Medieval Guilds - Functions and Aims of the Guilds
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- Опубликовано: 1 авг 2024
- This episode we are looking at what the aims and function of the guilds were, how the guilds operated as a organisation. The guilds were more than trade organisations. They were complex fraternal orders concerned primarily with the well being of the members.
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Links and Sources
Guild Solidarity and Charity in Florence, Ghent and London, c. 1300-1550∗
Arie van Steensel
acuh.uva.nl/binaries/content/a...
CRAFT GUILDS AND CHRISTIANITY IN LATE-MEDIEVAL ENGLAND A RATIONAL-CHOICE ANALYSIS
Gary Richardson
web.stanford.edu/~avner/Greif...
The later middle ages: Craft organisation and the Guilds
www.british-history.ac.uk/vch...
Medieval Sourcebook:
Southampton Guild Organization, 14th Century
sourcebooks.fordham.edu/sourc...
Guilds and Mutual Protection in England
Patrick Wallis
eprints.lse.ac.uk/90464/1/WP28...
Guilds, laws, and markets for manufactured merchandise in late-medieval Englandq
Gary Richardson
socsci-dev.ss.uci.edu/~garyr/p...
The Rise andEconomic Behaviour of Medieval Craft Guilds An Economic-Theoretical Interpretation
www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/1...
Guilds in The Middle Ages Georges Renard
socialsciences.mcmaster.ca/~e...
The Rise, Persistence and Decline of Merchant Guilds. Re-thinking the Comparative Study of Commercial Institutions in Pre-modern Europe
economics.yale.edu/sites/defa...
Craft Guilds, Apprenticeship, and Technological Change in Preindustrial Europe
S. R. Epstein
www.jstor.org/stable/2566620?...
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Our channel is intended to discuss the skills needed to reenact, demonstrate and teach. We also discuss the historic context and research behind our findings.
Popula Urbanum is latin for people of the city. We are recreating the burgeoning middle classes in the 14th century.
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Edited in Blender 2.10
So basically medieval guilds were precursors to modern trade unions as well as corporations.
Yes in a way, later on proponents of laissez faire capitalism such as Adam Smith did not like the guilds due to their protectionism of trade and rent seeking, while on the opposite spectrum the likes of Marx and Engles did not like them for their anti worker regulations and capital accumulation
Yes, a modern example of guildism would be Corporatism
@@logat1847 I would wager that modern labor/trade unionism is also a modern example of guildism. They both seek to do similar things - to increase the privileges of certain professional workers at the expense of the less skilled ones (you are prevented from doing a job a labor union protects unless you meet the union's criteria and are in the union) and at the expense of consumers (prices are higher then market value due to short supply of labor).
Also professional associations (?)
Yeah both are evil
That is interesting that the guilds would regulate so heavily
The modern regulatory state simply didn't exist back then. I don't think it's a coincidence that after the guilds were largely abolished (think around the French Revolution) that the regulatory state arose.
Police Unions are a Guild. Fire Unions are a Guild.
The consumers were protected from lead poisoning by regulating pewter to be only copper and tin. No Lead.
@@anneonymous4884worker Co-ops would be the most modern equivalent
Thank you for sharing your knowledge! This videos are really interesting and I'm learning a lot! Keep the good stuff coming :)
Thank you, glad you are enjoying the.
Very good video, happy to see you improve the content along your research
Thank you, it has been a process, also lots a great help.
very underrated channel . Thanks man this helped a lot
Thank you, I'm glad that it was helpful
Very cool that they had lead free pewter. I always thought that was a 20th, 21st century idea.
Will you be covering the role of guilds in the Hanseatic cities at some point? From my (admitedly limited) readings these guilds were the in charge of a lot of the administration of cities.
You bet, I am slowly building up research as well as a base for discussion on the Hanseatic league as well as the other free cities.
Well done video
Will you ever do a video on how guilds died out in Europe? I'm curious how that came about.
It is on the list that is for sure, but there is some super important middle stuff I have to cover first
@@PopulaUrbanum Of course. Looking forward to it. I finished going through world history recently, so now I can focus on specific topics more.
Napoleon abolished them and it spread marking end of feudalism holding on
Fascinating.Also probs for correcting yourself.
Glad you enjoyed it, always trying to get it right
I am curious, how did a guild enforce their rules? such as if you had to register in a guild to operate in a city. were they backed by the government?
Great question, the city government left the guilds to enforce their own internal interests once they were registered.
So if for example the guild decided that someone could no longer practice in the city and was to be exiled for breaking guild laws, the city would not stop the guild members from all arriving at the persons shop to ensure they complied with guild rulings. Town councils who were usually made up by merchants and guild masters provided tacit support for this system. Ultimately most medieval guild disputes were attempted to be resolved through arbitration and fines.
