Masters of "Mystery": Apprentices in History
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- What we can uncover about apprenticeships in early modern England? How did they begin? What happened within one and what was their value was to those who became involved in them?
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Intro / Outro song: Silent Partner, "Greenery" [ • Greenery - Silent Part... ]
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Images (from Wikimedia Commons, unless otherwise stated):
Sir Thomas Lucy of Charlecote and Family by an unknown artist (c. 1625). Scanned from Ashelford, Jane: The Art of Dress: Clothing and Society 1500-1914, Abrams, 1996. ISBN 0810963175.
Portrait of Charles, later King Charles II by an unknown artist (1630). Held by the National Portrait Gallery.
“A Family Saying Grace before a Meal” attributed to Anthuenis Claeissens (c.1585). Held by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
Portrait of Sir Walter Ralegh (Raleigh) and Walter Ralegh by an unknown artist (1602). Held by the National Portrait Gallery.
Double Portrait of a Brother and Sister formerly attributed to Cornelis Ketel (16th century). Held by the Museum Mayer van den Bergh.
Portrait of the Three Egerton Sisters by Marcus Gheeraerts the younger (c.1601). From Philip Mould and Company, London.
Cover art for “Tudor Children” by Nicholas Orme. From www.amazon.co....
“The Family of Henry VII with St George and the Dragon” by an unknown artist, Flemish school (c.1503-9). Held by the Royal Collection Trust.
Samuel Davis, is apprenticed to Matthew Knight on November 5th, 1719 in London until he is 24 years of age. Parish officers act on behalf of the child in his parent’s stead. The occupation of the master is unspecified. From: printcultureon...
Quoted texts:
Apprenticeship indenture for London “borderer” described by Cynthia Jackson at: tudorembroider...
Apprenticeship indenture for Elisabeth Badham: htt.herefordsh...
Apprenticeship indenture for Anne Nason. From James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps, A Descriptive Calendar of the Ancient Manuscripts and Records in the Possession of the Corporation of Stratford-upon-Avon. United Kingdom, J. E. Adlard, 1863.
Also consulted, were:
Other relevant entries from The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online.
#History #Medieval #Tudor
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.
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!
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.
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
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.
Apprenticeships still happen in some trades, like plumbers and electricians
The whole of the German economy depends on apprenticeships. After school, German kids either to to university or start an apprenticeship.
@@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.
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.
I was so close to including that painting in this video - it’s so cool!
@@ReadingthePast love that :)
@@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 😊
@@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.
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!
Looking forward to this!!!
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.
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!
Washing dishes! I always seem to be washing dishes when I'm watching your videos.
Good morning from Seattle Washington (US)
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.
You got it Right Dr, Katz! Thank You!
Great video. Really looking forward to learning more about guilds.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
Like swearings-in, not lime! Bad typing.
Hence a 'Master Piece' to show you had mastered the skills
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!
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.
I’m new here and the 1000th like! I’ve been really enjoying your content!
I very much enjoyed this video. It was most interesting and informative. Thank you!
fascinating as always!
My Ancestor who came to America in 1633 was a Weaver by trade.
Thank you for a very interesting video.
I think that apprenticeship as described in this video, should be an option for many careers today.
Thanks!
Very generous of you!
Thank you so much, I am very grateful!
Apprenticeship is still used in many cultures. including the Amish in the U.S.
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.
Excellent vlog. Absolutely agree that when it worked it was a very good system. I would be interested in knowing what would happen in say any year of the apprenticeship if one or either of the parents died leaving the family unable to provide their portion of the agreement. And, what about orphans? Where they just scrabbling around in the dirt, so to speak, to scratch out some kind of living, if there were no family members with extant or willing to take them in? Did the Black Death make any changes in apprenticeships? I can see many ways that the apprentice could be harmed before finishing, and the fate of the young women indentured to men could be rather appalling. Was there any way to address wrongs on the master side? What part did the convents play in a young woman's life, or monasteries for that matter? Were they just for the initiates? I believe, in part, what makes these episodes so good is that they always raise lots of questions.
Good video.
I think that parents grieved just as deeply for their children then as they do now, human nature doesn’t change that much. They may have been urged by the clergy to be more stoical, outwardly, at least, and believing, as they did, that they would see their children again in heaven must have been of some some comfort. I notice that the two youngest daughters have uncovered hair, and the next elder one, has partially uncovered hair, unlike the elder. This was usually an indication of virginity (or possibly, queenship), which must have been the case of those who died very young. (There is no such distinction for males, of course, although the eldest son does have a larger coronet than the younger ones. After all, men have only recently begun wearing wedding rings, as wives do.)
as i have 2 degrees from Penn State 1 in Labor Studies which is now called Human Resources and the other in American and English history little of this video was new to me but the video does opens up an almost endless supply of topics for future videos since social customs like childhood marriage old age and even death change with the passage of time 1 of these type of videos a month would be an excellent idea even if some of the info would not be new to me sent fondly good day
I think the value of this system is proven by the fact that it still exists in curren time, especially in "skilled trades". Also in the practice of mentoring. Though the terms of today's apprenticeships are, of course, much different, the results are much the same. Mentoring is a bit different. They seem to form a less formal agtee between two individuals of a common attitude or personal affection. However, the end result is that a person with more experience and knowledge passing that on to the the less experienced. Either way, it is a highly effective way of passing on knowledge.
