3. Find the reasons for the rise and growth of the following: London, York, Paris, St. Omer, Lille, St. Denis, Lyons, Bruges, St. Cloud. [Use a geography and the encyclopedia.]
4. Starting from the statements in the text, that in a manor of 100 inhabitants the only specialists were perhaps miller and smith, try to think of specialists who would appear as the group grew in size to 1,000; to 10,000; to 100,000; to 1,000,000. For example, when would the following appear: watch-maker, artificial limb-maker, shoe-maker, saddler? [The business directory of a city may supply helpful suggestions.]
5. How has the growth of cities in the U. S. affected the agriculture of the surrounding districts and the welfare of the farmers?
6. Compare the size of medieval towns with that of towns and villages familiar to you, and try to realize the conditions if all the larger cities were swept off the map. [See Abstract of the Census of U. S. giving the population of all places having 2,500 or more inhabitants, arranged by States.]
7. (a) Make a list of the ten or fifteen largest towns in modern England. [Statesman’s Year-Book, index, England, cities and towns.] (b) Compare this with a list of towns in early times and discover what large towns are of recent origin. [Cheyney, English towns, pp. 35-39. Beware of the large figures of population, p. 38; they are misleading.]
8. Write a report on the economic and social life of a medieval town. [See M. D. Harris, Life, or the original local customs in Cheyney, English towns, pp. 2-6.]
9. Write a similar report on the merchant gilds. [Harris, Life, chap. 7; Cheyney, English towns, pp. 12-20.]
10. Reviewing the list of trades in the text, try to realize how the people managed in the manorial period, when professional specialists in these trades were lacking.
11. Study the list of craft gilds in York, 1415; find from dictionary and encyclopædia the meaning of each trade mentioned; arrange them in classes, as for example: food, clothing, building utensils, personal service, etc. [Cheyney, English towns, pp. 29-32.]
12. Write a report on the town artisans and the craft gilds. [Harris, Life, chap. 13; Cheyney, English towns, pp. 21-29.]