How were medieval towns different from your towns today?

Answer 1

The question essentially equates to something like 'how are books different from schools?'. Society, in the medieval period as today, incorporates both the social constructs within which people live and the people themselves - it refers to the values, mores (that, is customs), religiosity, interests and institutions of an identified group of people. A town, then as now, is a physical locality that has been settled by people - it connotes a compact settled area, distinct from surrounding rural lands, which is not as large as a city but not so small as a village or hamlet. The concept of a society, if taken to mean the people themselves, can comprise towns - that is, people live in towns and people are part of society - but society also has many other facets.

In the medieval period the layout of a town would generally have been influenced by societal factors - manor towns had the manor as the central building, with demesne (manor-owned lands) surrounding it and then radiating out from there would have been communal lands and those tracts rented by serfs and villeins, as well as those owned by the wealthier peasants. Because of the importance of religion in society in the medieval period, a town would usually have had its own church, as distinct from hamlets (which likely were not large enough to have their own church) and smaller villages (which generally had a church in the vicinity but may perhaps have had to share it with a neighbouring village).

Answer 2

Modern cities in Europe still have the bits and parts of the older town. You can see these if you look carefully. Middle ages towns were with narrow streets, with buildings built up on both sides of the street. They were often built along waterways so they could use the water. Many times they centered outward from a church or plaza as the central part of town. There were the merchant areas where merchants lived over their shop and street names today reflect this history in many cities. Sometimes the buildings were so close and tall that they blocked the sun on the streets. Later, these areas are built over and become underground streets and a second level to the city. You can still see these today. Many cities have layers under them of history and if you are able to follow these down you can go as much as a 1000 years back.

Answer 3

medieval times and dirty roads and modern time roads had tarmac roads