Early European History

by Hutton Webster

192. GROWTH OF THE CITIES

THE CIVIC REVIVAL

Civilization has always had its home in the city. [1] The statement applies as well to medieval times as to the present day. Nothing marks more strongly the backwardness of the early Middle Ages than the absence of large and flourishing cities throughout western Europe. The growth of trade in the later Middle Ages led, however, to a civic revival beginning in the eleventh century. This change from rural to urban life was scarcely less significant for European history than the change from the feudal to the national state.

CITIES OF ROMAN ORIGIN

A number of medieval cities stood on the sites, and even within the walls, of Roman municipalities. Particularly in Italy, southern France, and Spain, and also in the Rhine and Danube regions, it seems that some ancient municipia had never been entirely destroyed during the Germanic invasions. They preserved their Roman names, their streets, aqueducts, amphitheaters, and churches, and possibly vestiges of their Roman institutions. Among them were such important centers as Milan, Florence, Venice, Lyons, Marseilles, Paris, Vienna, Cologne, London, and York.

ORIGIN OF THE OTHER CITIES

Many medieval cities were new foundations. Some rose to importance because of advantages of situation. A place where a river could be forded, where two roads met, or where a good harbor existed, would naturally become the resort of traders. Some, again, started as fortresses, behind whose ramparts the peasants took refuge when danger threatened. A third group of cities developed from villages on the manors. A thriving settlement was pretty sure to arise near a monastery or castle, which offered both protection and employment to the common people.

THE CITY AND FEUDALISM

The city at first formed part of the feudal system. It grew upon the territory of a feudal lord and naturally owed obedience to him. The citizens ranked not much higher than serfs, though they were traders and artisans instead of farmers. They enjoyed no political rights, for their lord collected the taxes, appointed officials, kept order, and punished offenders. In short, the city was not free.

[Illustration: WALLS OF CARCASSONNE The fortifications of Carcassonne an ancient city of southwestern France are probably unique in Europe for completeness and strength. They consist of a double line of ramparts protected by towers and pierced by only two gates. A part of the fortifications is attributed to the Visigoths in the sixth century, the remainder, including the castle, was raised during the Middle Ages (eleventh to thirteenth centuries)]

REVOLT OF THE CITIES

But the city from the first was the decided enemy of feudalism. [2] As its inhabitants increased in number and wealth, they became Revolt of conscious of their strength and refused to submit the cities to oppression. Sometimes they won their freedom by hard fighting, more often they purchased it, perhaps from some noble who needed money to go on a crusade. In France, England, and Spain, where the royal power was strong, the cities obtained exemption from their feudal burdens, but did not become entirely self-governing. In Germany and Italy, on the other hand, the weakness of the central government permitted many cities to secure complete independence. They became true republics, like the old Greek city-states. [3]

CHARTERS

The contract which the citizens extorted from their lord was known as a charter. It specified what taxes they should be required to pay and usually granted to them various privileges, such as those of holding assemblies, electing magistrates, and raising militia for local defense. The revolt of the cities gradually extended over all western Europe, so that at the end of the fourteenth century hardly any of them lacked a charter.

CIVIC FREEDOM

The free city had no room for either slaves or serfs. All servile conditions ceased inside its walls. The rule prevailed that anyone who had lived in a city for the term of a year and a day could no longer be claimed by a lord as his serf. This rule found expression in the famous saying: "Town air renders free."

RISE OF THE "THIRD ESTATE"

The freedom of the cities naturally attracted many immigrants to them. There came into existence a middle class of city people, between the nobles and clergy on the one side and the peasants on the other side—what the French call the bourgeoisie. [4] As we have [5] learned, the kings of England and France soon began to summon representatives of this middle class to sit in assemblies as the "third estate," by the side of the nobles and the clergy, who formed the first two estates. Henceforth the middle class, the bourgeoisie, the "third estate," distinguished as it was for wealth, intelligence, and enterprise, exerted an ever-greater influence on European affairs.

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193. CITY LIFE

A CITY FROM WITHOUT

The visitor approaching a medieval city through miles of open fields saw it clear in the sunlight, unobscured by coal smoke. From without it looked like a fortress, with walls, towers, gateways, drawbridges, and moat. Beyond the fortifications he would see, huddled together against the sky, the spires of the churches and the cathedral, the roofs of the larger houses, and the dark, frowning mass of the castle. The general impression would be one of wealth and strength and beauty.

A CITY FROM WITHIN

Once within the walls the visitor would not find things so attractive. The streets were narrow, crooked, and ill-paved, dark during the day because of the overhanging houses, and without illumination at night. There were no open spaces or parks except a small market place. The whole city was cramped by its walls, which shut out light, air, and view, and prevented expansion into the neighboring country. Medieval London, for instance, covered an area of less than one square mile. [6]

[Illustration: A SCENE IN ROTHENBURG]

UNSANITARY CONDITIONS

A city in the Middle Ages lacked all sanitary arrangements. The only water supply came from polluted streams and wells. There were no sewers and no sidewalks. People piled up their refuse in the backyard or flung it into the street, to be devoured by the dogs and pigs which served as scavengers. The holes in the pavement collected all manner of filth, and the unpaved lanes, in wet weather, became deep pits of mud. We can understand why the townspeople wore overshoes when they went out, and why even the saints in the pictures were represented with them on. The living were crowded together in many-storied houses, airless and gloomy; the dead were buried close at hand in crowded churchyards. Such unsanitary conditions must have been responsible for much of the sickness that was prevalent. The high death rate could only be offset by a birth rate correspondingly high, and by the constant influx of country people.

CIVIC REGULATIONS

Numerous petty regulations restricted the private life of the townspeople. The municipal authorities sometimes decided how many guests might be invited to weddings, how much might be spent on wedding presents, what different garments might be owned and worn by a citizen, and even the number of trees that might be planted in his garden. Each citizen had to serve his turn as watchman on the walls or in the streets at night. When the great bell in the belfry rang the "curfew," [7] at eight or nine o'clock, this was the signal for every one to extinguish lights and fires and go to bed. It was a useful precaution, since conflagrations were common enough in the densely packed wooden houses. After curfew the streets became deserted, except for the night watch making their rounds and the presence of occasional pedestrians carrying lanterns. The municipal government spent little or nothing on police protection, so that street brawls, and even robbery and murder, were not infrequent.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS

The inhabitants of the city took a just pride in their public buildings. The market place, where traders assembled, often contained a beautiful cross and sometimes a market hall to shelter goods from the weather. Not far away rose the city hall, [8] for the transaction of public business and the holding of civic feasts. The hall might be crowned by a high belfry with an alarm bell to summon citizens to mass meeting. Then there would be a number of churches and abbeys and, if the city was the capital of a bishop's diocese, an imposing cathedral.

MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT

The small size of medieval cities—few included as many as ten thousand inhabitants—simplified the problem of governing them. The leading merchants usually formed a council presided over by a head magistrate, the burgomaster [9] or mayor, [10] who was assisted by aldermen. [11] In some places the guilds chose the officials and managed civic affairs. These associations had many functions and held a most important place in city life.