Association in a guild or fraternity was an extremely common experience in medieval Europe. This book asks why so many people wished to belong to these highly miscellaneous groups (only rarely confined to a single craft), whose social diversity was of their essence. It finds a partial answer in the challenging material circumstances of the later Middle Ages, but a fuller one in contemporary debates surrounding the identity and fulfilment of the individual, and the problematic question of his or her relationship to a larger society. These debates are contextualized in a longer history which con ... More

Association in a guild or fraternity was an extremely common experience in medieval Europe. This book asks why so many people wished to belong to these highly miscellaneous groups (only rarely confined to a single craft), whose social diversity was of their essence. It finds a partial answer in the challenging material circumstances of the later Middle Ages, but a fuller one in contemporary debates surrounding the identity and fulfilment of the individual, and the problematic question of his or her relationship to a larger society. These debates are contextualized in a longer history which continues to be pertinent today. Unlike previous studies, the book’s focus is not on the guilds as institutions but on the social and moral processes which were catalysed by participation. These bodies are shown to have founded schools, built bridges, managed almshouses, governed small towns, shaped religious ritual, and commemorated the dead. Informing and transcending all of these activities, however, was the perception that association in a fraternity could be a catalyst of personal change. Members cultivated friendship between individuals on the understanding that the fulfilment of human potential depended upon a mutually transformative engagement with others. The peasants, artisans, and professionals who joined the guilds sought to change both their society and themselves. The study sheds light on the conception and construction of society in the Middle Ages, and suggests further that this evidence has implications for how we see ourselves.