Why the Guilds Were Suppressed

An often forgotten aspect of the mediæval guilds.

From the Facebook group Apostolic Christianity

November, being the Month of All the Holy Souls, is also a time to lament the destruction of the Medieval Guilds and the grave injustices that were caused by their demise.

Nineteenth Century Whig history would have you believe that the guilds fell from grace by some kind of Darwinian natural selection, whereby they ceased being competitive and the Invisible Hand of the Market brushed them out of relevance. The truth, however, is far more sinister.

The guilds didn't, in fact, begin as professional and trade associations, but started off as pious associations of laity, the principal duty of which was to pray for the souls of deceased members (hence, my drawing the connection to today). Since guild members tended to live close to each other, and since medieval town planners tended to zone practitioners of the same trade into the same area, it was only natural that the guilds would evolve into trade associations; however, their roots as pious associations were never forgotten. Each guild had a patron saint, whose feast they would publicly commemorate with pious street processions; and each guild member was expected to contribute to the commemoration of deceased members through prayer, and the purchasing of votive candles from the common fund. In return, guild members expected that their souls would be commemorated by future generations of members.

The guilds weren't destroyed by inevitable market forces, but by the greed of the Industrial Revolution. The early industrialists were able to convince politicians and statesmen that industry (not craft) was the way towards the flourishing of the Modern State, and so heavily restrictive legislation was place on the guilds, forcing them out of the market and clearing the way for the rise of industrial capitalism.

But it was not only greed, but Reformation Theology that caused the demise of the guilds. Forgotten in all this was the expectation of deceased guild members that their souls would continue to be commemorated, hence the injustice. The year-long commemoration of the souls and the remembrance of particular members on the anniversary of their deaths has been heavily curtailed - their guild fees paid but the services due neglected …