Guilds were created in the Middle Ages and were groups of people with a common interest in a certain trade. There were many different types of guilds varying from religious and social guilds to crafts and carpentry guilds. The main purposes of these guilds were to prevent individual businesses from controlling all of the business of a certain trade. This proved profitable for the smaller businesses. Individuals who refused to join the guild of their …showed first 75 words of 1268 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1268 total…the 13th century, merchants and industries were turning towards the products produced by the peasants. These products were much cheaper because there were no guilds to control the costs of them. The peasants worked at home and were paid for part of the finished product.          By the 1600¹s, medieval guilds were not economically or politically important anymore. Guilds still existed in the 19th century, but continued to decline. In time they became unnecessary and disappeared.