MEDIEVAL TOWNS

INTRODUCTION

This chapter focuses on daily life for people living in

towns from 1000 to 1450 C.E.
Towns cropped up around castles and monasteries and
along trade routes
Towns became centers of trade and industry
Surrounded by thick stone walls for protection
Visitors entered through gates in the walls
Homes and businesses lined unpaved streets

THE GROWTH OF MEDIEVAL TOWNS

During the Early Middle Ages, most people lived in scattered communities in
the countryside
By the High Middle Ages, towns were growing again
Improvements in agriculture
Revival of trade
Merchants and other people practicing various trades became permanent
residents
Some towns became wealthier because they made a specific type of good
Towns were generally part of the domain of a feudal lord a monarch, noble, or
a high-ranking church official
Town dwellers began to resent the lords feudal rights and his demands for
taxes as the town became wealthier
No longer needed the lords protection or his interference

BECOMING INDEPENDENT

Purchased a royal charter to become

independent
People had the right to govern
themselves, make laws, and raise taxes
Free towns were governed by a mayor
and a town council
Power shifted from the feudal lords to
the rising class of merchant and
craftspeople

GUILDS

Medieval towns became places where many goods were made

Trade and the production of goods were overseen by
organizations called guilds
2 main kinds of guilds: merchant guilds and craft guilds
Provided help and protection for the people doing a certain
kind of work
Maintained high standards
Controlled the hours of work and set fair prices
Guild members paid dues to their guild

BECOMING A MEMBER OF A GUILD

A boy (sometimes a girl) became an

apprentice around the age of 12
After 7 years, apprentices had to prove to the
guild that they had mastered their trade by
producing a piece of work called a master
piece
If guild approved, apprentice was given the
right to set up his or her own business

TRADE AND COMMERCE

Luxury goods were mostly traded at

the beginning of the Middle Ages
By the High Middle ages, goods
included everyday items and
specialized goods that different towns
were producing (woolen cloth, glass,
and silk)

MERCHANTS

Grew increasingly powerful and wealthy as a result of growth in

trade and commerce
Ran sizeable businesses
Looked for trading opportunities far from home
Merchant guilds dominated business life of towns and cities
In independent towns, members of merchant guilds often sat
on town councils

JEWS IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE

Sizeable Jewish communities in Medieval towns

Experienced prejudice
Difficult to earn a living due to the hostility of Christians
(sometimes backed up by laws)
Jewish property and belongings were taken at will by their lords
Were sometimes targets of violence
One opportunity was to become bankers and moneylenders
which was an essential service for the economy
Jews were looked down upon and abused for practicing this
wicked trade

HOMES AND HOUSEHOLDS

Most built from wood

Narrow and could be up to 4 stories
high
Sometimes 2 facing houses would lean
so much they touched across the street

POOR HOUSEHOLDS

Several families might share a house in

a poorer neighborhood
Only had one room where they cooked,
ate, and slept
Most people worked where they lived

WEALTHY HOUSEHOLDS

Wealthy merchants had splendid homes

First level used for business, including offices and storerooms
Second level might be for the family and included a solar where
they gathered to eat and talk
Servants and apprentices might live on an upper level
Rooms were cold, smoky, and dim
Only source of heat and the main source of light were the
fireplaces
Windows were small and covered with parchment instead of
glass

GROWING UP IN A MEDIEVAL TOWN

About half of all children died before they became adults

Around the age of seven, children began preparing for adult roles
Some boys and girls attended school, where they learned to read and write
Children from wealthier homes might learn to paint and to play music on a lute
(a stringed instrument)
Other children started work as apprentices
Most boys grew up to do the same work as their fathers
Some girls trained for a craft
Most girls married young, some as early as 12, and were soon raising children
of their own
At home, many girls learned to cook, make cloth, and other skills necessary to
run a home and care for a family

