ARTISAN GUILDS IN MEDIEVAL MUNICIPAL LAW

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of legal regulation of medieval guild’s status in medieval municipal law. It is proved that guilds acted not only as productive, but mainly as social units. The guild membership and strict adherence to the rules of the guild charters provided the person with a certain social status, which gave the person a possibility to use a number of social, economic, political rights. At the same time, medieval city law gave the guilds not only the rights but also numerous duties. The restrictions and prohibitions imposed on guilds by legal norms were intended to harmonize both the relations within the guild and its interaction with other social groups of the municipal community on the basis of common good and justice in the medieval sense.
Key words: medieval law, municipal law, guild, guild charter, artisan corporation.