	The advancement of European urban society and the development of early commercial economies changed the ways that both urban and rural people lived by completely reshaping roles in and around both commerce and the home. The development of Guilds in urban areas and the rippling effects of urban growth on rural areas, have far reaching effects in the growth of both the proto-middle class and the urban poor, and the changes in beliefs that ensue from these developments help establish the building blocks for the future development of European ideas.
	Firstly the formation of early commerce groupings in guilds helped create and grow early urban economies and a burgeoning “middle class”.  Originally formed by the practitioners of certain trades to help regulate things such as wages, as time progressed regulations would come from other outside sources such as local princes, often further cementing these industries as a strictly urban development. The growth of guilds as the source of early manufacturing, also brought about new forms of social organization. Forming a place for large swaths of young men to group and ferment a unified social, political, and religious grouping. These groupings with both growing social and political power could be used to help shape urban communities through political action and enforce local morality through charivari. Even outside of the strict formatting of guilds, journeyman’s organizations sprung out of guilds as both a reaction to needs of the day but also as a way for men to resist some of the social changes that came with the new broadening of the economy that led to women in traditionally men’s work-spaces. As a whole the growth and strengthening of guilds is part of the general expansion of city growth, and with this growth comes a heightened demand for food, this demand for food brings more purchasing power to the rural areas as crop prices rise, and this increased purchasing power leads to a larger local market for guilds to sell products to, an economic ouroboros if you will. This circular economy that steadily feeds itself has a great flaw though, if food production is disrupted due to famine or cold, everything suffers and population drops. This decline in population leads to a shortage of employment in cities, leading struggling surviving people from rural societies to immigrate to cities in search of work, in cases such as late 15th century Upper Swabia the boom in population after the decline due to crisis lead to lords bringing back bygone regulations and rules that imposed strict limits on mobility, income, and even social lives of peasents, enforced by threat of the blade. Combining this harsh treatment with the incentive of good work in a city, helps realize exactly why cities grew at such a rate in the era.
