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MOOC Cities are back in town

Patrick Le Gals

The golden age of late medieval cities

Week 2
The golden age of late medieval cities is a european myth associating the city with civility and
urbanity. They were the crucible of european modern societies, the dynamic actors of the first trade
capitalism, original social, economic and political structures.
Europe did not make much sense for a long time, it was the periphery of the mediterranean world.
Indeed, Europe rose as Rome fell . After the decline of the Roman empire, the little western part
of the Asian continent is remotely organised by the remains of the roman infrastructure (roads,
towns), the organisation of the Catholic church (abbeys, bishoprics) and the chaotic medieval
political and social order.
In the aftermath of the new millenium (ie after year 1000), three sets of transformation paved the
way for the emergence of european cities and their economic development :

the end of the barbarian invasions from the East, leaving uncertain frontiers on the east.

source : http://academic.udayton.edu/williamschuerman/Germanic_Migrations.jpg

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MOOC Cities are back in town

Patrick Le Gals

the progressive separation between the oriental christian church in Byzance and the Catholic
world in the west.

source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Expansion_of_christianity.jpg

source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Great_Schism_1054_with_former_borders.png

Sciences Po

MOOC Cities are back in town

Patrick Le Gals

the first agricultural revolution. The last one is particularly crucial as the rise of agricultural
surplus allowed a growing number of people to leave the land and provided the base for
urban markets.

The great historian Lucien Fevre gives an eloquent account of the making of Cities at the heart of
Europe : "The true Europe was the Europe of cities in the middle of the countryside, the Europe that
finally came into being from the 12th century, a Europe that was not just covered with a sprinkling of
little white churches, but a Europe covered with a tapestry of cities, real cities, cities that were not
just fortresses, not just granaries and centres of rural administration. These were real cities, with their
municipal statutes and their burghers; burghers who were first and foremost merchants, and
merchants who were warriors, men of moral fibre and remarkable depth, always on the move, always
with some plan on the go, always ready to set off on an adventure or a trading expedition, weapon in
hand; men with an irrepressible energy that neither natural nor mental barriers, nor scruples of any
kind, could halt; men of remarkable vigour who enriched humanity with a new species, the merchantconqueror, and who already had their own spirit, an attitude to gain that we call the capitalist
approach, but also a spirit of criticism and of rationalism, somewhat terse, opposed to any mysticism;
realistic and calculating, they wore away their original prejudices by rubbing them up against other
prejudices ..." (Fevre, 1945 lectures, 1999: 155).

The making of urban Europe between the 10th and the 15th century was the result of several factors
: The development of trade and commerce around the mediterranee on the one hand, around the
Baltic and the North sea on the others was the first engine of urbanisation. The first capitalism of

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MOOC Cities are back in town

Patrick Le Gals

trade supported the rise of merchants, burgers, craftsmen, traders, shopkeepers and various
artisans.

source : https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Late_Medieval_Trade_Routes.jpg

Trade between the north and the south of Europe or between Venise, Genoa, Barcelona and
Byzance, or even China (remember Marco Polo), supported wealth creation and urban development.
The Europe of cities that emerged in the 12th century is a europe of trading cities within and beyond
Europe. China has more and larger cities than Europe.

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MOOC Cities are back in town

Patrick Le Gals

source : http://www.emersonkent.com/images/marco_polo_travels.jpg
But there is more than trade, production for instance. Also, some old urban settlements from the
roman empire took on to become dynamic european cities. The Catholic church also played a role
sinced its terrritorial organisation ensured the permanence of smaller cities, for a time the religious
authorities were to fulfill the tasks of framing and organizing societies. Other cities were sometime
created at a stroke by princes, or for strategic reasons (New castle), or became the centre of
emerging ruling monarch like the Angevins king in Napoli or monarch of France and England in Paris
and London.
By the end of the 15th century, Europe had 150 cities with more than 10.000 inhabitants. This urban
backbone of Europe is still there today. Of the 150 cities identified in 1500, only three were in
England (London, Norwich and Bristol). The absence of major regional centres has been a
characteristic of the British Isles, although England had a tight network of small market towns and
fairs. Spain (apart from Barcelona, Valencia and some cities in Aragon), Portugal and Western France
(with the exception of Bordeaux) were also isolated. It would take the opening-up of America to give
new impetus to Europes Atlantic shore. Scandinavia had several major cities, but the heart of Europe
beat first in Italy and in the Southern Netherlands (Antwerp, Bruges, etc.), which were the two most
urbanized regions because they were the most dynamic in their pursuit of early capitalism.
Physically, the medieval society was characterised by a citadel, an enclosing wall and a market place,
a built up area around a focal point, administrative and public buildings, churches, monuments,
squares areas for commerce and trade, and development radiating from the centre. The creation of
belfries, campaniles, public buildings, cathedrals and numerous palaces, new districts and
neighbourhoods. The rapid urbanisation led to intense construction of roads and squares and
buildings as the population was growing, attracting those who left the feodal condition in the
countryside. Hospitals, prisons, parvises, harbours and walls were also erected.

Sciences Po

MOOC Cities are back in town

Patrick Le Gals

At the change of the millenium, the largest european cities are in southern Europe, Cordova
(450.000), Palermo (350.000), Sevilla, Salerno or Rome. Larger cities around the Mediterranee
include Cairo, Constantinople (now Istanbul) not to mention further away the then immense
Baghdad. By 1200, Florence, Paris, Venise, Cologne or Ypres in Belgium (today) are developing fast
while the old one are in relative decline. By 1500, leading european cities have been shaped by trade
(and kingdoms sometimes) hence the leading role of Paris, Naples, Milan, Venice, Granada, Prague,
Lisbon and cities around the North Sea. Trade and exchange have been central in the making of the
old and lasting European urban map.

source : http://faculty.cua.edu/pennington/churchhistory220/Lecture%20Seven/Trade1500.htm