History (The guilds pg 44, 45)

Question 1

What are the guilds

Answer 1

The guilds are an organisation or club of master craftsmen. To join the guilds, one must first become an apprentice at the age of seven, doing simple jobs. They would be paid only a few cents. Then at the age of fourteen, when the apprentice would be able to do better/more work, he would go on to become a journeyman. Afterwards, he may want to become a master craftsman, by creating a special piece of work ( a masterpiece). If the members of the guild thought it was good enough, the journeyman would be approved as a mastercraftsman (with his own shop and apprentices) and could join the guilds.

Question 2

What work did the guilds do

Answer 2

1. The members of the guilds fixed the price of the goods so that members made a fair profit.
2. They made sure that no member charged the townspeople more than the fixed price
3. The guilds made rules about how many hours a craftsman could work, so that some did not try to get more trade than the others.
4. They helped people who were old, ill or had money problems.
5. They fixed the number of apprentices and shops so that there would be enough work for all of the members
6. They tested each journeyman who wanted to be a master craftsman to make sure his work was good enough (so that he could become a master craftsman and a member of the guild) .