Popular notions of the medieval guilds rests on the misconception that they formed cartels, monopolies, and oligopolies. Some have even gone so far as to suggest they were a medieval equivalent to licensing and regulatory authorities, or to labor unions. This misconception is an old one, with examples dating back to Adam Smith. Of course, Adam Smith was talking about guilds in his own time in 1776. As we should know, two institutions with the same name are not necessarily the same in function or purpose. The guilds are one example of an institution that underwent a substantial change through time. They went from free and voluntary associations of likeminded workers and craftsmen in Medieval times, to restrictive regulatory agencies under royal charter in Early Modern times. This video was inspired by Shadiversity's video on guilds, where he repeats popular misconceptions despite aiming to debunk them. Watch Shadiversity's video on guilds here: https://youtu.be/ZWyXhaHOq7Q 0:00 Introduction 1:34 Guilds and Brotherhoods 7:02 Cooperatives and Fraternities 21:36 Enhanced Market Power 27:08 The Early Modern Guild Script written by: Viator in Terra/DihedralFractal Narrated by: Vexillum Status of other series: The Great Famine: On hiatus Feudalism: Waiting for Vexillum to finish recording Read the script: https://viatorinterra.substack.com/p/the-guilds-origins-and-evolution YouTube mirror: https://youtu.be/xLyTBPKkba0 Ko-fi Page: https://ko-fi.com/viatorinterra Merchandise: https://store.streamelements.com/viatorinterra References Used: Gimbel, J. (1977). The Medieval machine: The industrial revolution of the Middle Ages. Kempin, F. G. (1960). Limited liability in historical perspective. American Business Law Association Bulletin, 4(1), 11-34. https://www.bus.umich.edu/KresgeLibrary/resources/abla/abld_4.1.11-33.pdf Lopez, R. S., & Lopez, R. S. (1976). The commercial revolution of the Middle Ages, 950-1350. Cambridge University Press. Prak, M., Crowston, C. H., De Munck, B., Kissane, C., Minns, C., Schalk, R., & Wallis, P. (2020). Access to the trade: monopoly and mobility in European craft guilds in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Journal of Social History, 54(2), 421-452. https://academic.oup.com/jsh/article/54/2/421/5644454 Reynolds, S. (1984). Kingdoms and communities in Western Europe, 900-1300. Clarendon Press. Richardson, G. (2001). A tale of two theories: monopolies and craft guilds in medieval England and modern imagination. Journal of the history of economic thought, 23(2), 217-242. http://socsci-dev.ss.uci.edu/~garyr/papers/Richardson_2001_JHET.pdf Richardson, G. (2004). Guilds, laws, and markets for manufactured merchandise in late-medieval England. Explorations in economic history, 41(1), 1-25. https://www.socsci.uci.edu/~garyr/papers/Richardson_2004_Explorations-in-Economic-History.pdf Richardson, G. (2008). Brand names before the industrial revolution (No. w13930). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://www.nber.org/papers/w13930 Richardson, G., & McBride, M. (2009). Religion, longevity, and cooperation: The case of the craft guild. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 71(2), 172-186. https://www.nber.org/papers/w14004 Salvestrini, F. (2017). Fraternilies, guilds, social welfare, and art in Medieval and Renaissance Florence. In L'assistència a l'edat mitjana (pp. 153-168). Pagès editors. https://web.archive.org/web/20220308091744/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/301573515.pdf PS: I am aware of the spat between Stephan Epstein and Sheilagh Ogelvie. The latter can not satisfactorily defend her views, thus I have decided not to touch upon it here.

