Aspects of this topic are discussed in the following places at Britannica.
...the homines novi, a new class of up-and-coming merchants, tried to become part of the patriciate, as in Dordrecht and Utrecht. Beneath the patriciate a lower class formed, called the gemeen (“common,” in the strict sense of the word), which embraced the artisans and organized into crafts such tradesmen as butchers, bakers, tailors, carpenters, masons, weavers,...
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