CHAPTER III TOWN LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES IN the examination of the manor and the gild, the student gets a clear view of the life of the people of the Middle Ages so far as their economic activities were concerned, and these occupy a great part of the time and thought of the people in all ages. The mediæval town, however, was far more than the gild, and it enjoyed a political independence and self-sufficiency which were afterwards overshadowed by the growing authority and activity of the national government. In view of the recent developments in municipal affairs it is interesting to read the description of mediæval town. life which is to be found in Mrs. J. R. Green's volumes on that subject. 1. Provisions for Municipal Defence1 The inhabitants of a mediæval borough were subject to a discipline as severe as that of a military state of modern times. Threatened by enemies on every side, constantly surrounded by perils, they had themselves to bear the whole charges of fortification and defence. If a French fleet appeared on the coast, if Welsh or Scotch armies made a raid across the frontier, if civil war broke out and opposing forces marched across the country, every town had to look to its own safety. The inhabitants served under a system of universal conscription. At the muster-at-arms held twice a year poor and rich appeared in military array with such weapons as they could bring forth for the king's service: the poor marching with knife or dagger or hatchet; the prosperous burghers, bound according to mediæval ideas to live "after their degree," displaying mail or wadded coats, bucklers, bows and arrows, swords, or even a gun. At any moment this armed population might be called out to 1 Mrs. J. R. Green, Town Life in the Fifteenth Century, Vol. I, pp. 127 ff. By permission of Mrs. J. R. Green and The Macmillan Company, Publishers. clearly displays the effort after fraternal union: it is one ordaining that "those of the trade" shall aid a member who cannot finish work he has undertaken, "so that the said work be not lost." BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE Gross, The Gild Merchant. Hibbert, Influence and Development of English Gilds (Cambridge Historical Essays). Seligman, Two Chapters on the Mediaval Gilds of England. Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce 1906 edition, Vol. I, consult Table of Contents. Smith, T. J., English Gilds (Early English Text Society), valuable for original gild ordinances. Kramer, The English Craft Gilds and the Government. Translations and Reprints, Vol. II, No. 2, for an excellent collection of illustrative materials CHAPTER III TOWN LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES In the examination of the manor and the gild, the student gets a clear view of the life of the people of the Middle Ages so far as their economic activities were concerned, and these occupy a great part of the time and thought of the people in all ages. The mediæval town, however, was far more than the gild, and it enjoyed a political independence and self-sufficiency which were afterwards overshadowed by the growing authority and activity of the national government. In view of the recent developments in municipal affairs it is interesting to read the description of medieval town life which is to be found in Mrs. J. R. Green's volumes on that subject. 1 1. Provisions for Municipal Defence 1 The inhabitants of a mediæval borough were subject to a discipline as severe as that of a military state of modern times. Threatened by enemies on every side, constantly surrounded by perils, they had themselves to bear the whole charges of fortification and defence. If a French fleet appeared on the coast, if Welsh or Scotch armies made a raid across the frontier, if civil war broke out and opposing forces marched across the country, every town had to look to its own safety. The inhabitants served under a system of universal conscription. At the muster-at-arms held twice a year poor and rich appeared in military array with such weapons as they could bring forth for the king's service: the poor marching with knife or dagger or hatchet; the prosperous burghers, bound according to medieval ideas to live "after their degree," displaying mail or wadded coats, bucklers, bows and arrows, swords, or even a gun. At 1 any moment this armed population might be called out to Mrs. J. R. Green, Town Life in the Fifteenth Century, Vol. I, pp. 127 ff. By permission of Mrs. J. R. Green and The Macmillan Company, Pub lishers. clearly displays the effort after fraternal union: it is one ordaining that "those of the trade" shall aid a member who cannot finish work he has undertaken, “so that the said work be not lost." BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE Gross, The Gild Merchant. Hibbert, Influence and Development of English Gilds (Cambridge Historical Essays). Seligman, Two Chapters on the Mediaval Gilds of England. Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and Commerce 1906 edition, Vol. I, consult Table of Contents. Smith, T. J., English Gilds (Early English Text Society), valuable for original gild ordinances. Kramer, The English Craft Gilds and the Government. Transla tions and Reprints, Vol. II, No. 2, for an excellent collection of illustrative materials CHAPTER III TOWN LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES In the examination of the manor and the gild, the student gets a clear view of the life of the people of the Middle Ages so far as their economic activities were concerned, and these occupy a great part of the time and thought of the people in all ages. The mediæval town, however, was far more than the gild, and it enjoyed a political independence and self-sufficiency which were afterwards overshadowed by the growing authority and activity of the national government. In view of the recent developments in municipal affairs it is interesting to read the description of medieval town' life which is to be found in Mrs. J. R. Green's volumes on that subject. 1. Provisions for Municipal Defence1 The inhabitants of a mediæval borough were subject to a discipline as severe as that of a military state of modern times. Threatened by enemies on every side, constantly surrounded by perils, they had themselves to bear the whole charges of fortification and defence. If a French fleet appeared on the coast, if Welsh or Scotch armies made a raid across the frontier, if civil war broke out and opposing forces marched across the country, every town had to look to its own safety. The inhabitants served under a system of universal conscription. At the muster-at-arms held twice a year poor and rich appeared in military array with such weapons as they could bring forth for the king's service: the poor marching with knife or dagger or hatchet; the prosperous burghers, bound according to mediæval ideas to live "after their degree," displaying mail or wadded coats, bucklers, bows and arrows, swords, or even a gun. At any moment this armed population might be called out to Mrs. J. R. Green, Town Life in the Fifteenth Century, Vol. I, pp. 127 ff. By permission of Mrs. J. R. Green and The Macmillan Company, Publishers. |