Regulations concerning compulsory service were most elaborate and detailed in the rural district of Furnes, on the North Sea coast. They were first introduced in 1559, elaborated at different stages in the second half of the sixteenth century and ratified and codified at the start of the seventeenth century.
1 See Gilliodts-Van Severen, Coutumes Furnes, vol. 2, p. 526 (1559 and 1565); A. Viaene, ‘De loonregeling van 1588 voor Veurne en Veurnambacht’, Annales de la Société d’Emulation de Bruges, 72 (1929), 189–90 (1588) and State Archives Bruges (hereafter SAB), Découvertes, nr. 152 (1594). In the customs ratified in 1615, the section on compulsory service comprised more than half of all the labour regulations.
2 Gilliodts-Van Severen, Coutumes Furnes, vol. 2, pp. 172–3. The section about servants contains ten articles, of which six deal with compulsory service. As in other coastal regions, compulsory service targeted young unmarried men and women who were living independently. Unlike in other regions, officials in this region adopted a specific terminology to designate this group. In the sources, individuals who qualified for compulsory service were described as
eenclipte lieden.
3 In Middle Dutch and the dialect of the western part of Flanders the term eenclipt (and its variations) means unmarried or single and applied to both men and women. They were defined not by their age but through a combination of marital status, wealth, occupation and living conditions. Although there is no explicit reference to their marital status, compulsory service in this region targeted those individuals who were not married. Compulsory service specifically targeted the poorer sections of the rural population, as the clauses did not apply to those who were wealthy enough to live from the proceeds of their economic and financial assets. Only those who lacked financial security, such as day labourers, were targeted by the compulsory service clauses. In addition to wealth and income, occupation mattered too. Craftsmen were exempted if they could show that they enjoyed steady employment through their professional activities. Finally, compulsory service applied to those who were either living on their own as tenants of cottages, had taken up residence as a lodger, or who were still living with their with their parents. Individuals that fitted this description were expected to hire themselves as living-in servants with the farmers of the district.
4 Gilliodts-Van Severen, ibid. In general, these
eenclipte lieden were expected to secure employment as regular servants did. Farmers, however, did not have to offer them a customary term of six or twelve months’ employment, but could hire them for shorter periods. As such, they were a very flexible category of workers that could be hired and dismissed as employers saw fit.
Forcing people into service was achieved by way of fines and taxation. Those who did not seek employment in service were liable to a hefty fine of 30 £ parisis. Interestingly, anybody who signalled or denounced such people to the authorities could claim half of the fine. In addition to fines, the district of Furnes also resorted to fiscal means to direct unmarried adolescents to service. In contrast to other regions in Flanders, unmarried adolescents could be taxed individually in the district of Furnes. There was a clear strategy behind these high fines and taxes. Both were aimed at decreasing the net earnings of eenclipte lieden, so that making a living on one’s own became either challenging or impossible. This deliberate sabotage was designed to make the prospect of service more attractive and rewarding compared to casual day labouring. Finally, and in contrast to other regions, the customary law of Furnes introduced permanent monitoring of this group. Local officials were instructed to draft two lists each year (in May and November) and report the individuals that did not comply with these regulations. In theory, therefore, the aldermen of the district recorded detailed information about the number of eenclipte lieden in each village. Within the Low Countries the region of Furnes stands out as a consequence of this combination of fiscal, legal and monitoring mechanisms, constructed to identify and force young people into service.
Although the specific provisions regarding compulsory service remained in force until the 1790s, this does not mean that they were being applied with equal vigour throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Unfortunately, there are no direct sources that record the number of
eenclipte lieden that were fined each year nor are there large numbers of successive lists of people that were deemed fit for service. As a consequence it is difficult to assess how these legal provisions on compulsory service translated into actual policies over the long-term. However, there is some indirect information that sheds some light on these matters. Throughout the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries rules about compulsory service were repeatedly brought to the attention of the rural population. Separate ordinances dealing with
eenclipte lieden were published in 1696, 1702, 1721, 1722, 1732, 1737, 1752, 1761, 1779 and 1790.
