Paper for the Eighth Carlsberg Academy Conference on Medieval Legal History:

Law and Marriage in Medieval and Early Modern Times, 4.6.5.2011 Copenhagen
Session V: Marriage in Late medieval Cities, Thu. 5.5.2011, 12.3013.45
M. A. Maija Ojala
University of Tampere
Maija.l.ojala@uta.fi
Love or Business?
Marital Strategies According to Craft Ordinances in Late Medieval Cities
Dia Introduction
Good afternoon everyone. My name is Maija Ojala and Im currently writing my PhD
about late medieval craft organizations in the Baltic Sea region and it is still very much a
work in process and what I present today are more or less preliminary findings and not
yet final conclusions. Today Ill speak about the marital strategies of artisan widows
according to the craft ordinances from four cities. First I will introduce my source
material, then we shall have a look how the widows rights were stipulated in the craft
ordinances and finally I will discuss whether these rules were actually followed in the
real life.
Dia: Baltic Sea area
Craft ordinances as sources
As source material I have craft ordinances from four cities, namely Lbeck, Riga, Tallinn
and Stockholm. Now it is important to define the type of organization that we are dealing
with. In late medieval cities existed roughly categorized three types of lay organizations,
namely guilds, crafts and devotional guild or confraternities.
Dia: terminology
In my context the term guild refers to merchants organization or to an umbrella
organization of various crafts. The artisans, the craftsfolk, were organized in various
crafts so that usually the practisers of one particular profession, such as tailors, formed
one craft. Some cases like in Tallinn and Riga the majority of the crafts in Tallinn were

also united into two artisan guilds in order to gain political influence. 1 Each craft had
their own rules (Middle Low German schra), which in research are usually called as craft
ordinances.2 These craft ordinances regulated above all the actual work of the artisan but
also other aspects of life such as craft festivities and religious participation. The aims of
the ordinances were to guarantee the monopoly of the trade to the craft members, to
ensure equal privileges and obligations of the members and to assure the quality
requirements for the produced goods. The city council lend the ordinance to the craft
and confirmed it after certain periods of time; hence the ordinances were means of
control the craft production.3
Dia: Table craft ordinances as sources
In the slide you can see how many craft ordinances are extant from each city and here we
have also the statistics about how often the status of widows was mentioned in the craft
ordinances. From Lbeck we have 56 preserved craft ordinances from years 1400 till
1599. Seventeen ordinances of the 56 mentioned the standing of widow, which is about
30 per cent of the total number of preserved ordinances. From Riga we have 43
ordinances from years 13751619. Again the position of widows was written down in 17
ordinances, which make 40 per cent of the total number of ordinances. If we move a bit
to north, to Tallinn, so from Tallinn we have 34 preserved craft ordinances from years
13941600 and 15 of them mentioned the status of a widow. That makes the highest
percentage of 44 per cent. Almost the half of the preserved craft ordinances had
something to say about the position of widows. And then the last one Stockholm. There
we have altogether 19 preserved craft ordinances from the years 1450 up till 1604 and six
of these 19 ordinances mentioned the status of a widow, which makes it 32 per cent of the
total number.
What do these numbers, especially in the last column tell us? I think it shows that the
crafts regarded it quite important to define the position of a widow in their organization.
This fits well to common perception that nuclear family/ or household was the basic
1

Margus, von z. Mhlen & Johanssen, Mnd, Benninghoven

In this article the guild rules are called as guild statutes as distinct of craft ordinances. However, in
research the term statutes can refer both to guild or craft rules.
3
Jonkun snnn alku
2

cornerstone of the society. In late medieval and early modern craft milieu it meant that
the household was the basic unit for the craft production. The idea was that both spouses
worked in the family workshop to earn the living.
Dia: Family Workshop Naiset hoivaa miehi
Well this balance was of course disturbed when one half of the business unit died. This
generated a problematic situation: should we try to get back to the normal and ideal
state of the nuclear family and encourage the remaining person to remarry or should we
accept the different form of enterprise, a craft workshop lead by single adult instead of
married couple.
The widowhood raised also other questions. Should the widow have the same rights and
obligations as a craft member as male masters did? For example are widows allowed to
attend to the craft assemblies? In most cases it is not mentioned in the ordinances whether
women in general were allowed to participate to the crafts official assemblies and to more
unofficial celebrations. The common view of the scholars is that women did not attend to
the official assembly but they could participate to some festivities. 4 What I think is that
women were more active in participating to different meetings than it has been thought. I
also think it varied from town to town and from craft to craft whether women were
present in festivities and meetings. For example it seems that in Stockholm womenfolk
were often present at crafts drinking festivities.5
Dia: Family Workshop Personnel
Some crafts were also concerned about the fate of the workshops personnel:

