Between Innovation and Resistance: The Role of Guilds in Early Modern Italian Ribbon Manufacturing

The historiographical debate about the influence of guilds on economic development and innovation lacks consensus. Scholars are divided: some argue that guilds fostered a positive environment for technological innovation through privileges that ensured profits for inventors, while others underline the guilds’ role in stifling innovation to protect their interests. This article undertakes a comparative analysis of ribbon manufacturing in early modern Italy, a sector known for its technology transfer across Europe. It finds that the nature of the guild and its specific privileges crucially determined technology transfer and innovation acceptance. In addition, the redistribution of profits within guilds was vital to the innovative process. The article concludes that the key to technology transfer and innovation lay in preserving the guilds’ profit monopolies and internal stability.