The Accessibility of the Late Medieval Goldsmith Guild of Bruges.

Scholars have long presented guilds as monopolistic and rigid, and goldsmith guilds counted as the ultimate examples of family-oriented organizations virtually closed to newcomers. While historiography has largely moved away from such descriptions, the accessibility of guilds remains a subject of study. This article examines the attitudes of the late medieval goldsmith guild of Bruges towards newcomers. This capital-intensive craft, in this case study initially set in an environment in which the luxury trades thrived, perfectly demonstrates the ways in which market conditions impacted the accessibility of a guild, thus showing that the goldsmiths were not averse to newcomers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]