5 City Archives Furnes, Old Archives, nrs. 342–6. As can be seen from the timing of the ordinances, the first half of the eighteenth century was characterised by high activity. Between 1696 and 1790 ten ordinances were issued, but most of these date from the first half of the 1700s. In light of the social and economic evolution of this region this is no surprise. As a border region situated between France and the Spanish Low Countries, the district of Furnes was at the forefront of a number of military campaigns. Warfare resulted in population decline through increased mortality and emigration. Population dropped by some 25 per cent between 1688 and 1697 and recovered only slowly, reaching its pre-war level around the middle of the eighteenth century.
6 Dalle, De bevolking. The numerous ordinances on compulsory service during the first half of the eighteenth century are clearly connected to the slow population recovery and the subsequent labour shortages. During this period, the aldermen of the districts made extensive use of the possibilities offered to them in the customs to force people into service.
In most cases, no new measures were instituted by the separate ordinances, which simply restated the customary rules about compulsory service as codified in 1615. There are, however, some minor but significant changes that appear in the ordinances during the eighteenth century. One significant difference compared with the early seventeenth century concerns the timing of the production of lists of
eenclipte lieden. Traditionally, these had to be produced in May and November of each year. The timing was informed by the dates governing the hiring season. In the coastal regions contracts of servants started or ended on either Mayday or 1 October. The
eenclipte lieden that would have figured on lists produced in May and November were those who were not hired to start work on Mayday or 1 October. Therefore, these lists were probably primarily used to prosecute and fine adolescents who had not hired themselves in the last hiring period. From 1732 onwards, lists had to be produced in March and September: that is, before the hiring seasons started. The function of these lists clearly changed from a tool to punish and fine adolescents to an instrument to identify potential servants and pressure them into service. The earlier dates at which these lists had to be produced possibly signals that
eenclipte lieden were policed more actively during the first half of the eighteenth century. This new form of active policing was undoubtedly inspired by complaints from village elites in the coastal regions about the lack of labourers and servants. In 1728 complaints reached the aldermen about labour shortages in the region. In their eyes, part of the problem was caused by depopulation. This resulted in labour shortages, especially during the harvest period.
7 City Archives Furnes, Old Archives, nr. 343 (1728). Also, farmers complained about the refusal of young people to serve. In 1732, for example, the villagers of Oostduinkerke testified that labour shortages were also the result of the refusal and reluctance of the poorer sections of the population to enter service. Young people were accused of idleness, as they spent part of the working week lying on their backs in the sun near the sea; they refused to enter service, even at the promise of high wages.
8 City Archives Furnes, Old Archives, nr. 343 (1728). Such complaints – real or fictive – probably inspired the aldermen to strengthen their grip on these adolescents. A second transformation that occurred during the eighteenth century concerns the language adopted in some of the ordinances. In 1721, for example, the refusal to enter service was described as detrimental to the ‘common good’ of the region and living on one’s own was portrayed as a life in idleness. Clearly, in the course of the eighteenth century a more hostile discourse emerged regarding unmarried adolescents. Although the measures adopted during the eighteenth century did not differ substantially from the early seventeenth-century customs, the language in which such concerns were voiced had shifted.
As noted above, the aldermen of the district placed great emphasis on the production of lists that would allow them to police this part of the population. Unfortunately, few of these lists have survived. Only the results of the enquiry ordered by the district from 1779 have been preserved.
9 City Archives Furnes, Old Archives, nr. 1122. These lists, and the information they contain, are instructive on a number of points. First, they allow us to gauge the extent of the ‘problem’ of unmarried adolescents living on their own. In sharp contrast to some of the complaints, it was only a marginal problem. Most villages recorded no adolescents living on their own. In most cases only a handful of individuals were identified that met the requirements for compulsory service. Possibly, this could hint at the overall success of these policies on compulsory service. The village official of Stavele, for example, noted that as a result of the 1779 ordinance some
eenclipte lieden had left the village. Some lists also indicate that the provisions on compulsory were no dead letter. In the village of Oostduinkerke one young man was identified as working for wages and living with his brother. Although he had been ordered by the district aldermen to enter service a year earlier, he continued working for daily wages. Mary Blieck, a young woman living with her mother, was reported to have been offered work by multiple farmers in the village, but she repeatedly refused to hire herself as a servant. The lists contain many names of both young males and females that had served in the past (with the names and locations of their past employers), but were now living on their own. These examples hint at the active supervision of young people deemed fit for service, but equally indicate that some were reluctant to serve.
