medieval guild
Artisan trade union
A medieval guild was an association of craftsmen or merchants in a European town, organized to regulate their trade, set standards of quality, control prices, and train apprentices.
Guilds dominated urban economic life from roughly the 11th through 16th centuries, functioning as both trade unions and professional licensing bodies.
Members progressed from apprentice to journeyman to master.
The term now appears mainly in historical contexts, though guild alone survives in gaming and other modern associations.
- master craftsmanExpert in skilled trade
- craftsmanSkilled manual worker
- apprenticeLearner bound to employer
- masterAuthority or controller
- journeymanQualified trade worker
trade · artisan · trade secrets · blacksmith · workshop · charter · merchant · wares · cobbler · tanner · weaver · livery · coat of arms · brotherhood · sworn · hall · town square · free city
- social systemspolitical systems, capitalism, feudalism, economic systems, socialism
medieval guildlabor union
Collective bargaining group
gig economy · independent contractor · at-will employment · professional association · corporation
medieval guildfactory production
Goods made industrially
mass production · assembly line · industrial capitalism · knowledge economy · digital economy
medieval, guild, guilds, guildsman, guildsmen, guildhall, medium, medial, mediate