guild
guild a medieval association of craftsmen or merchants, often having considerable power.
Guilds are first mentioned in Old English pre-Conquest documents, but they had a strong religious focus, with their objects including the provision of masses for the souls of deceased members, and the payment of wergild in cases of justifiable homicide. Merchant guilds, incorporated societies of the merchants of a town or city, having exclusive rights of trading within the town, are not found in pre-Conquest England, although they were known on the Continent, and were later introduced to England (in many English towns, and in the royal burghs of Scotland, the merchant guild became the governing body of the town).
The trade guilds, which in England came to prominence in the 14th century, were associations of persons exercising the same craft, formed for the purpose of protecting and promoting their common interests. They are historically represented in London by the Livery Companies, although these are not ordinarily known as guilds.
Guilds are first mentioned in Old English pre-Conquest documents, but they had a strong religious focus, with their objects including the provision of masses for the souls of deceased members, and the payment of wergild in cases of justifiable homicide. Merchant guilds, incorporated societies of the merchants of a town or city, having exclusive rights of trading within the town, are not found in pre-Conquest England, although they were known on the Continent, and were later introduced to England (in many English towns, and in the royal burghs of Scotland, the merchant guild became the governing body of the town).
The trade guilds, which in England came to prominence in the 14th century, were associations of persons exercising the same craft, formed for the purpose of protecting and promoting their common interests. They are historically represented in London by the Livery Companies, although these are not ordinarily known as guilds.
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