Nothing illustrates better these medieval brother hoods than those temporary guilds which were formed on board ships.  When a ship of the Hansa had accomplished her first half-day passage after having left the port, the captain (Schiffer) gathered all crew and passengers on the deck, and held the following language, as reported by a contemporary:—­

“‘As we are now at the mercy of God and the waves,’ he said, ’each one must be equal to each other.  And as we are surrounded by storms, high waves, pirates and other dangers, we must keep a strict order that we may bring our voyage to a good end.  That is why we shall pronounce the prayer for a good wind and good success, and, according to marine law, we shall name the occupiers of the judges’ seats (Schoffenstellen).’  Thereupon the crew elected a Vogt and four scabini, to act as their judges.  At the end of the voyage the Vogt and the scabini. abdicated their functions and addressed the.  ’What has happened on board ship, we crew as follows:—­must pardon to each other and consider as dead (todt und ab sein lassen).  What we have judged right, was for the sake of justice.  This is why we beg you all, in the name of honest justice, to forget all the animosity one may nourish against another, and to swear on bread and salt that he will not think of it in a bad spirit.  If any one, however, considers himself wronged, he must appeal to the land Vogt and ask justice from him before sunset.’  On landing, the Stock with the fredfines was handed over to the Vogt of the sea-port for distribution among the poor."(26)

This simple narrative, perhaps better than anything else, depicts the spirit of the medieval guilds.  Like organizations came into existence wherever a group of men—­fishermen, hunters, travelling merchants, builders, or settled craftsmen—­ came together for a common pursuit.  Thus, there was on board ship the naval authority of the captain; but, for the very success of the common enterprise, all men on board, rich and poor, masters and crew, captain and sailors, agreed to be equals in their mutual relations, to be simply men, bound to aid each other and to settle their possible disputes before judges elected by all of them.  So also when a number of craftsmen—­masons, carpenters, stone-cutters, etc.—­came together for building, say, a cathedral, they all belonged to a city which had its political organization, and each of them belonged moreover to his own craft; but they were united besides by their common enterprise, which they knew better than any one else, and they joined into a body united by closer, although temporary, bonds; they founded the guild for the building of the cathedral.(27) We may see the same till now in the Kabylian. cof:(28) the Kabyles have their village community; but this union is not sufficient for all political, commercial, and personal needs of union, and the closer brotherhood of the cof is constituted.