Identification

The merchants were a group of people who worked as middlemen for producers. They acquired, weighed and sold products for a fee, or usury.

Effects

Before medieval times, merchants were viewed as the lowest rung of society and not a part of the feudal system. The feudal system believed in three classes of people: knights, clergy and peasants. The feudal classes were each an essential part of a working society. However, the merchants were resellers and produced nothing, a crime against the Christian god at this time.

Function

The merchant class needed a strong king to help protect their products and trade routes. The king supported merchants because they helped develop towns, which paid the king for the right to a town charter--a major source of revenue for a kingdom. The growth of towns broke the traditional manor economic unit (large plot of land dominated by a lordship) in the feudal system.

Fun Fact

Despite their importance and society's acceptance of the merchant class, medieval religious scholars still blamed them for disasters, believing that the success of merchants brought anger from God.

Merchant Guilds

In medieval times, merchants had to belong to a merchant guild. Guilds had power over commerce in a town, but members also cared for one another's families. Failure to join or expulsion from the guild prevented a person from earning money.

Source:

Britain Express: Medieval England--Daily Life in Medieval Towns

Brown University: Medieval Merchant Culture