The decisive point in the transition European countries from early feudal society to the established system of feudal relations is the 11th century. A characteristic feature of developed feudalism was the emergence and flourishing of cities as centers of craft and trade, centers of commodity production. Medieval cities had a huge impact on the economy of the village and contributed to the growth of productive forces in agriculture.

The dominance of subsistence farming in the early Middle Ages

In the first centuries of the Middle Ages, subsistence farming almost reigned supreme in Europe. Peasant family She herself produced agricultural products and handicrafts (tools and clothing; not only for her own needs, but also for paying quitrent to the feudal lord. The combination of rural labor with industrial labor is a characteristic feature of the natural economy. Only a small number of artisans (household people) who did not or almost Those who were not engaged in agriculture were present on the estates of large feudal lords. There were also very few peasant artisans who lived in the village and were specially engaged in some kind of craft along with agriculture - blacksmithing, pottery, leatherworking, etc.

The exchange of products was very insignificant. It was reduced primarily to trade in such rare but important household items that could be obtained only in a few points (iron, tin, copper, salt, etc.), as well as luxury items that were not then produced in Europe and were imported from East (silk fabrics, expensive jewelry, well-crafted weapons, spices, etc.). This exchange was carried out mainly by traveling merchants (Byzantines, Arabs, Syrians, etc.). The production of products specifically designed for sale was almost not developed, and only a very small part of agricultural products was received in exchange for goods brought by merchants.

Of course, in the early Middle Ages there were cities that had survived from antiquity or had arisen again and were either administrative centers, either fortified points (fortresses - burgs), or church centers (residences of archbishops, bishops, etc.). However, with the almost undivided dominance of the natural economy, when craft activities had not yet been separated from agricultural ones, all these cities were not and could not be the center of crafts and trade. True, in some cities of the early Middle Ages already in the 8th-9th centuries. handicraft production developed and there were markets, but this did not change the overall picture.

Creating prerequisites for the separation of crafts from agriculture

No matter how slow the development of productive forces was in the early Middle Ages, by the X-XI centuries. V economic life Europe has undergone important changes. They were expressed in the change and development of technology and craft skills, in the differentiation of its branches. Certain crafts have improved significantly: mining, smelting and processing of metals, primarily blacksmithing and weaponry; manufacturing of fabrics, especially cloth; leather treatment; production of more advanced clay products using a potter's wheel; milling, construction, etc.

The division of crafts into new branches, the improvement of production techniques and labor skills required further specialization of the artisan. But such specialization was incompatible with the situation in which the peasant found himself, running his own farm and working simultaneously as a farmer and as an artisan. It was necessary to transform crafts from ancillary production in agriculture into an independent branch of the economy.

The other side of the process that prepared the separation of craft from Agriculture, there was progress in the development of agriculture and cattle breeding. With the improvement of tools and methods of soil cultivation, especially with the widespread adoption of the iron plow, as well as two-field and three-field systems, there was a significant increase in labor productivity in agriculture. The area of ​​cultivated land has increased; Forests were cleared and new land masses were plowed up. Internal colonization played a big role in this - the settlement and economic development of new areas. As a result of all these changes in agriculture, the quantity and variety of agricultural products increased, the time for their production decreased, and, consequently, the surplus product appropriated by feudal landowners increased. A certain surplus over consumption began to remain in the hands of the peasant. This made it possible to exchange part of agricultural products for products of specialist artisans.

The emergence of medieval cities as centers of crafts and trade

Thus, approximately by the X-XI centuries. everyone appeared in Europe the necessary conditions to separate crafts from agriculture. At the same time, the craft, small industrial production based on manual labor, separated from agriculture, went through a number of stages in its development.

The first of these was the production of products to order from the consumer, when the material could belong to both the consumer-customer and the artisan himself, and payment for labor was made either in kind or in money. Such a craft could exist not only in the city; it was also widespread in the countryside, being an addition to the peasant economy. However, when a craftsman worked to order, commodity production did not yet arise, because the product of labor did not appear on the market. Next stage in the development of crafts was already associated with the artisan’s entry into the market. This was a new and important phenomenon in the development of feudal society.

A craftsman specially engaged in the manufacture of handicraft products could not exist if he did not turn to the market and did not receive there the agricultural products he needed in exchange for his products. But by producing products for sale on the market, the artisan became a commodity producer. Thus, the emergence of crafts, isolated from agriculture, meant the emergence of commodity production and commodity relations, the emergence of exchange between city and countryside and the emergence of opposition between them.

Craftsmen, who gradually emerged from the mass of the enslaved and feudally dependent rural population, sought to leave the village, escape from the power of their masters and settle where they could find the most favorable conditions to sell their products, to run their own independent craft business. The flight of peasants from the village led directly to the formation medieval cities as centers of crafts and trade.

Peasant artisans who left and fled from the village settled in different places depending on the availability of favorable conditions for practicing their craft (possibility of selling products, proximity to sources of raw materials, relative safety, etc.). Craftsmen often chose as their place of settlement precisely those points that played the role of administrative, military and church centers in the early Middle Ages. Many of these points were fortified, which provided the artisans with the necessary security. The concentration of a significant population in these centers - feudal lords with their servants and numerous retinues, clergy, representatives of the royal and local administration, etc. - created favorable conditions for artisans to sell their products here. Craftsmen also settled near large feudal estates, estates, and castles, the inhabitants of which could become consumers of their goods. Craftsmen also settled near the walls of monasteries, where many people flocked on pilgrimage, in settlements located at the intersection of important roads, at river crossings and bridges, at river mouths, on the banks of bays, bays, convenient for ships, etc. Despite the differences in the places where they arose, all these settlements of artisans became centers of population engaged in the production of handicrafts for sale, centers of commodity production and exchange in feudal society.

Cities played a vital role in the development of the internal market under feudalism. Expanding, albeit slowly, handicraft production and trade, they drew both master's and peasant economies into commodity circulation and thereby contributed to the development of productive forces in agriculture, the emergence and development of commodity production in it, and the growth of the internal market in the country.

Population and appearance of cities

In Western Europe, medieval cities first appeared in Italy (Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Naples, Amalfi, etc.), as well as in the south of France (Marseille, Arles, Narbonne and Montpellier), since here, starting from the 9th century. the development of feudal relations led to a significant increase in productive forces and the separation of crafts from agriculture.

One of the favorable factors that contributed to the development of Italian and southern French cities was the trade relations of Italy and southern France with Byzantium and the East, where there were numerous and flourishing craft and trading centers that had survived from antiquity. Rich cities with developed handicraft production and lively trade activities were cities such as Constantinople, Thessalonica (Thessalonica), Alexandria, Damascus and Bakhdad. Even richer and more populous, with an extremely high level of material and spiritual culture for that time, were the cities of China - Chang'an (Xi'an), Luoyang, Chengdu, Yangzhou, Guangzhou (Canton) and the cities of India - Kanyakubja (Kanauj), Varanasi (Benares) , Ujjain, Surashtra (Surat), Tanjore, Tamralipti (Tamluk), etc. As for medieval cities in Northern France, the Netherlands, England, South-West Germany, along the Rhine and along the Danube, their emergence and development relate only to X and XI centuries.

In Eastern Europe ancient cities, which early began to play the role of centers of craft and trade were Kyiv, Chernigov, Smolensk, Polotsk and Novgorod. Already in the X-XI centuries. Kyiv was a very significant craft and shopping center and amazed his contemporaries with his magnificence. He was called a rival of Constantinople. According to contemporaries, by the beginning of the 11th century. There were 8 markets in Kyiv.

