Lesson video

Hello, and welcome back to part two of our inquiry: Who held power in the Mediaeval towns? I'm Mrs. Badhan and in this lesson today we'll be looking at the question, how did the Guilds influence the towns? For this lesson you'll need a pen, a piece of paper and calm, quiet environment to learn.

If you haven't got those things press pause now get yourself ready and then press play once you are ready to get going.

Great, let's make a stop.

I'd like to start the lesson today with a story, that begins in Barton-upon-Humber, a small mediaeval village in Northern Lincolnshire.

The year is 1342 AD, the local peasants going about their daily chores.

Among them is William Westoby, the second son of a peasant family.

William is 14 years old, but has never been to school as his parents cannot afford to pay for classes.

Instead, he spends most of his time helping out in the family Plot, weeding the garden, feeding the animals, herding their ducks and taking their crops to the local market with his dad.

As William has an older brother, he will not inherit any money or land from his father.

Instead, he'll be sent away to a to begin an apprenticeship or training prober a training programme designed to teach a young man the skills he needs to become a master craftsman and join a guild allowing him to set up a business of his own.

William's father has a relative who works as a stonemason in the nearby city of York, and has arranged for William to become his apprentice.

In the mediaeval period, boys began apprenticeships When they reached puberty and started to look and sound more mature than younger children.

At 14, William had not quite reached this stage, but his father decided that he's old enough to move to York and begin his apprenticeship.

The city of York is very different from the village where William grew up.

Here the houses or shops were packed closely together.

The narrow streets are crowded with people, animals and rubbish.

During his time as an apprentice, William will live in the house of his master along with master's family servants and other apprentices.

The term of apprenticeships are very strict.

Surviving legal contracts show that each apprentice was under the guardianship of the master for seven years and during this time, they were forbidden from dancing and visiting in our house, wearing elaborate clothing or wigs, which cost more than 15 shillings, which is around 335 pounds in today's money.

They were also forbidden to grow their hair long or get married.

Despite these restrictions, mediaeval letters and pamphlets suggest that apprentices gained a reputation for being rebellious, and lazy.

After work and on national holidays, they would gather together in public places to socialise and play games.

Political leaders and members of the council known as older men, often took advantage of the apprentices rebellious nature and would cite them to start fights and damage property.

Court session paper showed that apprentices were often tried for public disorder offences.

As a stonemasons apprentice, William travels all over York with his master to learn about construction and different building sites.

When he gets older, he will be given more responsibility, and will carry out more intricate and specialised task.

But right now he's expected to move materials across site and carry equipment for the older apprentices' job which can be dangerous and physically demanding.

Work place injuries are common, and can even result in death.

Hundreds of years later, Archaeologists will be able to study Williams' Skeleton and use the information contained within his bones to retell this story.

In front of you now is the image of the Guildhall in York.

Guilds were formal groups of citizens who came together to promote and protect their common interest.

Guilds in the mediaeval ages played an important role in society.

They provided a way for trade skills to be learned and passed down from generation to generation.

Members of the guild had the opportunity to rise in society through hard work.

The guild protected many members in lots of different ways.

Their members were supported by the guild if they came on to hard times or were sick.

They control the working conditions and hours and they also prevented non-guild members from selling competitive products within the towns.

In York, The weavers were the first recorded trade guild in 1163, paying the King 10 pounds a year for the privilege.

By 1180, Glovers, Saddlers and Hosiers all had banded together, as well as Butchers, Draper's and others to have their own guild at the end of the 13th century.

Guilds were also responsible for maintaining the high quality of goods and good workmanship.

They sent out searches to inspect everything from raw materials to finished goods.

The guilds also fixed wages and prices and took on any apprentices offered for seven years of training.

If you wanted to get meat in the mediaeval times in York, then The Shambles was the place to go.

The York butchers own hall lay behind The Shambles.

The Shambles was an old street in York with overhanging timber frame buildings, some dating back as far as the 14th century.

It was once known as The Great Flesh Shambles, probably from the Anglo Saxons French Channels, literally meaning Flesh Shelves.

The word for shelves that butchers used to display their meat on.

As recently as 1872 twenty five butcher shops were located along the street, but now, none remain.

In each guild in the Middle Ages, there were very well defined positions of Apprentice, Journeymen and Masters.

We've heard about William Westoby and how he was apprentice.

Apprentices usually were boys in their teens who signed up with a master for around seven years.

They would work for their master during this time in exchange for learning the craft, fast food, shelter and clothing.

They were taught to trade by the guild member, and they would be expected to have been paid by the parents boy to be able to learn this trade.

The Guild member had made a promise to teach the boy well and this could take time.

Once the apprentice was complete, he became a journeyman.

And this meant he could earn wages for a living.

But the highest position for the craft was the master.

Once a master, he could open up his own shop and train his own apprentices.

