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The medieval city of Anger was born when bourgs had appeared around Roman civitas and been combined by wall. In Middle Ages Angers became focal point of more or less clearly defined local regions and was the center of the local commerce as well as the long-distance and inter-regional trade. In the economic life of the citizen in Angers, it seems that at least in the first stage the local commerce between the city and its countryside was more important than the international commerce. Although commercial wealth was becoming more important, the wealthy citizen diversified their investments, combing the quick return of commerce with the security associated with landowning. So, wealthy patriciens had begun to buy up landed properties as early as the twelfth century. They expanded their rural interests in response to social unrest and economic instability. The onset of large land investment by wealthy citizen came in a period of high grain price. They found a secure investment for surplus capital in the rural environs' land. Besides a landed estate offered more than mere economic diversification. Wealthy and powerful bourgeois saw in their own acquisition of land a mean for attaining the leisurely life inherent in their ambitions. Moreover for wealthy citizens it was a first step toward an elevation of status and ultimate upward mobility into the traditional noble. Social status and often political rights such as control of the municipal council was tied to landownership. In conclusion, the relationship between city and countryside during the Middle Ages was much more closer than was once thought.

The study investigates the development process of the network of traders in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea in the early period of the Hansa using the assumption that the foundation of the Hansa, which bridged Western Europe, Northern Europe, and Eastern Europe markets, originated from the organized network of traders. Due to the lack of historic records, it was impossible to fix an accurate period when organized trading was born in Northern Europe since the Carolingian period, or to identify the subject and character of the trading clearly. Therefore, this study focuses on tracing the existence of the long distance network of traders in the early period of the Hansa through the first historic record, and looks at how Wiks(= temporary trading centers) and fairs affected the creation of the network, rather than reconstructing the whole trading network of the Hansa traders. Furthermore, the study finds the clues for the network among strategic points of trading with traders who mediated long distance trading. The networks of long distance trading that was made centering around central places of seaborne trading since the Carolingianperiod continued to grow, and the trading between the East and the West extended thanks to the growth of fairs and cities. Although the trading networks in Northern Europe became narrower, intensified, and diversified from the time of the 12th century, that wasn’t radically new. The establishment and operation of stable networks was the key to the swift growth of the Hansa, and the long history of the Hansa can be more consistently explained from a network-oriented perspective.

Medieval cities’ revivals were changed skylines of European towns in the twelfth century. In respect of the local economy and population at that time, Gothic cathedrals had great meaning for the medieval citizens and presented their pride. In the course of the twelfth century the cathedrals had reflected the changes of theological thoughts. The theologians expressed Christ, the Incarnation rather than the Last Judgement in the Revelation. The Virgin was his mother but at the same time his spouse, also the Church. As the best way to obstruct heresies, Mary’s image now stood alongside Jesus’ at the center of their theology and the center of cathedral art. And Maria Regina was surrounded by glory. In other words, Mary’s coronation in each cathedral was actually the formal affirmation of the sovereignty of the Church of Rome. Therefore what did cathedrals mean to medieval people? While the bishops prevented heretical sect and preached Christ’s teachings, the kings fought false prophets and found out heretical members in the cathedrals. However the places were for not only ruling classes, but all ones. Masters and apprentices who took part in the Gothic edfices dedicated their talents and fervors to the glory of God. The cathedrals were to fairs for medieval people who sold and purchased surplus products. They were to be a public area as an open place for the wealthy as well as the poor. In the cathedral main group of clergy composed the bishops, the dignitaries, canons, chapters and so on. The canons among them were the most important and necessary members of the cathedral clergy. All the residentiary canons had to attend the cathedral services, and have the hospitality duties. And they were also responsible for the conduct of the greater part of the business affairs of the cathedral and chapter. How did these cathedrals function for people? First, medieval people used the place to meet God. They communicated with God in the cathedral which was filled with splendid stained glass, brightly lights, and realistic statues. So people might be felt mystique, wonder, and the Incarnate Christ. And bread and wine were the primary products at Chartres, they were also used instead of money to pay many oblations, such as various taxes, tithes as well as God’ offerings. Presentation loves at major feasts were distributed to the people especially the poor, also wine mixed with water (ablution wine) was given to the lay people. It might be consolidated unions of God as well as the people. Second, they communicated with the relics in the cathedrals. For example, Chartres cathedral was very famous for St. Mary’s sacred tunic. The faith of St. Mary was able to rebuild fifth cathedral from fires. Moreover St. Mary’s relic attracted many pilgrims. As a result Chartres had developed local fairs and contributed growth of local economy. Third, they communicated with the people there. For instance, the cathedrals were to be theaters, lay people were able to get rest and education. These were concord and relaxation in the people. However the cathedrals had the antagonism between the various social groups in the town and the economic basis of its construction. In conclusion, I revealed that the cathedrals functioned as a place of communication actively, people with God, the relic, and the people. It also includes that the cathedrals were centered in roles of social union of classes as well as diverse ones’ struggles.

