A guild was a type of clan in the middle ages. Guilds consisted of men of the same trade. Women were also permitted in early guilds. Merchants would often travel in guilds. Guilds not only were protection from physical harm, they also stood to back each member up in any legal affairs one had.
A guild was a group of people who had the same trade. For example shoemaker’s guilds would all live and work on the same streets, with large signs outside their doors in the shape of shoes. These signs were used because people couldn’t read in the Middle Ages. Each guild had it’s own sign and patron saint that people worshipped.
A warden, who then met with other guild wardens from that town, governed guilds. Under a warden was the master of each shop, he had worked his way up from apprentice at age 12, to journeyman, and then finally made a masterful piece which promoted him to master.
Each guild sets the rules for its members; for example many would say that work was not permitted past sunset, for fear of a lesser piece. Also, guilds could set the number of apprentices and journeymen each master could have serving under him.
Medieval Guilds began to help the earners of wages in self-interest. These people banded in many settings, whether political, regional or economic. Over many years people mutated these guilds for the better, smarter younger people joined, and guilds boomed. Guilds evolved from started out as armies, then became villages, and finally, instead of a coming together in arms, people chose sociality. The first guilds were for blood relatives, who stood together for support and protection. Next came a so-called ‘artificial’ guild, where people from one community or social standpoint grouped together for many of the same reasons. The first guilds were in Italy, and were dated in France before Charlemagne, in the mid 700’s.
As guild progressed, they were used for many purposes, the Vikings had used them against piracy, the Anglos and Saxons used them for social purposes, and later in England they were employed for defense. People used guilds for everything: worship, hunting, banking, art, etc.
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