Medieval Guilds and the SCA
Gille MacDhnouill
What were guilds in the middle ages?
Medieval European guilds were groups of people who banded together to foster some common interest. The earliest groups in Western Europe that called themselves guilds formed with the primary goal of increasing safety and security for the members and encouraging almsgiving for departed brethren. We refer to these mutual-support guilds as social guilds, since they provided a service to society in a time where there was no substantial help from the state for the poor, old or infirm. Other guilds formed as associations of employers. These guilds included craft-based groups where the members produced a product, and merchant guilds, where the members controlled long-distance trade. There are elements of both social and craft guilds that can inspire us to form our own groups in these modern middle ages.
Evidence for social guilds, or confraternities of laypersons, exists from the 9th and 10th centuries. These early groups, formed throughout Western Europe, started the general tradition where groups of people from a common background or neighborhood assembled for religious and social reasons. Early social guilds formed in towns or cities in recognition of the need for mutual support among the members. Guild members pledged to care for infirm brothers and to arrange for burial. In this way, medieval guilds acted much like modern trade unions, which take in dues and generate pensions for retired and disabled members. Many social guilds formed with religious observances at their core, and a roll of 14th century guilds shows far more religious or social based guilds than craft guilds. In many ways, the SCA is reminiscent of these early social guilds. We gather periodically, with our own livery, and offer a great deal of mutual support. There are feast days (events) and there is a governing body of local officers. Fortunately, the SCA does not have to worry about caring for the ill, or arranging for burial.
During the 11th and 12th centuries, increased trade and urbanization brought craftspeople together in large numbers. The earliest craft guilds appeared in cities and towns along major trade routes in Europe. The craft guilds formed for two primary purposes: to regulate the trade of a particular craft in a town or city and to protect the members against the abuses of power of the lords of the towns. Regulation of trade covered two aspects. First, guilds regulated the quality of work produced by a crafter in order to maintain the reputation of a town. The masters of craft guilds acted as associations of employers, and would only hire workers who met their quality and moral standards. By hiring selectively, "foreign" crafters would be prevented from selling their wares locally. The only way to achieve this level of regulation was for all local masters who carried out a particular trade to belong to the guild. These masters could then agree on how they would compete among themselves while excluding anyone outside the guild. A local lord or burgher had to acknowledge the guild for this universal membership to work. Either a petition - asserting the divine and ancient origin of the guild — obtained this acknowledgement, or a yearly license was negotiated and paid. The earliest documented craft guilds include weavers, tailors and other dealers in cloth along with various fishing, herding and victualling groups. The formation of the cloth trade guilds most likely occurred because of the high concentration of crafters in these trades in some of the earliest urban areas of medieval Europe - Flanders and Northern Italy. Guilds dealing with foodstuffs, especially meat and fish, were no doubt encouraged by local lords to ensure the quality and quantity of food available to the town. In all cases, control over the price of goods and the wages for services was a self-interest for guild formation.
Statutes of medieval guilds had several things in common: Generally an oath was taken upon induction to uphold the by-laws of the guild and some sort of payment was required. Payments varied, but generally included an "entrance" fee, along with a variety of special contributions. Payment of dues was recorded in both money (geld) or in kind. An elected internal governing body administered the property and funds of the guild. Each guild would have an appointed day or days of meetings, which generally followed the feast-day for the patron saint of the guild. As population in urban centers increased, guilds developed livery, or common garments, which would identify them to the citizens of a city.
The rules of these craft guilds, to which all men practicing the trade had to submit, were designed to both insure the good quality of the work produced and to insure the welfare of the members of the guild. The members had to be both morally upright and proven craftsmen. There were three ways to prove your worth as a craftsman, and gain the freedom of the guild ˆ you could be the son of a guild member, purchase an entry to the guild or, as was most common, submit to a period of apprenticeship. Apprenticeship contracts were legal documents wherein the apprentice promised to serve a specific term for the purpose of learning and working in the chosen craft. The master, in turn, promised to teach the apprentice and to feed, clothe and house them for the appointed term. The apprentice or the master would be assessed a cash penalty or other sanctions (jail time, stocks, etc.) if either broke the terms of the agreement. The length of an apprenticeship varied from two to twelve years depending on the country and the craft. Inducting an apprentice into a guild was a solemn occasion, done in the town hall, in the presence of the town authorities. Generally, the completion of the apprenticeship assured entrance into the guild (after a small fee was paid) and recognition as a citizen of the town (also known as the freedom or liberty of the city).
