The growth of towns and cities

notes on the section for towns and cities

1. Medieval Europe comes alive The Growth of Towns and Cities

2. Agriculture Originally, manors produced only enough food to support the peasants and the Lord's family Improvements that allowed peasants to produce more food, and population grew Wheeled Plow with Iron Blades allowed workers to cut the soil deeper with less work The Horse Collar allowed horses to work the plows rather than oxen Watermills and windmills were used to grind wheat into flour Crop Rotation – fields were planted in thirds (1/3 planted in fall, 1/3 planted in spring and 1/3 fallow), meaning that 2/3 were being used to plant Population grew as a result

3. Trade Because of the improvement in agriculture, fewer peasants were needed to work the fields so some started producing metal and cloth goods. Nobles heard of luxury items from the East such as sugar, spices, silks and dyes and demand for these goods grew Some towns grew into trading cities, and Europe developed two major markets: Northern - France and Flanders Southern - Italy As trade grew, merchants started to use gold and silver coins as currency Wealthy merchants established banks

4. Governments As towns and cities grew, a middle class emerged from the merchants, bankers and artisan crafters. Tired of being controlled by the nobles, they used new wealth to gain basic rights such as: freedom from military service self-government the right to buy and sell property Towns established city councils, which were elected by the citizens (only males could be citizens), to create laws and serve as judges.

5. City Life Although city people enjoyed extra freedom, wealth and the protection of huge stone walls, life in the cities could be quite difficult at times Houses were crammed together Heat came from fire so smoke and ashes filled the air Streets were used as toilets and were rarely cleane d Women managed the house, the children and the finances and still had to help out with their husband's trade

6. Flanders and France The region of Flanders, in modern Belgium, became a center of trade for Northern Europe In northern France, trade fairs were established, and merchants from northern Europe would trade wool, honey, furs, and tin with merchants from Italy who carried metal weapons, cloths and silks, dyes, and spices from the East

7. Italy Cities such as Venice, Pisa and Genoa grew to be large trading centers and built a vast fleet of merchant ships due to trade in the Mediterranean Sea By 1200, the Italian cities were competing with the Byzantine Empire for control of the Mediterranean trade.

8. Interactive Prompt Use the remainder of page 10 to respond to the following: How was the feudal order changed with the growth of towns and cities? This can be a written or illustrated response, or a combination of both.