Advantages And Disadvantages Of Living In A Medieval Town

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Life in a medieval town
Life in a medieval town was relatively easy, compared to living in a village. However there were many downsides to living in a medieval town, including hygiene, finding work, taxes, curfews and disease.
Shops in a town were widespread and found everywhere, and sold a variety of food and products. Depending on the opportunities and wealth, towns attracted merchants. More merchants meant more taxes for the lord, who usually owned the town.
Sheriffs collected taxes from the various merchants, tradesman and peasants, and were usually corrupt. This meant most towns and residents wanted to get charters, which gave rights and allowed towns to collect their own taxes. This also increased the chance for the town to get a court of law so that various legal problems and complications could be settled easily and quicker.
The downsides of living in a medieval town were various and different in severity. Hygiene was a major issue in towns, where residents chucked out toilet waste and sewerage into the streets into gutters. Walking on the streets, you were likely to catch disease from either sewerage or rats, with the latter being responsible for the Black Death which caused millions of deaths.
The type of people living …show more content…

Starvation could easily kill you if you didn't have a good harvest in spring. If you were a serf you worked for the lord either farming or as a servant, and you were the lowest of the low on the feudal pyramid. If you were a servant you worked for the lord, who lived in the castle. You were likely to prepare food, clean pots and pans, tidy bedrooms and clean out chamber pots. However if you were a farmer your job was much different. Your job was to farm the fields and lands for the lord. It was back breaking work, which started at dawn (sunrise) and finished at dusk (sunset). You were to take the animals out, clean them, feed them, maintain them and then put them back into

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