Guilds and Craft Production in the High Middle Ages

The guild was the basic institution of urban production and trade in medieval Europe. Two main types of guild emerged in the High Middle Ages: the merchant guild, an association of the merchants of a town, and the craft guild, an association of the craftsmen of a particular trade. The guilds regulated the quality of goods, the training of apprentices, the standards of workmanship, and the prices that could be charged, and they played a major role in the economic, social, and political life of the medieval town. The guild system was one of the most distinctive features of the medieval economy, and it shaped the development of European cities and industries for centuries.

This cluster explores guilds and craft production in the High Middle Ages. The articles in the related long-tail pages provide deeper examinations of specific aspects of the topic.

Steven A. Epstein, “Wage Labor and Guilds in Medieval Europe” (1991), is the most useful single treatment in English. The classic older account is Émile Coornaert, “Les Corporations de métier en France avant 1789” (1941; not translated). The page below uses both, and the surviving guild statutes (the Livre des métiers of Étienne Boileau, the Constituti of the Florentine Arte della Lana, the ordinances of the London craft companies) as primary material.

The Merchant Guilds

The merchant guild was the older of the two main types of guild. In the early medieval town, the merchants formed an association to protect their interests, to regulate trade, and to represent the town in its dealings with the lord and with other towns. The merchant guild controlled the right to engage in wholesale trade, regulated the quality and price of goods, and maintained the commercial privileges of the town. As towns grew and craft production became more important, the craft guild gradually eclipsed the merchant guild in many places.

The merchant guild was typically composed of the established merchants of a town, who had paid an entrance fee and met the other requirements of membership. The guild elected officers — a master, wardens, or aldermen — to manage its affairs and to represent it in its dealings with the town government and foreign merchants. The guild maintained its own hall, chapel, and treasury, and it often played a major role in the government of the town itself.

The merchant guilds of the major Italian cities — Venice, Genoa, Florence, Milan, Pisa — were major economic and political forces. The merchant guild of Venice, the Arte dei Mercanti, was a major institution of the Venetian Republic, and it played a role in the government of the city and the management of the Venetian trade. The merchant guild of Florence, the Arte di Calimala, was a major institution of the Florentine Republic, and it played a role in the government of the city and the management of the Florentine wool and silk industries.

The merchant guilds of the Flemish cities — Bruges, Ghent, Ypres, and Lille — were major economic and political forces in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The merchant guilds of these cities played a major role in the production and export of woolen cloth, and they maintained sophisticated trading networks with England (the source of raw wool), Italy (a market for finished cloth), and the Hanseatic cities of the Baltic (a market for cloth and a source of other commodities).

The Craft Guilds

The craft guild was an association of the craftsmen of a particular trade in a town. The tailors’ guild, the smiths’ guild, the bakers’ guild, the weavers’ guild, the goldsmiths’ guild, the masons’ guild, the carpenters’ guild, the tanners’ guild, the cordwainers’ guild, and the brewers’ guild were among the most common. The craft guilds regulated the quality of goods, the training of apprentices, the standards of workmanship, and the prices that could be charged. The craft guilds also played a major role in the social and religious life of the town, maintaining their own chapel, procession, and feast day, and supporting their members in times of need.

The craft guild was typically composed of the masters of the trade, who had paid an entrance fee and met the other requirements of membership — including the production of a masterpiece that demonstrated the candidate’s skill in the trade. The guild elected officers — a master, wardens, or aldermen — to manage its affairs and to represent it in its dealings with the town government and other guilds. The guild maintained its own hall, chapel, and treasury, and it often played a major role in the government of the town itself.

The craft guilds were major economic institutions. The guilds controlled access to the trade, regulating the number of masters, the number of apprentices, and the terms of employment. The guilds also regulated the quality of goods, specifying the materials to be used, the techniques to be employed, and the standards of workmanship to be maintained. The guilds also regulated the prices of goods, preventing unfair competition and ensuring a reasonable return to the masters and the journeymen.

