weddings and funerals, etc., they wear shorts suits, even here in the casual US. My grandfather there wore a three-piece suit every day of his life, regardless of the day’s activities. I remember how happy my Dad was in the 70s when he no longer had to wear a tie to his teaching job everyday. In my My Dad is old now, but still in health, thank goodness!

@kimberlyperrotis8962

Жыл бұрын

Like swearings-in, not lime! Bad typing.

This was a much better explanation of apprenticeship details than I've ever gotten before thank you.

@Lufu2

Жыл бұрын

Agreed, most are about the terrible and awful ways apprentices were treated. This was a balanced, fair and darn good video on the subject.

In my family (restaurant, meat packing) my brother and myself had to work (I was 9ish). I couldn't reach the top pizza oven but I could the lower. I learned to drink black coffee to warm up in the meat packing business. My great grandma was 12 when she was married.

Very interesting. Thank you for posting!

fascinating as always!

Thanks for revisiting this unfair myth. Juana was sadly the last of the medieval queen regnants of the various kingdoms that merged into Castile. She was never mad, just tormented by the horrid Habsburgs and Ferdinand, never at the level of Queen Isabela. Or her daughters. And envious. Her son Charles was educated and guided by Maximilian. It's unlikely he repented when he retired to a monastery in his later years and Philip II ( indecent homage to the Philip who never ruled or dared to understand Castile), accessed the throne. Finally, a somewhat proper king who, at least inherited the love for culture from his grandmother's lineage.

This was really interesting, as I had long wondered about guilds (looking forward to that video) and apprenticeship. It seems to me that in modern times we continue to practice this methodology in a small way, but this time through schooling at the university level of education. For example, a veterinarian or doctor has to take specific science courses through university and then obtain (in the US at least) an additional degree through additional specific classes, and then an additional degree and related specific classes to specialize. Likewise for practicing law. Obviously there are many skilled jobs being done where no additional schooling is required, but we have “entry level” jobs, which are rather like an apprenticeship in practice, as the employee has to learn how to do the job over a period (granted MUCH shorter) of time before moving up to the next level, and better pay.

Apprenticeships were training for skilled arts and crafts trades, education was the grammar school, often associated with a church entity like a monastery, cathedral or city minster, followed by Oxford, Cambridge and/or foreign universities, which, of course, were also religious institutions then. There is still a distinction between vocational training and academic programs, even if often combined, as in medicine and nursing.

You got it Right Dr, Katz! Thank You!

Thank you Dr. Kat. I enjoy your channel and your professionalism. ❤

Thank you for this great presentation. Wonderfully interesting...as always.

From what I've found in researching my family tree, apprentice's married their master's daughters. I've also found masters taking on young family members(nephew and cousin's child) as indentured servants or apprentices. These are later than your examples (lateC18 to 1870s) but the contrast I've seen are worded the same.

This was so interesting! Thank you for another great video.

Hence a 'Master Piece' to show you had mastered the skills

I’m new here and the 1000th like! I’ve been really enjoying your content!

The apprentice program provides the framework to ensure quality workmanship in a variety of trades. In the past, it allowed young people to move to more skilled labour. Iit ensured the skills of the Master were no lost and exercised to an appropriate standard of quality. In the current day, apprenticeships are still important, albeit not recognized to the level society requires. We could learn from the past in this.

Great video. Really looking forward to learning more about guilds.

Enjoyed this history of apprenticeships very much. Thank you

My grandmother, a dressmaker by trade, who had had many apprentices, would set each child from the age of 3 to the very first apprentice's task, crawling around on the floor picking up dressmaking pins. She trained all 3 of her daughters, and in a suspicious presence of 3's, it happened that her youngest girl drove the needle of the singer industrial through her little finger, when she was 3...She was fine, and won awards for her craft as an adult. Nana came from tough training, an apprentice herself in the Edwardian era. If only apprenticeships were still so large a part of life, better trades people and more secure employment, alas, in the current economic climate this is impossible.

Thank you for a very interesting video.

The horrible rate of infant mortality means that it is always talked about in topics like this one. What is often overlooked is the fact that parents could also have died at any time. Apprenticeship meant that children would have a chance to learn a trade be cared for, and eventually become successful adults if they lost their parents, sparing them the terrible fates that faced many orphans at the time.

