Chapter 14.3 The Growth of Towns

The Rights of Townspeople  Trade and cities generally grow together  As towns grew, townspeople realized they did not fit in the manorial system  They played a little part in the farming economy of villages  Instead they made a living by making and trading goods  Manor lords continued to control the towns

The Rights of Townspeople  Some towns won self-government while others resorted to violence  Some lords granted charters of liberties  A charter was a written statement of the town’s rights  In time the townspeople throughout Europe gained FOUR basic rights

The Rights of Townspeople  1. Freedom  If you lived in a town for a year you were considered free (This included serfs)  2. Exemption  Exempt from having to work on the manor  3. Town justice  Towns had their own courts  4. Commercial privileges  Sell goods freely in town markets

Guilds  As trade increased, towns grew larger and richer  Merchants and workers began to unite in associations called guilds  In each town, a merchant guild had the sole right to trade there  If you were an outside merchant you had to pay a fee  These guilds were a union of people who would help out other members

Workers  In time, skilled workers came together in craft guilds  Members included shoemakers and weavers  They set rules for wages, hours, and working conditions  They controlled the training of skilled workers  First a boy served as an apprentice  His parents paid the master worker to house, feed, clothe, and train the boy  Training took five to nine years

Workers  Next, the young man became a journeyman  A skilled worker who was paid wages by a master  Journeyman could become a master by making a masterpiece  If the guild approved of the masterpiece the journeyman could open his own shop and become a member of the guild

The rise of the middle class  In time, towns’ guild members, merchants, and master workers, became the middle class  Between the class of nobles and that of peasants and unskilled workers  The middle class favored kings over nobles  Could provide a stable government that would protect trade, business, and property  The middle class gave the kings advice and some were given government positions  Middle class started to gain power

Medieval Towns  In the Middle Ages, most northern and western European cities had fewer than 2,000 people  By the 1200s, Paris had 150,000 people  London had about 40,000 people  Population of Sandy Utah: 90,231  Population of Draper Utah: 45,285

Town Life  Towns offered serfs a chance to improve their lives  Some would escape from manors and live in towns for freedom  Manor serfs sold crops and had to pay the lord money rather than crops  Cities often stood on hilltops or lay along river bends for added protection  Cities had little land, so houses were built several stories high  Cities also had large public buildings, including churches or cathedrals, town halls, and guild halls

The Black Death  Many cities were an exciting place, however, many were dark, unsafe, dirty, and unhealthy  Cities had NO street lights or police  People didn’t go out at night for fear of robbers  Waste was dumped into open gutters  Diseases spread quickly through the crowded cities

The Black Death  Beginning in 1347, one such disease, a terrible plague called the Black Death, swept through Europe  This plague began in Asia and spread along busy trade routes  Black rats on the ships carried the disease  The plague was spread to people by bites from fleas on the rats

The Black Death  Some entire villages and towns were wiped out!  Some estimate about 25 million people died in Europe in 1347 to 1351, about 1/3 of the population  The Black Death caused many changes in Europe  People’s faith in God was shaken  Church lost some of its power and importance  Relations between the upper classes and lower classes changed Workers demanded higher wages, peasants staged uprisings *********************************