haunting of
taverns, not marry, commit no fornication, nor absent himself
without permission. In return the master undertook to provide the
boy or girl with bed, board, and lodging and to instruct him or
her in the trade, craft, or mystery. When these apprentices had
enough training they were made journeymen with a higher rate of
pay. Journeymen traveled to see the work of their craft in other
towns. Those journeymen rising to master had the highest pay rate.

Occupations free of guild restrictions included horse dealers,
marbelers, bookbinders, jewelers, organ makers, feathermongers,
pie makers, basket makers, mirrorers, quilters, and parchment
makers. Non-citizens of London could not be prevented from selling
leather, metalwares, hay, meat, fruit, vegetables, butter, cheese,
poultry, and fish from their boats, though they had to sell in the
morning and sell all their goods before the market closed.

In the towns, many married women had independent businesses and
wives also played an active part in the businesses of their
husbands. Wives of well-to-do London merchants embroidered, sewed
jewelry onto clothes, and made silk garments. Widows often
continued in their husband's businesses, such as managing a large
import-export trade, tailoring, brewing, and metal shop. Socially
lower women often ran their own breweries, bakeries, and taverns.
It was possible for wives to be free burgesses in their own right
in some towns.

Some ladies were patrons of writers. Some women were active in
prison reform in matters of reviews to insure that no man was in
gaol without due cause, overcharges for bed and board, brutality,
and regulation of prisoners being placed in irons. Many men and
women left money in their wills for food and clothing for
prisoners, especially debtors. Wills often left one-third of the
wealth to the church, the poor, prisoners, infirmaries, young
girls' education; road, wall, and bridge repair; water supply,
markets and almshouses. Some infirmaries were for the insane, who
were generally thought to be possessed by the devil or demons.
Their treatment was usually by scourging the demons out of their
body by flogging. If this didn't work, torture could be used to
drive the demons from the body.

The guilds were being replaced by associations for the investment
of capital. In associations, journeymen were losing their chance
of rising to be a master. Competition among associations was
starting to supplant c