The organisation of the craft

In one sense at least the mason craft can be said to have been unusual even in the Middle Ages. Whereas the way of life of most craftsmen was a settled one, producing goods for sale locally or (through middlemen) in distant markets, the stonemason's trade was one that frequently entailed moving around from job to job. Compared with the static and regular life that was the lot of the majority of craftsmen, the mason often led a life of movement and unpredictability. Sometimes he would work on his own, or with just a few colleagues; but on major building projects he might be part of a labour force of dozens or even hundreds. Sometimes a particular job would involve only a few days' or a few weeks' work; others would take years or even the whole of a working life, requiring permanent settlement close by, or seasonal migration with the mason leaving his family for the spring and summer. All this meant that the needs of the mason in terms of organisation and relations with his fellows were rather different from those of most other craftsmen.

The typical form of craft organisation to emerge was the town craft guild. The guild had several overlapping functions. It controlled training for a trade (through apprenticeship) and entry to it, the organisation and conditions of work, and wages.