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Labour contracts in Holland ca. 1300-1600
| In the seventeenth century, the Holland labour market stood out by its high mobility, a very large recruitment area, high flexibility and efficiency. We know very little about the origins of these ‘modern’ traits though. Presumably, a number of these characteristics can be related to the framework of legislation and labour market institutions that developed in the late medieval period.
This paper will describe the main features of labour contracting in Holland between 1300 and 1600 for three professional groups: servants (both rural and urban), dike workers and textile workers. Through regulation by local and central governments as well as by guilds, water boards and so forth, it will try to reconstruct how relations between employers and employees were defined, what was the usual and supposed duration of contracts, the rights and duties of both parties, and the sanctions on breaking of agreements. The question the paper addresses is whether or not, or to what extend we can speak of ‘free labour’ in the modern sense of the word. Did servants, dike workers or weavers have choice and bargaining power? Can we speak of a real labour market in Holland before 1600? A global comparison with the surrounding regions may lead to the explanation for the differences.
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