Property, Power and the Growth of Towns: Enterprise and Urban Development,1100-1500 [Paperback]

Chapter 1 Introduction  Chapter 2 Town comparisons: Southern England Part 1  Chapter 3 Town comparisons: Southern England Part 2  Chapter 4 Town comparisons: Midlands and North England   Chapter 5 Explaining the growth of towns 1086-1524: a statistical analysis of 112 towns  Chapter 6: Town growth and topography  Chapter 7: Conclusion

Local enterprise, institutional quality and strategic location were of central importance in the growth of medieval towns. This book, a study of 112 English towns, emphasises these key factors. This book takes an interdisciplinary approach, drawing from the disciplines of economics and history.

Local enterprise, institutional quality and strategic location were of central importance in the growth of medieval towns. This book, comprising a study of 112 English towns, emphasises these key factors. Downstream locations on major rivers attracted international trade, and thereby stimulated the local processing of imports and exports, while the early establishment of richly endowed religious institutions funnelled agricultural rental income into a town, where it was spent on luxury goods produced by local craftsmen and artisans, and on expensive, long-running building schemes. Local entrepreneurs who recognised the economic potential of a town developed residential suburbs which attracted wealthy residents. Meanwhile town authorities invested in the building and maintenance of bridges, gates, walls and ditches, often with financial support from wealthy residents. Royal lordship was also an advantage to a town, as it gave the town authorities direct access to the king and bypassed local power-brokers such as bishops and earls.

The legacy of medieval investment remains visible today in the streets of important towns. Drawing on rentals, deeds and surveys, this book also examines in detail the topography of seven key melC,