How Useful Is Consideration of Cities and Towns in Gaining an Understanding of the Middle Ages?

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How useful is consideration of cities and towns in gaining an understanding of the middle ages? Between 1066 and 1284 the economies of Britain were transformed. The population at least doubled. The commercial sector had expanded with money supply spiralling and a new infrastructure of towns, markets and fairs growing. England shared the same revival of urban life that took place throughout England, which led to clusters of population in the towns without any agricultural activities. This new influx of urbanisation led to new types of identity within the towns, new laws and new corporate identity, which led to a European transformation. When looking at medieval cities gain a great insight into many pockets of society within the middle ages, the relationship between the King and the towns, the power in which the Church and Bishops hold, anti-Semitism and gender roles. In this essay however I am going to look at the cities and towns and look how, they opened up new trade like fairs and markets, it allowed a new permanent trading and created a created urban government. I will show that when looking at trade and economics within the towns and cities we can see the transformation of society within the Middle Ages. The growth of towns and cities meant an increase of existing towns and the new establishment of the new towns and cities. Between the Norman Conquest and the 1300s more than one hundred and twenty five towns were founded in England. Fairs and Markets increased during the medieval England and it became a type of business, a franchise was needed in order for a market of a fair to exist. A franchise of fair or market could only be exercised by right of a grant from the crown or by the authority of parliament. In the earliest times periodical trading in special localities was necessitated by the difficulties of communication and the dangers of travel. This new
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