The

carriers, dragare, in Stockholm ordained that the widow must keep the same workers until
the next Michaelmas, which marked the new working year.6 Another question was the
training of apprentices and journeymen. Some crafts, like Tallinn hemp weavers viewed
widows as capable as male masters to train young people to the profession. 7 From late
medieval London we have evidence that apprentices and journeymen sued the widows for
4

Hanawalt, The Walth of Wives, 175; Schmidt, Women in Guilds 175; Roper?, Wiesner? Muita?
Viite miss systerei mainitaan erikseen juhlien yhteydess, Stockholm Snickare ainakin
6
Klemming, Dragare 1501, s. 203
7
Tallinn, Hanfspinner 1642, 5v.
5

neglecting their training and selling of the late husbands property. 8 It seems that in Riga
some youngsters in the chamois leather tanners craft (Semiscshgerber) had left the
widows workshop because the ordinance stipulated that the young trainees were to stay
with the widow if they wanted to continue in the same profession.9 The masons in
Stockholm regulated that the apprentices were to be obedient to the widow if her husband
dies.10 From Stockholm we have a series of city books preserved in which various council
legal acts are recorded. These books are called tnkebcker. I have not found any such
cases from the tnkebcker where widows were sued for improper training. If you find
any, please let me know. It is possible, that if some disagreements came up they were
settled in the craft assemblies and were not handled at the city level. To this argument I
will return later. Other possibility is of course that no such problems came up. One could
also claim that perhaps widows did not train apprentices and journeymen. The later
explanation seems however doubtful since the Reaper was a common visitor in the house
and it was likely that at some point the responsibility for training was left for a widow for
some time. Secondly, albeit some feminist scholars (names) have argued that widows
were not seen skilful enough to train young craftsfolk, I do not think it was the case for
the most crafts.
What did the articles about widows in the ordinances then include?
Dia : Possibilities to carry on with the profession, Widows rights
In this table you will see the various possibilities for widows to carry on with their trade
after the husbands death that were written in the craft ordinances. On the top row I have
listed the five different possibilities that came up in the ordinances: first: the widow had
the right to carry on the profession for one year, after which she should usually either
remarry or give up with her trade. Second she could carry on by hiring a skilful knecht,
which could mean either a journeyman or hired male worker. Third option was to carry
on the trade with her children. Fourth possibility was to carry on until she had finished

Hanawalt, The wealt of wiwes, 176.

Stieda & Mettig, Schragen, nro 121 Semischgerber 1579, 651. Schneider ordained that the other masters
were not allowed to lock the best and hard working knecht from the widow. Stieda & Mettig, schragen, nro
98, Schneider, 501.
10
Klemming, skr-ordningar, murare, 85.
9

working with the purchased materials and the fifth variation stated that a widow could
carry with her profession without any limitations.
In the columns I have listed how often these possibilities came up in the articles which
dealt with the status of a widow. So from Lbeck we had 17 articles about widows and in
7 of them the widow was granted one year rule which makes it 41 per cent. In Lbeck the
same ordinance usually gave widows two or three different possibilities to carry on, for
example the cupmakers ordinance (Bekermaker) stated that if a widow had a son she
could carry on with her profession as long as she wanted, but if there was no son then she
had the on year limit. In Riga there was usually only one option mentioned in the
ordinances: either a widow hade the one year limit or then she could carry on with no
restrictions. The same situation was predominant also in Stockholm. From these two
cities there are no mentions about the other three possibilities and multiple options are not
mentioned either. In Tallinn however we have similarities with Lbeck. In Tallinn many
different possibilities with many different conditions were given to widows according to
ordinances. Once again the one year rule is dominant but many ordinances emphasized
the meaning of children so that in six cases of total 15 widow was able to carry on her
profession with her children.
So as we see the majority of ordinances allowed a widow to carry on with her profession
at least one year after her husband had died without any limitations. This one year rule
was not firm and rigid but various modifications were added to this rule. The chest
makers in Lbeck (Kistenmaker) gave the widow two years time to find a new husband. 11
The wheel makers (Rademaker) in Lbeck ordained that the widow could ask additional
time from the crafts aldermen if no suitable new husband had been found. 12 In Riga a
goldsmiths widow was to negotiate with the crafts aldermen about the one years rule. 13
The backers in Stockholm put the widow on a one year and six weeks trial period: if she

