Merchants benefits and challenges

The challenges to merchants in medieval periods were the bad state of the roads, the little security they offered to travellers, the extortions of all kinds to which foreign Medieval merchants were subjected, and the system of fines and tolls which each landowner thought right to exact, before letting merchandise pass through his domains, all created obstacles to the development of the Middle Ages trade and commerce and as a danger to the Mediaeval Merchant. Due to these dangers and obstacles, The Medieval Merchants Guilds was formed.

A Merchant Guild was an association of of traders. The Merchant Guild was able to negotiate with the lord and the trade levy became regulated. And because of this negotiation, the merchants were able to demand as higher price as they wanted. The Merchant Guilds controlled the way in which trade was conducted in the towns and applied rules to the way in which trade was conducted. The members of the Merchant Guilds became very important members of the Medieval town community. The introduction of the Merchant guilds lead to its own hierarchy and involvement in civic duties. The power of the Merchant Guild members increased and they tended to be wealthier and of higher social status than the members of the craft guilds.