Whereas most of the lists record only the names and place of residence of these eenclipte lieden, some village officials provide more details on the nature of the work and living conditions. Men seem to have been employed on a daily basis in a number of economic sectors. Many worked in agriculture, but some also combined agrarian work with textile weaving, construction work and other forms of day labouring. Women who refused to enter service were mostly active in the textile sector as spinsters or sold their services as washerwomen. Overall, young men made up the majority. In sixteen villages, the officials recorded sixty-six males against eight females who were fit for service but refused to comply with the clauses on compulsory service. The age of the majority of these people was not recorded. While most were probably in their twenties or early thirties, some older unmarried individuals were listed. Some men were listed aged forty and over, which suggests that age was certainly not the main criterion to identify these people as eligible for compulsory service.
One final element that we can reconstruct from the lists concerns the living conditions of the eenclipte lieden (see Table 6.2). For seventy-five out of eighty-four individuals we have more information about their household situation. As can be seen from the table, most of them opted for a non-family solution for their living conditions. Males and females resided most frequently with non-family members. In practice this meant that they took up residence in rooms or parts of cottages in exchange for rent. In many cases, multiple eenclipte lieden shared a room or part of a cottage. Eenclipte lieden also resided frequently with family members. These could be the parents or one of their siblings. As expected, only a minority of these people literally lived on their own. Only seven men were listed as the occupants of a cottage. For women, apparently, renting a cottage was not a realistic option. Importantly, although they were described as ‘living on their own’, this was not reflected in their household situation, as most of the eenclipte lieden resided with their families or secured a place as a lodger.
Table 6.2. Living conditions of eenclipte lieden in the district of Furnes, 1779.
Source: State Archives Furnes, Old Archives, nr. 1122.
As stated above, the region of Furnes was unique in its efforts to police and identify adolescents that could be coerced into service. Unsurprisingly, these policies were not exclusively achieved through the labour laws. In the case of Furnes, village elites utilised a supplementary mechanism to force young people into service. The parochial poor relief institutions in this region – called
armendissen – were also transformed into labour market instruments. In the course of the eighteenth century, parish support became conditional upon compliance with the labour laws. In particular, households or individuals could be coerced to send their children into service through the withdrawal of parish support. This became a standard practice in this region during the eighteenth century. In 1753, for example, the poor law officials of Leisele decided to suspend all parish support to households that had children old or fit enough to serve. Only after these children had entered service was parish support granted again.
10 SAB, OA Leisele, nr. 40. Similar practices also prevailed in other villages in this district. In 1776, the parish officials of Reninge distributed grain to needy households conditional upon the entry of their children into service.
11 SAB, OGA Reninge, nr. 172. As expenditure on poor relief increased in the course of the eighteenth century, village elites sought new ways to control and guide the working lives of the labouring poor.
12 T. Lambrecht and A. Winter, ‘An Old Poor Law on the Continent? Agrarian Capitalism, Poor Taxes, and Village Conflict in Eighteenth-Century Coastal Flanders’, Economic History Review, 71 (2018), 1182–3; T. Lambrecht and A. Winter, ‘De vele gezichten van zorg. Armoede en armenzorg op het platteland in het graafschap Vlaanderen tijdens de achttiende eeuw’, Tijd-Schrift, 7 (2017), 53–5. In these cases, the enforcement of the labour laws and the clauses on compulsory service in particular were achieved through the poor laws. As in England, labour legislation operated in tandem with the poor laws to control and supervise young servants and their parents.
13 See, for example, T. Wales, ‘“Living at Their Own Hands”: Policing Poor Households and the Young in Early Modern Rural England’, Agricultural History Review, 61 (2013), 19–39.