Sitten in a Yeldehalle: Medieval Guilds Quiz

Answer: An association of merchants or artisans formed to protect mutual interests and maintain standards

Guilds were loosely organized into two types: Merchant guilds and craft guilds. Merchant guilds came into being at an earlier date (approx. 10-11th century AD) and consisted of groups of merchants banding together for protection on hazardous trading routes and then assisting each other with storage, distribution and other needs. Craft guilds began to develop around the 13-14th century AD.

As populations increased and towns became larger, several millers or dyers or smiths could join together, form a guild, and establish rules. By 1387, when Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" was begun (and from which this quiz gets its title, "Sit in a Guildhall"), the guild system was firmly established throughout Europe. (Definition from dictionary.com)

Answer: To maintain a monopoly

The main raison d'être of any guild was to eliminate competition. No one who didn't belong to a guild, such as the baker's guild, was allowed to practice that trade for profit within the town and for whatever distance outside the town the guild controlled. Without competition, the guild was free to fix prices. All guild members charged the same amount for the same service. Price-cutting was forbidden and would earn any guild member who tried it a severe reprimand or ultimately even expulsion.

Answer: An apprenticeship was a casual, short-term learning experience

Although girls could learn a family trade, formal apprenticeships were almost always reserved for boys. The usual age for starting an apprenticeship was probably between 10-14, and the training took years. It was by no means a casual arrangement, but rather a formal contract which usually involved a sponsorship fee paid to the master guildsman taking on the boy.

Answer: Day

"Jour" is French for "day". Originally, "journey" meant the length of time one could travel in a day. A "journeyman" was paid by the day as he honed his skills and prepared to become a master craftsman.
It is interesting to note that while "journeyman" is of Norman French origin, "guild" is Anglo-Saxon, from "gildan" or "gieldan", meaning "to pay". (dictionary.com again)

Answer: Produce a masterpiece

We use this word all the time without really thinking about its medieval origins. A "masterpiece" was something that each journeyman needed to present to the guild to prove he was competent to join their ranks. Since the guild was a selective organization, the masterpiece had to conform to very high standards. Even today, at the end of eight years of training, every glassblower at the Waterford factory in Ireland must produce a masterpiece in order to become a "Master Cutter". (And you thought the guilds had disappeared.)

Answer: A merchant guild

The Hanseatic League existed for hundreds of years but was strongest in the 13th and 14th centuries. The League was a coalition of merchant associations from cities in northern Germany and along the Baltic Sea. It was particularly concerned with the safe transport of salt and herring, two very valuable medieval commodities.
(For an excellent discussion of the Hanseatic League, see http://members.bellatlantic.net/~baronfum/hansa.html)

Answer: Advertising expenses

It was difficult to think of something the guild DIDN'T provide or have a hand in. The system was the center of medieval daily life because of the immense power of the guilds, and the guilds had power, of course, because they controlled the town economy. They played a role in every aspect of town life, including religion. Guilds had patron saints, sponsored festivals and religious plays, and endowed churches.
Advertising, however, was not only not provided by the guild, but was not permitted at all.

Answer: Cooper

Litsters were dyers, broggers were wool-sellers, and drapers were cloth merchants. Coopers made barrels, which were necessary for the storage and transportation of almost everything.
(At www.virtualworldlets.net/Papers/Hosted/WomenMed.php is an excellent article on the different medieval trades.)

Answer: They dressed alike and were prosperous

Chaucer's guildsmen were a weaver, a dyer, a carpenter, a haberdasher, and an "arras-maker" (tapestry-maker). Chaucer tells us that they dressed alike, in livery, and had silver weapons. Although their wives were apparently not on the pilgrimage with them, they were called "Ma Dame" and had the trains of their dresses carried into church for them.
None of the guildsmen told tales in Chaucer's work. The section about the guildsmen can be read in both Middle and modern English at
http://www.librarius.com/canttran/genpro/genpro363-380.htm

Answer: Development of the longbow in England

As feudalism declined and was replaced with a freer market economy, more power was held by individual monarchs rather than a system of feudal lords. In general, these monarchs did not approve of the immense power wielded by the guilds. Elizabeth I of England, for example, restricted the number of apprentices a guild could employ, among other things. (http://ise.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/society/guilds2.html)
The guild system did not lend itself to innovation; if anything, the system was all about maintaining the status quo. However, it was capable of forming new guilds when technology demanded it, such as guilds for fletchers and bowyers after the longbow became a standard war implement in the late 13th century in England.

I hope you have enjoyed this quiz and are now, like Chaucer's guildsmen, each "wise enough to be an alderman".