I very much enjoyed this video. It was most interesting and informative. Thank you!

You should do Moll Flanders! Could a woman like that have existed? How possible was it for Alex Kingston to parade around as wonderfully as she did in the adaptation?

@Lufu2

Жыл бұрын

I hope she does this one too, great suggestion.

Totally off topic, but I just adore you 2 tiny houses on the shelf.

Your videos are so good! I am devouring them since I found them a couple of weeks ago. I play them in the background and besides your content and reflections, I also appreciate your warm and calming voice. Out of Topic: 2 subjects that maybe could be interesting for videos, 1) I saw in another video that you had a book about Jack the Ripper on your shelf, what is the theory about Jack's identity you think has more credibility (or which do you find most incredible)? Do you think is anything more to be explored? because the fascination with Jack comes back from time to time. 2) I am Latin American and half-Spanish and I love British history but I always feel that there's more to be appreciated about the ties between the British and Iberian Peninsula's royal houses from the 12th to 14th centuries (before Catherine of Aragon). I am glad that more KZreadrs are making efforts to inform English speakers about Spanish influence in Europe and the world in the 15th century i.e.: making videos of Isabella and Ferdinand, which is great, but what one finds in English-speaking mass media (historical dramas and such) is quite stereotypical and reductionist. I know that you have a video about Catherine of Aragon, Mary Tudor, and the Spanish Armada which is great, but do you think there are characters, political alliances, or events connecting the royal houses of Castile, Portugal, Aragon, and the British houses (before Henry VIII, Mary I and Elizabeth I) worth of a video or videos? Thanks for your work, keep it up!

Several people have commented on recent or current apprentice systems in other countries. You might like to have a look at apprenticeships in Devon (no idea about elsewhere) in the 19th century, when these operated at farm level, inter alia. It was seen as a good way of "farming out" some mouths from an over-large family.

Ok, so, coming from the perspective of a mom with a teenage son. My son is 17, and knows how to build things and fix things and has never been a sit still and play video games all day kinda guy. So I asked him to build a barn and put up a fence for me. Well he needed help with the fence because 300 feet told are heavy, so we worked together to put up past of the fence. I'm 42, and in pretty good shape, I'm not the kind of person who can sit still for too long either, but I'm no match for a 17 year old boy. So when he needed help again, I asked my husband. He's 54, and in pretty decent shape too. That night, he collapsed on our bed and said K worked me so hard today! I was like, oh God, it's not just me. Well, my son gets cleaned up and goes to a party that night, My point is, there's nothing like the energy of a teenage boy. Nothing. If you have that kid from 15-21 that's the point in time where he's in the best physical condition. All that being said, the master has to feed and clothe a growing teenage boy. Does it really take 7 years to really learn most trades? No. So I do think they were talking advantage of them a bit. But they did have food, clothes and shelter, and were learning something that would make them valuable later. I still think the master got the better end of the bargain.

I would love a series about professions in Early Modern England - maybe with a little reenactoring, guests?

I think that apprenticeship as described in this video, should be an option for many careers today.

Thank you for this Kat. I'm sure there were good and bad masters, I do want to know more about the women who were apprenticed. I was at Rosalind Chapel a few years ago the story about the apprentice column is stonker.

Love your channel

Thank you for another informative video. I think that this would be good for some today. Not everyone is cutout for learning from books. Some people learn more from hands on and more tactical education.

Very interesting video! I wonder -- what would happen if the apprentice didn't pick up the skill, or if they were just an incorrigible student and broke the terms of the contract?

Having apprenticeships would still be really useful. Many careers that currently need university degrees, and im thinking close to my own home with design and advertising, have a small set of theorethical knowlege and a big chuck of practical knowledge that needs to pretty much be relearned once on the job (after four or five years of not necesarily relevant theory). Coming out with a regulated way to pretty much learn while doing would be a lot more useful, as pretty much all graduates of my career have had to leave university to pretty much relearn it all close to from scratch while on the job.

Thank you for this very interesting episode! Apprenticeship was almost a path from peasant to middle class. I do wonder about the aptitude of a teenage boy to become an embroiderer.

Apprenticeship is still a choice here in Belgium. Most start at 15 and finish at 18, with the option to go longer to get to "master" faster.

