The relationship between pay and working hours in medieval industry

The definition and measurement of working hours are a recurrent problem in 14(th) and 15(th) Century societies. In line with classical research on the subject, this article examines various situations in which there is a definition of working hours, either relative to workers' pay, or in the perspective of the organization of production, or relating to the disciplining of employees. Comparing these different cases shows that the classic opposition between hourly wages and piece rate cannot be the only way to characterize employment situations and also that the problem of defining working hours is the source of the spread of pay relationships and occurs at every stage of their development. The analysis highlights the plasticity of the relationship between employer and employee and the multiplicity of possible definitions of working hours. It also shows that it was over this issue that the conflicts opposing the one against the other crystallized from the early 14(th) Century. It is therefore a good observation post from which to understand the birth of an industrial sector in medieval society.