Medieval Towns and villages

1
Medieval Towns and villages
700 - 1500 CE

• By Laura Romberg, Sylvia Kim, Marissa
  Greenawalt, Debbie Yim, and Jingyu Lee

2
Medieval Towns and villages

• End of Roman Empire
• Towns Rebuilt by German Barbarians
• Places easily accessible
• Water supply
• Drinking,
• Disposal of sewage

3
Medieval Village and towns

• Needs for lands
• Cutting forests
• Draining marshes
• Poor manufacture
• Focus more on farming

4
How they protected?

• The towns
• packed together
• large fences built around them
• thick high walls
• river
• Oaths of allegiance for protection
• Knights and citizens had sworn for the military
  service
• Defend castle

5
Economics

• Expanding farms
• Peddlers (merchants) sold many products
• All society participated in commercial
• Wealthy business man

6
Economics

• Increasing trade
• More easily accessible goods
• Large amount of products in cheap price

7
Role of the guild

• Trade organization
• Worked as professional community
• Regulated production
• Opposed foreign competition
• Sold in fair price
• Separate entities with legal status
• Existed in various politics
  and economic setting
• Help balance between Employees

8
Local government/ Relationships

• Small communities around a central king for
  protection
• King distribute the land (manors) to nobles
• King received the loyalty and troops from nobles

• Patron-clients relationships between towns and
  aristocracy

9
People in the towns

• Knights
• military service
• From 21 years old
• Bishops
• Leaders of the church, served under the pope
• Supervised the churchs priests,
• Peasants
• worked for the lord
• Household chores cleaning, cooking, laundering
• Artisans, masons,
• Responsible for building cathedrals, hospitals,
  universities, castles, and build halls

10
Tax and medieval life

• A lot of taxes
• Specialized taxes
• General taxes
• Voluntary gifts
• Merchants paid more taxes than others
• Abuse of Tax collectors
• People were illiterate
• Tax system was opened to corruption