Novgorod was also a big and rich holy fool at that time. As excavations by Soviet archaeologists have shown, the streets of Novgorod were paved with wooden pavements already in the 11th century. In Novgorod in the XI-XII centuries. There was also a water supply: water flowed through hollowed out wooden pipes. This was one of the earliest urban aqueducts in medieval Europe.

Cities of ancient Rus' in the X-XI centuries. already had extensive trade relations with many regions and countries of the East and West - with the Volga region, the Caucasus, Byzantium, Central Asia, Iran, Arab countries, Mediterranean, Slavic Pomerania, Scandinavia, the Baltic states, as well as with the countries of Central and Western Europe - the Czech Republic, Moravia, Poland, Hungary and Germany. A particularly important role in international trade from the beginning of the 10th century. Novgorod played. The successes of Russian cities in the development of crafts were significant (especially in metal processing and the manufacture of weapons, in jewelry, etc.).

Cities also developed early in Slavic Pomerania along the southern coast Baltic Sea- Wolin, Kamen, Arkona (on the island of Rujan, modern Rügen), Stargrad, Szczecin, Gdansk, Kolobrzeg, cities of the South Slavs on the Dalmatian coast of the Adriatic Sea - Dubrovnik, Zadar, Sibenik, Split, Kotor, etc.

Prague was a significant center of crafts and trade in Europe. The famous Arab traveler geographer Ibrahim ibn Yaqub, who visited the Czech Republic in the middle of the 10th century, wrote about Prague that it “is the richest of cities in trade.”

The main population of cities that arose in the X-XI centuries. in Europe, were craftsmen. Peasants who fled from their masters or went to the cities on the condition of paying quitrents to the master, becoming townspeople, gradually freed themselves from excellent dependence on the feudal lord. “From the serfs of the Middle Ages,” wrote Marx Engels, “were free population first cities" ( K. Marx and F. Engels, Manifesto Communist Party, Soch., vol. 4, ed. 2, page 425,). But even with the advent of medieval cities, the process of separating crafts from agriculture did not end. On the one hand, artisans, having become city dwellers, retained traces of their rural origin for a very long time. On the other hand, in the countryside both the master's and peasant farms continued for a long time to satisfy most of their needs for handicrafts own funds. The separation of crafts from agriculture, which began to take place in Europe in the 9th-11th centuries, was still far from complete and complete.

In addition, at first the artisan was also a merchant. Only later did merchants appear in the cities - a new social stratum whose sphere of activity was no longer production, but only the exchange of goods. In contrast to the traveling merchants who existed in feudal society in the previous period and were engaged almost exclusively in foreign trade, the merchants who appeared in European cities in the 11th-12th centuries were already engaged primarily in internal trade associated with the development of local markets, i.e. exchange of goods between city and countryside. The separation of merchant activities from crafts was a new step in the social division of labor.

Medieval cities were very different in their appearance from modern cities. They were usually surrounded by high walls - wooden, often stone, with towers and massive gates, as well as deep ditches for protection from attacks by feudal lords and enemy invasions. Residents of the city - artisans and merchants - carried out guard duty and formed the city's military militia. The walls surrounding the medieval city became cramped over time and did not accommodate all the city buildings. Around the walls, city suburbs gradually arose - settlements, inhabited mainly by artisans, and artisans of the same specialty usually lived on the same street. This is how streets arose - blacksmith shops, weapons shops, carpentry shops, weaving shops, etc. The suburbs, in turn, were surrounded by a new ring of walls and fortifications.

Dimensions European cities were quite small. As a rule, cities were small and cramped and numbered only from one to three to five thousand inhabitants. Only very big cities had a population of several tens of thousands of people.

Although the bulk of the townspeople were engaged in crafts and trade, agriculture continued to play a certain role in the life of the urban population. Many city residents had their own fields, pastures and vegetable gardens outside the city walls, and partly within the city limits. Small livestock (goats, sheep and pigs) often grazed right in the city, and the pigs found plenty of food there, since garbage, food scraps and odds and ends were usually thrown directly into the street.

In cities, due to unsanitary conditions, epidemics often broke out, the mortality rate from which was very high. Fires often occurred, since a significant part of the city buildings were wooden and the houses were adjacent to each other. The walls prevented the city from growing in width, so the streets were made extremely narrow, and the upper floors of houses often protruded in the form of protrusions above the lower ones, and the roofs of houses located on opposite sides of the street almost touched each other. The narrow and crooked city streets were often dimly lit, some of them never reaching the rays of the sun. There was no street lighting. The central place in the city was usually the market square, not far from which the city cathedral was located.

The struggle of cities with feudal lords in the XI-XIII centuries.

Medieval cities always arose on the land of a feudal lord and therefore inevitably had to submit to the feudal lord, in whose hands all power in the city was initially concentrated. The feudal lord was interested in the emergence of a city on his land, since crafts and trade brought him additional income.

But the feudal lords' desire to extract as much income as possible inevitably led to a struggle between the city and its lord. The feudal lords resorted to direct violence, which provoked resistance from the townspeople and their struggle for liberation from feudal oppression. The political structure that the city received and the degree of its independence in relation to the feudal lord depended on the outcome of this struggle.

The peasants who fled from their lords and settled in the emerging cities brought with them from the village the customs and skills of the communal structure that existed there. The structure of the community-mark, changed in accordance with the conditions of urban development, played a very important role in the organization of city government in the Middle Ages.

The struggle between lords and townspeople, during which city self-government arose and took shape, took place in various countries ah of Europe in different ways, depending on the conditions of their historical development. In Italy, for example, where cities early achieved significant economic prosperity, the townspeople achieved great independence already in the 11th-12th centuries. Many cities in Northern and Central Italy subjugated large areas around the city and became city-states. These were city republics - Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Florence, Milan, etc.

A similar situation occurred in Germany, where the so-called imperial cities starting from the 12th, and especially in the 13th century, formally subordinate to the emperor, were in fact independent city republics. They had the right to independently declare war, make peace, mint their own coins, etc. Such cities were Lubeck, Hamburg, Bremen, Nuremberg, Augsburg, Frankfurt am Main and others.

Many cities of Northern France - Amiens, Saint-Quentin, Beauvais, Laon, etc. - as a result of a stubborn and fierce struggle with their feudal lords, which often took the form of bloody armed clashes, also achieved the right of self-government and could elect a city council from among themselves and officials, starting with the head of the city council. In France and England, the head of the city council was called the mayor, and in Germany - the burgomaster. Self-governing cities (communes) had their own courts, military militia, finances and the right of self-taxation.

At the same time, they were exempted from performing the usual seigneurial duties - corvee and quitrent and from various payments. The responsibilities of city-communes in relation to the feudal lord were usually limited to only the annual payment of a certain, relatively low monetary rent and sending a small military detachment to help the lord in case of war.

In Rus' in the 11th century. With the development of cities, the importance of veche meetings increased. The townspeople, as in Western Europe, fought for urban liberties. Peculiar political system took shape in Novgorod the Great. It was a feudal republic, but the commercial and industrial population had great political power there.

The degree of independence in urban self-government achieved by cities was uneven and depended on specific historical conditions. Often cities managed to gain self-government rights by paying the lord a large sum of money. In this way, many rich cities in Southern France, Italy, etc. were liberated from the lord’s tutelage and fell into communes.

Often large cities, especially cities located on royal land, did not receive self-government rights, but enjoyed a number of privileges and liberties, including the right to have elected city government bodies, which acted, however, together with an official appointed by the king or another representative of the lord. Paris and many other cities in France had such incomplete rights of self-government, for example Orleans, Bourges, Loris, Lyon, Nantes, Chartres, and in England - Lincoln, Ipswich, Oxford, Cambridge, Gloucester. But not all cities managed to achieve this level of independence. Some cities, especially small ones, which did not have sufficiently developed crafts and trade and did not have the necessary funds and forces to fight their lords, remained entirely under the control of the lordly administration.

