ther or sister of the
fellowship taking an apprentice shall present him to the wardens, and
shall pay 13/4." The craft guilds exerted an admirable influence in
the raising of woman to the same plane of respect as that held by men.
The equality which was accorded them in these associations amounted to
a recognition of their intellectual and business capabilities as being
of the same order as those of the men. The respect which was shown
them is illustrated by a provision of the same company to which we
have just referred. It was ordered that when a "sister" died she
should be interred with fullest honors; the best pall was to be thrown
over her coffin, and the fraternity were to follow her to the grave
"with every respectful ceremony equally as the men." On the death of a
male member of a guild, his widow was privileged to carry on his trade
as one of the guild; and if a woman married a man of the same trade
who did not have the freedom of the guild, he acquired it by virtue of
the marriage; but should a woman marry a man of another trade, she was
thereby excluded from her guild connection. Such were the relations
of woman to the guilds. But Brentano notes an exception to the rule
that a widow who married again a man of the same trade conferred the
freedom of the guild upon him: "The wife of a poulterer may carry on
the said mystery after the death of her husband, quite as freely as if
her sire were alive; and if she marries a man not of the mystery, and
wishes to carry it on, she must buy the (right of carrying on the)
mystery in the above described manner; as she would be obliged to buy
the mystery, if her husband was of the mystery and had not yet bought
it; for the husband is not in the dominion of the wife, but the wife
is in the dominion of the husband."

The democratic nature of the guilds tended to lessen class
distinctions and to bring about a true fellowship on the plane of
equality. The associations, as has been said, provided for their
members with loving care, and followed them with love to the grave:
"the ordinances as to this last act breathed the same spirit of
equality among her sons on which all her regulations were founded, and
which constituted her strength." In cases of insolvency at death, the
funerals of poor members were to be respected equally with those of
the rich. "The honor paid to the dead was also associated with the
duty of benevolence;" thus, for instance, in the statutes of the
fullers