3 - A Large ‘Umbrella’: Patterns of Apprenticeship in Eighteenth-Century Turin

Summary

Apprenticeship in eighteenth-century Turin was a large ‘umbrella’ that covered a range of practices. These could be adapted and used by masters, by prospective apprentices and by their families, according to their needs. While many apprenticeships were contracted, others happened under the aegis of family networks. Guilds were formally involved in apprenticeship but were easily overruled by the state, which increasingly developed economic policies of its own. Guilds did provide a general framework, but the details were hammered out in private contracts between masters and the apprentices and their guardians. Disputes over apprenticeship were settled by the courts, not the guilds. In order to examine the three main educational options available in the city for the middle and low classes – apprenticeship under a master, training by a local charitable institution and training within the family – I use the records of the guilds, the Consolato di Commercio, Turin’s notaries, the main charity institutions and several series of population censuses and lists of workshops. The chapter pays special attention to the quality of the social relationships between the actors and to the different educational models proposed for boys and girls.