Starting as loose agreements between merchants, they developed into powerful political organizations that shaped medieval society and paved the way for modern Europe…🧵
First off, what were guilds?
Popular in medieval Europe, guilds were groups of craftsmen or traders who got together to protect mutual interests. This could mean quality control, reducing competition, or helping each other financially.
Sort of an “alliance” of business folk.
There were two main types of guilds: merchant guilds and craft guilds.
Merchant guilds comprised all or most of the merchants in a particular town or city. These could be local traders or wholesale/retail sellers dealing in various types of goods.
Craft guilds, on the other hand, centered around a certain industry.
For instance there were guilds of weavers, masons, architects, painters, metalsmiths, bakers, butchers, leatherworkers, etc.
Pretty much every industry had a guild of some sort.
The history of guilds goes back to ancient Rome, where they were called ‘collegia.’ These were mostly hereditary organizations sanctioned by the government.
With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, though, guilds disappeared from European society for several centuries.
Traders during the early middle ages were mostly wandering peddlers who traveled from town to town, sometimes banding together to protect themselves from bandits.
But as larger cities developed in the 10th and 11th centuries, more complex organization was possible.
Merchants began delegating certain tasks like transportation of goods to others while they based themselves in cities as their hubs.
Eventually, town governments recognized the associations, and guilds became intimately involved in regulating and protecting members’ commerce.
By the 12th century, guilds were everywhere.
In Britain, well over 100 guilds represented traders and craftsmen from industries like weaving and metalwork. Florence boasted 21 guilds while its clothmaking guild represented some 30,000 workers. Paris had 120 guilds.
Their sheer numbers allowed them to have immense political influence.
In the 13th century, guilds were made up of wealthy and influential citizens. Town councils were dominated by guild members, and legislation usually favored guild activity.
In Paris, guilds grew so powerful that they monopolized trade on the River Seine and had authority over petty crimes and the city's grain quotas.
In many cities it was nearly impossible to have a political career without being a guild member.
Guilds achieved great influence through the power of collective bargaining, but their organizational structure also played a role.
They were organized into a strict hierarchy that’s still used in many industries today.
To enter a guild, established merchants or craftsmen had to “buy in”—in fact the name ‘guild’ comes from the Saxon word ‘gilden,’ meaning 'to pay.'
However, young unskilled workers could enter a guild by becoming apprentices in exchange for their labor.
Apprentices would work unpaid for a master, though they were often provided with food, shelter, and an education in their craft. After roughly 5-9 years, they would be competent enough to become journeymen.
Journeymen had the right to be paid for their labor. They still worked for a master, but once a journeyman provided proof of technical expertise in the form of a ‘masterpiece,’ he would join their ranks and start his own establishment.
Guild masters were the inner circle of the guild. They managed the other members and ensured high production standards for their industry.
Sometimes they even performed random checks to make sure their members’ products were up to snuff.
One Parisian baker recorded the process:
“If the master determines that the bread is not adequate, he can confiscate all the rest of it, even that which is in the oven. And if there are several types of bread in a window, the master will have each one assessed.”
Besides ensuring quality products and assisting their members, guilds contributed to their local communities.
They donated to the poor and helped build churches, and their guildhalls often served as centers of organization for entire towns.
The Florentine church Orsanmichele was constructed by the city’s guilds in the late 14th century. Each guild filled one of its 14 exterior niches with a statue of their patron saint.
They commissioned the best artists of the day: Ghiberti and Donatelllo to name a couple.
Despite wielding great power during the high middle ages and early renaissance, guilds began to decline in the 16th-17th centuries as merchants began to form companies.
And as technological innovation quickened, craft guilds lost their hold over industries.
The most lasting effect of guilds was their influence on the economic organization of Europe.
They bolstered the base of craftsmen, merchants, artisans, and bankers allowing a transition from feudalism to rudimentary capitalism.
Guilds caused a power shift by creating a distinct merchant class in societies that previously only had three basic classes: clergy, lords, and peasants. Merchants became a new “middle class.”
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“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder,” according to 20th-century historian Arnold Toynbee.
He claimed every great culture collapses internally due to a divergence in values between the ruling class and the common people…🧵
Toynbee was an English historian and expert on international affairs who published the 12 volume work “A Study of History,” which traced the life cycle of about two dozen world civilizations.
Through his work he developed a model of how cultures develop and finally die…
Toynbee argued that civilizations are born primitive societies as a response to unique challenges—pressures from other cultures, difficult terrain or “hard country,” or warfare.
Siege weapons were some of the most impressive technologies of the medieval world.
Here's how they worked🧵(thread)
Battering Ram
One of the oldest and simplest siege engines, a battering ram was designed to break open wooden gates or walls. Initially, it was just a heavy log carried by soldiers and slammed against the target.
Later, protective canopies were added to shield its operators.
Metal caps were also added to strengthen the battering ram and increase its puncturing force.
Defenders usually tried to counter rams by dropping obstacles like heavy boulders onto them. Pouring hot oil onto a ram, hoping to light it on fire, was also a defensive technique.
Alfred the Great believed he was given divine authority to rule his kingdom.
This was not an excuse to abuse his power though. Rather, he saw it as a responsibility to care for his people…🧵
Few kings were as universally loved as Alfred.
Historian Edward Freeman called him “the most perfect character in history.”
King of the Anglo-Saxons in the late 9th-century, he oversaw the complete revitalization of his realm—militarily, economically, and culturally.
Before his rule, England had been plagued by viking invasions going back a century.
Danish raids destabilized Wessex and the surrounding kingdoms. Monasteries were razed, learning and literature diminished, and lawlessness abounded in the absence of adequate defenses.
Modern man has a severe case of amnesia—he’s forgotten the immense wisdom of the past.
Luckily, it can be rediscovered through great literature.
12 old books that will make you wiser… 🧵(thread)
12. Enchiridion, Epictetus
Epictetus never wrote down anything himself, but his student Arrian collected his teachings, recording them for future generations. His lessons enlighten the reader on matters regarding ethics and achieving inner freedom.
11. The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli
Machiavelli’s classic is a 16th-century handbook on effective governance. It’s an essential read for anyone who wishes to understand the motivations and reasoning behind great leaders from the past or savvy politicians today.
Historian Will Durant claimed a culture’s success was intrinsically tied to its religiosity.
Strong nations were born out of faithful people, but when religion dwindled, things started to fall apart...🧵
Will Durant was a 20th-century American historian and philosopher most known for his 11-volume “Story of Civilization,” telling the history of both eastern and western civilizations.
His work led him to conclude that all cultures follow a predictable pattern…
Civilizations first begin with religious fervor, giving a nation strength to overcome great difficulty.
It’s their faith in a higher power that allows them to bear the initial “growth pains” that precede prosperity.
But it was mastery of road construction that made Rome the most connected—and powerful—empire in the ancient world.
Roman roads were engineering marvels in their own right 🧵 (thread)
“All roads lead to Rome” is a saying everyone knows. And there’s a reason for it—Rome developed the most incredible network of interconnected highways in the ancient world.
It’s estimated there were over 50,000 miles (~80000 km) of paved roads throughout the empire.
A 4th century surveyor described the extent of the highway system:
“They reach the Wall in Britain; run along the Rhine, the Danube, and the Euphrates; and cover, as with a network, the interior provinces of the Empire.”