A
guild is an association of
artisans or
merchants who control the practice of their craft in a particular town. The earliest types of guild were formed as
confraternities of tradesmen. They were organized in a manner something between a
professional association,
trade union, a
cartel, and a
secret society. They often depended on grants of
letters patent by a monarch or other authority to enforce the flow of trade to their self-employed members, and to retain ownership of tools and the supply of materials. A lasting legacy of traditional guilds are the constructed and used as meeting places.