Economic Recovery Sparks Change: Part II

Created By: Rebecca Ferdinand, Katiana Castor and Clancy Gray

Creation of Medieval Towns and Cities

• No bigger than modern towns

• Many towns walled in for protection

• Main buildings- Cathedral and Marketplace

Towns and Cities Continued…• People had everything needed

for life inside the walls

• Gave people a sense of unity

• Most food and water were unsanitary

• Trade was strongly discouraged

The Rise of the middle class• Social class made by merchants

and artisans- Quickly gained economic

and political power• In regular towns merchants and

artisans were considered to be low class

- Many came from wealthy families

• This caused the merchants and artisans to become angry, therefore creating the middle class

How the Black Death influenced the Rise of The Middle Class

• Many people died during the black death

• This left many jobs open for people that survived- Many of these people came from

middle class families• This made the middle class

extremely powerful

Guilds• Associations of people who did the same type of work– Shoemakers Guild– Blacksmiths Guild– Weavers Guild– Bakers Guild

• It took a lot of work to be accepted into a guild– At age 7 or 8 you were taken to become an apprentice in your

area of craft– Spent 7 years learning your specific trade– They did not get paid but guild master provided them with

food and housing

England’s Bakers guild coat of arms

England’s pewter guild coat of arms

Guilds continued• Guilds were formed by merchants and

artisans- Merchants dominated town life, passing laws and taxes

- Artisan eventually came to resent the merchants

- The artisans then branched of and created there own craft guilds

Guild Rules• Guilds made rules to protect the

quality of their goods– regulated hours of labor– Set prices–every member of a guild had

to make the same product to prevent competition between other guilds

What Guilds Provided to its Members

• Guilds provided social services

– operated schools and hospitals

– looked after the needs of their members

– provided support to the widows and orphans in the guild