A medieval city arose on the land of feudal lords and had to submit. Former peasants who moved to the city found themselves personally dependent on the feudal lord; they brought with them their customs and skills of communal organization. The feudal lords sought to extract as much income as possible from the city. fishing trade contributed to this.
Communal movement- this is a struggle between cities and feudal lords that took place everywhere in the West. Europe in the X-XIII centuries. The initial stage of the struggle for liberation from severe forms of feudal oppression, for the reduction of taxes and trade privileges.
The next stage is the political struggle for the acquisition of city self-government and rights. The outcome of the struggle determined the degree of independence of the city in relation to the lord, but this struggle was not waged against the fief. the system as a whole, but against specific lords.
Ways of struggle: 1) redemption of individual volosts and privileges (recorded in charters),
2) a long (sometimes armed) struggle in which kings and emperors intervened. and large fiefs. At the same time, commun. the struggle merged with other conflicts and was an important component of politics. life. Zap. Europe. Communal movements in different countries occurred in different ways and led to different results. Cities of the South France gained independence without bloodshed in the 9th-12th centuries. Marseille was an independent aristocratic city for a century. republic until the end of the 13th century, when it was taken by Count. Provence Charles of Anjou. The supreme sovereigns did not want complete independence of the cities. Many cities. Italy (Venice, Genoa, Florence, etc.) in the 11th-12th centuries. became city-states. In Milan, a center of crafts and trade, which was ruled by a bishop, in the middle. 50s of the 11th century. commun. the movement resulted in civil war against the bishop and mixed with the heretical movements of the Waldensians and Cathars. At the end of the 11th century. the city received the status of a commune, but the struggle continued in subsequent times.
Imperial cities- analogues of communes in Germany in the 12th – 13th centuries. Formally they were subordinate to the emperor, but in reality they were independent city republics (Lübeck, Nuremberg, etc.). They were governed by city councils and could declare war, make peace, and mint coins.
Many cities of the North. France and Flanders became self-governing cities - communes as a result of persistent and armed. fight against the lords. They elected the council and its head - the mayor and other officials - from among themselves, had their own court, militia, finances, and set taxes. Cities-communes were exempted from performing seigneurial duties (in return for this they paid the seigneur a small annual cash annuity). Cities-communes often themselves acted as a collective lord in relation to the peasants living in the nearby territory
The fate of the cities that were located on royal lands was different.. The kings (as well as the secular and spiritual feudal lords) did not want to grant cities the status of self-governing communes. The king looked at the city as his own treasury. Almost no city that was located on the territory of the royal lands received full self-government. In this regard, it is indicative the fate of the French city of Lana. The “first medieval historian” left interesting information about the communal movement in Laon, Amiens and Soissons Guibert Nozhansky. Laon was a wealthy trading center of North-Eastern France, which was among the first to enter the early 12th century. in the struggle for communal freedoms. The apotheosis of this struggle was the uprising of 1112. Guibert of Nozhansky had a sharply negative attitude towards communal movements: “ Commune- this new and disgusting word is that everyone obliged to pay the masters a general tax as an ordinary servile duty pays it once a year, and those who commit any offense pay a fine. All other censorship taxes imposed on the serfs are completely abolished.” As a result of the uprising of 1112, Lan, who was on royal land, received communal freedoms, self-government, and independence, but not for long. The king abolishes communal freedoms by edict, and Lan again returns to the jurisdiction of the royal administration. Years and centuries pass in such constant struggle between the king and the city. Communal freedoms (or part of them) were either returned to the city or abolished again. Finally, in the 14th century. King Louis XII completely deprives Laon of communal freedoms, and the city becomes royal. But even those cities that gained independence or had it before, such as Paris, London, Oxford, Cambridge, were under the watchful eye of central government officials. This form of self-government, when a seemingly independent city is constantly monitored by a representative of the central government, is typical for the northern regions of Western Europe (Scandinavian countries, Ireland, many cities in the German states, Hungary). Most, especially small, cities, as a result of the communal movement, remained dependent on the lords. Despite all the differences in the results of the communal movement for the cities of Western Europe, they were united by one common achievement - the inhabitants of the cities of Western Europe were freed from serfdom, they became free. It was after the communal movement that a tradition arose according to which, after living in the city for a year and one day, a person became free. However, many significant and wealthy cities could not achieve complete self-government (Scandinavian countries, cities of Germany, Hungary, Byzantium never had self-governing cities. The rights and liberties of a medieval city were similar to immune privileges and were of a feudal nature. Cities were closed corporations and They put their own interests above all else.
