Trade guilds were a standard practice, and they were often numerous in market towns and cities. Voluntary associations and fraternities also were common, but they often had a religious or civic focus. But the guilds regulated access to the local trade and defended the interests of their members. Membership in more than one guild happened in suitable cases, and guild leaders often also held seats on town or city councils or served as mayors.

In a large city of 50,000 residents, guild affiliation (members and family members) could reach the 30,000 to 36,000 range.

In towns and cities, the people practicing any trade were members of a relevant guild. In rural areas, villages would have a few residents in key trades, and manors, particularly large one organized according to the old style, would have some household members in various trades.

But if a mid-sized town or city was near the manor or village, the advantages of specialization tended to move the trades into the urban setting.

In a large city, approximately twenty to twenty-five percent of the residents might be trade masters, and somewhere around a quarter to a half of those masters would be practicing within the city’s specialized or primary industry. A large city might have citizens engaged in a hundred or two hundred different occupations, but a large percentage of residents or new arrivals would be unskilled or semi-skilled laborers.

The trade guilds created universal norms that prohibited the dealing in stolen goods. Trademarks and seals were designed as countermeasures against forgery.

Governments established offices to check on quality, weights, and measures. In certain cases, for the most profitable or important industries, governments also tried to restrict key trade practitioners from leaving the city.

Women were able to practice trades in many guilds, but often were blocked from master rank. Some laborers in cities and towns would be trade apprentices or journeymen who lacked a stable position with a trade master.

Trades and Trade Guilds Common in All Large Cities and Towns

Bakers

Butchers

Tailors

Shoemakers

Major Specialization/Export (~a quarter of masters in the city)

Metalworking (e.g., Ravenwood)

Salt and Glassmaking (e.g., Port Liberty)

Swords, Weapons (e.g., Northport)

Textiles (e.g., Khartras)

Secondarily Most Common in Cities and Towns

Leatherworking

Mercers (silk trade guaranteed them political influence in major cities)

Weavers, Linen and Fustian Makers (woolen cloths, linen)

Other Trade Guild Categories (typically ~5% or <10% of masters)

1) Food and Drink/Victualling

Baking

Brewing (Ale, Beer, Cider)

Butchers, Pork Butchers

Cooking

Fishing/Fishmongers

Hunting/Hunt masters

Millers

Oil Trading and Measurers

Vintners

2) Transportation and Loading

Carters

Porters

Shipmasters [sometimes inside the drapers guilds]

Sumpters

3) Building/Construction[Normal building season=fourth to eleventh month]

Carpentry (Sawyers)

Brickmakers

Brick porters

Brick Haulers

Glaziers

Kilnmen

Masons

Sand Suppliers

Wallers

4) Clothing

Bleachers

Cappers

Cobblers

Comb Makers

Doublet-makers

Dyers

Embroiderers

Glovers

Hatters

Linen and fustian makers

Silk Throwsters

Spindle Makers

Tailors

5) Fur and Leather

Furriers

Leatherworkers

Saddlers

Tanners

6) Manufacturing—Producing and Selling

Armorers

Bell-founders

Bookbinders

Bowyers

Cartwright

Cauldron-makers

Coopers

Fletchers

Glassblowers

Goldsmiths

Hemp spinners

Ironmongers (Buckle Makers)

Jewelers

Knife and Scabbard Makers

Locksmiths

Pewterers

Potterers (Food Tiles, Bricks) [stopped throwing new products in December and January, to preserve wood for survival]

Miners–Hewers (2-3/mine shift); Bearers (1-3/mine shift)

Quarriers

Seamstresses

Silversmiths

Smiths

Tailors

Weaponsmiths

Weavers

Weavers (fustian cloth–high grade, low grade; cotton; linen blends)

Woodworkers

7) Merchants and Traders

Drapers (wool, linen)

Chandlers (grains; wheat trading; salt)

Grocers

Mercers (high-quality fabrics; general wares)

Secondhand Dealers

8) Others–Services

Barbers

Doctors (physicians, surgeons)

Hostilers

Minstrels [in addition to the professional musicians, some knights were troubadours who would play instruments and sing songs about courtly love (a cultural fad or a cultured definition of the gentleman warrior)]

Painting (painters (general); painters of chests; furniture; pictures; saddles; and shields)

9) Others–Ship Building

Caulkers

Oarmakers

Ropemakers and Stringers