This was a fantastic video on merchant guilds, thank you sir. I know this is an old video now, but do you think you could make a video going into detail about the craft guilds?
I'm glad you enjoyed it, a video on the craft guilds is something I plan to do in the future.
@@PopulaUrbanum Thank you very much, I am actually quite surprised you got back at all, let alone so quickly! You don't often receive that form of punctuality and dedication here. Truly a man of your craft.
We try our best to answer any questions we get on the channel, we are after all here to inform and educate.
Do you know where to find primary or secondary sources about guilds like the ones you mentioned in your research? I am looking into guilds myself.
The medieval sourcebook in the links is useful as it has some medieval guild ordinances and statutes.
The references for this video contain the secondary sources.
What specifically are you looking for?
@@PopulaUrbanum I am looking into sources that talk about the lifestyle of working in the guilds. Also, I have a quaint interest in Wax candle guilds and weaponry guilds, so I am trying to study the life of being in those guilds vs Unions so I can compare and contrast the two forms of organization.
Three books that I heartily recommend that will help with your research are Guild and State, Wage Labour and the Guilds in Medieval Europe and The later Medieval City.
Never been to this RUclips channel before.
First question: why is "populus" in 1st declension (popula)?
Second question: why is the adjective "urbanum" not declined so as to agree with "popula?"
I have a question if you don't mind, did the guilds operate inside just one city or were there guilds that extended their domain to more than just one?
Excellent question, on the whole guilds operated within a city, though many cities did try to project their power onto the region around them. Many Mercantile guilds however established trade quarters and ports in cities running merchant houses in foreign cities.
@@PopulaUrbanum I see. Thank you so much for the answer! :)
You're welcome, I will be covering this in detail soonish
Does the creation of a form of lead-free pewter imply a medieval understanding of the health effects of lead exposure?
It does imply it doesn't it.
I think they would have figured out the connection because when the tomato was introduced to Europe, the nobles liked to eat with pewter-ware. The acids from the tomatoes would cause the lead to leach out of the pewter and make them ill or even dead. It's reasonable that they could compare this to peasants eating tomatoes with wood-ware without problems.
That is a good point
It's interesting that guild members were fined in wax!
Yes! When I first read that I was confused but then I realized it was for candles
@@PopulaUrbanum that makes sense when you think about it, but at the same time, I wouldn't have expected to hear it beforehand.
No it is a bit far out and definitely unexpected
On the contrary, candles were very important before the advent of kerosene lanterns. Candles were literally like an electrical bill for the house. Imagine what it would be like if your employer could cut off your lights at night and flashlights didn't exist!
I think a good bit of the reason why the were fined with wax was because they were being fined due con fraternal/religious infractions, thus the fine of wax would keep the guild from being financially bolstered by the sins of their members. The wax would instead go directly towards the religious/social benefit of the community.
Right on, very interesting. Guilds had their place in history, but few people could afford their products. The factory system changed that.
That's both correct and incorrect, the guilds controlled a vast portion of production and trade, in this case commodities from tools to fabrics, supply and transportation of both luxury goods and the foods such as cereals and fish, meats etc. needed to feed a city and not to mention the trade of surplus goods.
There was hardly a product or trade in which the guilds did not have a hand.
Of course with the industrialization of Europe and then subsequently the colonised world this did allow for cheaper goods.
It does need to be mentioned as well that the guilds were already beginning early factory systems in the 14th and 15th centuries, textile factories multiple stories high for example were built in the lowlands and in Italy, as were armor and weapon factories built in Germany and Italy and England, and many of these industries being powered by water mills.
@@PopulaUrbanum Some good points. Thanks for taking the time to reply.
My pleasure, I agree that the factory system is massively important in the was in which commodities became more accessible though.
@@PopulaUrbanum Just a footnote here. The factory system in its infancy was an evil exploiting polluting monster, but over time with regulation, labor unions, and society changing, it probably played the biggest role in emancipating workers. Working class people like myself are now entitled to education/literacy , workers rights, travel, leisure time, etc. all of which had previously been denied to us. I'm fascinated by the Medieval times, but I'm sure glad I didn't live back then.
Keep it up with the videos..
Maybe a modern version of guilds could help
I have read articles and papers where a few economists suggested this, I am not too sure that this is the answer, they always have a fanciful view of the guilds. Although I do think that the model where the guild members had more control through democracy would be beneficial to most work places.
At best, some principles could be adopted by confraternities of religious people, Catholics being the most obvious to be able to do so. The guilds worked in a society where state, Church, and economy all worked as one. The Catholicity of Europe was ultimately focused on the salvation of souls and providing for the temporal needs of men before their death. A guild in modern society could only work based on the motivation of religious people who would bind themselves voluntarily for a higher good. It is difficult to find people who are willing to sacrifice profit for something of virtue.