The most important result of the communal struggle- liberation from personal dependence of dependent peasants who fled to the city. In the process of urban development in feudal Europe, a class of townspeople emerged - burghers, from the word Burg - city. This class was not united; within it there was a patriciate, a layer consisting of traders, artisans, homeowners, ordinary workers and urban plebs of the 12th-13th centuries. Peasants' resistance to feudal oppression intensified in the XIV-XV centuries. - the peak of feudal prosperity. city systems and citizens played a leading role in the field of medieval trade and crafts, creating connections and communities of a new type. They influenced the agrarian system and the development of the feud. state The role of the city in the development of medieval culture was great.
Workshops. Urban crafts developed and improved incomparably faster than agriculture and rural, domestic crafts. It is also noteworthy that in the urban craft, non-economic coercion in the form of personal dependence of the worker was not necessary and quickly disappeared. A characteristic feature of crafts and other activities in many medieval cities of Western Europe was a corporate organization: the unification of persons of certain professions within each city into special unions - guilds, brotherhoods. Craft shops appeared almost simultaneously with the cities themselves in France, England, and Germany - from the 11th - early 12th centuries. Competition was dangerous in the conditions of the then very narrow market and insignificant demand. Therefore, the main function of the workshops was to establish a monopoly on this type of craft. In most cities, belonging to a guild was a prerequisite for practicing a craft. Another main function of the guilds was to establish control over the production and sale of handicrafts. The initial model for the organization of urban crafts was partly the structure of the rural community-marks and estate workshops-magisteriums. Each of the guild masters was a direct worker and at the same time the owner of the means of production; the craft was passed on by inheritance. One of the important functions of the workshop was to regulate the relations of masters with apprentices and apprentices. The master, journeyman and apprentice stood at different levels of the guild hierarchy. Preliminary completion of the two lower levels was mandatory for anyone who wished to become a member of the guild. The members of the workshop were interested in ensuring that their products received unhindered sales. Therefore, the workshop, through specially elected officials, strictly regulated production: type and quality. They rationed the number of apprentices and apprentices that a master could keep, prohibited work at night and on holidays, limited the number of machines and raw materials in each workshop, regulated prices for handicraft products, etc. Until the end of the 14th century. guilds in Western Europe protected artisans from excessive exploitation by feudal lords. Each workshop had its own patron saint, princess or church. The stratification of the townspeople led to the emergence of an urban “aristocracy” - according to financial qualifications, artisans and small traders eventually entered into a struggle with the patriciate for power in the city, they were joined by hired workers and the poor. In the 13th-14th centuries. - guild revolutions. In the 14th-15th centuries. The lower strata of the cities rebel against the urban oligarchy and the guild elite in Florence, Perugia, Siena, and Cologne.
Commune (Middle Ages)
Communal movement- in Western Europe X-XIII centuries. movement of townspeople against the lords for self-government and independence. At first, the demands of the townspeople boiled down to limiting feudal oppression and reducing taxes. Then political tasks arose - gaining city self-government and rights. The struggle was not against the feudal system, but against the lords of certain cities.
In Southern France, townspeople achieved independence without bloodshed (IX-XII centuries). The cities of Northern France (Amiens, Laon, Beauvais, Soissons, etc.) and Flanders (Ghent, Bruges, Lille) became self-governing as a result of a stubborn, mostly armed, struggle. The townspeople elected from among themselves a council, its head - the mayor and other officials, had their own court, military militia, finances, and independently set taxes. These cities were freed from rent and seigneurial duties. In return, they paid the lord a certain small monetary annuity, in case of war they deployed a small military detachment, and often themselves acted as a collective lord in relation to the peasants of the surrounding territories.
