Florentine Guild System

Timeline

1. c. 1282–1370Florence · TuscanyMembers of the seven major guilds—judges and notaries, merchants, money changers, wool, silk, physicians and apothecaries, and leather workers—monopolized seats on the Priorate, regulating workshop production standards, quality inspection, and the apprentice-to-master ladder, tightly linking city finances to textile exports.
2. 1378–1382Florence · TuscanyWool combers and lower-class workers briefly established a third new guild and participated in government, demanding higher wages and representation. In 1382 an alliance of elite guilds restored the old order, abolished non-guild organizations, and strengthened control over key processes such as wool combing and dyeing, creating conditions for the recovery of stable production in the 1380s.
3. 1383–1390Florentine wool guild district · FlorenceIn the 1380s Florence resumed exporting fine woolens and silks to the Mediterranean and northern Europe, with guilds strictly limiting foreign wool import quotas, dyeing formulas, and export inspections. The Calimala guild continued to handle cloth fulling and export, linking up with English and Spanish wool supplies and Venetian shipping networks, while city taxes and guild dues stabilized again.