Thus, the results of the struggle of cities with their lords were different. However, in one respect they coincided. All townspeople managed to achieve personal liberation from serfdom. Therefore, if a serf peasant who fled to the city lived in it for a certain period of time, usually one year and one day, he also became free and not a single lord could return him to a serfdom. “City air makes you free,” said a medieval proverb.

Urban craft and its guild organization

The production basis of the medieval city was crafts. Feudalism is characterized by small-scale production both in the countryside and in the city. A craftsman, like a peasant, was a small producer who had his own tools of production, independently ran his own private farm based on personal labor, and had as his goal not making a profit, but obtaining a means of subsistence. “An existence befitting his position—and not exchange value as such, not enrichment as such...” ( K. Marx, The process of production of capital in the book. "Archive of Marx and Engels", vol. II (VII), p. 111.) was the goal of the artisan’s labor.

A characteristic feature of medieval craft in Europe was its guild organization - an association of artisans of a certain profession within of this city into special unions - workshops. Guilds appeared almost simultaneously with the emergence of cities. In Italy they were found already from the 10th century, in France, England, Germany and the Czech Republic - from the 11th-12th centuries, although the final registration of guilds (receiving special charters from kings, recording guild charters, etc.) usually took place , Later. Craft corporations also existed in Russian cities (for example, in Novgorod).

The guilds arose as organizations of peasants who fled to the city, who needed unification to fight against the robber nobility and protection from competition. Among the reasons that determined the need for the formation of guilds, Marx and Engels also noted the need of artisans for common market premises for the sale of goods and the need to protect the common property of artisans for a certain specialty or profession. The association of artisans into special corporations (guilds) was determined by the entire system of feudal relations that prevailed in the Middle Ages, the entire feudal-class structure of society ( See K. Marx and F. Engels, German Ideology, Works, vol. 3, ed. 2, pp. 23 and 50-51.).

The model for the guild organization, as well as for the organization of city self-government, was the communal system ( See F. Engels, Mark; in the book " Peasants' War in Germany", M. 1953, p. 121.). The artisans united in workshops were the direct producers. Each of them worked in his own workshop with his own tools and his own raw materials. He grew together with these means of production, as Marx put it, “like a snail with its shell” ( K. Marx, Capital, vol. I, Gospolitizdat, 1955, p. 366.). Tradition and routine were characteristic of medieval crafts, as well as of peasant farming.

There was almost no division of labor within the craft workshop. The division of labor was carried out in the form of specialization between individual workshops, which, with the development of production, led to an increase in the number of craft professions and, consequently, the number of new workshops. Although this did not change the nature of the medieval craft, it did lead to certain technical progress, improvement of labor skills, specialization of working tools, etc. The craftsman was usually helped in his work by his family. One or two apprentices and one or more apprentices worked with him. But only the master, the owner of the craft workshop, was a full member of the guild. The master, journeyman and apprentice stood at different levels of a kind of guild hierarchy. Preliminary completion of the two lower levels was mandatory for anyone who wanted to join the workshop and become a member of it. In the first period of the development of guilds, each student could become an apprentice in a few years, and an apprentice could become a master.

In most cities, belonging to a guild was a prerequisite for practicing a craft. This eliminated the possibility of competition from artisans who were not part of the workshop, which was dangerous for small producers in the conditions of a very narrow market at that time and relatively insignificant demand. The craftsmen who were part of the workshop were interested in ensuring that the products of the members of this workshop were ensured unhindered sales. In accordance with this, the workshop strictly regulated production and, through specially elected officials, ensured that each master - a member of the workshop - produced products of a certain quality. The workshop prescribed, for example, what width and color the fabric should be, how many threads should be in the warp, what tool and material should be used, etc.

Being a corporation (association) of small commodity producers, the workshop zealously ensured that the production of all its members did not exceed a certain size, so that no one entered into competition with other members of the workshop by producing more products. To this end, guild regulations strictly limited the number of journeymen and apprentices that one master could have, prohibited work at night and on holidays, limited the number of machines on which a craftsman could work, and regulated stocks of raw materials.

The craft and its organization in the medieval city were feudal in nature. “...The feudal structure of land ownership corresponded in cities to corporate ownership ( Corporate property was the monopoly of a workshop in a particular specialty or profession.), feudal organization of craft" ( K. Marx and F. Engels, German Ideology, Works, vol. 3, ed. 2, page 23.). Such an organization of crafts was a necessary form of development of commodity production in a medieval city, because at that time it created favorable conditions for the development of productive forces. It protected artisans from excessive exploitation by feudal lords, ensured the existence of small producers in the extremely narrow market of that time, and contributed to the development of technology and the improvement of craft skills. During the heyday of the feudal mode of production, the guild system was in full accordance with the stage of development of the productive forces that was achieved at that time.

The guild organization covered all aspects of the life of a medieval artisan. The workshop was a military organization that participated in the protection of the city ( guard service) and acted as a separate combat unit of the city militia in case of war. The workshop had its own “saint”, whose day it celebrated, its own churches or chapels, being a kind of religious organization. The workshop was also an organization of mutual assistance for artisans, which provided assistance to its needy members and their families in the event of illness or death of a member of the workshop through the entrance fee to the workshop, fines and other payments.

The struggle of the guilds with the urban patriciate

The struggle of cities with feudal lords led in the overwhelming majority of cases to the transfer (to one degree or another) of city government into the hands of the citizens. But not all citizens received the right to take part in the management of city affairs. The struggle against the feudal lords was carried out by the forces of the masses, that is, primarily by the forces of artisans, and the elite of the urban population - urban homeowners, landowners, moneylenders, and rich merchants - benefited from its results.

This upper, privileged layer of the urban population was a narrow, closed group of the urban rich - a hereditary urban aristocracy (in the West, this aristocracy was usually called the patriciate) that seized into its own hands all positions in city government. City administration, court and finance - all this was in the hands of the city elite and was used in the interests of wealthy citizens and to the detriment of the interests of the broad masses of the artisan population. This was especially evident in tax policy. In a number of cities in the West (Cologne, Strasbourg, Florence, Milan, London, etc.), representatives of the urban elite, having become close to the feudal nobility, together with them brutally oppressed the people - artisans and the urban poor. But, as the craft developed and the importance of the guilds grew stronger, artisans entered into a struggle with the city aristocracy for power. In almost all countries of medieval Europe this struggle (as a rule, took on a very acute character and reached armed uprising) developed in the XIII-XV centuries. Its results were not the same. In some cities, primarily those where great development the craft industry gained, the guilds won (for example, in Cologne, Ausburg, Florence). In other cities, where the development of crafts was inferior to trade and merchants played the leading role, the guilds were defeated and the city elite emerged victorious from the struggle (this was the case in Hamburg, Lübeck, Rostock, etc.).

In the process of struggle between townspeople and feudal lords and guilds against the urban patriciate, the medieval class of burghers was formed and developed. The word burgher in the West originally meant all city dwellers (from the German word “burg” - city, hence the French medieval term “bourgeois” - bourgeois, city dweller). But the urban population was not united. On the one hand, a layer of merchants and wealthy artisans gradually formed, on the other hand, a mass of urban plebeians (plebs), which included journeymen, apprentices, day laborers, bankrupt artisans and other urban poor. In accordance with this, the word “burgher” has lost its former broad meaning and acquired new meaning. Burghers began to be called not just townspeople, but only rich and prosperous townspeople, from whom the bourgeoisie subsequently grew.

