Guilds Of Florence
The guilds of Florence were secular corporations that controlled the arts and trades in Florence from the twelfth into the sixteenth century. These ''Arti'' included seven major guilds (collectively known as the ''Arti Maggiori''), five middle guilds (''Arti Mediane'') and nine minor guilds (''Arti Minori''). Their rigorous quality control and the political role in the commune that the ''Arti Maggiori'' assumed were formative influences in the history of Florence, which became one of the richest cities of late Medieval Europe. The '' popolo minuto''—skilled workers including weavers, spinners, dyers, boatmen, laborers, peddlers and others—despite constituting a majority of the population, were barred from forming guilds. Formation of the ''Arti'' The guilds, medieval institutions that organized every aspect of a city's economic life, formed a social network that complemented and in part compensated for family ties, although in Florence the welfare side of the guilds' activiti ...
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Coats-of-arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its whole consists of a shield, supporters, a crest, and a motto. A coat of arms is traditionally unique to an individual person, family, state, organization, school or corporation. The term itself of 'coat of arms' describing in modern times just the heraldic design, originates from the description o