Guild

I

Introduction

Guild, association of persons who have similar interests in a craft, business, or profession; the purpose of the association is mutual aid and protection. The term is particularly applied to two types of such association that flourished in continental Europe and England during the Middle Ages: the merchant guild or guild merchant, and the craft guild, sometimes known as the trade guild or trade corporation.

II

The Merchant Guild

These guilds began on the European continent in the 11th century and in England after the Norman Conquest (1066). The guild arose as a consequence of the growth in that century both of commerce and of urban communities. Merchants traveled from market to market in foreign countries, and, for the sake of mutual protection, a group of merchants from the same city often banded together in a caravan. The members of a caravan elected a leader and made rules that they were pledged to obey. In addition to prescribing duties for defense against physical attack, the rules obliged the members to stand by each other in legal disputes in which any might engage. The name for such a caravan was Gilde or Hansa in the Germanic countries of Europe; in the countries speaking languages derived from Latin the term was caritas or fraternitas. Frequently the members of a hansa or fraternitas remained in close association after they had made the return journey to their city. Such an association then began to assume rights and privileges in regard to the trade of the municipality or community. These rights might have been conferred by a feudal lord or, in later times and in cities free from feudal control, by the city itself.

In time the merchant guild gained a monopoly over the entire industry and commerce of the city, supervising the various crafts, and selling, at both wholesale and retail, all the commodities manufactured in the city. Merchants who were not members of such a guild were also permitted to sell goods, but only at wholesale, and were subject, in business transactions, to many special restrictions from which the members of the guild were free; for example, the nonmember was forced to pay special dues to the feudal lord or to the city, but the guild paid the dues annually for all its members, who also enjoyed freedom from other municipal taxes. The merchant guild was usually composed of the richest merchants of the city and acquired considerable political influence, often becoming vested with the power of administration of some of the municipal functions. A merchant guild sometimes admitted to membership merchants of other cities; as a result merchant guilds occasionally developed that monopolized the commerce of several cities. This was particularly true on the Continent.

III

Decline of The Merchant Guild

The merchant guilds declined and by the 14th century had almost completely disappeared. The principal cause of their elimination from economic life was the rise of craft guilds, which included in their membership all those engaged in any particular craft, and which monopolized the making and selling of a particular commodity within the cities in which they were organized. As the various craftsmen of a city organized into craft guilds, the merchant guild of that city was gradually deprived of its power to regulate the commerce of that municipality and in time ceased to function altogether. Where the merchant guilds were strongly entrenched in the municipal governments, they also came into conflict with the strong national governments that were coming into being toward the end of the medieval period and frequently yielded their powers to these governments.

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IV

The Craft Guild

An organization known as a craft guild in England and as corporation de métier in France, arte in Italy, and Zünft or Innung in Germany, came into existence about the beginning of the 12th century. In general, the craft guild arose when a group of artisans, imitating the example of the merchants of the city, decided to unite for mutual benefit. In some instances a group that had organized originally for religious purposes, and that had drawn its membership entirely from the artisans of one craft, began to stress aid for the economic rather than the religious needs of its members, and in time became a full-fledged craft guild. By the middle of the 12th century, craft guilds had been established in all parts of western Europe. In some cities the individual worker was permitted the right to join or remain out of the guild in his craft. In others, a guild would purchase from the municipality or the royal government the right to control its branch of industry, and in such instances everyone who desired to follow his trade in that particular city was compelled to join the guild. The members of a craft guild were divided into three classes: masters, apprentices, and journeymen. The master, who was a small-scale proprietor, owned the raw material and the tools and sold the goods manufactured in his shop for his own profit. The apprentices and journeymen lived in the master's house. The apprentices, who were beginners in the trade and learned it under the direction of the master, usually received only their board in return for the work they did. After an apprentice had completed his training he became a journeyman and was paid a fixed wage for his labor. In time a journeyman might become a master. Because it was to the advantage of those who were already masters not to increase their own number, the conditions under which a journeyman might become a master were always made difficult. After the 14th century the requirements became so severe that it was virtually impossible for any journeyman to become a master.

In the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries journeymen organized into associations of their own, the object of which was to obtain better wages and working conditions from the masters. In England such associations were known as journeyman or yeoman guilds, and in France as compagnonnages. They succeeded, sometimes by means of strikes, in somewhat improving working conditions and pay, but on the whole they did not greatly improve the economic status of their class. Because of their defense of the rights of labor, their strong control over the members, and the benefits provided, the journeyman guilds are considered the forerunners of the modern trade union.

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