The cities of Northern and Central Italy (Venice, Genoa, Siena, Florence, Lucca, Ravenna, Bologna, etc.) became communes in the 9th-12th centuries; in Germany in the XII-XIII centuries. so-called imperial cities appeared - they were formally subordinate to the emperor, but in reality they were independent city republics (Lübeck, Nuremberg, Frankfurt am Main, etc.)
Cities located on royal land, in countries with a relatively strong central government, could not achieve complete self-government; most of the small cities remained under the rule of the lords. especially those belonging to spiritual lords. The most important result of the struggle of cities with lords is the liberation of the majority of their inhabitants from personal dependence. A rule was also established, according to which a dependent peasant who fled to the city, after living there “ a year and one day", became free. It was not for nothing that the medieval proverb said that “ city air makes you free».
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The medieval city was initially a landowner's domain, and only from the end of the 11th century. the process of liberation began. The degree of independence achieved was different, liberties were obtained immediately, sometimes gradually, sometimes wrested from the landowners by force, sometimes ceded... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron
- (from Latin communis common). Generally a community. In a particular sense, a communist community, whose structure tends towards perfect equality of rights and property of its members. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910.… … Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
Commune- 1) in the Middle Ages, a self-governing community; 2) a group of people using common property on equal rights... Popular Political Dictionary
Lanskaya commune- commune in France Lan; formed in the 12th century. as a result of the struggle of the townspeople with the lord bishop. In 1109, Lan for the first time obtained the rights of a commune for a monetary ransom, which were approved by King Louis VI in 1111. But in 1112, a communal charter... ... The medieval world in terms, names and titles
The system of city government in the Middle Ages was not the same as it is now. We are especially talking about the early Middle Ages. Until the 10th century, no city in Europe had self-government.
What is a commune?
A commune is a community (group) of people who have a lot in common with each other. For example, according to the principle of living in the same territory, such a group of people also has related sources of livelihood (receives income by working at the same facility).
What was a commune in the Middle Ages? The answer to this question is clear - this is an urban community. was not developed, so migration between cities was minimal. If a person was born in a city, it means he remained there for his whole life.
How was the city management system originally organized? In principle, there was nothing complicated. All land belonged to feudal lords (large owners), who could dispose of it at their own discretion. The main feudal lord of the country was often the emperor (tsar).
The struggle for self-government
The feudal lords did not immediately realize what a commune was. But in vain! Analyzing the concept of “commune” in a modern way, we actually see the embryo of civil society. People had their own position, their own general view on the management of their hometown and wanted to be free in terms of establishing the way of life of the city.
The struggle for liberation went on for quite a long time. The urban population always tried to resolve the issue peacefully, but this was not always possible, so there were military clashes. But the process was mostly peaceful. Land owners gradually began to understand what a commune was and what benefits it could ultimately bring to them. People were freed from personal dependence and acquired certain freedoms.
Which cities received municipal rights?
Here we can mention the French cities of Boissons, Amiens, Lille, Toulouse, as well as the Belgian ones - Ghent, Bruges. In Italy, due to national characteristics, the process took place a little differently, so the cities also received the status of republics (Milan, Venice, Genoa, Pisa, etc.). These cities organized their own
All the land belonged to the feudal lords, therefore the cities stood on their land and were considered their property. The city was like a vassal of the feudal lord. The townspeople were entirely dependent on his whims and appetites, the feudal lord tried to pump out as much profit as possible from them. This prompted the townspeople to start fighting for self-government or, as they said then, for commune . During the X-XIII centuries. communal movement has become a pan-European phenomenon. What was it like?
In a number of cases, townspeople bought certain liberties from the lord and privilege . They carefully recorded these concessions on the part of the feudal lord in the city charters .
XII century From a letter provided to the residents of Freiburg by feudal lord Conrad
I promise peace and security within the borders of my power and dominion to all who come by any means to my market. If one of them is robbed in this territory and names the robber, I will either force them to return the loot, or I myself will compensate for the lost property.
If one of my townspeople dies, his wife and children will own the entire inheritance and, without any objection, will receive everything that her husband left her...
I concede trade duties to all merchants.
I will never appoint another steward for my townspeople, never another priest, and whoever they choose for this purpose will have them after my approval...