Popular notions of medieval society and institutions often combine anachronistic concepts and ideas. We see 15th-17th century aesthetics, 16th-17th century institutions, and 19th century projections onto 500 years before. Many myths, like those of cumbersome armor, dominance of the sword over other weapons, and a hatred of ranged weapons, have already been conclusively been debunked and refuted. However, only a few niche channels have ever discussed Medieval societal organization. In this introduction, we note that Medieval societies were heterogeneous, not just between but even within realms and domains. A king’s power was not absolute, elites and nobility were informal and were neither legally nor formally hereditary, and popular legitimacy formed an important role in succession. Beyond this top-bottom view, societies and communities were largely autonomous, had their own leaders chosen by whatever method, and relied more on their members than governance by a duke, or count, or even by the king. This video compiles the two parts released over the past few months. 0:00 Introduction 3:22 The Tyranny of a Construct 8:42 Two Feudal Connotations 21:53 Vassals, Fiefs, and Feudal Things 26:37 Vassalage and Medieval Social Institutions 35:49 Public and Private Affairs in Medieval Society 40:44 Nobility as an Informal Institution 50:57 Doing Away with Vassalage 57:21 Fiefs and Medieval Property Institutions 1:06:38 Before the Crisis of the 12th Century 1:15:26 Crisis, Bureaucracy, and Lawyers 1:26:57 Summary Script written by: Viator in Terra/DihedralFractal Narrated by: Vexillum Read the script https://viatorinterra.substack.com/p/the-body-politic-medieval-societal YouTube Mirror: https://youtu.be/FiA7uOqEhKo Ko-fi Page: https://ko-fi.com/viatorinterra Merchandise: https://store.streamelements.com/viatorinterra Status of other series The Great Famine: On hiatus. Upcoming Videos Body Politic: - Medieval Statehood: Heteronomy and Sovereignty The Crisis of the Twelfth Century: - The Age of Lordship (875-1150) References Bekar, C. T., & Reed, C. G. (2013). Land markets and inequality: evidence from medieval England. European review of economic history, 17(3), 294-317. Bell, A. R., Brooks, C., & Killick, H. (2019). Medieval property investors, ca. 1300–1500. Enterprise & Society, 20(3), 575-612. Bell, A. R., Brooks, C., & Killick, H. (2019). A reappraisal of the freehold property market in late medieval England. Continuity and Change, 34(3), 287-313. Bell, A. R., Brooks, C., & Killick, H. (2022). The first real estate bubble? Land Prices and Rents in Medieval England c. 1300-1500. Research in International Business and Finance, 101700. Bisson, T. N. (2015). The crisis of the twelfth century. In The Crisis of the Twelfth Century. Princeton University Press. Brown, E. A. (1974). The tyranny of a construct: feudalism and historians of medieval Europe. The American Historical Review, 1063-1088. Cerman, M. (2005, June). Social structure and medieval land markets in east-central Europe. Paper at the conference “The Rise, Organization, and Institutional Framework of Factor Markets” in Utrecht. Crouch, D. (2015). The birth of nobility: constructing aristocracy in England and France, 900-1300. Routledge. Goffart, W. A. (2006). Barbarian tides: the migration age and the later Roman Empire. University of Pennsylvania Press. Munro, J. H. (2004). Before and after the Black Death: money, prices, and wages in fourteenth-century England. Reynolds, S. (1994). Fiefs and vassals: the medieval evidence reinterpreted. Clarendon Press. West, C. (2013). Reframing the feudal revolution: political and social transformation between Marne and Moselle, c. 800–c. 1100 (Vol. 90). Cambridge University Press. ———— Footage Credits: Videezy.com Harry Mateman Flying Mementos Associazione Turistica Pro Loco Certaldo WorldtuberTV hrfernsehen Video provided by [Copyright Free Videos - 4k Video Library] YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/3fF5uvt Video Creator: @dubassy on Mixkit Music: Vopna, Borgar, Wintersong, Mjói, and Norður by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License Assorted tracks from Mount and Blade: Bannerlord, Mount and Blade: Warband, Medieval Conquests Mod, The World of Ice and Fire mod, Perisno mod, Total War: Attila, Total War: Medieval II, Thrones of Britannia: A Total War Saga, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Title Music is "Ja nuns hons pris" by King Richard the Lionheart