The Rites of Labor: Brotherhoods of Compagnonnage in Old and New Regime France

The Rites of Labor is the only full account of the brotherhoods of compagnonnage, secret associations of French journeymen formed in the late medieval era and surviving into the nineteenth century. In this major contribution to French social history and the anthropology of work culture, Truant re-creates the compagnons' economic activities, their often violent clashes with one another, and the myths and rituals that sustained their bonds.