Mutual Aid · Chapter
The Market and the Medieval City explained
This chapter examines the dual origin of the medieval city, arguing that the market played a crucial role in fostering independence and wealth among citizens, but that the city's legal and social structure also derived from the rural villag
What happens
This chapter examines the dual origin of the medieval city, arguing that the market played a crucial role in fostering independence and wealth among citizens, but that the city's legal and social structure also derived from the rural village community (Almende). It discusses the work of Rietschel and Carl Hegel on the relationship between market law and town law, and considers the later influence of merchant guilds on urban liberties, as studied by Herman van den Linden.
Themes in this chapter
Historical Development of Social Institutions
The chapter traces the evolution of the medieval city from both market and village community roots, illustrating how social institutions develop through layered historical processes.
State vs. Communal Organization
The tension between princely or royal authority and the self-governing urban commune is central, as seen in the separate legal status of Old Town and New Town.
Resilience of Mutual Aid Institutions
The persistence of the village community (Almende) within the city structure demonstrates the resilience of mutual aid institutions despite the rise of market and state power.
Characters to notice
- Henry Maine
Referenced indirectly through the discussion of village community organization (Almende), a concept associated with Maine's work on ancient law.
- Georg Ludwig von Maurer
Referenced indirectly through the concept of the Almende (village community) as a foundational element of medieval cities.
- Achille Luchaire
Referenced indirectly through the broader discussion of medieval urban institutions and their origins.
Key passages
“The local market, placed under the protection of a bishop, a monastery or a prince, gathered round it a population of tradesmen and artisans, but no agricultural population.”
The market, safeguarded by a bishop, monastery, or prince, attracted merchants and craftspeople but not farmers.
Summarizes Rietschel's view on the market's role in urban formation.
“the medieval city has had a double origin. There were in it 'two populations placed by the side of each other: one rural, and the other purely urban;' the rural population, which formerly lived under the organization of the Almende , or village community, was incorporated in the city.”
The medieval city arose from two distinct groups: a rural population organized in village communities and an urban population of traders, later merged into one civic body.
Captures Hegel's dual-origin thesis supporting the book's argument.
“The author follows the gradual development of their political force and the authority which they gradually acquired upon the industrial population, especially on the drapers, and describes the league concluded by the artisans to oppose their growing power.”
Van den Linden traces how merchant guilds gained political influence over industrial workers, particularly cloth makers, and how artisans formed leagues to resist this power.
Summarizes van den Linden's study of guild power and artisan resistance.