If any quarrel arises among my townspeople, it will not be resolved by my or the manager’s willfulness, but will be resolved according to local customs and according to the legal right of all merchants...
But it was not always possible to communicate peacefully with the lord. Quite often, townspeople had to take up arms in order to gain the desired independence.
For over 200 years, the inhabitants of the northern French city of Lana fought for independence, which at the beginning of the 12th century. became the property of the local bishop. Kings Louis VII, Philip II Augustus and many large and small feudal lords were drawn into their struggle. Eventually, the city fell under the rule of royal officials.
How were the city communes organized? They elected their magistrate , had their own court, their own military forces, their own finances, they themselves set the amount of tax and collected it. Residents of commune cities were freed from heavy feudal duties, but at the same time they became a collective lord for the peasants of the suburbs, forcing them to work for themselves. Thanks to the communal movement in medieval Europe, the rule that everyone who lived in a city for “a year and a day” became free.
XIII century From the city law granted to the German city of Goslar by Emperor Frederick II
If someone lived in the city of Goslar and, while he lived there, no one proved his slave origin, then after death let no one dare to call him a slave or turn him into slavery.
If any stranger came to live in this city and lived in it for a year and a day, and he was never confronted with the condition of slavery, was not convicted of it, and he himself did not admit it, then let he enjoys a common freedom with other citizens; and after death, let no one dare to declare him their slave.Material from the site
The communal movement did not win everywhere. Freedom was costly for the townspeople. In many small towns there was neither the strength nor the means to obtain it, so they remained under the thumb of their lord. Some cities were satisfied with limited self-government, for example, the right to elect a magistrate. These cities included Paris, London, and some other cities in France, England, Germany, Scandinavia, and Hungary. In Germany in the 13th century. The so-called Magdeburg law appeared - the right of the citizens of the city of Magdeburg to elect their administration and court. Over time, it spread to Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Belarus (at the end of the 15th century, Kyiv, for example, received Magdeburg law).
Commune - an urban community that achieved independence from the feudal lord and the right to self-government.
Communal movement - the struggle of cities for independence from their lords.
Privilege — 1) advantages, benefits, rights; 2) letters that certified the rights granted to cities or individual groups of the population.
Charter - a document that certifies rights or privileges.
Magistrate - city government body.
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During the era of the Crusades, remarkable things happened in the main continental countries of Western Europe. movement in the cities, which consisted of liberating cities from the power of the feudal aristocracy and turning them into politically independent communities. Previously, this happened in Northern Italy. Here in the X and XI centuries. some coastal cities, especially Venice And Genoa, began to enrich themselves thanks to trade with the Greek and Mohammedan East, and during the era of the Crusades they only further expanded their trade relations with overseas countries. In addition, industrial development began in Italy, which enriched some Lombard And Tuscan cities. Significant material resources accumulated in the hands of the townspeople, and the greater mental development of this class of the population no longer allowed the lords of Italian cities (mostly bishops) to dominate the townspeople in the same way as they dominated outside the city walls, and little by little the cities of Northern Italy, having received from the feudal lords various concessions, turned into real republics, the population of which included the feudal nobility itself as the upper class. These city republics had their own public assemblies of all adult citizens, their elected Duma and at the head of several consuls to command the police, to maintain internal order and to administer justice. From Lombard cities in the 12th century. stood out especially Milan, who even stood at the head of their common union. The same phenomenon occurred in France, where the urban population even entered directly into armed struggle with their lords and forced them to make various concessions to them. In case of victory, the city also turned into a small republic, which in the north of France bore the name communes, and in it a national assembly, a Duma, and elected leaders were also established, who were called mayors, i.e. foremen (from Latin major) or echevens. Finally, independent urban communities arose in Germany, also thanks to enrichment from industry and trade. There were especially many wealthy cities on the Rhine, on the upper Danube and in Flanders. Rhine cities began to acquire various liberties back in the 11th century, under Henry IV, who generally found it advantageous to help cities to weaken the bishops. Flanders cities, among which the most prominent Ghent And Bruges, rose to prominence in the 12th century. Much later they began to play a big role Dutch cities And Hanseatic in northern Germany.
