Suurgildi Liikmeskinnast ja kaupmehe sotsiaalsest karjäärist hiliskeskaegses Tallinnas
On the Membership of the Great Guild and the social Career of a Merchant in late medieval Tallinn

Summary/Abstract: This article focuses on the membership of the Great Guild in medieval Tallinn (German Reval), the most influential association in the city. Scholars have thus far defined this guild as the association of wealthy merchants who were involved in wholesale and long-distance trade and who were burghers of the city. However, the analysis of sources proves that the membership of the guild was much more diverse. Information on guild members can be gathered from normative sources (the guild statutes) as well as from those reflecting actual practice. The first among the latter is the account book of the Great Guild from 1509 till 1603, which includes the names of those attending the two main festivals, Christmas and Carnival, as well as those of the new members. The second is the book of brothers of the Table Guild from 1364 till 1549, listing the names of the new members. The Table Guild, a charitable association that distributed food to the poor, constituted a kind of sub-organization of the Great Guild. According to their statutes, membership of the Table Guild was limited to people belonging to the Great Guild.

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