Statute of Artificers
Encyclopedia
The Statute of Artificers was a group of English law
s (1558-63) which regulated the supply and conduct of labour. In particular it set wages of certain classes of worker, it regulated the quality of people entering certain professions by laying down rules for apprenticeships and it restricted the free movement of workers. Effectively, it transferred to the newly forming English state
the functions previously held by the feudal craft guilds.
The Statute was abolished in 1814 as Enlightened thought challenged existing notions of 'privilege'. This development was one of a series of initiatives that the British Parliament undertook to support the vastly changed economic climate of the nineteenth century.
English law
English law is the legal system of England and Wales, and is the basis of common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countries and the United States except Louisiana...
s (1558-63) which regulated the supply and conduct of labour. In particular it set wages of certain classes of worker, it regulated the quality of people entering certain professions by laying down rules for apprenticeships and it restricted the free movement of workers. Effectively, it transferred to the newly forming English state
Sovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
the functions previously held by the feudal craft guilds.
The Statute was abolished in 1814 as Enlightened thought challenged existing notions of 'privilege'. This development was one of a series of initiatives that the British Parliament undertook to support the vastly changed economic climate of the nineteenth century.
- Hobbs v Young 1 Show KB 266, on apprentices under the 1562 Statute
See also
- Labour lawLabour lawLabour law is the body of laws, administrative rulings, and precedents which address the legal rights of, and restrictions on, working people and their organizations. As such, it mediates many aspects of the relationship between trade unions, employers and employees...
- History of competition lawHistory of competition lawThe history of competition law refers to attempts by governments to regulate competitive markets for goods and services, leading up to the modern competition or antitrust laws around the world today. The earliest records traces back to the efforts of Roman legislators to control price fluctuations...
- Ordinance of LabourersOrdinance of LabourersThe Ordinance of Labourers 1349 is often considered to be the start of English labour law. Along with the Statute of Labourers , it made the employment contract different from other contracts and made illegal any attempt on the part of workers to bargain collectively...
1349 and Statute of Labourers 1351, which after the Black DeathBlack DeathThe Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
fixed maximum wages of peasantry.
External links
- Donald Woodward (1980) The Background to the Statute of Artificers: The Genesis of Labour Policy, 1558-63, The Economic History Review, volume 33, number 1, pages 32-44.