Gilda

GILDA. - The name of g. (convivia) is given to the banquets held in the pre-Christian and pagan era among the Nordic peoples on the occasion of marriages, funerals, etc., connected with religious ceremonies and accompanied by sacrifices. The etymology of the term g. is of uncertain origin. Some scholars relate it to the payments to be made by the guests (geldan, gyldan, gelten "to pay"), others to the connection between the symposium and pagan sacrifice (gield, gildi, helt "sacrifice").

The origin of guilds probably goes back to the era in which the individual did not yet feel sufficiently protected by the bond of vassalage: in origin they were, in short, coniurationes, sworn unions constituted for the mutual defense of their members. With the spread of Christianity, guilds of a predominantly religious character came to be formed, true and proper fraternitates. Each of these guilds, according to Gierke, had a saint as protector, who in most cases gave it its name and on whom oath was sworn, maintained its own altar and often also a special chapel. The founding of charitable institutions or vicariates, of perpetual Masses and similar donations and oblations to the Church, charitable acts and the support of pilgrimages, as well as the purchase of the candles needed for religious functions and other pious works pertained to and were the purpose of these unions. The care of burial and the health of the souls of the deceased belonging to the guild constituted the principal duties of these communities. Moreover, each guild regularly arranged assemblies among its members, gatherings that preserved a religious character, both in memory of their pagan origins and according to the Christian practice of the Eucharistic Supper. Besides these religious guilds, others are of particular importance, formed among merchants and artisans, especially flourishing in England after the Norman conquest, in Germany, and in the Scandinavian countries. Their influence, furthermore, extended not only to their own sphere but was much broader and embraced public and political life in general as well. At the end of the Middle Ages the functions performed by the guilds were progressively taken over in part by the State and the communes, in part by unions, societies, corporations, and trade unions.

Silvio Furlani