Town Definition

Define what is meant by a town in your general introduction?

Britain

It is believed through Archaeological findings that most British towns had a population of 500 to 1000. Not as many as today by any means, but since the economic premise of a town is a concentration of population; the majority were engaged in a diversity of non-agricultural occupations.

Within Britain, very few towns exceeded a population of 5000 this may seem insignificant compared to many towns across Europe but by c.1300 just under 5% of the population of Britain resided in urban towns and 10% within denser towns. However, at the same time in Northern Italy, the percentage of the population living within towns was over 20%. Therefore, the study of British towns and urban craft, trade and industry can possibly give more of an insight into earlier mainland urbanization within Europe. (Richards, n.d.)

In the ninth century king Alfred was instrumental in the development of burhs . A burh was a fortified town, the importance of which grew as military, religious and administrative centres in Norman England. Trade was the focus of these burhs. Towns in coastal areas became trade routes for wool being exported to Europe for example Flanders being a very large consumer. Towns like Lincoln and York, alongside major rivers also played a part in exporting goods as well as importing goods, which added to the town’s growth

There was an important difference between the first towns and rural villages. The rural population produced the basic essentials of everyday life for consumption and the townspeople manufactured goods for sale. Craft and Industry grew to new levels. Consequently, this period was most important for the development of society.

It would first appear mor...

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...tury, Flanders had built up regular trading and the counts of the towns started holding up to six fairs throughout the year increasing their economy. England and Flanders had close diplomatic and economic ties in the Middle Ages.

Trade in Europe was a major cause of the growing town, stimulating trade by providing greater markets and producing goods for the merchants to sell. Geography and rivers were an important factor; ensuring articles of commerce could be transported. Wool Merchants for example used boats from the coast to the inland town of Flanders and had to pay tax to regional lords whose lands they travelled through. The economic success of Flanders was founded on the export of fine woollen cloth. This was important for many English towns, as many lords had ejected peasants from their lands in order to rear sheep to supply the demand for English wool.