Research Details
DEPT/SUBJECT AREA: Medieval History
SUPERVISORS: Dr Matthew Frank Stevens, Professor Deborah Youngs
RESEARH DEGREE: PhD
THESIS TITLE: Apprenticeship Indentures in England, 1250 – 1500
Apprenticeship Indentures in England, 1250 – 1500
Research Synopsis
Apprenticeship indentures offer an insight into fundamental relations between masters and apprentices. My research uses extant indentures from 1255 to 1500, analysing their content and structure to produce a robust survey of the content of apprenticeship contracts, and their place in legal and economic history, to understand the conception and perpetuation of guild structures in medieval England.
I consider four key areas: the socio-economic experiences of apprentices and masters; the interplay between indentures’ form and content and the nature and aims of English craft guilds; the legal position of indentures and apprentices within the framework of common law; the diplomatic of indentures, aspects of composition, and possible temporal and regional developments.
This is original research which will make a valuable contribution to the existing academic literature on apprentices, guilds, and their legal and economic position in medieval England, and aims to place indentures within our current knowledge of medieval diplomatic.
