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St. Eloy's Hospice is a guildhall in Utrecht in the Netherlands. Between the Dom tower and the Mariaplaats in Utrecht in The Netherlands there is a unique house that bears the name: St. Eloyen Gasthuis (St. Eloy's Hospice). The house has been occupied by the Smedengilde (guild of smiths) since 1440.〔(St. Eloyen Gasthuis ) on the website of Open monumentendag〕 According to documents preserved the guild has existed since 1304, but older. The house can be visited free of charge on the second Saturday of September. The fraternity is private nowadays. ==History== Associations of craftsmen and tradesmen, called guilds, were founded as early as in the 11th century in the Netherlands, Northern France and England. The blacksmith guild of Utrecht included the regular blacksmiths, the gold and silver smiths, the needle makers, the locksmiths, the weapon smiths, etc. These guilds were formed to provide their members with a decent standard of living by controlling competition, and on the other hand controlling the quality of the products as well. There was a severe training programme and subsequently a controlled career programme: apprentice —> workman —> master. In 1165 a canal was dug which connected the city of Utrecht with the river Vecht, and Utrecht became a very important town with a sea harbour (the present Muiden harbour) before Amsterdam was founded. Perhaps the most important fact in the guilds history in Utrecht was the so-called "Battle of the Golden Spurs" in 1302, where the French noblemen and their army were beaten by an army of farmers and tradesmen. After their victory this Belgian army marched through the lowlands to Utrecht. They forced the bishop to give up all his worldly powers by the so-called guild-letter of 1304 and installed a city council consisting of representatives of the guilds. In those days the city of Utrecht (20.000 inhabitants) was divided into four guild-quarters. The guilds possessed political, juridical and military power. That is why everybody had to participate and all inhabitants were obliged to be a member of one of the 21 guilds. The administration of the city was thus organised: Every guild had 2 aldermen. These 42 men nominated 24 persons in the city council. The council nominated 12 sheriffs for administration of justice. The president of these sheriffs was one of the 2 burgomasters. The city council itself nominated a second burgomaster. This system lasted till the emperor Charles V took back all power in Utrecht. In one way the blacksmiths' guild formed an example to the others, especially in the care it lavished upon its members who were old or infirm. A hospice was established on this very spot in Utrecht in 1440. The blacksmiths' hospital was devoted to their patron Saint Eligius (St. Eloy in Dutch). The very place of this house is also historical. Utrecht, the second oldest town in the Netherlands, was founded in 48 by the Romans (as ''Traiectum''), being the most northern fortress of their emperor. This fortress was situated on the spot where we see now the Dom tower and the Dom cathedral. In the neighbourhood, high sands in et land, were pubs and shops. In 1798 Napoleon abolished the guilds. The blacksmiths' guild however cleverly changed itself into the Blacksmith Trade Organisation and is in this way the only surviving institution of its kind in the Netherlands. In 1817 all the guest houses lost their hospital function, but this house remained and still is a charitable institution which forms an independent existence until today. The governors of the house, called ''regenten'', adapt to the demands of present times, continue charitable work and take care of funding for maintenance of the building, the art collection and completion of the archives. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「St. Eloy's Hospice」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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