Apprenticeship is still used in many cultures. including the Amish in the U.S.

👍 Great episode. Interesting how the master was within his/her rights to impose incredibly specific demands with regard to the personal behaviour of their apprentices.

Nine years apprenticeship doesn't seem too bad to be a master at the craft. I mean, getting a masters degree takes nearly 20 years of education, and a PhD even longer. Honestly, as long as one has a good master and one is actually interested in the trade, it seems like a great system of education.

Thank you

Thanks!

@kimberlyperrotis8962

Жыл бұрын

Very generous of you!

@ReadingthePast

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much, I am very grateful!

I like this information

Hi dr Kat I also saw a doco on guild halls found it very interesting what they do for the family’s too

Mad for Kat

In rural Mid-West America, my Uncle wore gowns, curls, and ribbons until he was about 3 (and potty trained) when he got his first hair cut and first pair of 'britches.' which were actually shorts so that he could wear them for several years while he grew taller.

Good video.

B. S. I do appreciate the overview of how the system was supposed to work.😀

A video on salters in London in the 1580s would be useful

Good morning from California Dr. Kat! This was a fascinating video, I have so many questions! how did they decide who to apprentice? how many would a master take at a time? At what age was it deemed appropriate to apprentice someone? was it different for every guilde? if you were an orphan could you get to be apprenticed or did you have to be put forward by your parents or guardian? I can't wait for the next installment of this very interesting subject. Would you recommend some books to read on this subject?

@learnenglishwithauntyjeanp1646

Жыл бұрын

I think by the 1800's an apprentice usually had to have a parent or someone to pay for the youngster to be apprenticed. Also, after getting near tg6e end of their time they became journeymen. You may need to get Dr Kat or Mr Google to tell you more. Or even read Caedfail books as monasteries also trained youngsters. But they were expected to become monks at the end of it. Dr Kat will know.

oh shit now im hype for this book too

This reminded me of William Hogarth's engraving series 'Industry and Idleness' of 1747. There are two indentured apprentices Francis Goodchild and Tom Idle. The names say it all and of course Francis Goodchild ends up marrying his masters daughter 😇

The only people who know still do and Must do apprentices are master stone masons, the ones who restore ancient buildings, it takes around 20+ years to train one of these people so you can’t learn it at uni etc

There are still apprenticeships in today's societies. I know of a couple such as plumbing and auto body repair. It is a way for young people to get a chance to get their certificate without paying thousands.

This was very interesting. Even today apprenticeship programs frequently lead to better paying jobs than a bachelors degree from university. In USA, Dr. Jill Biden, wife of the President is a champion of apprenticeship programs

How much did the parents pay to the master for the appenticeship? Many fantasy novels and fairytales start with the family unable to pay the appentice fee, so the young person has to "seek their fortune" on their own. There are also the stoies where the evil master refuses to sign the appentice'S JOURNEYMAN certificate. I know these are just story telling devices. Was the fee significant in amount? You mentioned the appentice might be the first in their family to gain one. That put me in mind of young people that are the first to go to college. It does seem that the chance to have a trade and a guild was a great gift promising prosperity and mobility and a certainy that one will always be able to work and eat...a most valuable gift indeed.Our high school has revieved the trades classes for exactly that reason and has been very well received.

My ancestor who first came to America in 1630 was a runaway from his apprenticeship in England…I guess it wasn’t working out for him but he definitely made it good in the colonial Massachusetts since he became a deacon which means he was a respected member of the society and not someone who broke his contract and stole his labor from a master half a world away 😉

I’ve noticed the Bill Bryson book on Shakespeare in the background of previous videos, but as this is this is one of the first time I’ve heard you echo sentiments shared in the book, namely: There’s very little evidence of parents not loving their children as we do today and suffering at their loss I was just wondering how useful or credible you found the rest of the volume, as it’s a book I enjoyed but aware that it’s probably not more than a gentle overview of the period

My Ancestor who came to America in 1633 was a Weaver by trade.

It's both funny and troubling that so many people believe people in the past were simple, unwashed, uneducated child abusers. When you start actually learning history you find they're not that dissimilar to us. I feel like many people would benefit from an apprenticeship and more schools should look into that.