A guild is a body of men associated together under oath for a common purpose. It is interesting to note that women were also included. In an age of manual skills where men united to make and sell things, the guilds were the nurseries of English crafts and commerce. They were the educational system of the period.
Bishop Giles defined the guild as follows, “As to the word gild, it is of Saxon origin and is derived from Geldan or Gildan, which means ‘to pay’ because the members of societies so called whether united together for civil or religious purposes ‘were Gildare’ that is to pay something towards support of the brotherhood to which they belong” (Walford, p. 2). Gild is the older form of spelling; the newer more recent spelling is guild. Both spellings will be used throughout this paper. Use will be determined by the source from which the material was drawn. Although this paper will only be concerned with English guilds, it might be well to note that the Italian and other European guilds were similar in structure and function to the English variety.
“Gilds, Trade Unions, Friendly Societies and the Cooperative movement are all manifestations of the same spirit are all responses to the specific demands for special forms of combination” (Robinson, p. 6). Why unite? There were two main motives or reasons behind unity. First, the individual alone felt weak and sought strength and security from numbers. Second, men who were engaged in the same business found union desirable for mutual interests and social purposes. “The isolated individual can be compared to the chemical atom with little cohesive powers it is absorbed and destroyed. By adopting of his own free will, a law and submitting to it unconditionally, the individual assured himself a secure and decent livelihood and the possibility of intellectual freedom (Robinson p. 8). Gild members did unite for these very reasons and took an oath of fidelity to their society, swearing to obey the laws and to observe complete secrecy concerning all gild councils.
The guild system reached its highest level of development during the middle ages. This, however, does not imply that the gild was the invention or creation of this particular period. Guilds in various forms have been traced back to the following early societies: Oriental, Hindu, Essenian, Israelite, Roman Athenian and Spartan. The oldest evidence of guild practice was credited to Numa Pompilius, King of the Romans, who in 714Ð652 B.C. united musicians, carpenters and other artisans to the benefit of the entire community.
One of the many theories of town origins is the theory of association or the guild theory. This theory proposes that towns developed from brotherhoods, which had developed from religious to economic groupings. George Unwin has written much in the subject of guilds and is considered an authority on them. He has recognized their value in the growth of the life of the town and has estimated their force as a great social lever with equal emphasis. According to Unwin, “The Political liberty of Western Europe has been secured by the building up of a system of voluntary organizations strong enough to control the state and yet flexible enough to be constantly remolded by the free forces of change. It is hardly to much to say that the foundations of this system were laid in the guild. It was in the guild that voluntary association first came into a permanent relation with political power” (Robinson, p. 6). In the beginning cities broke away from the many feudal practices which had survived for centuries. Residents from the Norman and Saxon cities of the same trade banded together into Fraternities or brotherhoods under the spiritual protection of a saint chosen by reason of his association with their particular craft. For example, Saint Peter was the greatest fisherman of all and thus became the patron saint of the fishmongers guild. Each guild had a patron and an emblem. Selecting a patron and designing an emblem will be incorporated into the lesson. Religious aspects or associations were extremely important and were embodied in all facets of guild life. Religious guilds were the first to be established and their strong influence penetrated the entire guild movement. The guild was a way of life, dictating the social, economical and religious behavior of the medieval Englishman. To sum up the rise and necessity for the guild, I will again quote George Unwins: “The growth of this movement resulted from the practical determination that the working man should no longer be the unprepared victim of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Co-operative movement shall note the enthusiastic toil for a great ideal” (Robinson, p. 5).
The preceding information sounds noble and idealistic. The guilds did contribute much to the development of a better human condition. As with all things dealing with human nature, guilds had their failings and shortcomings. To some extent, they were exclusionary and stifled free enterprise. This particular paper will be only concerned with the positive contributions, which were substantial. Under the heading of guild contributions the following can be listed: 1. produced quality workers producing quality work; 2. fostered arts and sciences; 3. developed and extented commerce; 4. molded national character and institutions, particularly in the social reform arena; 5. nurtured the principle of association for common protection in wealth and adversity; and 6. pioneered vocational and technical education.
Before the arrival of the guild, many common frauds were perpetrated on the public, such as moistening groceries to add to their weight, setting false stones in gold, soldering broken swords, weighting precious metals with pellets of lead, selling secondhand furs as new, deceiving the buyer with false samples, and placing stones in hay or wool stacks to add to their weight. There existed a definite need for quality control, honest business practices, and social security. The guild, whose purpose it was to teach and train apprentices, control quality and amount of production, and provide for the social security of its brotherhood, met these needs by providing skilled quality teaches and improved working conditions. The system was simple and unencumbered by an overwhelming bureaucracy. It worked as follows: the master worked and explained, the apprentice watched and copied. In time the apprentice became skilled and, as a master, passed his knowledge on. There existed a close, meaningful relationship between teacher and pupil. Objectives were clear and relatively simple and each participant knew and performed what was expected. “Many a gild gained much from such efforts and many improvements in working and in dealing with materials was due to the joint action of the bright intelligence of the young who were encouraged to think out improvements and suggestions and the experience of the old mastercraftsman” (Thornley and Hastings, p. 9). This educational philosophy was fostered and encouraged by all the guilds. Quality control was strictly adhered to and enforced. Guilds had their own courts, which employed searchers to go out into the work force and check for shoddy work. Offenders were publicly punished. As the population and business increased, the old craftsmen became teachers in small schools which taught bands of apprentices. “One of the reasons the guilds were so successful in the teaching and quality control aspect was due to their flexibility due to the voluntary character, tradition, and pride of ancient custom restraining forces guild still free to meet new conditions by fresh regulations and enlargement of the social area from which members were drawn” (Robinson, p. 11). A sense of responsibility to the community was ever-present and strong in the gild, and the main emphasis of the guild was to produce quality work.