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Report Anonymous Thu 24 Jul 2014 01:36:25 No.32876918 Report

Bumping with the quotes from the last thread that prompted my discussion question:



>What is a guild?



>It a community/grouping in medieval society which exerted power in society and in the state.



Its a concept that has been defeated in the beginning of modernity.



In the past, a common principle of medieval society was 'the subject of my subject is not my subject'. This means that duties were not orientated in a triangular way as it has become towards the state and morality, rather one had duties to his immediate lord or guild master which could usurp his loyalty to more expansive communities such as the state.



>Think of a union and a corporate monopoly combined.



Each industry in a late medieval town had a guild that was run by the families that dominated that industry (textiles, blacksmiths, carpenters, etc.) and workers were either junior or full members in their guilds. The guilds had internal rules, governing how they were to behave and make decisions



The city government was often made up of representatives of the various guilds.



Each guild was responsible for meeting the city's needs in its area, and for making sure it's members had work and didn't starve. They also had to contribute to big social projects like cathedrals or city walls, and contributed money to hire mercenaries if the city was under attack, etc. in exchange for these social services they received protection from market competition



Basically it was a system to make inequality work for a society not against it