Editing Apprenticeship (section)

==History==
[[File:Medieval baker.jpg|thumb|right|A medieval baker with his apprentice. The Bodleian Library, Oxford, England.]]

The system of apprenticeship first developed in the [[Late Middle Ages]] and came to be supervised by craft [[guild]]s and town governments. A [[master craftsman]] was entitled to employ young people as an inexpensive form of labour in exchange for providing food, lodging and formal training in the craft. Most apprentices were males, but female apprentices were found in crafts such as [[seamstress]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Apprenticeship indenture |date=March 18, 1642 |work=Cambridge University Library Archives (Luard 179/9) |url=http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0265%2FLuard%20179%2F9 }}</ref> [[tailor]], [[cordwainer]], [[baker]] and [[stationer]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Apprenticeship indentures 1604–1697 |work=Cambridge St Edward Parish Church archives (KP28/14/2) |url=http://calm.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/ArchiveCatalogue/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Browse2.tcl&dsqItem=KP28/14/2&dsqKey=RefNo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813022632/http://calm.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/ArchiveCatalogue/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Browse2.tcl&dsqItem=KP28%2F14%2F2&dsqKey=RefNo |url-status = dead|archive-date=2011-08-13 |access-date=2009-12-07 }}</ref> Apprentices usually began at ten to fifteen years of age, and would live in the master craftsman's household. The contract between the craftsman, the apprentice and, generally, the apprentice's parents would often be governed by an [[indenture]].<ref name="KOM">{{cite book|last=Morgan|first=Kenneth O.| author-link = Kenneth O. Morgan |title=The Oxford History of Britain|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, England|year=2001|page=126|chapter=The Early Middle Ages}}</ref> Most apprentices aspired to becoming master craftsmen themselves on completion of their contract (usually a term of seven years), but some would spend time as a [[journeyman]] and a significant proportion would never acquire their own [[workshop]]. In [[Coventry]] those completing seven-year apprenticeships with [[stuff merchants]] were entitled to become [[Freedom of the City|freemen of the city]].<ref>Adrian Room, "Cash, John (1822–1880)", ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'', Oxford University Press, 2004</ref>

Apprenticeship was adopted into military of the [[West Africa]]n kingdom of [[Dahomey]]. Soldiers in the army were recruited as young as seven or eight years old, as they initially served as shield carriers for regular soldiers. After years of apprenticeship and military experience, the recruits were allowed to join the army as regular soldiers. With a combination of lifelong military experience and monetary incentives, a cohesive and well-disciplined military emerged in Dahomey.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Diligent|last = Harms|first = Robert|publisher = Basic Books|year = 2002|isbn = 0-465-02872-1|location = New York|pages = 172}}</ref>