What is the purpose of guilds in Æthelmearc?
There is no pension or burial fee in your future if you join a guild in ¬Æthelmearc. We can't provide for your family when you're out of work, and we can't keep someone from another shire from selling a barrel in your town without the guild's permission. We can't provide for trade regulation and protection from royal or civic abuse. A guild in Æthelmearc can help you learn a craft, or allow you to contact others with a common area of research. SCA guilds provide mutual support and are much closer to the social and religious guilds of the 11th and 12th centuries. Here are some suggestions, distilled from practices among early medieval social and craft guilds, which may apply to forming a guild in the SCA:
- Guilds should have a clearly-defined, narrow purpose. Some period guilds formed for the sole purpose of ensuring the appropriate prayers were said on certain days of the year. The whole SCA is a broad, general group ˆ guilds are a great opportunity for a clear, narrow focus.
- Guilds should train craftsmen to an appropriate skill level. Medieval guilds existed primarily for economic reasons, but the training of apprentices was a vital part of maintaining the quality of a product. The SCA is an educational organization and guilds are an excellent mechanism we can use to educate each other through one-on-one interaction and workshops.
- Guilds should have some sort of ordinance or by-laws. Medieval guilds flourished or withered based on their legal standing as represented by their regulations. By-laws need not be elaborate, but they should be written down. A guild should outlive the founding members.
- Guilds should have regular meetings of the members, both celebratory and organizational
- Guilds should choose a feast day, and celebrate it annually. Medieval guilds usually tied the feast day to a patron saint, but SCA guilds could celebrate based on an annual event or a ˆ£foundingˆ§ day.
- Entrance into the guild, and elevation within the guild, should be a public civic ceremony.
- Guilds should engage in some type of community service. The primary goal of the medieval social guild was to ensure the spiritual health of the community. All guilds had charitable concerns. SCA guilds can help out by participating in demos and offering workshops at scholas.
Thoughts on forming a new guild
Guilds are out there for a whole host of activities ˆ brewing, sewing, acting, and cooking to name but a few. There may not be a guild for you, though. If there's not, you can always form one. There are a couple of things to consider if you want to form a successful guild.
Gauging interest in a field of study
An initial consideration in forming a new guild is whether there is enough interest to get the ball rolling. There are varieties of ways to find this out. You may already know some people who are interested in the same subject or activity. Talk to them about formalizing their involvement. You could survey the local group by bringing up the formation of the guild at the next meeting, or write up a newsletter article extolling the virtues of study in your field of interest. If you're considering the formation of a guild that would extend beyond the boundaries of your local group, then you could publish the same article in your Kingdom newsletter, or write a brief note for Tournaments Illuminated. Always keep in mind that there is a large difference between an individual conducting research on his or her own, and a group of like-minded individuals working as a team. Some people may be interested in a field of study, but they may not want to be part of a group effort.
Guilds in your local group vs. Kingdom-wideLocal guilds are much easier to start, maintain and keep active than Kingdom-wide guilds. The planning and operation for the two types will be very different.
If you're going to form a local guild, then you'll probably know most of the people who initially join, and will be able to get together easily, and on a regular basis. A group can work out a well-defined focus and a set of by-laws over several sessions. Work on projects can begin very quickly, and group activities can occur at regular, closely spaced intervals.
A Kingdom-wide guild presents special challenges. You may be starting the guild with a group of people you do not know very well. The members may be spread out geographically. It may be difficult for everyone who is interested to agree on a meeting time and place. For a Kingdom-wide guild, you need to have a clear idea of what you want the focus of the guild to be, and how you want to organize things before you start. You should present the charter, rank system, name, patron saint, etc. along with the call for membership. If you have just vague ideas, it will be very difficult to bring people together (both physically and socially) to work out a final product. It may prove impossible to schedule frequent meetings of the entire group. Try to work out a system that will not require meetings to accomplish work and share knowledge.
