This is my first YouTube comment ever: My grandmother was part of a quilting guild before she passed, and imagining her in a mafia role makes me laugh. She certainly would have been higher up. What a great topic!

Godfather music in background "Nice knitting you've done there. It'd be a shame if someone broke your fingers." Godfather music gets louder

we have a knitting guild where i live. i know its 99% if not 100% women majority older so imagining them as mafia is just the best thing ahaha. theyre very welcoming but also very close and they set up a lot of events. theres a show every year that has a theme and they basically control the whole thing from what the theme is to judging the pieces

The role of women who do these crafts and how it interacts with the guilds in the Medieval context is a tricky topic overall. A large part of it goes back to the idea of the "femme couverte" and the legal implications of that (women not having control of their own money or property, with a few exceptions such as widowhood). The other big factor is (and the effects of this are still visible today) the separation of the domestic and professional spheres and how that has historically worked into gender roles in European societies (I will not speak for others, as I have little knowledge comparatively). Women had the domestic sphere; the home cook, the home sewer, and so on while men had the professional spheres such as bakers, chefs, weavers, tailors and so on. How those two factors interact and evolve is very interesting throughout the Medieval period. As an interesting example, historically spinning remained a women's profession for a very long time. Girls would start spinning with spindles from an early age and any female (and sometimes male!) child in the house would spin in spare moments. As the girls grew up they would continue that practice and would use the resulting yarn to weave cloth for their families. If a woman was very good and managed to produce any extra yarn, she could sell it and potentially make a living off of that skill. This is where the term 'spinster' comes from and the resulting later resentment of these women by both other women and men is how that derisive feel to the term came to be. This didn't change until the Early Modern period when fiber production mills allowed for replacing these women with machines. Another example of this is alewives (who were eventually pushed out by trade organizations and standardization decrees). I simplified a bit for the sake of brevity, but it's really all very interesting.

I think one of the biggest contribution to why we probably can't finish their test today is because we, unlike them, have not spent almost our entire life to perfect a single skill. I mean if we think about it, we've learned how to read, write, history, science, etc., things wealthier people in the past could afford while the common people didn't get the luxury.

But if we had spent almost our entire life doing the same thing people in the past did, then sure, their test would be doable.
(not saying this doesn't happen today, it still very much does, it's just no longer the norm today)

haha! As a board member of the Ft Vancouver knitting Guild, id love to talk to you more.

26:53 our knitting needles ain't sharp for nothing!  😈  hehe

OMG the way I screamed when you mentioned knitting machines.  I’m fully OBSESSED with my knitting machine!!

What a great topic! Love when you delve into the fiber world. Keep up the good work! 😘

11:59 but thats what we do now. we are so blessed to be able to have a community online to learn from... but yeah. instead of going to an office or retail job... yes lol

Look up what the Tailor's guild did in (I think) France, when the sewing machine was invented. It's WILD.

12:28 that's called college. We've consolidated the "masters" into large compounds and called it college.

Historically, fiber arts, including knitting, weaving and even mantua and millinery were done by women in there homes.  HOWEVER,  once it became a lucrative business, the men strpped in

Guilds were not mafia. I am so effing tired of the middle ages getting dumped on. We moderns are way too pleased with ourselves.

0:20 Instant click off tf is this shit dude

So you asked on an older video about the “beef” between knitters and crocheters. This is the start of the beef ladies. Those guild were very serious. The associations that they had go and police these makers was high key on some Michael Corleone type time.

Also, these guilds were for EVERY TYPE OF MAKER. Blacksmiths, soap makers, and I could keep going. 💯 Very much all businesses had “apprentices” (very indentured servants, that may or may not get paid) who were responsible for stocking, selling and making WAY before the business owner was awake. As she said, there were certain things that the apprentices COULD NOT TOUCH or make, and if they were found to be making when not allowed …. 🫣🫣🫢😑 That particular association would be at your door. 🚪 🤓

We have a form of this kind of Association in modern day. It is called the State regulatory Association. In my state, Texas, it is called TDLR. You can’t bleach hair, fix a toilet, or put a building without their say so😉