The Records of an Incorporated Baker's Guild

Baking has been less studied than grain production and milling, although it has been a specialised craft, meeting consumers' needs almost directly for centuries. The price controls of Bread Assizes were based on cost data, weight and quality standards enforced by guilds, incorporated under burghal powers. The Baxter Minute Books of St. Andrews, Fife ¹ , covering the period 1546–1862 provide evidence of varied discipline, as of the vertical expansion of the bakers into grain purchase, milling and lending to members of the craft. Guild income, expenditure, accounting and audit practices are also sketched. Because of the uniformity of guild practices throughout Europe, this evidence may be taken as not untypical.