Guilds
Guilds were an important part of city and town life. In each town the merchants and artisans organized themselves into guilds, which were useful not only for business but also for social and political purposes. There were two kinds of guilds: merchant and craft.
The merchant guilds were probably the first to appear and made up the heart of civic organization. They ensured a monopoly of trade within a given locality. All alien merchants were supervised closely and made to pay tolls. Disputes among merchants were settled at the guild court according to its own legal code. The guilds also tried to make sure that the customers were not cheated: they checked weights and measures and insisted upon a standard quality for goods. To allow only a legitimate profit, the guild fixed a "just price," which was fair to both producer and customer. Prices were regulated and price-cutting was strictly forbidden. Often a merchant guild would found a town by obtaining a charter.
The guild's functions stretched beyond business and politics, and into charitable and social activities. A guildsman who fell into poverty received aid from the guild. The guild also provided financial assistance for the burial expense of its members and looked after their dependents. Members attended social meetings in the guildhall and periodically held processions in honor of their patron saints. They were also important for their contribution to the emergence of education by qualified instructors. In earlier times, the only schools in existence had been the monastic or cathedral schools.
The members of these guilds were called confraternities, brothers helping one another. The guild was very attached to society outside the guild and town organization. Each guild was required to perform public service. Many took turns policing the streets in the towns and cities. They also provided the labor needed in constructing public buildings, churches and cathedrals, and walls to defend the town or city.
With the increase of commerce in the towns, artisans began to organize as early as the eleventh century. Craftsmen in each of the medieval trades - weaving, cobbling, tanning, and so on - joined forces. The result was the craft guild, which differed from the merchant guild in that membership was limited to artisans in one particular craft. Soon no one within a town could practice a craft without belonging to the appropriate guild associations.
The general aims of the craft guilds were the same as those of the merchant guilds - the creation of a monopoly and the enforcement of a set of trade rules. Each guild had a monopoly of a certain article in a particular town, and every effort was made to prevent competition between members of the same guild. The guild restricted the number of its members, regulated the quantity and quality of the goods produced, and set prices. It also enforced regulations to protect the consumer from bad workmanship and inferior materials.
The craft guild also differed from the merchant guild in its recognition of three distinct classes of workers - apprentices, journeymen, and master craftsmen. The apprentice was a youth who lived at the master's house and was taught the trade thoroughly. Although the apprentice received no wages, all his physical needs were supplied. Apprenticeship commonly lasted seven years. When the apprentice's schooling was finished, the youth became a journeyman. He was then eligible to receive wages and to be hired by a master. At about age twenty-three, the journeyman sought admission into the guild as a master. To be accepted he had to prove his ability. Some crafts demanded the making of a "master piece" - for example, a pair of shoes that the master shoemakers would find acceptable in every way.
The guilds played an important role in local government. Both artisans and merchants, even though freemen, were subject to the feudal lord or bishop on whose domain the city stood. The citizens of the towns resented the fact that their overlord collected tolls and dues as though they were serfs. The townsmen demanded the privileges of governing themselves of making their own laws, administering their own justice, levying their own taxes, and issuing their own money. Naturally the overlord resented the brash upstarts who demanded self-government. But the towns won their independence in various ways.