in the City of London (carpenters' guildhall) in
Zürich A type of guild was known in Roman times. Known as
collegium,
collegia or
corpus, these were organised groups of merchants who specialised in a particular craft and whose membership of the group was voluntary. One such example is the
corpus naviculariorum, the college of long-distance shippers based at Rome's port,
Ostia Antica. The Roman guilds failed to survive the collapse of the Roman Empire. Merchant
guilds were reinvented during Europe's medieval period. In England, these guilds went by many different names including: fraternity, brotherhood, college, company, corporation, fellowship, livery, or society, amongst other terms. In Europe, merchant guilds were known as "natie", "consulado", or "hansa". A fraternity, formed by the merchants of
Tiel in
Gelderland (present-day Netherlands), in 1020 is believed to be the first example of a
medieval guild. The first instance of usage of the term, "guild", was the
gilda mercatoria used to describe a body of merchants operating out of
Saint-Omer, France in the 11th century and
London's Hanse was formed in the 12th century. The merchants of
Cologne had their house in London as early as 1157 and the Guilda Teutonicorum (German merchants warehouse) was located at Cosin Lane and Thames Street in London on the 12th century. These guilds controlled the way that trade was conducted in their region and codified rules governing the conditions of trade. Once established, merchant guild rules were often incorporated into the charters granted to
market towns. By the 13th and 14th centuries, merchant guilds had acquired sufficient resources to erect guild halls in many major market towns. Medieval guild halls were used to store goods and as places for celebratory events. When not required for guild members' events, the hall often became place where townspeople could hold entertainments such as Passion plays. Guild members often cleaned streets, removed rubbish, maintained a nightwatch and provided food relief to the poor. Some medieval guilds allowed market trading to occur on the ground floor of the guildhall. In the
City of London, the guilds are called "
livery companies", and their guild halls are called
livery halls.
In the Low Countries The
Low Countries used to have guildhalls in every city, often one
gildenhuis (Dutch, literally "guild house") for each trade. They were often elaborate, ornate buildings, demonstrating the guild's status. Occasionally a single hall would be used by all the city's guilds. The guildhall was used as the offices of the
deken (deacon) and other guild officers, and for meetings by the
overlieden (board of directors). The guild members would occasionally be called to the guildhall for meetings on important matters. The guildhall of the merchants' guild also served as de facto
market place. Therefore, there was no need in the
Middle Ages for a separate building for this purpose.
In the Netherlands In
Amsterdam, every guildhall had its
gildeknecht (guild servant), often the guild's youngest member, and was guarded by a
gildehond (guild dog). Every evening, the guild brothers gathered in the tavern room of the guildhall to discuss the events of the day while the
gildeknecht served beer. Once a year, the guildmen would gather in the guildhall for a communal
meal. • The Salmon (or
De Zalm, in Dutch) in
Mechelen. Built c. 1530 in early
Renaissance style by architect Willem van Wechtere for the prosperous fishermen's guild, it is one of the city's finest historical houses. The artist (1839–1919) used to live there. In the mid-20th century it became city property and held a museum, then the Tourist Information Office, and later again a museum. • In
Brussels, the
Grand-Place/Grote Markt is famous for its many
Baroque guildhalls, each one belonging to one of the former
Guilds of Brussels. File:Makelaers Comptoir 1.jpg|The
Makelaers Comptoir (brokers' guildhall) in
Amsterdam File:Edificios en la Grand-Place, Bruselas, Bélgica, 2021-12-15, DD 07.jpg|
Grand-Place/Grote Markt of Brussels. From right to left: Le Roy d'Espagne, La Brouette, Le Sac, La Louve, Le Cornet and Le Renard. File:Antwerp GroteMarkt3-13 017 7938.jpg|Guildhalls at the
Grote Markt in
Antwerp File:Tafelrond Leuven - 385958 - onroerenderfgoed.jpg|The Round Table (
Tafelrond) at the
Grote Markt in
Leuven ==See also==