Growth of Towns and Guilds
Growth of Towns and Guilds
Development of Trade and Commerce
Towns: necessary for manufacturing. People exchanges with the specialties of
other localities.
Flanders
Flanders
Towns Usually located in strategic areas which
travellers passed.
2 main routes connected Europe with the East
SEA: China to Persian Gulf, up to Tigris-
Euphrates River.
LAND: Caravans: Constantinople, Turkey.
Fairs:: Latin word “feria”, means “festival.”:: Held during festivals or holidays.:: Sponsored by the lord.
-- collected the fees of merchants to display their wares aside from paying a fee to enter.
:: Merchants gathered to exchange their wares with local merchandise.
MerchantsA merchant is a business person who trades in commodities produced by others, in order
to earn a profit.
Black DeathBubonic plague, which killed almost 1/3 of the population of Europe (14th Century)
Medieval Societies
CLERGY• formal leaders within
certain religions• preside over specific
rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices.
NOBLES
Belonging to a hereditary class with high social or political status.
SERFS and PEASANTS
Serfs who occupied a plot of land were required to work for the Lord of the Manor who owned that land, and in return were entitled to protection, justice and the right to exploit certain fields within the manor to maintain their own subsistence.
A peasant is a member of a traditional class of farmers, either labourers or owners of small farms
Merchant Class
Winning freedom for the towns. Demand self-government or a voice in running
the affairs of the locality from the lords and kings.
Purchase a charter: containing their right to self-government.
Gaining freedom: citizens replaced the local lord’s rule with their own.
GUILDS
MERCHANTS CRAFSTMEN
Guilds were exclusive, regimented organizations
Created in part to preserve the rights and privileges of their members.
Separate and distinct from the civic governments.
Important group in town government.:: Association of wealthy merchants who
wants to protect and push forward the interests of their own group. Requested trade in the town. Rigidly controlled the quality of merchandise
produced; the town’s reputation for quality goods would be maintained.
Aliens cannot trade in a town; permitted by the local guild and paid a fee to trade.
Merchants got protection during travels.
MERCHANT GUILD
Crafts Guild Association of master craftsmen.
Not wage earners. Craftsman is his own master: sold his product
directly to the consumers. Requested wages and limited the number of
workers whom each member could hire. Set the prices for their goods. Leaders began to demand a share in civic
leadership. Soon no one within a town could practice a craft
without belonging to the appropriate guild.
AIM: the creation of a monopoly and the enforcement of a set of trade rules.
Many craft regulations prevented poor workmanship. Each article had to be examined by a board of the guild and stamped as approved.
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.
3 STAGES of Training (CRAFT GUILD)
APPRENTICE
A 7 year old boy who went to live with a master and his family.
Spends 3-7 years learning his master’s trade. Obligations:
:: Obey his master.:: Keep the trade secrets.:: Work faithfully.
The apprentice was subject to the master.
During his apprenticeship he was not allowed to marry.
Received no wages; fed, clothed, sheltered and taught of the trade.
JOURNEYMAN Entitled to earn a salary.
Had to work on his own time to produce a masterpiece.
He must use his own tools and raw materials which required a capital outlay.
Masterpiece: must be approved by the guild masters.
MASTER Once the masterpiece was completed and the
guild voted to accept the journeyman as a master. Age 23, the journeyman sought admission into the
guild as a master. PROVE ABILITY. Produce a masterpiece. Set-up his own shop and hire apprentices of his
own.
Services provided funeral expenses for poorer members and aid
to survivors; provided dowries for poor girls; covered members with a type of health insurance and
provisions for care of the sick; built chapels; donated windows to local churches or
cathedrals; frequently helped in the actual construction of the
churches; watched over the morals of the members who indulged
in gambling and usury;