The part women played in the medieval craft guilds.
Working only from official records, it would seem that women played no part in medieval trade. But here, as in so many other aspects of medieval life, women played a part in the trade of their family or husband but usually received no recognition.
Business records for the middle ages record women buying and selling, producing goods and carrying out business transactions alongside men. However, it was rare for a woman to be permitted to register as a guild member. There are occasions where a widow is recorded as a ‘femme sole’, or female trader, normally a guild was male only.
However, many businesses could not have operated without a woman helping in the background. A medieval trader would depend on his wife’s help in order to run his business and children were also involved in the work of a family’s trade. An unmarried teenage girl would be expected to work as hard as the rest of the family.
A young girl did not usually follow an official apprenticeship, but would learn the family’s trade as she grew up in a working household. Even in the countryside, women and children were involved in farm work, such as helping with the harvest and planting crops.
It could be hard to earn a living in medieval Europe and every hand was needed. Women may not have been officially recognised in a guild, but their contribution to medieval trade was invaluable.
