Medieval Town Life

Flashcards covering town sanitation, housing, shops, danger, and charters in the Middle Ages.

Describe the sanitation and street layout of medieval towns.

Streets wandered and were filthy; a central channel carried rubbish and sewage to the nearest river or the town’s moat, which often served as the water supply.

How were houses in medieval towns built?

Typically two or three stories high, with upper stories projecting out from the lower ones.

What were medieval shops like?

Not modern shops but workshops with a front selling space; each shop made and sold one item, often custom-made for individual customers; in larger towns, crafts were clustered in streets (e.g., street of butchers, street of shoemakers).

Why was life dangerous during the Middle Ages?

Powerful nobles with private armies roamed the land and plundered villages.

What happened when a town grew big and rich?

It might receive a charter from the king.

What did the charter authorize for a town?

The town could no longer belong to the lord of Menorah and could elect a mayor and council to run its own affairs.

What provided water for most houses in medieval towns?

The nearest river or the moat surrounding the town.

What was the purpose of the central channel in the streets?

To collect and carry rubbish and sewage away from the town.