The length of the term of hire is not definitely stated in our regulations, and it varied from a day, a week, a month, to a year. In the morning all unemployed _valets_ assembled early in a designated street or square. There they were to stay until the bell from a certain church sounded. No private individual could hire an artisan. If a bargain was made, the _valet_ went to the house of his employer at dawn and stayed under usual conditions till sunset. The hours accordingly varied largely, from 14 hours in summer to 8 in winter. Very few _valets_ lodged and ate with their patron. They ‘went out’ in search of their noonday-meal with the provision that, after it, they should not loiter to wait for a fellow-workman. If the gild was one which allowed night-work, and the master desired it of him, the _aloué_ must comply for a raise of pay. Sometimes the _valets_ rebelled against this compulsion, and were threatened by the magistrates for this attempt at industrial freedom. In only one case is vacation mentioned, but as we shall see in discussing the _chômage_, there was little need of it. The brass-wire drawers stipulate, however, that the workmen may have a vacation in the month of August if they wish. Women were admitted to membership in gilds where their delicate skill and taste made them useful. In 1292 the group dealing with embroidery was composed of 81 women and 12 men. Occasionally conditions of employment are stated with more detail. A rule of the sword-cutlers runs this: “No[6] master should take a _valet_ to work unless he has five sets of clothes with him in order that the workmen may look neat in case the nobles, counts, barons, knights, and other good folk should at any time come into the work-room.” The _valet_ could not be dismissed unreasonably, and rarely the provision is made that two _valets_ and two masters must agree upon the dismissal before it could take effect. After a year and a day, the _valet_ could have his wife come and work with him, if the gild admitted women. A considerable distinction between masters and _valets_ already existed, though in the smaller organizations the gulf was less apparent. There were no large factories in the modern meaning, and in a small workshop conditions of equality were more likely to obtain. Several facts show, however, that the _valets_ in some places were beginning to feel themselves a distinct industrial class. Infrequently they had their own confrérie and their own jurés. The masters in some cities already foresaw the possibilities of a kind of class-struggle, and at[7] Beauvais punished with imprisonment and fine men who attempted combinations in the hope of raising wages. In 1280 at Ypres, workmen rebelled against an ordinance adding one hour to their working day, and in their rioting killed the mayor. Of course they were severely punished. (But how modern these actions prove our industrial class of the Middle Ages to be.)