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History for Fantasy Writers: Merchant Guilds
by E.L. Skip Knox
A merchant guild is a great resource for any of your characters who might be a merchant.
Why would any writer make a character a merchant? He might be fine for a minor character, some colorful fellow met at a tavern, and certainly just the sort of someone to rob on an empty highway, but for a major character? Yawn.
But don’t overlook the merchant. He has contacts in multiple cities, knows how to move money and goods around, and he might very well know multiple languages and be conversant with foreign cultures. While some were booringly respectable, some “merchants” were little more than bandits who did legitimate business as it suited them. And, while I keep saying “he” in this paragraph, merchants can be any gender and any race, so there’s lots of flexibility in the role.
The Merchant’s Guild
Most merchants belonged to a guild. It’s not uncommon to find a Merchant Guild in a fantasy novel, but these are nearly always international in scope and that’s not historically how guilds worked. They were firmly local. Belonging to a guild usually gave you a seat at the City Council, so it was locally powerful. Beyond the city walls, though, the merchant guild of City A had no influence in City B. Although they went by the same name, and share some aspects of a craft guild, merchant guilds...
Continue reading the Original Blog Post.
History for Fantasy Writers: Merchant Guilds
by E.L. Skip Knox
A merchant guild is a great resource for any of your characters who might be a merchant.
Why would any writer make a character a merchant? He might be fine for a minor character, some colorful fellow met at a tavern, and certainly just the sort of someone to rob on an empty highway, but for a major character? Yawn.
But don’t overlook the merchant. He has contacts in multiple cities, knows how to move money and goods around, and he might very well know multiple languages and be conversant with foreign cultures. While some were booringly respectable, some “merchants” were little more than bandits who did legitimate business as it suited them. And, while I keep saying “he” in this paragraph, merchants can be any gender and any race, so there’s lots of flexibility in the role.
The Merchant’s Guild
Most merchants belonged to a guild. It’s not uncommon to find a Merchant Guild in a fantasy novel, but these are nearly always international in scope and that’s not historically how guilds worked. They were firmly local. Belonging to a guild usually gave you a seat at the City Council, so it was locally powerful. Beyond the city walls, though, the merchant guild of City A had no influence in City B. Although they went by the same name, and share some aspects of a craft guild, merchant guilds...
Continue reading the Original Blog Post.