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;