What is a guild?
York guilds today
Merchant Taylors’ Hall
Graham Wilford
Today in York there are seven guilds or companies.
The Guild of Freemen – from the 14th to 19th centuries anyone wanting to practice a craft had to become a freeman of the city as well as a member of the guild for their craft.
The Company of Merchant Adventurers
The Company of Merchant Taylors
The Company of Butchers
The Company of Cordwainers – shoemakers
The York Guild of Building
The Guild of Scriveners – during the Middle Ages they wrote letters and other documents, mostly in Latin or French.