CITIES AND TOWN The medieval city.pdf

Preface xxix
cooking were done over an open fire; thus, domestic fires were frequent,
sometimes leading to widespread conflagrations. Disease also spread rapidly
through the congested urban homes. Mortality was great, higher by
far than that normally experienced in rural areas. One is left asking why
people were so ready to desert the country for the town. The answer must
lie in the greater rewards the latter had to offer. There was wealth to be
had from trade. Not all who migrated to a town made a fortune or even
a modest living, but there was always the chance of doing so, and most
people are by nature gamblers.
The city was a continent-wide institution, and this book seeks to give
some attention to most parts of Europe. The writer claims some firsthand
knowledge of most of the significant towns in almost every country and
has explored their streets and alleys, their public and private buildings
during well over half a century. But his deepest familiarity is with the
cities and towns of England. The documentary sources he has used over
this long period have been English. This is reflected in the choice of illustrative
examples and documentary sources. If it is complained that
there is no mention of medieval towns in Slovakia or Norway or Portugal,
it can only be replied that the towns found in those parts generally
conformed with the model presented in the preceding text and that lack
of space prevents any particular examination of them.
These paragraphs have sketched a model of the medieval city, one to
which all in a greater or lesser degree conformed. The following eight
chapters explore this model and conclude with a discussion of the place
of the medieval city in the history of western culture and its contribution
to the society of the present.
This book has been written between bouts of illness, and the writer is
deeply grateful to Professor Jane Chance, editor of this series, for her
kindness and forbearance. He is also indebted to Liz Wetton who has
read much of it with the hawk-like eye of an experienced editor and has
corrected many blemishes in style and judgment. He is also grateful to
Cambridge University Library, not only for the use over a long lifetime
of its superb collections, but also for making copies of the engravings by
Schedel and Braun and Hogenberg, copies of which it holds. All artwork
has been prepared by the author.