The Creation of a Community The City of Wells

This is the first scholarly history of the city of Wells in the Middle Ages. David Gary Shaw traces the growth of Wells from a rural manor into the prosperous borough it became by the late twelfth century. Dr Shaw examines the variety of trades which flourished in Wells--including tanning, glove-making, and cloth-manufacture--and analyzes the composition of the burgess community. He also explores the importance of the family, the extent of social mobility, the position of women, and the roles of conviviality on the one hand and religion on the other in shaping communal activity and communal spirit.

David Gary Shaw is Assistant Professor of History at Wesleyan University, Connecticut.

List of Figures
List of Maps
List of Tables
List of Abbreviations
Introduction	p. 1
Origins	p. 11
The Early Church	p. 17
The Development of the Town	p. 24
The Size of a Small Town	p. 36
The Physical City	p. 36
The Smaller Town in Medieval Europe	p. 41
Size of Population	p. 43
Population Change: Dilapidation and Decayed Rents	p. 47
Population Change: The Admissions List	p. 54
Migration	p. 58
Relative Size	p. 60
Economy	p. 64
Occupational Structure	p. 64
Cloth-Making	p. 70
Wells and its Countryside	p. 81
Trade	p. 85
Labour	p. 94
Conclusion: Qualifying Urban Decline	p. 101
The Balance of Authority	p. 104
The Burgesses' Power, c.1300	p. 107
The Moment of Crisis	p. 114
The Community's Resources	p. 125
The Accommodation	p. 129
Conclusion	p. 138
The Social History of the Borough Community, 1377-1500	p. 141
Membership	p. 142
Socio-Economic Composition	p. 152
Participation and Office-Holding	p. 157
Trades and 'Power'	p. 164
Oligarchy	p. 167
The Culture of the Borough Community, 1377-1510	p. 177
The Community Ideal	p. 178
The Institutions of Community	p. 197
The Social World Completed	p. 216
The Foreigners: A Neglected Social Category	p. 216
Economic and Political Situation	p. 219
Poverty	p. 227
The Scope of Poverty	p. 228
Women	p. 248
Conclusion	p. 253
The Culture of the Church	p. 255
The Cathedral	p. 257
The Parish	p. 258
The Parish Guilds	p. 261
Chantry and Community	p. 266
Prayer	p. 269
Alms: The Giving	p. 271
Education	p. 275
New Lives	p. 277
Heterodoxy and Control	p. 281
Conclusion	p. 285
Conclusion: The Complexity of Small Things	p. 286
App. I. Wells Bishops	p. 291
App. II. Stewards and Masters of Wells Borough	p. 292
Bibliography	p. 294
Index	p. 317
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

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The Creation of a Community The City of Wells in the Middle Ages

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