There is also written account of parents mourning their children. Due to their deep faith in religion it's understandable that they consoled themselves with the thought of inevitability but that doesn't mean they didn't feel the loss deeply. Even unborn children were mourned though not only because of the loss but out of political reasons but nevertheless a mother losing an unborn child was devastating back then like it is today. It was just not the way of them I think to display deep emotions in any kind to public but in letters that still remained it's seen that it was noteworthy. That's at least my conclusion of what I learned so far and I am far from being well educated in these times. I would even go so far saying that even today it's not a topic mother's and father's like to discuss too much because it hurts. I can see it in my own sisters story who lost unborn children but didn't like to talk about it too much.
I feel the apprenticeship system worked well for the males and for those families who were what you call poor. Age 7,seems very young to be in the apprenticeship and what about ones education? For females, the apprenticeship system could have included teaching skills, bakers, chefs, weavers, seamstress beside the regular household duties or the duties of a wife. I think that more choices should have been available for females as opposed to being apart of 40 Elephants, work houses, or working for a Madame. We still have apprenticeship programs here in America.
I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss today's parents sending children to others for various reasons. The Restavek children of Haiti is a well documented and continuing example. Many Haitian parents send their children to serve as household servants in order to make sure they are fed. Haiti is not the only modern nation that "indentures" their children.
Another thing to consider is that, for the master, teaching someone for the first time is valuable experience. It's one thing to be able to DO your trade, it's another to be able to teach it. If the apprentice is a smart and curious individual, they may ask questions that the master never considered asking in their own apprenticeship.
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 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.
While in the US, it takes a four year degree just to become a nurse.
Hands on training is better probably
9 months in some cases. My sister did one if thise programs @Jeffhowardmeade
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.
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.
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.
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?
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 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.
Good morning from North Dakota USA
Good Morning from Ontario Canada
Another Ontarian! How lovely
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!
Thank you a lot - always great 👍👍👍🌹🌹
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.
Good morning Dr. Kat
I hope there will be something on the medieval Mystery Plays and Morality Plays at some point. Maybe at Christmas.
Another absolutely wonderful video. This is the highlight of my day
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.
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.
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!
This would also be a great way for a childless couple to pass on their livelihood and raise a child
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.
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?
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.
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?
I hope she does this one too, great suggestion.
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.
"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!)
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?
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.
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.
Sounds much better than our American college system. By the end they’d actually be prepared and wouldn’t start their adult lives in debt.
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 😉
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.
Thank you Dr. Kat. I enjoy your channel and your professionalism. ❤
I know you focus on UK history, but I'm doing research on 16C textile guilds in Spain and Italy, but I'm having trouble finding sources I can access online. Do you have any suggestions? Or were all European guild structures largely the same?
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.
I live in Germany. Here, apprenticeships are pretty much a normal thing even today. But here you get paid to be an apprentice. Not very much but still. I don't think, sending your children away to get some experience or to learn means they cared less for them. Quite the opposite. They wanted them to have the best start in life.
A video on salters in London in the 1580s would be useful
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.
Enjoyed this history of apprenticeships very much. Thank you
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 UA-camrs 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!
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
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.
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.
As we're in 2023 and either a "Labour shortage" or "Too many companies not paying a working wage", I welcome videos about apprenticeships even more than before. I believe they died out with the Industrial Revolution and further mechanisation...? Now kids don't get basic sewing and measuring type basic skills unless the family has a priority for a given skill & people who graduate University don't even have a leg up... If paid apprenticeships were the post-uni or combined with trade schools more, a modern equivalent would be welcome.
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 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.
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.
Hi beautiful I liked your programme in the 1970 s I was a apprentice hairdresser in Australia my indenture was for 4 years a very good choice our high school children have to do 6 years they can leave
Students must complete Year 10 (or its equivalent), then remain in approved education or training or a combination of education or training and paid work until the age of 17 which is fantastic ❤u
I was so excited. The other day I saw you on a documentary I was watching. I literally screamed. Good for you girl
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Makes one appreciate keeping your children close without being a helicopter parent!
The English upper classes sent their children away to boarding school at a very young age, perhaps as early as 8 years old, and up until that time they were rarely seen except when the nursemaid brought them down all scrubbed and clean to briefly “visit” their parents. Didn’t they even have wet nurses to nurse their babies? So, how the hell did they know anything about children?
I would love a series about professions in Early Modern England - maybe with a little reenactoring, guests?
Sounds exactly like grad school!
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.
Could this system be misconstrued as a type of slavery. Could the master relocate and take the apprentice with them. IE the master wanting to take advantage of a new country and want to move across the Atlantic with the apprentice and that indenture becoming a slave.
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.
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.
Compared to the cost of reasonable room, board and clothes, what did the parents pay for the apprenticeship for their child, and was it of comparable value? Was it a single sum or an annuity perhaps?