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The Medieval City: City Air Makes One Free

The Medieval City: City Air Makes One Free. The Culture of Cities Monday, February 27/2006. SOSC 2730. Selected Civilizations. Troyes, France. A Medieval Trade Centre. Count Henri I “Le Liberal” (1152-81). major construction work was undertaken

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The Medieval City: City Air Makes One Free

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  1. The Medieval City:City Air Makes One Free The Culture of Cities Monday, February 27/2006 SOSC 2730

  2. Selected Civilizations

  3. Troyes, France A Medieval Trade Centre

  4. Count Henri I “Le Liberal” (1152-81) • major construction work was undertaken • enlarging the ramparts, new canals, a new palace • new churches built • Sainte Madeleine, Saint Nicolas, Saint Pantaléon • new gates welcomed European merchants • the Count and the Countess Marie encouraged a new artistic trend • Chrestien de Troyes and other scholars, artists, theologians were received at their Court • Marie became Regent for 13 years, until her death (1181-98) • 1190, first council of Troyes was created, managed by “bourgeois” and a mayor

  5. Florence, Italy Economic Consolidation

  6. Metropolitanism • urban economic dominance • NSB Gras • trade • local, long-distance • manufacturing • finance

  7. Florence, Italy • Florence had rapidly become one of the foremost cities of Europe • Florence1250 a second-tier city rapidly on the rise

  8. Florence, Italy • bustling with a large immigrant population • new money • extensive new construction • growing wealth • expanding suburbs

  9. Florence, Italy • surpassing its rivals • Pisa, Arezzo, Siena, Lucca • economic & political prominence • 1300 population 100,000 • only Paris was more populated • pace of demographic & economic growth was startling

  10. Florence, Italy • 1200 Florence had controlled little of its immediate countryside (contado) • in 50 years 1250-1300 this changed • banking companies

  11. Florence, Italy • by 1328 a series of political reforms • a more stable institutional structure created • the ruling elite that now governed the Commune was steadier than before

  12. Florence, Italy • by the 1320s Florence had become a centre for the manufacture of fine luxury textiles • a regime and civic culture bent on territorial expansion

  13. Florence, Italy • population swelled • newcomers from the countryside seeking employment in the large industrial enterprises • the streets seemed full of • poor, homeless, seasonally employed • 10% of the population was destitute in the midst of this growing prosperity

  14. Florence, Italy • Florentine culture • a paradox embedded in the religious environment of the city • pride in a prosperous Florence as a chosen city of God • disdain for the vices of greed & arrogance that had helped transform it so rapidly

  15. Florence, Italy • city divided between • rich & poor, insiders & outsiders

  16. Florence, Italy • how did this city — which in 1250 had scarcely expanded beyond the limits of the Roman walls—rapidly become by 1330 one of the most affluent, culturally dynamic, and politically powerful cities on the continent?

  17. Florence, Italy • its ability to dominate lesser cities militarily • its success at compelling Pisa to grant freedom of commerce into and out of its port (after 1254) • its close connections to the Roman papacy • its successful pursuit of a policy of “urban colonialism”

  18. Florence, Italy • its control of credit and capital flows that forced other communes into economic dependence

  19. Florence, Italy • two things developed in Florence & nowhere else in Tuscany • an advanced export-oriented textile industry • highly productive and efficient agricultural sector

  20. Florence, Italy • Florentine gold coin the florin • preferred currency of international trade • as a result • Florence controlled more of its surrounding territory than did Genoa or Venice • supplies of raw materials & labour

  21. Florence, Italy • Florentine merchants were apparently more prudent in their investments than were their counterparts • tended to counterbalance their riskier ventures with substantial expenditures in land

  22. Florence, Italy • Florentine Church, as an institution, had a role in this rapid and stunning transformation • 1250-1330 ecclesiastical institutions, personnel • promoted and facilitated the rapid ascent of Florence to a position of continental prominence & influence

  23. Florence, Italy • social and economic support to those who had been adversely affected by the transformation, those excluded from the prosperity associated with it

  24. Florence, Italy • significantly contributed to and benefited from the development of the region • food production, charity, shelter for the poor, the marginal, • urban development

  25. The Black Death(Bubonic Plague) 1346-51

  26. one third of the population dies in a five year period

  27. Social Instability

  28. Consequences • labour shortages • beakdown of feudalism • beginnings of Western capitalism • accumulation of wealth • weakening of the Church • the role of cities strengthened

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