{{Short description|Type of medieval artisans' organisation}} '''Craft guilds''' were associations of skilled artisans in medieval Europe that regulated production, training, and quality within specific trades, while also shaping the economic and civic life of urban communities.
They transmitted skills through formal systems of apprenticeship, journeymanship and mastery,<ref name=Brit>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Guild |date=1 September 2010 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/248614/guild}}</ref> and oversaw the production of goods ranging from textiles and metalwork to glassmaking and baking.<ref name=Brit/> In major cities in the medieval Europe such as Florence,{{sfn|Braudel|1992|p=316}} Paris,<ref>{{cite book |first=Viktor Ivanovich |last=Rutenburg |title=Feudal society and its culture |publisher=Progress |year=1988 |isbn=978-5-01-000528-3 |page=30 }}</ref> Barcelona,<ref>{{cite book|title=Diccionario geográfico universal, por una sociedad de literatos, S.B.M.F.C.L.D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GgQHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA730|year=1834|pages=730–|author1 = Diccionario}}</ref> and the German free cities, guilds became central to economic and civic life, often numbering in the dozens or even hundreds.
==See also== * Craft Unionism
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== * {{cite book |first=Fernand |last=Braudel |title=The Wheels of Commerce |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WPDbSXQsvGIC |year=1992 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-08115-4 |orig-year=1982 |series=Civilization & capitalism, 15th–18th century |volume=2 }}
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Category:Guilds