Very interesting insight, yes I'd agree broadly speaking that the ideals of the Catholic Christian virtues and the confraternities seeking to overcome the temporal needs was one of the aims of the guilds which by the 15th century and certainly the Reformation was lost from the Guilds. The Catholic ideologies of poverty and fair profit did not sit well with the early capitalists.
As inunderstand it, that would evolve to some form of syndicalism, i am not convinced that would solve any basic problem.It is just another formmof lobby organisation, and we already have these.
@@Aurora2097 It would be some form of syndicalism, this still as you say needs to have lobbyist functions. I am not convinced that this will address the in equalities created in capital
How did guilds and their powers relate to the King/ruler? Can you name any empire/kingdom they may have formed from a guild?
The guilds are a commercial organisation of a craft or mechantile group, think of them like a modern corporation. They operate under a charter (license) this is granted to them by the local rulers, as most guilds are centered in the cities and towns this would be chartered to the town councils ( although I am making very big generalisations). The relation of how the guilds operated and their rights were in their charters, these obligations varied, but overall guilds were subject to the laws of the local rulers.
Think of this as to how corporations are expected to operate under local and national laws.
As for if any empire or kingdom was formed from a guild, I would have to say no, as guilds are not a political organisation, the closest we can come to is the Hanseatic league. Although this is more of a trade federation than an empire
Thanks for your answer. I wondered because as stated the guilds are comparative to corporations. Our governments began from charters/corporations and i wondered if certain guilds could be the smaller unit of the greater.
There is a direct correlation from the guild to the rise of the modern state that is true, however it is not a case of the guilds becoming a nation, it is more that the devices, systems and politics in which the guilds were formed and run by were integral in the formation of the city states and the concepts which the modern world then was founded on.
yo andrew, what's the kyora greeting mean?
It is Kia Ora, which is Te Reo Maori, (the second language of Aeoteaora New Zealand) it means. Hello, cheers, good luck or best wishes.
A very phrase
@@PopulaUrbanum well Kia Ora to you and your viewers!
Trade Unions are the modern day Guilds for Skilled Trades.
Your channel has a lot of potential. I mean this from a good place. There's a volume issue, and you seem nervous. Don't be afraid to change the format into voice only so you're off camera if you get stage fright. Graphics are always welcome! Even cheap little animations and stick figures can be compelling. But the main issue friend is you're very soft spoken. Your voice is soothing. Too soothing. I feel like i'm being caressed by angels as I listen to it, or a loving mother as I fall asleep.
I think you should do some kind of side channel where you make the most of that. Reading people to sleep, guided meditations, or maybe just telling people positive, affirming things about themselves. With that voice, it's so soft, loving.. and genuinely cleric like. It's charismatic. But not for history lectures. And I'm a HUGE history nerd.
thanks for the insight, being too soothing is not the worst feedback I have had ;)
During the 17th century did the Goldsmith's Guild have a particular church that they worshiped at or baptized their children.
I am not very familiar with the 17th century, so I am not confident in answering this for the 17th century beyond the fact that guilds would often sponsor a church or have their own chapel associated with their guild halls.
@@PopulaUrbanum thank you
i would go with 120 minutes guilds video tbh
Ahh you're describing our magnum opus
@@PopulaUrbanum I'd also love a 120m History video from you 🥺
So, what you're saying is that the guilds had more rigorous regulation for quality than we have today? Interesting....
In many ways yes
Charging in pounds of wax? Interesting.
Aren't you guilding the lily?
I think it’s worth mentioning that capitalism followed and is theorized to create better items through competition. Yet the example you gave of lead-free solder proves that to be false, as in the late 1800’s many people died from lead solder in tinware.
So the lack of control led to lesser quality wares which led to death.
Right, Adam Smith asserted that a unregulated market will create competition and this competition will drive self regulation as poor products would be driven out of business, so it should not be restricted by regulation. Instead believing that consumers would somehow not buy inferior products instead of the market just being flooded by cheap inferior products.
He saw one of the evils of the guilds as self regulating therefore interfering in free market forces.
Guilds on the other hand knew that poor products resulted in poor business and loss of reputation and profits so sought to self regulate.
@@PopulaUrbanum and Smith’s ideas quickly brought upon what Twain termed the Gilded Age.
I’d say Smith was way off on his assessment.
And great video by the way, thank you
There are many sensible criticisms to be made about guilds and guild production, I agree that Smith's assessment on reliance on the so called invisible hand has not panned out. Glad you liked the video.