Les salaires des ouvriers du bâtiment à Gérone au XVème siècle

Abstract

During the XVth century in Girona there was a lot of building offering abundant documentation for a study of the building world. Thanks to the building accounts of the Cathedral and its fortifications, it is possible to study workers'wages and living standards. First of all, a typology of wages needs to be done. Most workers were paid on a daily basis. This kind of salary might vary according to season, activity or professional qualifications. Other workers were on a piece-work basis: for example, traginers, ferrers or argenters. The evolution of wages during the XVth century in Girona follows the general trend observed by J. Hamilton. The wages of best qualified workers remain stable, while those of less qualified vary with a tendency to increase. Then, there is a compression of the salaries. However, this rise is not enough to set off the XVth century's inflation. The living standards of the whole population of building paid workers tend to decrease. Between 1465 and 1490, a master stone cutter loses 42% of his real wage, and a worker 21%. A typical Budget underlines the fact that only a bachelor artisan had a relatively favourable standard of living. In these conditions, the upkeep of a family brought problems.