Development of commodity-money relations

The development of commodity production in towns and villages has led to the development of industrial goods starting from the 13th century. significant, compared to the previous period, expansion of trade and market relations. No matter how slow the development of commodity-money relations in the countryside was, it increasingly undermined the subsistence economy and drew into market circulation an ever-increasing portion of agricultural products exchanged through trade for urban handicraft products. Although the village still gave the city a relatively small part of its production and largely satisfied its own needs for handicrafts, the growth of commodity production in the village was still evident. This testified to the transformation of some peasants into commodity producers and the gradual formation of the domestic market.

Fairs played a major role in domestic and foreign trade in Europe, which became widespread in France, Italy, England and other countries already in the 11th-12th centuries. At the fairs, wholesale trade was carried out in such goods as were in great demand, such as wool, leather, cloth, linen fabrics, metals and metal products, and grain. The largest fairs also played a major role in the development of foreign trade. Thus, at fairs in the French county of Champagne in the 12th-13th centuries. Merchants from various European countries met - Germany, France, Italy, England, Catalonia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. Italian merchants, especially the Venetians and Genoese, delivered expensive oriental goods to the champagne fairs - silks, cotton fabrics, jewelry and other luxury items, as well as spices (pepper, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, etc.). Flemish and Florentine merchants brought well-made cloth. Merchants from Germany brought linen fabrics, merchants from the Czech Republic brought cloth, leather and metal products; merchants from England - wool, tin, lead and iron.

In the 13th century European trade was concentrated mainly in two areas. One of them was the Mediterranean, which served link in trade Western European countries with the countries of the East. Initially, the main role in this trade was played by Arab and Byzantine merchants, and from the 12th-13th centuries, especially in connection with the Crusades, primacy passed to the merchants of Genoa and Venice, as well as to the merchants of Marseille and Barcelona. Another area of ​​European trade covered the Baltic and North Sea. Here, the cities of all countries located near these seas took part in trade: the northwestern regions of Rus' (especially Novgorod, Pskov and Polotsk), Northern Germany, Scandinavia, Denmark, France, England, etc.

The expansion of trade relations was extremely hampered by the conditions characteristic of the era of feudalism. The possessions of each lord were fenced with numerous customs outposts, where significant trade duties were levied on merchants. Duties and all kinds of levies were collected from merchants when crossing bridges, fording rivers, and when driving along a river through the possessions of a feudal lord. The feudal lords did not stop at banditry attacks on merchants and robberies of merchant caravans. Feudal orders and the dominance of subsistence farming determined a relatively insignificant volume of trade.

Nevertheless, the gradual growth of commodity-money relations and exchange created the possibility of accumulating monetary capital in the hands of individuals, primarily among merchants and moneylenders. The accumulation of funds was also facilitated by money exchange operations, which were necessary in the Middle Ages due to the endless variety of monetary systems and monetary units, since money was minted not only by emperors and kings, but also by all sorts of prominent lords and bishops, as well as large cities. To exchange some money for others and to establish the value of a particular coin, there was a special profession of money changers. Money changers were engaged not only in exchange operations, but also in the transfer of money, from which credit transactions arose. Usury was usually associated with this. Exchange operations and credit operations led to the creation of special banking offices. The first such banking offices arose in the cities of Northern Italy - in Lombardy. Therefore, the word “pawnshop” in the Middle Ages became synonymous with banker and moneylender. The special lending institutions that emerged later, carrying out operations on the security of things, began to be called pawnshops.

The largest moneylender in Europe was the church. At the same time, the most complex credit and usury operations were carried out by the Roman Curia, into which enormous funds flowed from almost all European countries.

In Europe in the X-XI centuries. there was an increase in production, this process was especially pronounced in the development of crafts. The improvement of tools and the growth of craftsmanship led to the gradual separation of crafts from agriculture.
The two-field system gave way to a three-field system. The arable land was already divided not into two, but into three fields: one was sown with winter grains in the fall, the other with spring grains in the spring, and the third was left fallow. Now not half, but a third of the arable land was resting.

They began to use the heavy wheeled plow more widely. Now the land for sowing winter crops was plowed 2-3 times. After the invention of the collar, horses began to be harnessed to plows, and this speeded up the plowing of the land. Thanks to increased productivity, peasants often had surplus agricultural products, which they exchanged for handicrafts.

The number of types increased, and the quality of goods made by artisans for exchange increased. However, in the countryside, opportunities for the development of commercial crafts were limited, and the power of the feudal lord deprived artisans of independence. Therefore, they fled from the village and settled where there were conditions for free labor and marketing of products.

Medieval cities.

Urban growth in individual countries Europe happened differently. Previously - IX-X centuries. they were formed in Italy and the south of France (Venice, Genoa, Florence, Narbonne, Toulouse, etc.). This was facilitated by their trade relations with the more developed At that time Byzantium and the Medieval city, the countries of the East. In the X-XI centuries. cities began to emerge in Northern France, the Netherlands, England and Germany. In the XII-XIII centuries. cities arise in Hungary, the Baltic states, and Rus'. The main reason for the formation of European cities in different centuries was the differences in socio-economic development.

Cities, firstly, appeared in places safe from enemy attacks, and secondly, they served as centers for trade in handicrafts and agricultural products.

Life of cities.

Cities most often appeared on the lands of feudal lords. At first, the feudal lords patronized them and exempted the resettled artisans from taxes. However, as the cities and their wealth grew, the owners increasingly began to encroach on their income. The oppression of feudal lords hampered the development of crafts and trade. The townspeople sought to free themselves from the power of the lord. In the XII-XIII centuries. in all cities of Western Europe there was a struggle against the lords. Many cities achieved freedom through ransoming, others as a result of uprisings and long wars. In a number of cities in France in the XII-XIII centuries. An armed struggle of cities against the lords unfolded.

In Europe, a number of cities arose around castles and monasteries. Firstly, the inhabitants of monasteries and castles gave orders to artisans to make furniture, weapons, clothing, and in case of war, artisans could find protection behind the walls of fortresses. In Europe, the cities of Munster, Saint-Gallen, Saint-Denis were formed around the monasteries; around the fortresses of Strasbourg, Hamburg, Augsburg; near the rivers Paderborn, Bremen, near the bridges of Zweibrücken, Bruges and others.

What the cities looked like. At first, cities differed from the villages scattered around them in the density of population and buildings. The medieval city was surrounded by a wall with towers and a deep moat filled with water. There were sentries on duty in the towers around the clock. To protect against enemies, bridges and city gates were made of durable metal. The gates were equipped with strong bolts, at night the bridges over the ditches were removed and the gates to the city were locked.

In the center of the city there was a market square, not far from it was the main city church - the cathedral. The city council building, the town hall, was located on the square.
The residential area of ​​each city was divided into quarters, in each of which artisans of one profession settled.

Most of the houses were wooden. They were closely adjacent to each other. The streets were narrow - no more than 2 meters wide. There was no lighting, running water or sewerage. Garbage and household waste were often thrown directly onto the street, where poultry and livestock roamed. Due to the overcrowding and unsanitary conditions, infectious diseases often spread, from which many people died. During fires, entire streets and neighborhoods of poor people were often burned out.

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The city of the 21st century - what is it like? This is a corporation endowed with the status of a legal personality, possessing rights and freedoms, it is political education, usually governed by a mayor or city manager and an elected council, is a self-sufficient economic unit that controls trade and is an institution for the provision of social welfare. Of course, all this did not happen out of nowhere. And it was precisely the medieval city that became the foundation of the birth democratic foundations life and it was he who was an indicator of the level of development achieved by society in that period.

