Western Civilization I / Unit 11 WC1 1039 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Classifying an Institution: Manor, Town, Guild, Monastery, University
The idea
The exam describes an institution's rules and asks what it is. The method is two questions: who belongs, and what the rules protect. Manor: peasants and a lord; rules protect the lord's income and the peasants' customary rights. Town: burghers under a charter; rules protect self-government and stable taxes. Guild: masters of one craft; rules protect the monopoly and quality. Monastery: monks under vows; rules protect prayer, work and the estate. University: teachers and students as a guild; rules protect degrees and the right to teach.
In practice
Five cases. A body that fines an outsider for selling shoes in the city: a guild. A community whose members may leave only after a year and a day elsewhere: a manor's serfs. A corporation that examines candidates and licenses them to teach anywhere: a university. A house that owns vineyards and copies manuscripts under a rule of obedience: a monastery. A settlement that pays its lord a fixed sum yearly and elects its own council: a chartered town.
Where people slip
Guilds and universities share a form, since the anchor calls universities guild-like at first; classify by what is protected, a craft's monopoly or a degree. And a monastery was both a religious house and one of the richest institutions in its region.
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