G I L 



G I L 



The founder of this order crcftod a double monaftery, or 

 *;ither two (liiTeront onis, contiguous to each other, the 

 one for men, the other for women, but parted by a very 

 hitrh wall. 



St. Gilbert himfelf founded thirteen monaflerics of this 

 order, viz. four for men nlone, and nine for men and women 

 togctlier, which had ia them feven hundred brethren, and 

 fifteen liundred filters. At the diffolution there were about 

 tweiity-fivi' hoifes of this order in England and Wales. 



GILBERTUS Anc;i,icus, in 5;c>frrt//j_v> the firft prac- 

 tical writer on medicine, whom tliis country produced, is 

 placed by Bale, (who culls him Gilbtrlus Le^leus, anil fays 

 he was phylician to Hubert, archbilhop of Canterbury, 1 in 

 the reign of king John, about the year 1210. But Leland, 

 ■without llating the grounds of his opinion, makes him more 

 modern. Dr Freind obfervcs, that it is obvious, from the 

 work by which he is principally known, (a " Compendium 

 of Phyiic,") that he mull have lived fcvcral years later in 

 the thirteenth century, very pi-obably in the beginning of 

 the reign of Edward I.: " For he quotes Averrhbes," Dr. 

 Freind remarks, " who reached to the clofe of the twelfth 

 century; and whofe works could not have been tranOatcd fo 

 early, and indeed were not tranllated till the middle, at leatt, 

 of the thirteenth, as Bacon, a good voucher, informs us: 

 and the mention he raakes of a book, " de Speculis," which, 

 without doubt, is that written by Bacon, and what he tran- 

 fcribes from Theodorick, concerning a leprofy, evidently 

 fhews that he lived low in this century, &c." (Hirt. of Phy- 

 fic, vol. ii. p. 267.) According to Leland, he maintained a 

 high charadler for his knowledge in pliilofophy and phyfic, 

 -which he had acquired by great iludy and much travelling; 

 and he was very fuccefsful in his praftice. His writings are 

 principally compiled from thofe of the Arabian phyiicians, 

 like the works of his contemporaries in other nations ; foine- 

 times, indeed, he tranfcribes whole chapters word for word, 

 efpecially from Rhazes. He is reprefented as the firfl Eng- 

 li(h phyficlan wlio ventured to e.xpofe the afcfurd practices 

 of the fuperllitious monks, who at that time engrolTed much 

 of the treatment of difeafes, and is faid to have contrafled 

 ■with them the metiiods recommended by the ancients. The 

 principal work of Gilbert, entitled " Compendium Medi- 

 c-inaj tarn morborum univcrfalium quam particularium," was 

 con-ecled by Michael Capella, and printed at Lyons in 

 1510; and afterwards at Geneva, in 1608, under the title 

 of " Laurea Ang!icana, feu Compendi'am totius Medicina?." 

 His other treatiies were, " De viribns Aquarum:" " De 

 Re Herbaria:" " Thefaurus Paupcrum:" and " De tuenda 

 valetudinc." Eloy. DiCt. Hid. Freind, loc cit. 



GILBING, in Geography, a town of Pruffia, in Erme- 

 land ; 12 miles W. of Allewlleln. 



GILBOA, in Scripture Geography, a mountain of Pa- 

 leftine, celebrated on account of the defeat and death of 

 Saul, and his fon Jonathan, (i Sam. xxxi. i, 2, 3.>. Eiife- 

 bius and Jerom place this mountain fix miles from Bethfan, 

 other wife Scythopolis. 



GILD, or Guild, originally fig:iilies a fraternity, or 

 company. 



The word is fornied from the Siwon gi/Jun, to pay, bccaufe 

 every man wns gililarc, i. e. to pay fomething towards the 

 charge and fipport of the company. Hence alio our Guild- 

 huil, q. d. the hall of the fociety or fraternity, wh'.-re they 

 meet, and make orders and laws among themfelves. 



