148 Burkhardt
would never have received in their home villages.47 They were taught reading,
writing, calculating, and business knowledge for pricing, weighing, and quality
control. They also learned the merchant class social codes and received cul-
tural, religious, and social stimuli, which broadened their minds and enabled
them to start their own business career after their time at one of the kontors.
Once the boys had spent some time at the kontor and passed an examina-
tion, they could continue their presence at the kontor as a merchant’s assistant.48
These young men got even tighter involved in the daily business. They con-
trolled the packing, weighing, and transport of goods in and out of the ware-
house; they helped with bookkeeping and sometimes were allowed to make
minor business decisions. They were slowly introduced to all aspects of a mer-
chant’s activities. Many of them entered the mesh of Hanse trade with their
own small business, often as a junior partner of their tutor merchant. Assistants
had a special standing at the kontors. Although still under the authority of their
houselord, they had much more freedom than other boys did. From the kontor
of Bergen, we know that assistants had their own sleeping room. This provided
them with a better living environment, as well as privacy when, for example,
they wanted to bring a prostitute to their room. In one of the yards’ regula-
tions from Bergen, we find even a rule stating that, while the assistants had to
follow the houselord’s orders, the merchants were not allowed to beat them.49
No such rule is to be found regarding the boys. Also, in free time activities, the
assistants had much in common with the merchants. Common forms of enter-
tainment consisted of cards or skill games. Cheating and arguments were very
common. However, the yard rules in Bergen prohibiting playing for money.
From London and Bergen, we are also informed about ball games. The statutes
in London ordered that there shouldn’t be ball games in the guild hall, where
goods were stored and business was done. In Bergen, regulations prohibited
merchants and assistants from playing ball with the boys, most likely because
of the violent aspects of these games putting the small boys’ health in danger.
The merchants were the heads of their respective household,50 and were
responsible for the good behavior of the members of their household. They
had to control them, punish them in case of minor offences, or report them
to the aldermen in cases of bigger issues. Only the merchants were full-right
members of the kontor. They gathered in the merchants’ assembly that made
the most important decisions in legal cases and issued new regulations to be
47 Burkhardt (2006), 60–64.
48 Burkhardt (2006), 64–66.
49 Bendixen (1895), 30.
50 Burkhardt (2006), 66–67.