I know that this wasn't a uniform process. Different groups would have would have fallen at different times in different countries. Some, I’m sure, have morphed into modern licensing bodies. Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Arguments for free enterprise and free trade flourished in the 18th century in Europe, providing the intellectual justification for attacks on the guilds; famous cases are Rousseau and Adam Smith. In France, the Controller-General of Finances, Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot suppressed the guilds in 1776. This only lasted four chaotic months at the end of which Louis XVI dismissed Turgot, ending his reforms. Reinstated, the guilds were finally abolished during the Revolution in 1791.
Michael P. Fitzsimmons, From Artisan to Worker: Guilds, the French State, and the Organization of Labor, 1776–1821, Cambridge UP, 2010
hi, you may be interested in this old post:
it was the change from craft control of labor to factory-based production