Western Civilization

that only members of the wealthiest and most power-

ful families, who came to be called the patricians, were

elected.

City governments kept close watch over the activities

of their community. To care for the welfare of the com-

munity, a government might regulate air and water pol-

lution; provide water barrels and delegate responsibility

to people in every section of the town to fight fires,

which were an ever-present danger; construct ware-

houses to stockpile grain in the event of food emergen-

cies; and set the standards of weights and measures

used in the various local industries. Urban crime was

not a major problem in the towns of the High Middle

Ages because their relatively small size made it difficult

for criminals to operate openly. Nevertheless, medieval

urban governments did organize town guards to patrol

the streets by night and the city walls by day. People

caught committing criminal acts were quickly tried for

their offenses. Serious offenses, such as murder, were

punished by execution, usually by hanging. Lesser crimes

were punished by fines, flogging, or branding.

Medieval cities remained relatively small in compari-

son with either ancient or modern cities. A large trad-

ing city would have about 5,000 inhabitants. By 1300,

London was the largest city in England, with 80,000

people or more. On the continent north of the Alps,

only a few great urban centers of commerce, such as

Bruges and Ghent, had a population close to 40,000.

Italian cities tended to be larger, with Venice, Florence,

Genoa, Milan, and Naples numbering almost 100,000

inhabitants each. Even the largest European city, how-

ever, seemed insignificant alongside the Byzantine capi-

tal of Constantinople or the Arab cities of Damascus,

Baghdad, and Cairo. For a long time to come, Europe

remained predominantly rural, but in the long run, the

rise of towns and the growth of trade laid the founda-

tions for the eventual transformation of Europe from a

rural agricultural society to an urban industrial one.

Life in the Medieval City

Medieval towns were surrounded by stone walls that

were expensive to build, so the space within was precious

and tightly filled. This gave medieval cities their charac-

teristic appearance of narrow, winding streets with the

houses crowded against each other and the second and

third stories of the dwellings built out over the streets.

Because buildings were constructed mostly of wood

before the fourteenth century and candles and wood

fires were used for light and heat, the danger of fire was

great. Medieval cities burned rapidly once a fire started.

Most of the people who lived in cities were mer-

chants involved in trade and artisans engaged in manu-

facturing of some kind (see Images of Everyday Life on

p. 210). Generally, merchants and artisans had their

own sections within a city. The merchant area included

warehouses, inns, and taverns. Artisan sections were

usually divided along craft lines; each craft had its own

street where its activity was pursued.

The physical environment of many medieval cities

was not pleasant. They were often dirty and rife with

smells from animal and human wastes deposited in

backyard privies or on the streets. Air pollution was

also a fact of life, not only from the ubiquitous wood

fires but also from the burning of coal, a cheap fuel

that was employed industrially by lime burners, brew-

ers, and dyers, as well as by poor people who could not

afford to purchase wood. Cities were also unable to

stop water pollution, especially from the tanning and

animal-slaughtering industries. Butchers dumped blood

diversity takes place in the way of dress, furniture,

vessels, and household equipment. Such are the

townsmen, who earn their living in industry or

trade.

Q What did the biographer of Godric and Ibn

Khaldun see as valuable in mercantile activity? What

reservations did they have about trade? How are

the two perspectives alike? How are they different,

and how do you explain the differences? What

generalizations can you make about Christian and

Muslim attitudes toward trade?

Sources:Life of Saint Godric. From Reginald of Durham, “Life of St. Godric,” in G. G. Coulton, ed.,Social Life in Britain from the Conquest to the Reformation(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,

1918), pp. 415–20. Ibn Khaldun,Prolegomena. FromAn Arab Philosophy of History, ed. and trans. by Charles Issawi. New York: Darwin Press, 1987. Reprinted by permission of the Darwin Press.

The New World of Trade and Cities 209

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