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Medieval towns developed at crossroads along trails, roadways, and streams, where there was water to power mills or provide for local artisans, shops, and merchants. The town was also usually in a location where it could be protected and defended, sometimes close to a castle.

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In the Middle Ages, a town was often defined as a community with a permanent market, but without a cathedral, which made it a city. A permanent market required a royal charter, and so there were not very many towns. In fact, at one time during the reign of William the Conqueror, only eight charters existed for market towns, so legally there were only eight towns in England.

Kings wanted the economies of the towns to be healthy, so they did not allow them to be too close together. The result of this was that, while towns were placed at bridges, crossroads, harbors, and so on, the specific sites for the markets were rather arbitrarily chosen by the kings.

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Edwin Mitchell

Lvl 13
3y ago

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