Theories of the origin of cities

In the period from the 1st century. BC. to IV-V centuries. AD, that is, before the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it included thousands of cities. Why was there a need for their “reformation”? As Berman emphasized, cities that existed in Europe before the 11th century lacked two main features: western city modern times: there was no middle class and no municipal organization. Indeed, the cities of the Roman Empire were unique administrative posts of the central government, and, for example, cities Ancient Greece, on the contrary, were self-sufficient independent republics. In relation to the new European cities, one cannot say either one or the other; they were a new phenomenon of the time. Of course, not all cities quickly declined after the fall of the Empire. In Southern Italy, where Byzantine influence was strong, cities such as Syracuse, Naples, Palermo survived; seaports outside Southern Italy - Venice, cities on the Mediterranean coast of future Spain and France, as well as the large cities of London, Cologne, Milan, Rome.

So, at the end of the 11th and 12th centuries, thousands of new cities appeared in various parts of Europe - in Northern Italy, France, Normandy, England, the German principalities, Castile and other territories. Of course, before that time there were various cities, but among them there was nothing exactly similar to the new ones, which differed not only large sizes And big amount residents, but also a clearly defined social and economic character and a relatively clear political and legal character.

The rise of new cities was facilitated by various factors: economic, social, political, religious, legal. Let's take a closer look at them.

Economic forces. English researcher Harold J. Berman notes that the emergence of a modern European city in Europe in the 11th-12th centuries. associated primarily with the revival of trade. He emphasized the fact that in the 11th century. the market, usually located on the outskirts of the castle, or bishop's palace, began to absorb the main territory, which became the core of the new city. In addition, it must be taken into account that another necessary prerequisite for supplying cities with raw materials and food was the growth of the well-being of the rural population, and, consequently, the growth of the class of craftsmen and artisans. The importance of economic factors was also emphasized by Jacques Le Goff: “One function prevailed, revitalizing old cities and creating new ones - the economic function... The city became the center of what was so hateful to the feudal lords: shameful economic activity.”

Social factors. This period of time was accompanied by active social movements both horizontally and vertically. Let us again turn to the words of Berman: “new opportunities were constantly being created ... to climb from one class to another ... journeymen became masters, successful artisans became entrepreneurs, new people made fortunes in trade and lending.” You can also note the fact that from the XI-XII centuries. In the cities of Northern Europe, slavery was almost absent.

Political factors. A distinctive phenomenon was that in new cities the townspeople usually received the right and duty to bear arms and were subject to conscription military service to protect the city, that is, these cities were much more effective militarily than castles. Besides military support city ​​residents paid duties, market taxes and rents to the rulers and supplied industrial goods. Which soon led to the need to mint coins, both in the interests of the ruling individuals and in the interests of the new industrial classes. It should be noted that these political incentives for the founding of cities existed before, but by the 11th-12th centuries the political conditions for their implementation became more favorable.

In order to most fully and accurately identify the reasons for the emergence of new cities, in order to explain the process of their development, it is necessary to take into account religious and legal factors. The new cities were religious associations in the sense that each of them was based on religious rituals, vows and values. But don't be confused" new town"with the church association. Quite the contrary, they can be considered the first secular cities completely separated from the church. In addition, the new European cities were based on a common legal consciousness, on certain legal principles.

In practice, the founding of a city mainly took place by granting it a charter, that is, as a result of a legal act whose legal content still included religious motives (oaths to uphold city laws). Of course, it is impossible to imagine the emergence of European cities without a system of urban law, urban legal consciousness, which provided the basis, the foundation for corporate unity and organic development.

Let us consider the main theories of the emergence of medieval cities.

In the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. Most researchers focused on institutional and legal solutions to the problem, i.e. engaged in the study of city law and various city institutions. These theories are called institutional-legal.

Romanistic theory. The creators of this theory were the French scientists Guizot and Thierry. They believed that the medieval city was not a product or phenomenon of feudal processes and considered it as the successor of the ancient city, the city of the Roman Empire. Hence the name of the theory - novelized.

German and English scientists based on the material of North-Western and Central Europe, i.e. In non-Romanized Europe, they sought the genesis of the medieval city in the processes of feudal society itself and, above all, in the institutional and legal fields.

Patrimonial theory of the origin of the medieval city. She connects the genesis of the city with the patrimony. Its prominent representative in the German historical science was K. Lamprecht. He explained the emergence of cities as a result of the growth of production and division of labor in the patrimonial economy, on the basis of which surpluses were created that made possible the exchange that gave rise to cities.

Mark's theory was also created by a German scientist - G.L. Maurer, according to which the genesis of the city was associated with the concept of a “free rural community - a mark” inherent in German feudalism, and the medieval city itself was only further development village organization.

Burg theory (from the word burg - fortress). Its creators (Keitgen, Matland) explained the emergence of a feudal city around a fortress, life in which was regulated by burgh law.

The creators of market theory (Schroeder, Zom) derived the city from trading places or towns, in areas of busy trade - fairs, at the intersection trade routes, on the river, along the sea coast.

The creators of these theories and concepts took some particular moment or aspect in the history of the city and tried to explain through it such a complex, contradictory phenomenon as a medieval city. All these theories, of course, suffered from one-sidedness, which was felt by the researchers themselves. Therefore, already in the 19th and especially in the first half of the 20th century. scientists who studied the history of the western medieval city combined and synthesized different concepts of its origin. For example, the German historian Ritschel tried to combine Boergian and market theories. But even in the process of combining these concepts and theories, it was still not possible to eliminate the one-sidedness in explaining the genesis of the medieval city.

English researcher Harold Berman talks about an attempt to introduce an economic factor into the concept of the emergence of a city - interregional and intercontinental trade. At the same time, it points to the enormous role of the medieval merchants. This theory is called the trading concept, or trading theory. But this theory was not accepted by many city researchers and historians of the Middle Ages.

Modern urban theories about which we'll talk below, suffer from the same shortcomings that were inherent in the theories of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. - none of them can explain the genesis of the city in its entirety. One of these theories is the currently widespread archaeological one. The researchers developing this theory (F. Ganshof, Planitz, E. Ennen, F. Vercauteren) are engaged in the archeology of medieval cities. Archeology makes it possible to get an idea of ​​the city's economy, its character, the degree of development of crafts, internal and external trade. Thus, G. Planitz traces the process of the emergence of the city of Germany from Roman times to the formation of a guild structure here. E. Ennen made a major contribution to the development of medieval urbanism. She studied a wide range of issues: social structure city, its law, topography, economic life, relationships between cities and the state, citizens and lord. The European city, in her opinion, is a constantly changing phenomenon, a dynamic element in the rather static society of the Middle Ages. But this research method is also one-sided.

Thus, in the study of the genesis of the medieval city, foreign historiography enhances the importance of economic factors. Despite the numerous theories of the origin of the city, not one of them, taken separately, is able to fully explain this phenomenon. Apparently, the entire set of social, economic, political, religious, socio-cultural factors should be taken into account when a medieval city emerged. How numerous are the theories of the genesis of the city, numerous and complex were the specific historical paths its occurrence.

Of course, all these cities that appeared on the map of Europe arose and developed in different time and under the influence various factors. But it is still possible to identify general models, taking into account which the following groups can be distinguished:

Episcopal cities: Cambrai, Beauvais, Laon, Lorry, Montauban (Picardy /France/) received freedom as a result of the struggle against the power of the emperor and his bishops, which led to the founding of an urban community, a “commune”. For example, the city of Beauvais in the 12th century received a charter that provided greater powers of self-government and broad privileges for citizens (bourgeois) after four decades acute conflict between the bourgeoisie and the bishops.