11

Wehrmann, Zunftrollen, ..
Wehrmann, Zunftrollen, ..
13
Stieda & Mettig, nro 32 Goldsmede, 302.
12

proved skilful and craft worthy she could carry on the trade as long as she wanted. 14 In
Tallinn coopers (Bttchers) gave the widows three years time.15
Quite often some additions were made to the widows rules. A common addition was that
if the new husband was from a different craft then the widow should give up with her old
trade. It is very hard to say whether this rule was followed in the real life. I think that this
rule was based to the councils decrees, which allowed the artisans to practice only one
trade.16 A situation were practisers of two, closely related but officially separated
professions, got married would be problematic because then the different work stages
would have been made in the same workshop. This of course would lower the production
costs and give advantage over the other producers. Apparently some disputes arose since
the regulation was written in the ordinances.
According to craft ordinances from Stockholm, Tallinn, Riga and Lbeck the journeymen
were often given benefits if he should marry a widow. The glaziers in Riga stipulated that
if a journeyman marries a masters widow or daughter he were to learn the profession
only two years instead of the normal three. 17 The benefit could also bee lower
membership fee (viite). Sometimes marrying a widow or masters daughter was the only
way for a journeyman to become a master and the crafts member.18 If a widow remarried
with another master widower from the same craft they could enjoy the membership free
as they had done previously. In Stockholm the masons and shoemakers craft ordinances
mentioned three husbands in the widows rules. 19 According to shoemakers ordinance the
widows husband number three has to perform the membership requirements if the
husband number two had not been from the shoemakers craft. In other words if a widow
first remarried outside the craft but then remarried a widower from the original craft
they could not automatically enjoy the crafts membership.
Dia: Normative Source material and reality?
14

Klemming, Skr-ordingar, bagare 1506, 212.

TLA, coll 190, inv 2, nro 473 Bttcher 1515, 7r.; nro 474 Boddecker 1556, 105v.
16
Tnkebcker 14741483, samt bursprk, 1462:30 s. 445;
17
Stieda & mettig, Schragen, 24 Glaser, 285.
18
Stieda & mettig, schragen, 98. Schneider, 501.
19
Klemming, Skr-ordningar, murare, 86; skomakare, 17.
15

By studying the craft ordinances we face the same problems as when dealing with any
other kind of normative source material. Do they correspond with the reality? Majority of
the articles in the craft ordinances consisted of a penalty of fine. The fines were either
goods like wax or beer or money. Were the penalties carried out or were they just dead
letter of the law? We have some strong evidence which point to the fact that the penalties
were indeed carried out. In Tallinn city archives the protocol book of the goldsmiths craft
is preserved. To the protocol book were written mainly financial matters of the craft that
were handled in the crafts assemblies. However, often only the payer and the sum were
mentioned. Also the notebook of the crafts alderman Hans Ryssenberg is preserved. In
various craft assemblies he has noted the financial matters of the craft. For example he
has noted who was in debt to the craft, who paid some sum of money to the craft fund
and who made donations to the craft altar in the parish church. Probably part of these
payments mentioned in the protocol book and in the notebook were penalties, which the
members paid to the craft. In Stockholms Tnkebcker we have many cases in which
craftspeople were involved. Some of the cases handle similar issues that were regulated
in the craft ordinances for example serious insults against fellow members. In these cases
the penalties correspond with the penalties written in the ordinances and the fines, which
the city received, were written down. What about widows rights then?
In the Stockholms tnkebcker there is only one case concerning the widows right to
carry on her profession after her husband had died. In January 1496 the city council
stipulated that carriers widows were allowed to stay in their trade yet one year after old
tradition.20 The exact same paragraph can be found in the carriers ordinance. 21 The
majority of cases where we find artisan widows in the Stockholm tnkebcker are cases
where wills are enforced ore when immobilia are being sold. Quite often the widow
handed over the property to her daughter and son-in-law.
This leads to the question why no such civil cases were handled in the Stockholm city
court. Several reasons may occur: Firstly we can argue that there were no disputes about
widows rights. This seems however unlikely, because since the widows rights were
20
21

Tnkebcker 14921500, 267

Klemming, Skr-ordningar, dragare, 203.

written down in the ordinances the presupposition is that there had been some
disagreements about their rights. Secondly, if there was no penalty of a fine, the case was
not necessarily written down in the citys book, because the city received no payment and
therefore the case did not have any affect to the citys book keeping.
However the main reason lies behind the diverse medieval legal system. And this is the
third explanation. In the late medieval various kinds of legal systems co-existed, the
official city court led by the council and then a bit more unofficial arbitration/settlement
procedure and customary law.22 It seems very likely that disputes about widows rights
were settled in the crafts official assemblies where smaller disputes between crafts
members were usually solved.23 This kind of arbitration was also cheaper and did not
involve so much publicity. In early modern Sweden the economic reasons were often the
motive for private settlements. Also the matter of publicity could be decisive factor. 24
Maybe craft assembly was better place to aim to compromises. Unfortunately extant
medieval source materials from craft assemblies are rare. However at least one case
concerning remarriage of a widow can be found in the protocol book of the Tallinn
goldsmiths, which I mentioned briefly already. In January 1542 the master work piece of
Christopher Feltstede was evaluated in the goldsmiths assembly. He was accepted as
master under the condition that he would marry the widow of a master goldsmith Peter
Wardeheil.25
Dia: Frau Ramborghe + Goldsmith
In Tallinn the daughters and widows of master goldsmiths were eligible marriage partners
and they tended to marry other master goldsmiths who became also crafts aldermen. For
example in a Tallinn city book, Denkelbuch, we meet Frau Ramborghe. Her second
husband was Michel Swabbert, a master goldsmith, who bought a house in 1486, was the
crafts olderman ten years later and died in 1503. Her third husband was also a master
goldsmith Lambert Hostkamp, who was also crafts olderman. According to citys
22

