The Emergence of Early Modern Europe^23

In the cottage (domestic) industry, merchant-capitalists put out spinning, weaving,

and other work into the countryside. Here a woman is spinning in her home.

Some craftsmen worked outside the walls of cities or in the countryside
to avoid guild monopolies and specifications on wages and piece rates.
Likewise, merchant-capitalists who owned raw materials put out spinning,
weaving (sometimes renting out looms), and other work into the country­
side, where labor was cheaper. Rural production spread rapidly in northern
Italy, the Netherlands, northern France, and England between 1450 and

1550. Hundreds of thousands of peasants produced woolen or linen yarn
      or wove it into cloth; then urban workers dyed, bleached, or shrunk the
      cloth, which merchants then sold. This “cottage industry” (also sometimes
      called “domestic industry”) would remain an important part of the manu­
      facturing process well into the nineteenth century.

The Growth of Towns

During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, European towns grew rapidly

in both number and size, reflecting economic development and increased

security in medieval Europe. Fortified stone ramparts, gates, and towers gave

towns unique visible characteristics. Towns were the residence of most

courts (including municipal courts), hospitals, and fraternal associations,

such as religious confraternities and guilds. Town halls and churches were

the cornerstones of the medieval towns. In addition to the “bourgeois” or

“burghers” (townspeople), most towns had a relatively large number of

clergy living within their walls, ministering to the needs of the population or

living a cloistered existence in convents and monasteries.

Most major towns in Europe were founded before 1300. In Poland, about

200 new towns were created between 1450 and 1550, adding to the 450

already in existence. Northern Italy and the Low Countries had the densest