166. The importance of urban development
The development of cities in the second half of the Middle Ages was of very important historical significance. City life was the complete opposite of feudal life and therefore introduced new principles into the life of the society of that time. Feudal chivalry was primarily military class, townspeople, on the contrary, industrial class of people And trading The material strength of the feudal lords lay in their lands, and the main occupation of the population of individual lords was agriculture, while the basis of the material significance of cities was goods And money, and their inhabitants were busy with different crafts, transportation of goods And trade. The population of the feudal lords was in serf dependence on their masters, but in the cities a system of civil liberty. The basis of state power in feudal principalities and baronies was land tenure, in the cities it became general consent of citizens. Finally, the development of cities had a great influence on mental culture. Here, for the first time, it began to take shape class of secular educated people, whereas previously educated people were only spiritual.
167. Social structure of cities
The internal structure of medieval cities was very diverse, but some common features are observed everywhere. Everywhere the population was divided into urban patrician And populace. The first was formed from lords and knights, if they were part of the community (in Italy), or from merchants who had become rich in trade, while the rest were craftsmen and working people in general. At first in general only wealthier people enjoyed the right to participate in city government, i.e., make general regulations, elect the city council and officials, etc., but over time, less wealthy residents sought the same rights although to do this they had to enter into a fight with the patriciate. For the most part these were artisans, which united into special partnerships known as workshops; Thanks to this organization, they only won.
168. Workshops and their significance
The workshops generally had very important in the life of medieval cities. In this era, individuals willingly formed partnerships for a common cause or for common defense. United in guilds merchants of individual communities united cities into entire unions for the sake of common trade and political interests. There were workshops too comradely associations of artisans of the same specialty in selected cities. The entire manufacturing industry was then in the hands of artisans, and production was carried out in small establishments in which the owner himself worked, or master with very few employees (apprentices), considered his junior comrades (compagnons, Gesellen), and teenage students. To become a master, you first had to learn the skill and improve in it as an apprentice, that is, be able to work well yourself. Craftsmen of the same specialty chose a saint as their patron (for example, carpenters - St. Joseph), placed his statue in the church, celebrated the day of his memory and helped the sick or those who fell into poverty from among them. Little by little, such partnerships began to develop statutes, concerning the craft itself. The main features of the shop regulations were as follows. In order to engage in any craft in the city, it was necessary belong to guild, which generally limited the number of craft establishments of one kind, in accordance with earnings. The number of apprentices and apprentices was also limited, so that all craftsmen have approximately the same income. The shop charters also included different rules regarding the duration of training, treatment of students and journeymen, etc., as well as regarding production technology, because the workshop took upon itself the guarantee for the quality of the work. Full members The workshop consisted of only masters, who chose their elders from among themselves. The workshop usually worked only for its city and its district, i.e. local market. Thus, urban industry in the Middle Ages was only small-scale, designed for small sales. Therefore, the exchange of goods between individual cities was relatively small. That is why the first money capitalists in the Middle Ages were only merchants who conducted large-scale foreign trade. In addition to their economic significance, the workshops had significance and political because, mainly thanks to such an organization, the artisans only achieved the right to participate in city affairs.
169. New position of townspeople in society
In the era of fragmentation of the main countries of Western Europe into feudal possessions the cities, freed from their lords, emerged as a new political force. Next to the feudal lords there now stood republican communes, which entered into the fight against the feudal world. On the other hand, next to the clergy and knighthood, a third rank arose in every country ( third estate), which received the name in France bourgeoisie, and in Germany - burghers(from the word burg, i.e. city). Urban communities surrounded themselves with walls, had their own militia, and fought wars at their own risk. In the political struggle they could and did represent a great force, and therefore it was important both for popes and emperors, and for kings and feudal lords, on whose side the cities would take. With the emergence of cities as an independent political force, and State life began to become more complicated. From the XII – XIII centuries. in some countries of Western Europe there were four political forces: 1) royalty, 2) clergy, 3) secular aristocracy and 4) cities. In different countries these forces were united in different ways, but everywhere, with the development of cities, the political structure began to take on new look.