The Career of a Craftsman

The career of a craftsman typically began with apprenticeship. A young man (or, less commonly, a young woman) would be bound to a master craftsman for a term of years, usually seven, during which he or she would learn the trade by assisting the master. The apprentice lived in the master’s household, worked long hours in the workshop, and received training in the various aspects of the trade. The apprentice was not paid a wage, but received board, lodging, and training in return for his or her labor.

At the end of the apprenticeship, the young craftsman would become a journeyman, working for wages for other masters. The journeyman was a qualified craftsman, but did not yet have the capital or the reputation necessary to set up an independent workshop. The journeyman would typically travel from town to town, working for different masters and gaining experience in the trade. The journeyman’s wanderjahre — years of travel — were an important part of the training of a craftsman, and they helped to transmit technical knowledge and artistic styles across Europe.

After several years of experience, the journeyman could apply to become a master of the trade. The application typically involved the production of a masterpiece — a work of exceptional skill that demonstrated the candidate’s mastery of the trade. The masterpiece was examined by the guild, and if it met the standards of the guild, the candidate was admitted to membership. The new master could set up an independent workshop, train apprentices, and participate in the affairs of the guild.

The Regulation of Trade

The craft guilds regulated the trade in a variety of ways. The guilds specified the materials to be used in the production of goods, the techniques to be employed, and the standards of workmanship to be maintained. The guilds inspected the workshops and the goods of the masters, and they imposed fines and other penalties on masters who failed to meet the standards. The guilds also regulated the prices of goods, preventing unfair competition and ensuring a reasonable return to the masters and the journeymen.

The regulation of trade by the guilds had both positive and negative consequences. On the positive side, the guilds ensured a high standard of workmanship, and they protected the consumer from inferior goods. The guilds also provided a system of social security for the craftsmen and their families, supporting them in times of need and providing for their burial and masses for the dead. On the negative side, the guilds restricted competition and limited innovation, and they made it difficult for outsiders to enter the trade. The guilds also reinforced the oligarchic tendencies of the medieval town, with a small number of wealthy masters dominating the guild and the town government.

The guilds also played a major role in the social and religious life of the town. The guilds maintained their own chapel in the parish church or in a separate chapel, and they participated in the religious processions and feast days of the town. The guilds also supported their members in times of need, providing financial assistance to the sick, the poor, the widowed, and the orphaned. The guilds also maintained their own halls, where the members gathered for meetings, feasts, and other events.

Women in the Guilds

The role of women in the guilds was complex and varied. In some trades — especially those connected with clothing and food preparation — women were important members of the guild, and they could rise to the rank of mistress in their trade. The silkweavers’ guild of Paris was composed largely of women, and it was one of the most powerful guilds in the city. The clothworkers’ guild of Florence included many women, especially in the lower ranks of the trade.

In other trades, women were excluded from formal membership in the guild, though they often participated in the trade in other capacities. The wives and daughters of masters often worked in the workshop, especially in the food and clothing trades, and they could inherit the master’s business on his death. The widows of masters often continued to run the workshop in their own right, and they could train apprentices and participate in the affairs of the guild.

The exclusion of women from the guilds in some trades was a source of tension in the medieval town. The women who were excluded from the guilds often formed their own associations or worked informally in the trade, and they sometimes petitioned the town government for the right to join the guilds. The struggle of women for access to the guilds was a major feature of the social history of the late medieval town, and it anticipated the modern struggle for gender equality in the workplace.

Sources

Principal sources used in this article:

Steven A. Epstein, Wage Labor and Guilds in Medieval Europe (North Carolina, 1991).

Further reading:

Edith Ennen, The Medieval Town (North-Holland, 1979).

For a recent single-volume synthesis with full scholarly apparatus, see the relevant chapter of Barbara H. Rosenwein, A Short History of the Middle Ages (University of Toronto Press, 2014).