Writing a charter
Every guild should have some sort of charter. It can be as simple as "Lord B. is the master of the local guild of brewers" to a complex document of governance with a variety of officers and meeting times and places listed. There are several sources for period guild statutes, such as Etienne Boileauˆ¢s Reglemens sur les arts et metiers de Paris and Henry Thomas Rileyˆ¢s Munimenta Gildhallae Londoniensis: Liber Custumarum*. At the very least, state the purpose of the guild, who's in charge, and the date for the feast (or celebration) day of the guild. Your guild should live beyond you, so record this information and save a clean copy of the charter.
Membership and ranks
One potential "political" issue with the formation of a guild is deciding on who will be considered a member of the guild. Do you only admit people who have reached a certain level of competence in a craft? Is there an apprenticeship period? Do the current members have to vote on who can join, or is it up to the head of the guild? Will advancement in the guild be based on level of participation? Will it be based on work quality or number of projects completed? If so, who judges these things? Answers to these questions will vary depending on the composition of the founding group and your local traditions.
How to keep a guild going
Once you've gotten a guild off the ground, had a few meetings and started a project, you might ask: "how do I keep this group going?" To keep the interest and activity level high after the initial excitement wears off, here are a few simple things that may help:
Regular meetings
You have to schedule regular meetings at an easily accessible location. Keep the location the same for as long as possible. If you want to hold meetings at someone's home, be certain that person will be available for the majority of the meeting times. Missing one or two meetings a year will not kill a guild, but canceling meetings every other month or constantly shifting location will cause folks to drift away and lose interest.
Structured activities
Along with the meetings, the group needs to generate projects and activities that allow everyone to participate. These could be research projects, practice activities or group craft projects where everyone contributes. Choose activities of interest to members. Whatever is decided, there should always be an ongoing project active. Remember, the purpose of the guild is to focus energies on a narrow topic through group activity. If there are no shared or common projects, there is no sense of working as a group, and people will wonder why the guild exists at all.
Group activities vs. individual projects
At the same time that a group project is ongoing, there can be individual projects whose results and processes are reported back to the guild. One person's advancement or discovery of a technique shared with the group will help everyone to improve and gain knowledge. Not everyone in a guild will be at the same skill level ˆ use individual projects to improve skills and build confidence for those reluctant to involve themselves in a group project.
Ranks in the guild
The use of ranks in a guild will vary depending on the local customs in the founding group. Sometimes attainment of a rank (apprentice to journeyman to master) will encourage people to work on projects, and stick with the guild until they've reached their personal goals. Other times, a rank system can discourage people from participating, especially if the bars for advancement have been set very high. A flexible guild would offer the possibility for a change in status, but would not prevent anyone who did not want to attain a particular rank from working in the guild.
Celebrations
Social events including guild inductions, annual feasts and community service projects will help to cement a group together. Plan and make livery for the guild to use during these celebrations. This will help establish an identity.
This brief document should give you some things to think about if you would like to join or form a guild. These are guidelines only, and are not a substitute for experience. Talk to others you know who are members of guilds. Find out their likes and dislikes of the groups in which they participate. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact your local Arts and Sciences officer. If you are the local Arts and Sciences officer, contact your regional deputy or the Kingdom officer.
*Further bibliographic info on the two sources mentioned above:
Boileau, ƒtienne, fl. 1258. ; Lespinasse, RenŽ de,; 1843-1922, ; ed.; Bonnardot, Franois,; 1843-1926, Les mŽtiers et corporations de la ville de Paris xiiie sicle. Le livre des mŽtiers, Paris, Imprimerie nationale, 1879, Series: Histoire gŽnŽrale de Paris; collection de documents publiŽe sous les auspices de l'ŽdilitŽ parisienne); LCCN: 33-15406
and
Riley, Henry T.; 1816-1878, ; (Henry Thomas),; ed.; Carpenter, John,; 1370?-1441? Munimenta Gildhall¾ Londoniensis; Liber albus, Liber custumarum, et Liber Horn. Corporation of London (England) ; Guildhall (London, England) ; London.; Guildhall. ; Great Britain.; Public Record Office. ; British Museum.; Manuscript (Cottonian Claudius D. II), London, Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and Roberts, 1859, Series: Great Britain. Public Record Office. Rerum britannicarum medii ¾vi scriptores,; no. 12; Variation: Great Britain.; Public Record Office.; Rerum britannicarum medii ¾vi scriptores ;; no. 12.