Labor relations during the Renaissance

[Start a Fire]

I need to do a research paper or a book report for my European history class relating to the Renaissance, and I was thinking of possibly doing the project on labor relations during this time. By labor relations, I really just mean the general relationship between employer and worker, the rights of workers, workers management etc. Are there any books that deal with this? Are there any more specific subjects that might be of relevance? If there are any subjects that aren't related to labor that might be interesting, feel free to mention them too. Any input or suggestion is appreciated.

Furthermore, let's discuss labor relations in the Renaissance in general! In what ways were they worse in these times in comparison to the post-industrial revolution age? In what ways were they better?

[Tommy4ever]

I don't know any specific books but I know that there has been quite a lot of study on labour relations at the every end of the Middle Ages, this period often being called ''The Golden Age of Labour''. Around this time period conditions started to improve and the power relationship between working people and the ruling class start to shift.

So you should be able o find some good stuff out there.

[Blake's Baby]

When and where are you hoping to research? There were massive differences over time and space - Europe looks pretty tiny to anyone from North America I'm sure, but really the differences between England and Muscovy in 1600 were immense.

When are you starting the 'Renaissance'? The traditional date in Europe is 1453, I believe, though in English texts you're more likely to find the end of the Medieval period being given as 1485. And 'The Renaissance' is often seen more as a cultural/educational movement than a period of time. 'Early Modern' or 'Tudor' are more common terms for the historical periodisation I would think in English histories.

Not sure about France however, which would I presume be a good source. If you could get info on the German city-states that would also be very interesting. Perhaps even 'The Peasant War in Germany' might be worth a read.

[aristos]

Well, there were some notable worker's uprisings in the late middle-ages, e.g. the Ciompi uprising in Florence and sometime earlier the Zealots of Thessalonica.
Generally life was harsh, although some city states did provide some relief. From what I remember Late Middle Age/Renaissance Venice provided free universal healthcare for its citizens irrespective of class.
Basically the labourers and peasants enjoyed some relative autonomy during the middle ages and the Renaissance was the beginning of their greater (re)enslavement, that culminated in the total deprivation of the labouring population during the early Baroque and after.

[Rooster]

Was the renaissance slightly after the black death? Anyway, with the death of over a 1/3 of the population of Europe conditions arose where it was necessary to allow peasants and such to be able to travel about and gain employment because of a shortage in labour. I think this helped to create the large urban communities that were beginning to form, but I think they were mostly along the lines of guild master and apprentice in small artisan workshops. Many painters, particularly in the Northern Renaissance employed apprentices in their own workshops to help churn out paintings. I'm not sure how that worked in Italy but I think it was pretty similar. Another thing to note here was the growth of the banking industry in Italy at that time. Jeez, I'm forgetting a lot of history here or I'm confusing a lot. I have this book kicking around the house Studies in the Development of Capitalism by Maurice Dobb. I haven't read much it, if I remember right, but it might be worth a look as it's the only book I can think of off the top of my head that might deal with it. I'll skim through it and tell you what I think or give you a brief summary of what it says.

Just trying to remember some history: I'm sure most things were run by peasant councils; the running of villages, plot layout and stuff. But that was still tied in with the lord of the land having to have his tithe (as far as I can remember, or possibly this might just apply to England). Most villages and village councils were fairly autonomous with the ability to make or to enforce their own laws. I believe that in the cities, they were mostly run by the powerful families with them either acting as their own little kings or as councils of nobles/wealthiest people. You also had the church as an economic centre which were again, fairly autonomous. But I think generally, in the cities, it was the master and apprentice set up, in the workshop. The thing to remember here is that there was a larger amount of classes and class relations then than there is today. Sorry if this is kinda rambling. It's been a long day for me and I'm just trying to remember things from books I've read decades ago.