Life in a Medieval Towns

How was the average life of a person in a Medieval Towns?

Read the waning of the Middle ages by Huizinga, there is a chapter there that beautifully describes how life was like for people in the late Middle-ages.

"Between town and country, too, the contrast was very marked. A medieval town did not lose itself in extensive suburbs of factories
and villas; girded by its walls, it stood forth as a compact whole, bristling with innumerable turrets. However tall and threatening the houses of noblemen or merchants might be, in the aspect of the town the lofty mass of the churches always remained dominant. The contrast between silence and sound, darkness and light, like that between summer and winter, was more strongly marked than
it is in our lives. The modern town hardly knows silence or darkness in their purity, nor the effect of a solitary light or a single distant
cry. All things presenting themselves to the mind in violent contrasts and impressive forms, lent a tone of excitement and of passion to everyday life and tended to produce that perpetual oscillation between despair and distracted joy, between cruelty and pious tenderness which characterize life in the Middle Ages."

"One sound rose ceaselessly above the noises of busy life and lifted all things unto a sphere of order and serenity: the sound of bells. The bells were in daily life like good spirits, which by their familiar voices, now called upon the citizens to mourn and now to rejoice, now warned them of danger, now exhorted them to piety. They were known by their names: big Jacqueline, or the bell Roland. Every one knew the difference in meaning of .the various ways of ringing. However continuous the ringing of the bells, people would seem not to have become blunted to the effect of their sound."

"The frequent processions, too, were a continual source of pious agitation. When the times were evil, as they often were, processions were seen winding along, day after day, for weeks on end. In 1412 daily processions were ordered in Paris, to implore victory for the king, who had taken up the oriflamme against the Armagnacs. They lasted from May to July, and were formed by ever-varying orders and corporations, going always by new roads, and always carrying different relics. The Burgher of Paris calls them 'the most touching processions in the memory of men'. People looked on or followed,
'weeping piteously, with many tears, in great devotion). All went barefooted and fasting, councillors of the Parlement as well as the poorer citizens. Those who could afford it carried a torch or a taper. A great many small children were always among them. Poor country people of the environs of Paris came barefooted from afar to join the procession. And nearly every day the rain came down in
torrents."

"Then there were the entries of princes, arranged with all the resources of art and luxury belonging to the age. And, lastly, most
frequent of all, one might almost say,uninterrupted, the executions.The cruel excitement and coarse compassion raised by an execution formed an important item in the spiritual food of the common people.They were spectacular plays with a moral. For horrible crimes the law invented atrocious punishments. At Brussels a young incendiary and murderer is placed in the centre of a circle of burning fagots
and straw, and made fast to a stake by means of a chain running round an iron ring. He addresses touching words to the spectators,
'and he so softened their hearts that everyone b is death was commended as the finest that was ever seen'. During the Burgundian terror in Paris in 1411, one of the victims, Messire
Mansart du Bois, being requested by the hangman, according to custom, to forgive him, is not only ready to do so with all his heart,
but begs the executioner to embrace him. 'There was a great multitude of people, who nearly all wept hot tears.''

This film made a valiant effort at imagining what it might have been like.

Rarer than processions and executions were the sermons of itinerant preachers, coming to shake people by their eloquence. The modern reader of newspapers can no longer conceive the violence of impression caused by the spoken word on an ignorant mind lacking mental food. The Franciscan friar Richard preached in Paris in 1429 during ten consecutive days. He began at five in the morning and spoke without a break till ten or eleven, for the most part in the cemetery of the Innocents. When, at the close of his tenth sermon, he announced that it was to be his last, because he had no permission to preach more, 'great and small wept as touchingly and as bitterly as if they were watching their best friends being buried; and so did he'. Thinking that he would preach once more at Saint Denis on the Sunday, the people flocked thither on Saturday evening, and passed the night in the open, to secure good seat......When he spoke of the Last Judgement, or Hell, or of the Passion, both he and his hearers wept so copiously that he had to suspend his sermon till the sobbing had ceased. Malefactors threw themselves at his feet, before every one, confessing their great sins. One day, while he was preaching, he saw two persons, who had been condemned to death - a man and a woman - being led to execution. He begged to have the execution delayed, had them both placed under the pulpit, and went on with his sermon, preaching about their sins. After the sermon, only some bones were found in the place they had occupied, and the people were convinced that the word of the saint had consumed and saved them at the same time."

It depends on what job they had and how wealthy they were. Remember that although the common picture of the medieval world paints peasants and dirty and scratching into the mud the truth is that it was in fact cities which were much more filthy. This was due to a combination of population density and improper waste disposal methods. It wasn't uncommon for rains or floods to send waste back up towards the poor city folk. The Thames for example was infamous for how filthy it was and reportedly reeked for much of its history. Housing was small and cramped. Space within the city was heavily competed over and poor urban planning meant that many cities were quite maze like in their layout. If one was poorer their house would likely be of wooden construction with richer citizens living in stone houses. The cramped conditions meant that sickness and fire spread easily; especially in the poorer districts where their poor diets and shoddy housing left them vulnerable to the elements, sickness and fire.
Furthermore while a town or hamlet may simply be ignored by an opposing military force cities were valuable strategic targets due to their economic strength. If one was unfortunate enough to be trapped in a city under siege you were pretty much screwed as if you were a male and in good shape you were likely expected to take part in the defense or, if not, you'd be left to scavenge what food you could find as the lions share would simply be given to the defenders. (cont)

Crime was also a major problem in many cities. The availability of trading goods meant that many people had things worth stealing. It was very easy for someone to take a wrong turn down the maze of streets or perhaps think they can take a quick shortcut down an alleyway only to be stopped by some thugs and leave without their coin purse or even their life. There were no police to help quell crime and so what little policing there was was shared by the men of the community who would all have experience serving in the militia. Richer townsfolk would, of course, be able to afford better quality arms and armor. So you're probably thinking that living in a medieval city sounds like shit and why would anyone do it? The answer is that cities offered potentially greater dangers to a person, but also greater opportunities. Not only did the influx of trade and workers offer one greater access to foods, luxury items and crafts but the constant demand for labor meant that to an ambitious young man he had the opportunity to find a job. If one was lucky they could find work as an apprentice to one of the many craftsmen in the city. If they had some coin in their pocket they could start a career as a merchant. If they were willing to work hard or wanted to see the world they could take up employment as a sailor. If they were a veteran or had a good sword arm they could find themselves joining a mercenary band. For a young lad a city must have seemed both exciting and frightening but most of all it offered a new life to most people who came to one. (cont)

Good information user, Thanks.