DISEASE AND MEDICAL TREATMENT

Many illnesses that can be treated and cured today had no cures
during medieval times
Common diseases that had no cure included measles, cholera, and
scarlet fever
People were treated in their homes by family members, or sometimes,
a doctor
Medieval doctors believed in a mixture of prayer and medical
treatment which involved herbs
Other treatments were based on less scientific methods such as
consulting the positions of the planets and relying on magic charms to
heal people
Another common technique was to bleed patients by opening a vein
or applying leeches (a type of worm) to the skin to suck out blood
Bloodletting often weakened a patient instead

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Medieval towns were noisy, crowded and often unsafe

Dangerous especially at night because there were no
streetlights
Night watchmen patrolled the streets with candle lanterns to
deter, or discourage, criminals
People accused of crimes were held in dirty, crowded jails
Prisoners relied on friends and family to bring them food or
money
Wealthy people sometimes left money in their wills to help
prisoners buy food

TRIAL BY ORDEAL OR COMBAT

Used to establish an accused persons guilt or

innocence
Trial by ordeal: an accused person had to pass a
dangerous test
Trial by combat: an accused person had to fight to
prove his or her innocence (people believed that God
would make sure the right party won); Clergy,
women, children, and disabled people could name a
champion to fight for them

For lesser crimes,

people were fined or
put into stocks
For serious crimes,
such as highway
robbery, stealing
livestock, treason, or
murder, could be
hanged or burned at
the stake
Executions were
carried out in public

PUNISHMENT

Being left in the stocks for hours

or days was both painful and
humiliating.

ROYAL COURTS

Kings and important lords had the power to prosecute major

crimes in most parts of Europe
In England, kings in the early 1100s began setting up a
nationwide system of royal courts
Decisions of royal judges contributed to a growing body of
common law
English common law would become an important safeguard of
individual rights
Court inquiries based on written and oral evidence eventually
replaced trial by ordeal and combat throughout Europe

LEISURE AND ENTERTAINMENT

Children: played with dolls and toys, such as wooden swords

and hobbyhorses, rolled hoops and played games like
badminton, lawn bowling, and blind mans bluff
Adults: played games such as chess, checkers and
backgammon. They also played card games, bet on rolls of
dice, or go dancing (the church frowned on these activities)
Time off from work to celebrate special days, such as religious
feasts
On Sundays and holidays, animal baiting was a popular, but
cruel, amusement

FAIR DAYS

Very colorful
Jugglers, dancers, clowns, and minstrels provided
entertainment
Guild members dressed in special costumes and carried
banners while parading through the streets
Guilds put on mystery plays
Mystery plays gave rise to miracle plays, another type
of religious drama
The church eventually disapproved of both types of
plays, but people still enjoyed seeing them acted out in
the streets or the public square

How did towns form?

There were very few large towns in medieval Europe. Most
were no bigger than a modern village with a population of
between 2000 and 10,000. In the 13th century, the largest
cities (Flemish cities and in northern Italy) had populations of
as many as 50,000 inhabitants.

How did towns form?

One of the biggest Medieval cities was Bruges

How did towns form?

One of the biggest Medieval cities was Bruges

How did towns form?

Towns grew up for different reasons and had different
functions as a consequence.
Some had religious functions. The church or cathedral
was usually the most important building.
Other towns had political functions. Towns were freed
from the control of feudal lords and gained liberty. The
town hall was in charge of the government of each city
and its surrounding territory.
Towns also had economic functions. Craft production
and commerce was concentrated in cities. The market
square was the main point for exchanges.

How did towns form?

Towns had to be safe. Merchants would not come unless
they felt sure their goods were safe. So the lords built
wooden fences or walls around, them. At night, the gates
were locked to stop foreigners (outsiders) from getting in

How did towns form?

As towns grew in size and became prosperous they were

able to buy a charter, a document which gave them
freedom from the lord of the manor on whose land the
town had grown up.
By the 12th century, many lords of
the manor were short of money
and were glad to sell the rights of
the town to pay off their debts.
The town charter allowed the townsfolk to have a mayor,
whom they elected, and a law court of their own.

A typical town street

What jobs did people have in the towns?

Men of the same craft or trade lived in the same street,
and often gave their name to the street.

Look at the plan of the town. What sort of

occupations could you find there?

A MEDIEVAL TOWN?

A MEDIEVAL TOWN