Life in Medieval Towns

4.1 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

4.2 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 lord’s feudal rights and his demands for taxes

as the town became wealthier• No longer needed the lord’s 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

4.3 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

4.4 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

4.3 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

4.6 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

4.7 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 person’s 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

Punishment• 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

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

4.8 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 man’s 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