Research On Guild Governance In England From The 14th To The 16th Century

The guild was a relatively independent and autonomous organization.The 14 th century was a period for the prime development of the craft guild.But the guild developed rapidly in London,the organization began to transit to its senior form,that was the livery company.Generally speaking,the guilds of every town were in these two stages or the transitional stage between them in England.The livery company and the craft guild had certain inheritance.In view of this,the paper focuses on the England guild from 14 th to 16 th century,and analyses the problems faced by these guilds and the way how these problems are handled.In the late Middle Ages,the cities took on a new trend of development in England.As a commercial trading center,the cities commercialized increasingly.The municipal institution of the cities was in a critical period of transformation,while the judicial system in the country was also in constant integration.During this period,there were many problems faced by guilds,such as trade violations,misconduct of guild’s members,and differentiation of internal stratum of guild.In the meantime,there were many external challenges: overlapping interests among the guild,competition from outsiders,and shrinking power.Based on this,these guilds not only needed to adjust its traditional governance structure,but also needed to use external forces to promote its own governance.Beside,members of the guilds were also citizens.Because of this peculiarity,the dynamic operation of guild’s power needed to face different situations in the specific governance practice.On the basis of good governance,the guild took part in the urban life more actively.