Companionage ( French compagnonnage , from French compagnon - apprentice) is a form of secret unions of apprentices in France, which probably appeared in the 12th – 13th centuries and became widespread in the 14th – 16th centuries. He became a method of struggle of apprentices against the masters who operated them under the guild system of labor organization. Companion in many ways resemble Freemasonry . Thanks to this phenomenon , the expression faire son tour de France appeared in French - “to get around France, improving in its craft” [1] .
Content
History
Initially, companions were created only by apprentices who worked as a “ compass and square ”. Companions never represented a single organization. Separate apprentice societies belonged to various camps and were very hostile to each other. In the 1850s, clashes often ended in bloody battles.
Organization
Among the partners, three main groups were distinguished:
- Enfants de Salomon or Gavots , otherwise called the apprentices Devoir de liberté , which included masons , carpenters and locksmiths , and partly joined by persons in domestic service ;
- Enfants de maître Jacques , who initially also consisted of masons, carpenters and locksmiths, but subsequently transferred their Devoir (ritual) to other apprentices;
- Enfants du père Soubise , to whom the domestic servant first belonged, and over time roofers and stucco joined.
Representatives of the last two groups were called Compagnons du devoir or devoirants .
Reformed Party
Since 1830, a reformist party called Société de l'Union arose among the companions, thanks to which the ancient customs that led to aimless clashes disappeared and only tasks of practical importance were preserved. Owing to the efforts of this party, companionship continued and was especially prevalent among domestic servants in Paris at the end of the 19th century , although it had to withstand not only the struggle against fans of antiquity, but also the dangerous rivalry of the latest forms of cooperation, which were widespread among workers.
Goals
The main goal of the companions was to assist apprentices in their wanderings. In the cities along which the Tour de France du compagnonnage ran, strange houses (mère) were arranged. They also cared about finding a job, providing medical assistance to sick people on the way, etc.
In addition, the companion also pursued such tasks as were set forth by the labor unions of the 19th century: maintaining a certain correspondence between supply and demand , preventing an excessive influx of apprentices into certain cities.
Fighting Methods
Often these or other masters and even entire cities were subjected to a boycott (damnation) and, despite all the prohibitions of the law, well-organized strikes were organized.
In art
- Georges Sand has the novel The Wandering Apprentice ( Le Compagnon du tour de France , 1841)
See also
- Workshop system of labor organization
- Trade union
- Wandering Apprentice
Notes
- ↑ Not to be confused with the Tour de France cycling
Literature
- Simon, "Etude historique et morale sur le Compagnonnage" (Paris, 1853);
- Agricole Perdiguier , "Le livre du Compagnonnage" (3rd ed., 2 vols., Paris, 1857);
- Lexis, Gewerkvereine u. Unternehmerverbände in Frankreich ”(Leipzig, 1879);
- Jäger, "Geschichte der socialen Bewegung und des Socialismus in Frankreich" (vol. I, Berlin, 1879);
- Maroussem, Charpentiers de Paris, compagnons et indépendants (P., 1891).
Links
- Companion // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- Official website of the "Compagnons du Tour de France"
- Official website of the Association companions
- Official website of the museum of compagnonnage .