Taussi Sjberg, Rtten och Kvinnorna, 3842; Lindstrm, Orliga mstare, 530.
Tallinn Goldsmiths protocoll book;
24
Taussi Sjberg, Rtten och kvinnorna, 4243.
25
Tallinn Goldsmiths protocoll book, TLA, coll 190, inv 2, nro 76, 113.
23

Denkelbuch they were married already in 1509 and in 1524 Lambert bought the house of
Michel Swabbert, the late husband of Ramborgh.26
Dia: Love or Business?
Before ending let me just say a few concluding remarks.
Firstly I think that remarriage can be interpret as a survival strategy for an artisan widow
and the regulations in the craft ordinances must be seen not as mere restrictions but also
as possibilities. For example in controversy situation it might have been very good thing
that the/ in general very ambiguous status of a widow/ was actually written down. Here
is our rule, we should act accordingly. Then if we look at the table once more, we can see
that altogether 15 cases from total 55 gave widows full right to carry on her trade without
any limitations. This could have been the case in all the other ordinances which do not
have articles about the status of widows. When set against the framework of late
medieval urban market production I think that the remarriage should be regarded as a win
win win situation. If we look from the individual point of view for the journeymen the
marriage with a widow was a good opportunity: widow already knew the trade, she had
the workshop and besides her work contribution she could offer an easy access to the
craft. From the widows point of view a young skilful journeyman, which already knew
the trade as well could be an attractive opportunity. And for the economic reasons a
remarriage must have been the best option. Also if we look from the communitys point
of view, for the crafts the maintaining the household based production system, with the
nuclear family at its core, was of course the most preferred way. With successful marital
policy the craft would became a clan, or a network of closely related families which
would protect each other privileges.
Secondly I believe that the craft ordinances do reflect the reality. There had been some
disputes about the widows rights since these articles were recorded in the craft
ordinances. However there is no trace in the city books that disputes about widows right
to carry on her profession were handled in the city court. On the contrary it seems that
these matters were settled in the craft assemblies or by customary unwritten law. Since so
26

Friedenthal, Goldschmiede Revals, 6567; TLA, coll 230, inv 1, nro Aa7, 95r (Lambertin perimysasia,
Ramborghe mainitaan), talonosto ehk protocollbuch 95, vuosi on tosin 48?

many ordinances do not have any kind of article related to widows rights, and I have not
yet find any juicy civil trials or arguments about widows rights it points to the conclusion
that continuing the trade and profession went on smoothly. Of course the lack of source
material must be taken into account. In addition it would be interesting to know whether
we are dealing with phenomenon/trend typical to Northern Europe and Baltic Sea region
or were the widows rights and marital strategies similar also in other parts of Europe.
Finally when it comes to the question was it love or business, my answer is fifty-fifty.
Thank you for our attention!

------------------------------------------Tallinnan Ryssenbergin denkelbuch

Maunun Erikssonin maanlain/kaupunginlaissa city law kpmannsbalkenissa ei mainintaa
leskien ammatinharjoittamisesta.
The aldermen had the most power within the craft: they convened the craft assemblies
and had the highest jurisdiction in crafts inner disputes. 27 The authority of the aldermen
covered besides official matters also some not work related matters for example after the
feast dinners everyone should go home when the olderman told the folk so.28

27

Stieda & mettig, Schragen, 12 Biertrger 1466: olderman valitaa jsenten keskuudesta s, 253 4,
oldermann kutsuu stevenin koolle s, 255 13; 80 Maurer 1390, oldermann kutsuu steveniin s. 423 4,
oldermanni valitaan jsenten keskuudesta s. 423 6; 82 Maurer 1546, oldermanni valitaab jsenten
keskuudesta kahdeksi vuodeksi kerrallaan s. 428 1-3; 90 Schmiede 1426-1530 valitaan 3 oldermannia
(werkmestere) kahdeksi vuodeksi, tmn vahvistavat 2 raatimiest, jotka ovat lsn amk: n kokouksessa s.
464 7, Lis viitteit
28
Stieda & Mettig, Schragen, 80 Maurer 1390, s. 426 39;

10