Let's pause now and have a look at what you've learned so far.

Based on what you've heard, which statements are false about the guild's of towns, have a look at the statements below.

Press pause now and have a little look to see which ones are false.

Press play once you're ready, and we'll check out answers together.

Guilds were responsible for maintaining the quality of goods and workmanship.

This was true, this is what they were responsible for.

All people could sell within a town.

That was false because the guild chose who could and who could not sell within a town.

Guilds became powerful forces in the mediaeval economy.

This is true because they were able to control the prices and ensure that the prices were kept high enough for the economy to flourish and prosper.

The wealth guilds gathered helped them establish influence over the government and the economy of towns and cities.

This was true.

This is how many of the guilds were able to acquire power within the towns.

Those guild members who were found to be cheating the public would be allowed to carry on with their work without a penalty.

This was false.

They most certainly would face some sort of consequence or punishment if they were cheating the public and the guilds would regulate and make sure that they were punished appropriately.

Great, now you know a lot more about the guilds.

I'd like you to now pause the video.

Read the slides on the next page.

As well as the comprehension information and answer the comprehensive questions, resume the video once you're finished, and we'll check out answers together.

Okay, you have the following questions to look at.

One, what was the guild? Two, what was the role of the guild? Three, what was the difference between craft guilds and merchant guilds? Four, explain how the guilds were hierarchical.

And your challenge was to look at how the guilds had power over the towns.

One, what was the guild? An acceptable answer would have been: The guild was an organisation for traders within the same trade.

Good answer, a guild was an organisation of individuals in the same trade working to improve the conditions of its members.

In the first guilds, merchants banded together to control the number of goods being traded and to keep prices up.

There were different types of guilds such as craft guilds and merchant guilds.

Question number two, what was the role of the guilds? acceptable answer the guild set standards and ensure that the trades were being carried out to the standards.

Good answer.

The role of the guilds were complex.

They provided a way for trade skills to be learned and passed down from generation to generation.

They also provided protection for their members who they supported if they came on to hard times or were sick.

Furthermore, they set standards for the quality of work, wages and controlled working conditions and hours of work.

What was the difference between craft guilds and merchant guilds? Acceptable answer.

Merchant guilds controlled trade and craft guilds controlled the different types of crafts and trades being carried out.

Good answer.

Merchant guilds control the way that trade was handled in the town, whereas craft guilds were responsible for the standards within each trade.

For example, they would regulate the Candle makers.

Question number four.

Explain how the guilds were hierarchical.

Acceptable answer.

The guilds had three different stages to pass before you could become a master of a trade.

Good answer.

The guilds were hierarchical as they had different levels to pass before you could be considered a master within your trade.

You would begin as an apprentice, then progressing to a journeyman.

Finally, after seven years of learning the trade and providing a masterpiece which proved your talent, you could become a master.

Your challenge: How did the guilds have power over the towns? Acceptable answer.

They control the local economy.

Good answer.

The guilds held so much power as they had so much influence over trade, which meant they would be able to control and impact local economies.

For your last challenge of the lesson, I'd like you to look at the following statements and I'd like you to pick which ones demonstrate that the guilds held power in the towns, you can press pause now and press play once you're ready.

Super.

The majority of these statements actually showed how much power that guilds held in the towns.

The guilds controlled who could sell and trade and at what prices.

So that showed that they definitely had power as they were able to control this.

They also were able to expel people from the Guild, which meant that they could no longer trade so they had the power to choose who could be and who could not be as part of the guild.

They also held a monopoly over the majority of local trade which means that they held the upper hand over local trade.

They were craft and merchant guilds.

That's true, but it doesn't demonstrate that they held any real power.

They controlled who could make a living doing what.

So they could decide that one person's going to be a butcher, and actually there are too many butchers in the town.

So we need another Baker, and they have the control over this, So this definitely demonstrates their level of power.

And they also permitted, so this means they allowed people with local citizenship to join the guild or not.

So it was up to them to decide who could join and who would not join.

Now, I'm sure you remember this image from lesson one.

This image is of Monk bar and is the largest and most ornate of the bars and it dates from the early 14th century.

Monk bar is located in York and is one of the largest and most ornate of the bars dating from the early 14th century.

It was a self contained fortress with each floor capable of being defended.

And on the front of the bar is an arch supporting gallery, including murder holes through which missiles and boiling water could be rained down upon any attackers.

Now, I mentioned Monk bar in this lesson as a bridge to lesson three.

We'll be looking at why they needed to build such bars in York.

Who were they trying to keep out? This is what we will start to explore in our next lesson.

Thank you for joining us in lesson two.

We've learned so much today about how the guilds were able to control so much of the trade of the towns and I really look forward to seeing you all in lesson three.

Until then, if you would like to please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, tagging @OakNational and #LearnWithOak.

See you in lesson three.