The origin of gilds, or guilds, is thus related : it being 

 a law among the Saxons, that every freeman of fourteen 

 years old Ihould fiy.d fureties to keep the peace, or be com- 

 jnitted ; cert in neighbours, confilH.-ig of ten fainilies, en- 

 tered i».to an aifociatioii, and became bound for each other, 



either to produce him who committed an offence, or to make 

 fatisfaftion to the injured party : that they might the better 

 do this, they raifcd a lum of money among themfelves, 

 which they put into a common Hock ; and when one of 

 their pledges had committed an ofToncc, and was fled, then 

 the other nine made fatisfatlion out of this flock, by pay- 

 ment of money, according to the offe!ice. 



Becaufe this atToci.'tion confillcd of ten families, it was 

 called a decennary ; and from hence came out later kinds of 

 fraternities. 



But, as to the precife time when thefe guilds had their 

 origin in England, there is nothing of certainty to be found ; 

 fmce they were in ufe long b'-fore any form:d licence was 

 granted them for fuch meeting;. 



It feems to have been about tlie clofe of the eleventh cen- 

 tury, fays Anderfon, in his Hiitory of Commerce, vol. i. 

 p. 70. that merchant-guilds, or fraternities, which were after- 

 wards (lylcd corporations, came flrll into general uie in many 

 parts of Europe. Mr. Madox, in his Firma Burgi, chap. i. 

 J" 9. thinks, they were hardly known to our Saxon progeni- 

 tors, and that they might be probably brought into Eng- 

 land by the Normans ; altlwegh they do not feem to have 

 been very numerous in thofe days. I'he French and Nor- 

 mans might probably borrow them from the free cities of 

 Italy, where trade and manufailures were m.uch earlier pro- 

 pagated, and where pofiibly fuch comniinrties were firll in 

 ufe. See Cuakteus of Ccmnmniiy, City, and CoKFORA- 



TIOX. 



Edward the Third, in the fourteenth year of his reign, 

 granted hcenee to the men of Coventry to erect a merchant's 

 gild and fraternity, of brethren and iiiler*, with a maftcr, 

 or warden ; and that they might found chauntries, bellow 

 alms, do other works of piety, and conftitute ordinances 

 touching the fame. 



So Henry the Fourth, in his reign, granted a licence to 

 found a gild of the Holy Crofs, at Stratford-upon- 

 Avon. 



Gild, in the royal boroughs of Scotland, is Hill ufed 

 for a company of merchants, who are freemen of the 

 borough. 



Every roya! borough has a dean of gild, who is the next 

 magiilrate below the bailiff. He judges of controverfieg 

 among men concerning trade ; difputes betvv-cen inhabitants 

 touching buildings, lights, watercourfes, and other nui- 

 finces ; calls courts, at which his bi'cthren of the gild are 

 bound to attend ; manages the commtn Rock of the g'ld ; 

 and amerces, and colletls fines. 



Gll.D, or Geld, according to Camden, alio fignilies a tri- 

 bute, or tax. SeeGf:LD. 



GiJ-D, according to Crompton, alfo figni.'ies an amerce- 

 ment. As in fooi-geld, which he interprets a preilation 

 within the forcfl. 



Hence, to be quit of all manner of gild, is to be dif- 

 charged of all manner of prcilations to be made for 

 gathering fheaves of corn, lamb, and wool, to tlie ufe of fo- 

 reders. 



Gild, or Geld, is alfo ufed among our ancient writers for 

 a compenfalion, or mulft, for a fault committed. See Un"- 



GELD. 



Hence, zveregtLl is the price of a man ; orfg Id is the price 

 of cattle ; angeld, the fingle value of a thing ; tiuigeld, the 

 double value, &c. 



There are divers other words v.hich end with gild, 

 and ffeew the lever.d kinds of payments ; as danegetd, 

 •vadfgeld, Jenegeld, horiigeld, fotgeld, pcmgild, &C. wiiich 

 fee. 



Gild, or Guild rents, are rents payable to the crown by 



ai.y 



