Question

What led to the decline of the Guild System?
(A) Industrialisation
(B) Growth of Science
(C) Growth of Technology
(D) All of the above

Answer 1

Hint: The Guild System was a federation of traders that flourished in the whole of Europe. When the commercial expansion started, then the rise of long-distance trade also began which initiated the process of loss and risk to the old guild system. Generally, it was operating in a single city and covering a single trade.

Complete answer: In the Guild System, merchants have organized in a manner something between a professional association, a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society. They were designed the guild system for keeping in mind that they are cooperative rather than competitive. The decline of the guild system starts between 1250-1350 AD. After 1250, the economic expansion was slow and the guilds had to face new and strong competition in the market. To protect the guild system they started to take action- they started giving wages at the correct time, stopped cutting salaries of their laborers, reduced the extra work, started selling raw material at cheap prices, started to reduce contributions and charity. But all these steps were insufficient to protect the guild system. After 1350, the market started to grow gradually, and the powerful long-distance traders had sold their orders at low costs to compete with them. The guild traders also did so by producing their own goods at a cheap price. There were two main systems of such “proto-capitalist” production that is the “putting-Out System” and the “Factory” System. The urban life deteriorated because the proto-capitalist did not support services.

So, the correct option is (D): All of the above

Note: At the beginning of the “Factory” System merchants started the production of heavy materials through it. The factory system developed into the character of the Industrial Era and which is still prevalent in the post-Industrial age. Gradually, the growth of Science, technology, and Industrialisation increased which led to the decline of the Guild System.