ABSTRACT
While the King ruled over the state of affairs of the country, medieval cities were corporations that were governed by incorporated societies, such as the trade and craft guilds. The King confirmed the right of a city or town to hold a market, but it was the domain of the trade and craft guilds to dispense local justice, set prices and control the quality of products. The marketplace was a central feature of each city or town in both their plan and their social life. In London, the Guildhall had been the seat of power for the city since the twelfth century; it was where the guilds formed the laws and trading regulations that created London’s wealth. However, as cities grew larger, more affluent groups of master artisans began to take a larger share of the political power and created merchants’ guilds, thereby subordinating many of the craft guilds. By the end of the fifteenth century the balance of power had shifted and the craftsmen were beginning to become employees rather than their own masters. 1 It was a time of the rise of the merchant class.
