Guilds

Guilds


Guilds are associations of merchants and craftsmen of the master level. The craft guild was fair by making each work the same hours and received the same pay. Merchants were typically more wealthy than the craftsmen. The guilds of merchants maximized profits by buying low in one place that had a lot of the supply and selling it where it is worth more. Guilds started by masters of a skill joined together to minimize the competition. They existed since ancient time and grew to until the end of the Renaissance. By the time the first merchant guilds appeared it was in medieval Europe. In some cities the guild even governed the city.

Not just anyone was allowed into the guild, first you have to start out as an apprentice and live with you master for a fixed period of time and if he ran away, his parents had to pay a large fine, but in return he provided food, shelter and clothing, but with no pay. Once the fixed time period is over and the head masters of the guild see it right that he has served his master well, he is promoted to journeyman and received wages from his master. Usually after some years of being a journeyman he might try to become a master, for this he must act well as a member and submit his masterpiece to the masters of the guild. It was also a community of workers. If a member fell ill, the others will care for him, if a member died, the workers would feed his family and provided a funeral for him.

Works Cited A.S.
 * “File:Merchant Adventurers’ Hall.jpg.” Wikimediacommons. Wikimedia Foundations, 2 Feb. 2008. Web. 1 Apr. 2010. .
 * “Guilds.” The Middle Ages. Vol. 2. New York: Charels Scribner’s Sons, 1996. 182-185. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 25 Mar. 2010.
 * “Guilds.” Midievil World. Ed. Sally MacEarchern. Vol. 4. Danbury: Grolier Education, 2001. 45-48. Print