Daily Medieval

As mentioned yesterday , midwifery was one of the few professions that was not considered worthy of a guild early on. That may be partially ...

In listing the Great Twelve Livery Companies of medieval London in the order of preference given to them, I deliberately skipped over explai...

Of all the livery companies in medieval London, 12 were considered the most important and influential. They were collectively referred to a...

The word "livery," from the French livrée , "dispensed, handed over," refers to some identifying mark or clothing that d...

The Guild of Pepperers was established as early as 1180, and was responsible for the quality of spices and the setting of weights and measur...

The figure shown here is called Cernunnos. He is  the "horned god" of ancient Celtic culture, representing fertility, the natur...

A 1568 German woodcut showing a shoe shop Which guilds were the biggest? Not the most powerful, but those with the most members? Let...

Women weaving Guilds in the Middle Ages seemed to exist for every conceivable occupation (except, perhaps,  midwifery ). What about wom...

Guilds, companies of folk who follow the same occupation, are associated with the Middle Ages. They actually existed in the Roman Empire. C...