How were medieval towns founded?

Answer 1

Medieval towns were groupings of buildings, businesses, residences, and official structured like churches that existed during the middle ages.

In other words, medieval towns were towns that existed during the middle ages.

Answer 2

What constituted a town varied from one place to another, and from one time to another. In general, however, there were the following types of communities:

• Hamlet, which was a group of houses, but no church.
• Village, which had one church, but no permanent market or town hall.
• Town, which had a permanent market or town hall. It could have more than one church, but no cathedral.
• City, which had the things towns had, but also had a cathedral.

The key issue defining a town was the presence of the permanent market. Early in the Norman period of England, a permanent market required a royal charter, and there were only eight towns in England because there were only eight charters for town markets. Other towns got charters quickly, however, and the number grew with the increase in charters.

People who ran businesses in the market were shop owners, or middle class. Among the first businesses to open were food stalls, because most people /in towns could not afford to have their own kitchens. Bakers were nearly always present, as were butchers. In some places, fresh fish were available. In others, merchants sold salt fish that had been brought in.

Inns opened, and offices for local officials. Nearly all towns, and even many villages, also had public baths where people could bathe in warm or hot water.

Crafts developed into manufacturing businesses, with the work often being distributed to the homes and farms of workers. Cottage industries included spinning and weaving. Potters were present all over. Soap makers were common, as were candle makers; sometimes the two crafts were combined. Also, cobblers, clothiers, cloth merchants, jewelers, money lenders, and other crafts and trades people established their businesses.

Poorer people lived in boarding houses and tenements. Wealthier people had their homes and servants.

By modern standards, most streets were quite narrow. I would be cautious about believing they were necessarily filthy or smelly, however, because medieval people tried to stay clean for reasons of both religion and health. They believed that cleanliness was next to godliness, and foul air spread diseases.

Many communities had large squares where people could assemble for various purposes. In many places they often had music and dancing. Medieval instruments included some that were built to be played out doors - Bagpipes being one example. The bagpipes were not built just for war and parades, but included varieties that could play popular music for dancing. There were also flutes and pipes played with drums, a number of different kinds of horns made mostly of wood, and other instruments, such as harps and lutes.

Religious processions also were important outdoor activities. And these had instruments and music of their own. The medieval portative organ was one. It was rather like an Accordion, in a way, except that it had organ pipes based on whistles rather than reeds, and it looked like a miniature pipe organ. Most of the instruments used for secular music were also used for church music. But not bagpipes.

Games were important pastimes. We all seem to know about tournaments and jousting. Football was a favorite game also, however, and could include anyone, not just knights. It was sometimes played in town squares, and was anarchic enough that in some forms no one bothered to count the number of players on each side. Probably best to stay out of the way unless you were young, strong, or foolish.

Theater was important in the Middle Ages, and companies of performers went from one place to another. Performances were usually out doors, and there were no theater buildings as such. In some places, theatrical performances could be done in the local church, if the content was correct.

And, of course, it was not all fun and games. People worked hard and grumbled about low pay, just as they do today, though possibly with more reason in those days.

Answer 3

In the Middle Ages, a village was generally a community with a church, but no permanent market. It could have a fair, which provided the function of a market, but only once in a while.

A community with no church was a hamlet. Since the Church wanted everyone to go to church services, they tried to get churches into every community they could, so hamlets tended to be only very small communities, and tended to be places with a village within walking distance.

A town had a market. In most places, this required a royal charter, because the monarchs wanted not to have markets competing with one another unnecessarily. Towns usually also had town halls, town officers, and possibly some industry.

Cities were originally towns that had cathedrals in them.

Answer 4

Clearly, a town is bigger than a village and smaller than a city. But in the Middle Ages, the meaning of each of the words was legally defined.

Immediately after the Norman conquest, an English town was defined as a group of dwellings that had a permanent market. It was usually smaller than a city, which was defined as the site of a cathedral. Since permanent markets required a royal charter, there were very few official towns at first. Later, more towns got charters for markets, but also the definition of a town changed so that other villages qualified to be called towns, In addition to market towns, any village became a town when it got a second church, permanent town officers, or a town hall.

A city was not necessarily larger than a town. The original difference was that a city had a cathedral in it. St. David's, a city in Wales, has never been large enough to be even a medium sized town without its cathedral. Cities were generally larger, however. The presence of a cathedral often implied the presence of an important monastery and a large school, along with the episcopal offices.

Towns were the homes of merchants and a variety of people working in trades or crafts. Carpenters, cobblers, butchers, bakers, physicians, vendors of prepared food, and all sorts of other people would live in towns.

The houses often had several floors. Since chimneys were not invented until the 11th or 12th century, there were no fireplaces as we know them until after that. A fire was built on the first floor, and the central part of a house often had a multistory opening that went to the roof, so the smoke would rise and escape. Laborers lived in small rooms and did not have their own heat. People did not usually have their own kitchens unless they were wealthy.

Larger towns were sometimes fortified with walls. People often built houses in or against the walls.

Town governments in some parts of Europe were republican, and these were often controlled by guilds. Medieval republican towns are called Medieval Communes, and they were governed to benefit the mercantile class. Such towns often made treaties independently of the countries they were in, and the towns could band together into international leagues, such as the Hanseatic league, which rivaled countries for power and had its own military.

The towns of the Middle Ages were generally clean. There are records of people being fined for leaving refuse in the street, though gray water was allowed to go into the gutter, since it was unlikely to get smelly. The people of the time believed that diseases were carried by bad air, and that cleanliness was next to godliness. Medieval towns had public baths where people could get themselves clean.

There were wells, and some towns had water infrastructure delivering clean stream water to places where people could get it. Poor people often took water from rivers, and this lead to epidemics.

There are a number of links below to pictures of medieval town, streets, and town houses.

Answer 5

Medieval towns were founded out of villages. A village became a town when it was given a charter for a permanent market place. Villages had fairs, but they were only temporary. In order to have a permanent market, a community had to have a royal charter. The reason for this was so the markets would not be too close together.

Answer 6

The characteristics of a Medieval town are dirty, cramped, and busy places