Norman cities: Verneuil and others (Normandy) were very similar to the cities of France in terms of freedoms, laws, and governance. Classic example- the city of Verneuil, which received a charter from 1100 - 1135. Duke of Normandy Henry I and King of England.

Anglo-Saxon cities: London, Ipswich (England) received their status in the last third of the 11th century, after the Norman conquest. Almost immediately after this, William granted London a charter (Henry I's Charter of 1129), which served as an example, a model for cities such as Norwich, Lincoln, Northampton, etc. In general, English cities did not achieve such independence from the king and princes as others regions of Europe.

Italian cities: Milan, Pisa, Bologna (Italy) were initially formed as independent, self-governing communities, communes, communities, corporations. The tenth century is characterized by the rapid growth of Italian cities, but the same words cannot be said about their own organic development. Their new story began in 1057 with the struggle of the popular movement, led by supporters of papal reform, against the aristocracy represented by senior clergy led by the imperial bishop and ended with the expulsion of the latter. Cities received charters, and a system of urban self-government began to take shape.

Flemish cities: St. Omer, Bruges, Ghent (Flanders) were advanced industrial areas Europe (textile industry), for the most part achieved communal status peacefully, having received charters as an incentive from the count. The model for later charters was the Charter of St. Omer, granted by William in 1127.

"Burg" cities: Cologne, Freiburg, Lubeck, Magdeburg (Germany). Let's take a closer look at them. In the 10th and early 11th centuries, Cologne made its transition from a “Roman” city to a city in the new European sense. First, a suburb was annexed to its territory, then markets, duties, and a mint were established there. In addition, after the uprising of 1106, Cologne received independent city government, a system of city rights was established, that is, political and government power was greatly limited, nevertheless, the Archbishop of Cologne remained an important figure in the life of the city. Municipal government of Cologne in the 12th century. was completely patrician. In practice, the power of the aristocracy and the archbishop himself personally was subordinated to the power of the guilds of assessors, burgomasters and parish magistrates.

The education history of others is unusual German cities. For example, in 1120, Duke Conrad of Zähringen founded the city of Freiburg on a vacant lot adjacent to one of his castles. Initially, its population consisted of merchants, then artisans, aristocracy, bishops and other classes appeared. In 1143, Count Adolf of Holstein invited the inhabitants of Westphalia, Flanders and Frisia to settle in the Baltic, and the city of Lübeck was founded there. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, having captured Lübeck in 1181, granted it a charter. And already to mid-XIV V. Lubeck became the richest city in the north.

A special place in the history of the formation of medieval European cities belongs to the city of Magdeburg. By the early 1100s. Magdeburg created its own administrative and legal institutions and developed its own civic consciousness. Just seven years later, the first written legislation of Magdeburg was published and, improved and partly corrected, spread to more than eight dozen new cities. This group German cities will be the basis for characterizing medieval city law.

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Civilization of the 11th - 13th centuries: 1. Arabs. 2. Byzantium. 3. Feudal West - more backward in economics and culture; patrimonial craft did not compete with Byzantium, agriculture was at the level of primitivism.

11th -13th centuries - the heyday of economic Western Europe.

Prerequisites and manifestations of the rise of Western Europe:

1. Refusal of slavery was supplanted by the feudal peasantry

2. Population explosion, between 1000 - 1300. - this significantly increased economic prosperity after the plague

3. Relative stability of the peasantry within the framework of the local system, because there was protection greater than a free community (Social change)

4. Natural climate warming has become warmer.

1150 - 1250 - peak, high Middle Ages.

Manifestation of rise:

1. Colonization of lands, by the 13th century everything was plowed in Europe - an indicator that development took place on a quantitative basis

2. Revival of urban life, most cities arose before the end of the 13th century

3. The luxury of life of the ruling class - this requires funds. Formation of knightly culture: the ability to behave at the table, care for women

4. Intelligent boom:

The school left the monastery, the emergence of city schools and universities

Tolerance from church to schools

5. Factor in the economic and general increase of the European population, contacts with the Arabs and Byzantium

6. Elevation of the role of the Papacy, the Church; revolutionary upsurge papacy - unity and uniformity

7. Expanding the boundaries of the Catholic world

Medieval city and feudal Signoria:

What led to the urban renaissance in Europe?:

1. Development of production forces, development of crafts and trade - main reason , as opposed to agriculture. The beginning of urbanization.

2. It was powerful economic basis: first - agriculture, pastures, vineyards.

What is a city? What is the difference between city and village?:

1. A city is a fortified, protected place; protection from danger

2. Village - there is none of this.

The Vikings provoked many fortresses in Europe.

Reason for urbanization:

1. Feudal strife and external danger

2. Social aspect: formation of classes, military class, aristocracy. The aristocracy needs labor

What were the landowners?

9th century - contented with porridge and homespun pants

13th century - the desire for luxury and beauty.

3. The rise of the military class stimulated the consumption of luxury - where to get Luxury? - Conquer abroad. This led to the revival of foreign trade and economic ties

4. Foreign trade - a factor in the urbanization of Europe

5. Agrarian overpopulation of Europe, the land cannot be divided indefinitely. What should the family do? - part of the surplus population was looking for a place “in the sun” - they went to look for work in the city

6. Cities are not capable of producing population, influx of rural population. Peasants actively participated in the revival of the city

7. Rural artisans went to the city for the sales market, they also revived the city, but not really

8. Revival of the Church. By the middle of the 11th century, when there were no longer Vikings, the threat came from the knights. The Church tried to use its authority to regulate the feudal war.

The beginning of the knight-church process.

There is a transformation into a religious act of knighting, so that the knights do not attack the Churches.

Test of knights - they had to create an alliance and resist false knights.

The concept of "God's society".

According to the Church, feudal war is not possible near the Church in order to protect itself. People come here for protection, and hence the growth of cities. During holidays, wars were also not allowed, as well as on Sundays and fasting.

9. So God's peace and God's covenant were the factors that stimulated city life.

Everything contributed to the revival of city life.

How were the cities different from other places and what are the characteristics and what does a Medieval city suggest?:

1. The center of trade and crafts, the market was ahead of the development of production, exchange developed first. The city drew in the villagers

2. Residents of the city - a special corporation, turned up their noses towards the village, there was a desire to unite and protect their interests, they became urban communes.

Layers of the city - communes:

1. Patriciate - the city elite, the threads of management of the city commune

2. Plebs - beggars, those who have nothing

3. The burghers - the bourgeoisie, a layer of city owners, small traders, artisans who united: in workshops and corporations.

It was difficult to penetrate the patricianate, for example: through marriage. The city is characterized by its isolation.

The medieval city is a corporation, a self-governing unit.

The problem was political in the cities. What is the city facing?:

Arose on someone's land: a king, a count or a church

The greed of the feudal lord and the increasing fortune of the city led to conflict.

The city sought freedom, independence and self-government, how to do it?:

1. Path number 1 - buy freedom, land

2. Path number 2 - get immunity, privileges from the king. Receive from the king Magna Carta.

3. Path number 3 - win freedom; rebel. If the king has great power, then there is no need to talk about any freedom and vice versa.

Types of freedoms:

1. City - state - in Italy, free centers, sovereigns

2. Feudal-dependent cities, no self-government

3. Commune - the city has the right to self-government, the city decides everything itself

4. The city was bourgeois - it arose on royal land. Self-government and supervision from the king.

The commune is a secret union of the best citizens.