Regarding the intellectual milieu of Paris during 12th and early 13th centuries, most scholarship focuses on the origins of the University of Paris. This paper, however, aims to examine the infrastructure and the networks at Paris in 12th century and early 13th century. Since the 12th century, Paris had intellectual prominence over such rival cities as Chartres and Laon, rising to prominence as an educational city around the Europe. This development of Paris may be attributed to the benefits of its being the capital and the political support of the Capetian dynasty, and the legal support of the Papacy. However, the freedom to set up a private school and the competition between scholars including actively debate over intellectual issues like the universal brought many eminent scholars to Paris. Because great theologians and philosophers, such as Peter Abelard, Hugh of St. Victor, and Adam du Petit Pont came to Paris to teach and study, Paris rose as an intellectual center of theology and the liberal arts in 12th century. As a result of their intellectual fame and ease of opening up a school on the Left Bank of the Seine, the academic space of Paris expanded into the Left Bank. The nation, that is, the corporation of masters of the faculty of the arts of the University of Paris of was born in the 1220s. Over time the masters created a more well-ordered organization for the protection of their rights. The nations of the faculty of arts of the University of Paris were composed of French, Normandy, Italian and English-German ones. They also served as intellectual networks by participating in education. In addition, the masters of the faculty of theology of the University of Paris enjoyed prominent careers in the ecclesiastical world, and many of them became prelates. The masters and students of the University of Paris also served as messengers of the advanced knowledge at Paris to other areas or their countries. In short, while distinguished scholars functioned as intellectual networks in Paris in the 12th century, the University of Paris, especially its more organized nations of the faculty of arts and the faculty of theology did so from the early 13th century.

This article should be considered the analysis of the ruling organization of London in the late 12th century and the early 13th century, and then expressed not only the specific character but the effects on the London ruling class. Especially, it should be considered the characteristics of London mayors and sheriffs, and then brought right on the ruling structure. Also, it contains what the London ruling class were sorts of the status. After thoroughly reviewing related research materials it concluded as follows. First of all the election of London mayor appeared in the 1190s. It made an epoch in English town history. London mayor and sheriffs would not stand on either a class but representatives from London in the 1190s. London sovereignties comprised freedman, alderman, the upper classes. I grasped that the rulers of a town had formed the personnel network. The town rulers played an important role in town's administration, taxes, justice and that were forming a social group. Then London farm must had payed over the Exchequer. Its work was the one of important tasks between them. Also they bore the burden of town taxes and otherwise. London ordinary citizens were unequal to the town burdens. Therefore the only status class who had been able to pay for the town's burdens became the ruling class. That would be proved the merchant appearance by an overwhelming majority in London officials. Also such a change gradually made an appearance after the election of London mayor in the late 12th century and the early 13th century. And then, a leading commercial position was possible for the merchant(wool trader, draper, etc.) to try to take the initiative in town affairs. They gradually served as mayoralty and sheriffalty Thereafter the town upper class had not been an occupation or a group but creating cooperative networks. In those days London had been made significant progress in terms of commercial networks and household finances. The only social rising of the merchant class did not broke down the structure in the Middle Ages, but it was forming the medieval cooperative network.

The fuero granted by the Crown to Cuenca, a frontier town in Medieval Castile served as a model for many town, and in this respect this fuero was significant. In this frontier town the Jewish and Muslim settlers were given various privileges similar to the Christian ones. As king's serfs they could flourish economically under the protection of the Crown. The king's attitude to Jews and Muslims rested on their political and economic benefit. But although the open society in frontier provided them with new opportunities, there existed many laws such as the restriction of the use of the public baths and the interdiction of Jewish-Christian sexual relation. The primary objective of these laws is to prevent social contact and reproduce the social boundary. In this respect there wasn't convivencia(living together) of equals. Christian policy was one of discriminatory and limited toleration. The religious minorities in fact couldn't be incorporated into Christian community, since Christian principle in society couldn't help coming into collision with the lives of religious minorities.

