ABSTRACT
Male bonding is a concept rarely used by historians, the male group so predominates as a subject of historical study that male bonding appears trans-historical and almost self-evident. In this case, however, the notion of male bonding can prove enlightening and help to explain some of the actions of craft guilds in early modem Germany which are difficult to explain in terms of more standard social, economic, and political factors. The concept of male bonding was extensively discussed by Lionel Tiger in his now classic Men in Groups. Tiger's most controversial point is revealed in his use of the word 'biological' to describe the underlying reason for male bonding. Several historians, most recently Mack Walker, have pointed out that social exclusiveness and a concern for maintaining honour and morality became the hallmarks of craft guilds after the Thirty Years War. Journeymen originally objected to women's work for economic reasons, viewing women as taking work places they regarded as rightfully theirs.