There was a saying: “The air of the city makes a person free.” If a person lives in a city for 1 year and 1 day, he becomes free.

The difference between a Medieval city and an Ancient one:

1. Special corporation; a free city to one degree or another; self management; unification of the trade and craft population; opposes itself to the district

2. In the ancient city: metics and foreigners; Not a trade and craft population; They did not oppose themselves to the district.

What is Eastern City?:- it's always administrative city, where are the rulers, incl. district(?). There is no freedom for the trade and craft population, but crafts and trade are developed there.

The peasant goes to the Eastern city to sell goods, to earn money, and not to buy.

What do they sell in Eastern city?: - luxury items, dishes, jewelry.

Medieval city, with t.z. history - this is a phenomenon, this has never happened anywhere.

Why did they not achieve freedom in other places (in China, India)?:

As a rule, the city and the state grow simultaneously

Europe was lagging behind in development than other countries and liberties had to be taken into account.

General history [Civilization. Modern concepts. Facts, events] Dmitrieva Olga Vladimirovna

The emergence and development of cities in medieval Europe

A qualitatively new stage in development feudal Europe- the period of the developed Middle Ages - is primarily associated with the emergence of cities, which had a huge transformative impact on all aspects of the economic, political and cultural life society.

During the early Middle Ages ancient cities fell into decay, life continued to glimmer in them, but they did not play the role of former commercial and industrial centers, remaining as administrative points or simply fortified places - burgs. The preservation of the role of Roman cities can be said mainly for Southern Europe, while in the north there were few of them even in late antiquity (mostly these were fortified Roman camps). In the early Middle Ages, the population was mainly concentrated in rural areas, the economy was agricultural, moreover, subsistence in nature. The farm was designed to consume everything produced within the estate and was not connected to the market. Trade connections were predominantly interregional and international and were generated by the natural specialization of various natural and geographical areas: there was an exchange of metals, minerals, salt, wines, and luxury goods brought from the East.

However, already in the 11th century. The revitalization of old urban centers and the emergence of new ones has become a noticeable phenomenon. It was based on deep economic processes, first of all, the development of agriculture. In the X–XI centuries. agriculture has reached high level within the framework of the feudal estate: two-field farming spread, the production of grain and industrial crops increased, horticulture, viticulture, market gardening, and livestock husbandry developed. As a result, both in the domain and in the peasant economy, a surplus of agricultural products arose, which could be exchanged for handicraft products - the preconditions were created for the separation of crafts from agriculture.

The skills of rural artisans - blacksmiths, potters, carpenters, weavers, shoemakers, coopers - also improved, their specialization progressed, as a result of which they were less and less involved in agriculture, working to order for neighbors, exchanging their products, and finally trying to sell them in wider markets. scale. Such opportunities were provided at fairs that developed as a result of interregional trade, at markets that arose in places where people gathered - near the walls of fortified burgs, royal and episcopal residences, monasteries, at ferries and bridges, etc. Rural artisans began to move to such places. The outflow of the population from the countryside was also facilitated by the growth of feudal exploitation.

Secular and spiritual lords were interested in the emergence of urban settlements on their lands, since thriving craft centers gave the feudal lords significant profits. They encouraged the flight of dependent peasants from their feudal lords to the cities, guaranteeing their freedom. Later, this right was assigned to the city corporations themselves; in the Middle Ages, the principle “city air makes you free” was formed.

The specific historical circumstances of the emergence of certain cities could be different: in the former Roman provinces, medieval settlements were revived on the foundations of ancient cities or near them (most Italian and southern French cities, London, York, Gloucester - in England; Augsburg, Strasbourg - in Germany and northern France). Lyon, Reims, Tours, and Munster gravitated toward episcopal residences. Bonn, Basel, Amiens, Ghent appeared at the markets in front of the castles; at fairs - Lille, Messina, Douai; Near seaports– Venice, Genoa, Palermo, Bristol, Portsmouth, etc. Place names often indicate the origin of a city: if its name contains elements such as “ingen”, “dorf”, “hausen” - the city grew from rural settlement; “bridge”, “trouser”, “pont”, “furt” - at a bridge, crossing or ford; “vik”, “vich” - near a sea bay or bay.

The most urbanized areas during the Middle Ages were Italy, where half the total population lived in cities, and Flanders, where two-thirds of the population were city dwellers. The population of medieval cities usually did not exceed 2–5 thousand people. In the XIV century. In England, only two cities numbered more than 10 thousand - London and York. Nevertheless, large cities with 15–30 thousand people were not uncommon (Rome, Naples, Verona, Bologna, Paris, Regensburg, etc.).

The indispensable elements thanks to which a settlement could be considered a city were fortified walls, a citadel, Cathedral, market Square. Fortified palaces and fortresses of feudal lords and monasteries could be located in cities. In the XIII–XIV centuries. self-government buildings appeared - town halls, symbols of urban freedom.

The layout of medieval cities, unlike ancient ones, was chaotic, and there was no unified urban planning concept. Cities grew in concentric circles from a center - a fortress or market square. Their streets were narrow (enough for a horseman with a spear at the ready to pass through them), were not illuminated, had no pavements for a long time, the sewerage and drainage systems were open, and sewage flowed along the streets. The houses were crowded and rose 2-3 floors; Since the land in the city was expensive, the foundations were narrow, and the upper floors grew, overhanging the lower ones. For a long time the cities retained an “agrarian appearance”: gardens and vegetable gardens were adjacent to the houses, and livestock were kept in the courtyards, which were gathered into a common herd and grazed by the city shepherd. Within the city limits there were fields and meadows, and outside its walls the townspeople had land plots and vineyards.

The urban population consisted mainly of artisans, traders and people employed in the service sector - loaders, water carriers, coal miners, butchers, bakers. A special group of them consisted of feudal lords and their entourage, representatives of the administration of spiritual and secular authorities. The city elite was represented by the patriciate - the wealthy merchants, leading international trade, noble families, landowners and developers, later it included the most prosperous guild masters. The main criteria for becoming a patrician were wealth and participation in city governance.

The city was an organic creation and an integral part of the feudal economy. Arising on the land of a feudal lord, he depended on the lord and was obliged to pay, in-kind supplies and labor, like a peasant community. Highly skilled artisans gave the lord part of their products, the rest worked as corvee laborers, cleaned stables, and carried out regular duties. Cities sought to free themselves from this dependence and achieve freedom and trade and economic privileges. In the XI–XIII centuries. In Europe, the “communal movement” unfolded - the struggle of townspeople against the lords, which took very sharp forms. The ally of cities was often the royal power, which sought to weaken the position of large magnates; kings gave cities charters that recorded their liberties - tax immunities, the right to mint coins, trade privileges, etc. The result of the communal movement was the almost universal liberation of cities from lords (who, nevertheless, could remain there as residents). Highest degree freedom was enjoyed by city-states (Venice, Genoa, Florence, Dubrovnik, etc.), which were not subordinate to any sovereign and independently determined their foreign policy who entered into wars and political unions, which had their own governing bodies, finances, law and court. Many cities received the status of communes: while maintaining collective allegiance to the supreme sovereign of the land - the king or emperor, they had a mayor, a judicial system, a militia, and a treasury. A number of cities have achieved only some of these rights. But the main achievement of the communal movement was the personal freedom of the townspeople.

After his victory, the patriciate came to power in the cities - a wealthy elite that controlled the mayor's office, the court and other elected bodies. The omnipotence of the patriciate led to the fact that the mass of the urban population stood in opposition to it, a series of uprisings in the 14th century. ended with the patriciate having to allow the top of the city guild organizations to come to power.

