The organization of the Community united the masters, but the attempts of the journeymen to unite were met with constant opposition and were frequently prohibited by law. The germ of the journeymen’s organization was the chapel. Originally the chapel was a group of workmen engaged on the same job and consequently dependent upon each other for its success and for the regular progress of the work. The origin of the name is somewhat in doubt, but it probably is either derived from the fact that many of the early printing establishments were connected with monasteries, or under the patronage of the church, or from the fact that the printers were educated men, and in the 15th century educated men were generally identified with the clergy. In English law, until within a comparatively recent time, a man convicted of certain crimes could escape capital punishment if he could prove that he could read and write. This proof was held to identify him with the clergy, who were exempted from certain criminal provisions of the statutes. This process was technically known as “pleading one’s clergy.” The chapel was soon extended to include in its membership all the workmen in one shop, and in this significance the name is still in use. The organization of journeymen into chapels runs back to the early days of printing. There never seems to have been any serious attempt to prevent this organization in individual shops for the reason that such an organization was highly beneficial to the masters themselves, securing the better co-ordination of related processes and hence more efficient production. In France the chapel was legally recognized in 1777, only a short time before the break-up of the old order. The chapel had certain revenues which were derived from assessments and fees which it laid upon its members and particularly from the sale of books. It was the custom to give to the chapel a certain number of copies of every book printed. These revenues appear to have been intended originally as provision for certain periodical feasts and festivals such as were common in all the guilds of the middle ages. Later they were extended to cover charity and also to provide a sort of war chest out of which the expense of litigation could be met.