ABSTRACT
Guilds are usually seen as the epitome of economic regulation and organization in early-modern European towns. Clare Crowston underlined the fact that 'gender in the guilds remains largely a non-issue for historians of the corporate system'. However, as the cases show, the story of guilds is neither a simple account of exclusion nor inevitably about women. It is a story that is fundamental to the urban world of eighteenth-century Europe where permission to trade could depend on gaining tolerations, earning the liberty of the trade and using the privileges associated with it. It is also a political story, since guilds were intrinsically linked to the political organization and management of many urban communities. Women's access to recognised skilled work was customarily limited or prevented altogether. By the eighteenth century, guilds were an established reality, and their link to urbanisation was profound. State intervention was a factor shaping the urban scene.