In most Western European cities, artisans and traders were united into professional corporations - guilds and guilds, which was dictated by general condition economy and insufficient market capacity, therefore it was necessary to limit the number of products produced in order to avoid overproduction, lower prices and the ruin of craftsmen. The workshop also resisted competition from rural artisans and foreigners. In his desire to provide all craftsmen with equal living conditions, he acted as an analogue of the peasant community. Shop statutes regulated all stages of production and sales of products, regulated work hours, the number of students, apprentices, machines in the workshop, the composition of raw materials and the quality of finished products.

Full members of the workshop were craftsmen - independent small producers who owned their own workshop and tools. The specificity of craft production was that the master made the product from start to finish, there was no division of labor within the workshop, it followed the line of deepening specialization and the emergence of new and new workshops, separated from the main ones (for example, gunsmiths emerged from the blacksmith workshop, tinsmiths, manufacturers of hardware, swords, helmets, etc.).

Mastering the craft required a long apprenticeship (7–10 years), during which the students lived with the master, without receiving pay and performing homework. After completing the course of study, they became apprentices who worked for wages. To become a master, an apprentice had to save up money for materials and make a “masterpiece” - a skillful product that was presented to the workshop for judgement. If he passed the exam, the apprentice paid for the general feast and became a full member of the workshop.

Craft corporations and unions of merchants - guilds - played a large role in the life of the city: they organized detachments of city police, built buildings for their associations - guild halls, where they were stored total reserves and cash register, built churches dedicated to the patron saints of the workshop, and organized processions and theatrical performances on their holidays. They contributed to the unity of townspeople in the struggle for communal liberties.

Nevertheless, property and social inequality arose both within the workshops and between them. In the XIV–XV centuries. “closure of workshops” occurs: in an effort to protect themselves from competition, masters limit the access of apprentices to the workshop, turning them into “eternal apprentices”, in fact, into hired workers. Trying to fight for high wages and fair conditions of admission to the corporation, apprentices organized companion unions, prohibited by masters, and resorted to strikes. On the other hand, social tension grew in the relations between the “senior” and “junior” workshops - those who carried out preparatory operations in a number of crafts (for example, carders, fullers, wool beaters), and those who completed the process of manufacturing the product (weavers). The confrontation between the “fat” and “skinny” people in the 14th–15th centuries. led to another escalation of the intra-city struggle. The role of the city as a new phenomenon in the life of Western Europe in the classical Middle Ages was extremely high. It arose as a product of the feudal economy and was its integral part - with small manual production dominating it, corporate organizations similar to the peasant community, and subordination to feudal lords until a certain time. At the same time he was a very dynamic element feudal system, the bearer of new relationships. Production and exchange were concentrated in the city; it contributed to the development of domestic and foreign trade and the formation of market relations. It had a huge impact on the economy of the rural district: thanks to the presence of cities, both large feudal estates, and peasant farms, this largely determined the transition to natural and cash rent.

IN politically the city broke free from the power of the lords, and its own political culture began to form - the tradition of elections and competition. The position of European cities played an important role in the process of state centralization and strengthening royalty. The growth of cities led to the formation of a completely new class of feudal society - the burghers, which was reflected in the ratio political forces in society during the formation of a new form of state power - a monarchy with class representation. In the urban environment, a new system of ethical values, psychology and culture has developed.

From the book Kitchen of the Century author Pokhlebkin William Vasilievich

The emergence of culinary skills and its development in Europe, Russia and America by the beginning of the 20th century The art of cooking - in contrast to its simple preparation for an edible state - is one of the most important signs of civilization. It occurs at a certain turn

From the book Reconstruction true history author

From the book History of the Middle Ages. Volume 1 [In two volumes. Under the general editorship of S. D. Skazkin] author Skazkin Sergey Danilovich

The emergence and growth of cities The most important result of the rise of agriculture in Germany, as in other countries of Western Europe, was the separation of crafts from agriculture and the development of the medieval city. The earliest cities to emerge were in the Rhine basin (Cologne,

From the book Reconstruction of True History author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

9. Bacchic cult in medieval Western Europe The “ancient” pagan, Dionysian Bacchic cult, was widespread in Western Europe not in “deep antiquity”, but in the 13th–16th centuries. This was one of the forms of royal Christianity. Official prostitution was

From the book From Empires to Imperialism [The State and the Emergence of Bourgeois Civilization] author Kagarlitsky Boris Yulievich

II. Crisis and revolution in medieval Europe Unfinished Gothic cathedrals clearly demonstrate to us both the scale of the crisis and the unpreparedness of society for it. In Northern Europe and France we find, as in Strasbourg or Antwerp, that of the two

From the book History of Russia author Ivanushkina V V

2. The emergence of the first Russian cities By the 9th–10th centuries. East Slavic tribes occupied western part The Great Russian Plain, bounded by the Black Sea coast in the south, the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga (Lake Nevo) in the north. Here from north to south (along the Volkhov line -

From the book History of France. Volume I Origin of the Franks by Stefan Lebeck

Clothar II. Dagobert and the emergence of medieval France It was in France (especially in Saint-Denis), and not at all in Germany, that the cycle of legends associated with Dagobert developed. The monks of this abbey spared no effort in glorifying the deeds of their benefactor. They were

From the book Ancient Rus'. IV–XII centuries author Team of authors

The emergence of cities and principalities In Scandinavian sources of the 10th–11th centuries. Rus' was called “gardariki”, which meant “country of cities”. Most often this name is found in the Scandinavian sagas in the era of Yaroslav the Wise, who was married to the Swedish princess Ingigerda

author Gudavičius Edwardas

V. The emergence of cities The Lithuanian social model, characteristic of the distant European periphery, actually repeated the path taken by this periphery. Even at a time of political isolation, Lithuanian society was dependent on both the military and

From the book History of Lithuania from ancient times to 1569 author Gudavičius Edwardas

b. The emergence of the guild structure of cities The development of urban and local crafts, which was characterized by the allocation of artisans who worked exclusively for the market, when their students and apprentices traveled to the cities of surrounding countries and widely

From the book The Strength of the Weak - Women in Russian History (XI-XIX centuries) author Kaydash-Lakshina Svetlana Nikolaevna

From the book General History of State and Law. Volume 1 author Omelchenko Oleg Anatolievich

§ 34. Roman law in medieval Europe The system of law that developed in ancient, classical Rome did not end its historical existence with the fall of the Roman Empire. New states in Europe were created on the historical basis of Roman political and

From the book Who Are the Popes? author Sheinman Mikhail Markovich

Papacy in Medieval Europe The Catholic Church in the Middle Ages was powerful economically and political organization. Its strength was based on large land ownership. This is what Friedrich Engels wrote about how the popes received these lands: “The kings competed with each other in

From the book ISSUE 3 HISTORY OF CIVILIZED SOCIETY (XXX century BC - XX century AD) author Semenov Yuri Ivanovich

4.10. Western Europe: the emergence of cities The radical movement forward took place only in the Western European zone of the central historical space - the only one where feudalism arose. Almost simultaneously with " feudal revolution", starting from the X-XI centuries (in Italy

author

Chapter I EVOLUTION OF THE STATE IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE UNTIL THE END OF THE 15TH CENTURY In the state life of medieval Europe, as in all economic and social development, both common features for the continent and significant regional features emerged. The first ones were connected

From the book History of Europe. Volume 2. Medieval Europe. author Chubaryan Alexander Oganovich

CHAPTER II CLASS AND SOCIAL STRUGGLE IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE The material in the regional chapters of this volume shows that revolutionary opposition to feudalism runs throughout the Middle Ages. It appears, according to the conditions of the time, either in the form of mysticism or in the form