Abstract
The case study focusses on the history of the swordsmith guilds of the Prague towns in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period. The author presents the possibilities and limits of studying the earliest history of the Prague guilds and offers an innovative path to dating the founding of the guild - an analysis of the professional composition of sponsors during the acceptance of new burghers.
This method enabled the author to date the creation of the earliest swordsmith guild, which was founded in Prague Old Town, to the first half of the 15th century. Attention is also paid to the statewide character of the Old Town guild and its relationship with swordsmith organisations in other parts of the Prague agglomeration.
A description of the struggle by journeymen to create a "smaller guild" (i.e. a confraternity) in the second half of the 16th century makes for an interesting chapter.