Towns Flashcards
Tell me about the medieval towns
Towns in the middle ages were much smaller than towns today.
Most were built on rivers or on a coast that people could make money from trade.
Most had only 1000 people and the largest had only about 5000 people.
A town needed a charter from the king.
This was a contract where the town was granted freedom to have its own affairs but had to pay taxes to the king.
House in the towns
The average person’s house in a town was made of wood.
They were usually several stories high.
The higher floor is usually stuck out over the streets which blocked the Sun and made the street very dark.
Only important buildings the church or the town hall and richer peoples homes were made of stone.
Craftsmen in towns
Craftsman had their shops or workshops on the ground floor. With their family living on the floor above and the bathrooms on the floor above that.
Gardens in the towns
Many houses have back gardens where people grew vegetables and kept animals such as pigs, hands and cows.
People kept dung keeps in their gardens.
Fire was a constant danger, due to all the wooden buildings.
Towns imposed curfew, which meant people had to extinguish their fires at sundown.
