What did medieval townspeople need protection from?
Q: What did medieval townspeople need protection from?
A: Medieval townspeople in western Europe during the period of the High Middle Ages needed protection from lawless nobles and bandits.
Q: How did towns provide their own protection for citizens?
A: Towns formed what are called communes, which were sworn alliegences of mutual defense. When a commune was formed, all particpitating members gathered and swore an oath together to defend each other in time of trouble and maintain the peace within the city proper.
Q: What would happen if a noble attacked a commune member outside the city walls?
A: The commune would promise to exact revenge on the attacker, with the promise of revenge being a form of defense. However, if the attacker was a noble who had a castle that was too strong for the townspeople, they might attack his family, burn his crops, kill his serfs or destroy his orchards as forms of violent revenge.
Q: Where did communes first develop?
A: The commune movement started in northern Italy which had the most urbanized population of Europe at the time, and in what is now Belgium which was also relatively urban at this time. It then spread in early 12th century to France, Germany and Spain and elsewhere.
Q: How did both Church and King react to these developments?
A: On one hand they agreed safety and protection from lawless nobles was in everyone's best interest; however on another hand they saw it as disrupting medieval society by crossing lines between working class people fighting rather than just praying or working as normal social order dictated.
Q: What happened when Laon attempted to form its own commune?
A: In 1112 Laon attempted to form its own commmune but it was suppressed by Church and King resulting in an urban revolt against them.