This article aims to assess the level and dimension of the sea-borne communications between the ports by analysing Venice's maritime networks in the Later Middle Ages. Venice's maritime networks were an first-class infrastructure on the basis of which men, merchandises, news, lots of information were circulated. Until recently historians have viewed Venice's maritime networks mainly in the economic terms, i.e. a means of transportation. However, an effort should be made consider them in terms of the circulations of news, information, or communication. The Later Middle Ages saw that Venice's maritime networks were expanded. It was the city government which took the initiative in their expansion. In about 1300 the Venetian government established the system of the official convoys, which navigated in accordance with the timetables established by the city state. The Venetian official convoys called at most of major ports in the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and the Atlantic ocean. However, the Venetian official convoys made a long distance navigation just once or twice a year. The close scrutiny of merchants' correspondence reveals the fact that they exchanged the letters more frequently than the annual one or two passages of venetian official convoys that were in charge of a lion's share of the Venetian transportation of merchandises. In actuality, the communications by letters between Venice and other great maritime ports such as Barcelona, London, Bruges, and Acre was effectuated at least once or twice a month. The absence of the official convoys means that the transmissions of letters were inevitably done by the private ships. Thus it is necessary to rectify at least partly the prevailing opinion that the private ships made an negligible role in the Venetian transport systems. At the same time an emphasis should be put on the fact that the Venetian maritime networks were exceptionally rapid and extensively stretched out in the Later Middle Ages, when the frequency and intensity of the habitual communication with the exterior worlds in the medieval European societies was low and weak. And yet it should also be remembered that many parts in the Occident were still isolated from the developed maritime networks such as Venetian ones.

Various social-cultural factors were crucial in the formation and development of medieval towns. Among those factors, medieval Christianity greatly contributed to the formation of medieval towns. Including monasteries and cathedral organizations, pilgrimage was decisive to the life and culture of medieval people. ‘Pilgrimage’means visiting religious places where certain meaningful and important events happened, to entreat supernatural help and also keep religious responsibilities. The power of pilgrimage, a living icon for medieval Christians, was a stronger force than that of intellectuals and theologians. For this reason, I looked at the journey to Compostela, one of three major pilgrimages in medieval Christianity. I pursued the relationship between pilgrim culture and the development of the town, and added a certain Christian interpretation to it. As we see in Liber Sancti Jacobi Book V, numerous towns were flourished along the pilgrimage from Vezlay to Compostela. What attracted people to pilgrimage and made the people move continuously were saints, cathedrals, and necessary facilities like lodges and charitable institutes. The journey to Compostela clearly shows these diverse aspects. Medieval pilgrimage was related with the development process rather than with the origination and formation of towns. Shaped out of traditional villages and towns in the beginning, as we see in the case of Compostela, many towns depended on holy relics rather than the pilgrims. Translation and acquisition of the relics provided a religious authority and justification for a new cathedral and monastery. Saints did not move, but the pilgrims who sought saints moved and stimulated the development of towns. People gathered, markets formed, information was shared, and religious symbols and social developments intermingled. Dian Webb even illustrates that pilgrimage is closely related to politics, economics, and culture in general. The relationship between towns and pilgrimage was deeper than superficially observed. Based upon material and social grounds, the pilgrims developed the concept of solidarity and communication. The pilgrims gathering around the village and towns built up mutual solidarity.

The urban revolts in Northern France of late medieval period revealed the internal and external solidarity. Regarding the internal one, the professional and regional solidarity that the bourgeois had shared before the revolts functioned as a prime mover of the upheavals. However, the solidarity did not prove long-lasting. The fact that bourgeois solidarity was gradually weakened appears to be evident considering that haute bourgeois who actively joined the 1358 revolts was virtually absent from the revolts in the 1380s, and the revolts of Cabochiens in 1413 were led by lower bourgeois. Externally, professional and regional solidarity mattered as well. The spread of urban revolts into the extended areas was mainly due to the role of commercial networks in conveying the initial revolts, as in the case of commercial solidarity of the cities arrayed from Paris to Flanders. Increasing personal and material exchanges allowed the urban dwellers to share the economic interests and made their social structures similar. Through the networks, these cities became a regional unit. In this respect, the urban revolts in late medieval ages indicated a process of extending from a medieval geographical unit based on a city and its suburb into modern regional unit of larger areas that would be eventually evolvedinto a centralized kingdom. It was none other than the monarchy that made the most of this centralization process which dismantled traditional networks of solidarity.