SEQÜENCIACIÓ Sessions 6-7-8-9-10 Life in the town Quan els alumnes estan treballant el tema dels mercaders es pot aprofitar la informació següent per fer una breu explicació sobre els Gremis (Guilds) Extra Information: GUILDS By 1400, merchants and craftsmen were growing more and more important. Each trade guarded its skills by forming groups called GUILDS, which came to control town affairs. Guilds could be defined as clubs started by the most skilled of all the workers, the master craftsmen. Each trade had its own guild and only its members could make and sell those goods in town. Guilds were first set up by townsmen and included people from all trades. Once a town had been granted by royal charter to form a guild, only its members could trade there. Later on, trades formed their own guilds. There were guilds of fishmongers, tailors, cloth-makers, armourers, mail-makers, jewellers... and also those who built the impressive medieval cathedrals, such as stone masons, carpenters, painters, plasterers, glaziers and plumbers, among others. What Guilds did: Set standards of work: they said how many hours a craftsman could work, how much they could charge for goods, they fixed prices, weights and measures. Supported members who had fallen on hard times, either for being old or sick. Checked if goods were well made. Made sure that their members were not cheated. To become a master craftsman you had to follow the next steps: Apprenticeship: Parents paid a large sum of money to the master craftsman to train their children as apprentices. They used to sleep in the workshop and were paid nothing. If he didn't work hard, he used to be beaten. Journeyman: After 7 years' training, he became a journeyman and received his first pay, a daily wage. Master Craftsman: Some years later, the journeyman produced a masterpiece, as a guild test. If it was good enough, he was accepted in the guild and allowed to have his own workshop and shop, after paying the right fees.