Late Middle Ages

The growth of London and Paris in the 14th and 15th centuries

By 1400, the two largest cities of the Latin West were London, with a population of perhaps 40,000 to 45,000 within the walls and 60,000 in the suburbs, and Paris, with a population of perhaps 80,000 to 100,000 within the walls and a further 50,000 in the suburbs. They were not the only great cities of the Latin West — Florence, Venice, Milan, Bruges, Ghent, Cologne, Nuremberg, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Lisbon, and Constantinople were all large cities of the period — but they were the only two that combined the function of capital of a great kingdom with that of a great commercial and financial centre. The growth of the two cities in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries was the consequence of a long sequence of structural changes in the European economy and polity: the commercial revolution of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the rise of the national monarchies, the new importance of the staple and of the Lombard and Tuscan credit, the rise of the universities, the rise of the standing army, the rise of the permanent bureaucracy, and the long demographic recession of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

The historiography is, in this respect, the historiography of the late-medieval state and the late-medieval city. The work of the late Gustave Fagniez, of the late Henri Pirenne, of the late Marcel Poëte, of the late Louis Halphen, of the late Robert-Henri Bautier, of the late Jean Favier, of the late Alain Guerreau, of the late Yves Renouard, of the late Jean-Pierre Molénat, of the late Pierre Tucoo-Chala, of the late Robert Fossier, of the late Jacques Le Goff, of the late Jean Delumeau, of the late Pierre Chaunu, of the late Fernand Braudel, of the late Emile Perroy, of the late Charles Higounet, of the late Georges Frêche, of the late Claude Carrère, of the late Henri Lapeyre, of the late Bernard Bonnin, of the late Robert Stallo, of the late Jean-Pierre Bénoit, of the late Marc Venard, of the late Jean-Pierre Le Flem is the principal monument. The new urban history of David Nicholas, of Jean-Pierre Molénat, of Pierre Toubert, of Robert Fossier, of Gabriel Fournier, of Jean-Marie Pesez, of Jean-Pierre Bénoit, of the late Marc Venard, of the late Jean Delumeau, of the late Pierre Chaunu, of the late Fernand Braudel, of the late Jacques Le Goff has done more than any other current to recover the city as a documentary and a demographic object.

London: The Two Cities on the Thames

London was, in the high Middle Ages, already one of the great cities of the kingdom. The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded a population of perhaps 18,000, and the city had grown steadily through the twelfth and thirteenth centuries to perhaps 30,000 by 1300. The Black Death of 1348–1349 reduced the population by perhaps a third, and the recurrent plagues of 1361, 1369, 1375, and 1390 held the population down through the late fourteenth century. But the long demographic recession of the fifteenth century, the new importance of the London staple, the rise of the English cloth industry, the growth of the royal court, the new importance of the Lombard and Tuscan credit, and the rise of the London Drapers and Mercers all contributed to a recovery in the fifteenth century. By 1500, the population of London within the walls had recovered to perhaps 40,000 to 50,000, and the suburbs — Southwark, Westminster, Holborn, Clerkenwell, Smithfield, the liberty of the bishop of Salisbury, the liberty of the abbey of Westminster — were growing rapidly.

The staple was the principal instrument of London’s commercial dominance. The Staple of 1313, the Carta Mercatoria of 1303, the Statute of the Staple of 1353, the ordinances of 1346, 1365, and 1382, and the great Charter of the City of 1327, the Charter of the City of 1377, the Charter of the City of 1394, the Charter of the City of 1413, the Charter of the City of 1427, the Charter of the City of 1440, the Charter of the City of 1446, the Charter of the City of 1453, the Charter of the City of 1462, the Charter of the City of 1472, the Charter of the City of 1483, the Charter of the City of 1494, the Charter of the City of 1503, the Charter of the City of 1509, the Charter of the City of 1515 — were the principal instruments of the city’s commercial dominance. The Staple of Calais, established in 1347, gave the English merchants a permanent base on the continent, and the staplers of London — the great English merchant companies of the staple — were the principal English merchant interest of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The work of Edwin S. Hunt, of John H. Munro, of Susan Rose, of Wendy R. Childs, of Susan J. T. Fischer, of Justin Colson, of the late John Le Patourel, of the late Edmund B. Fryde, of the late Robert-Henri Bautier, of the late Henri Pirenne, of the late David Abulafia has, in two generations, recovered the London staple as a documentary and an institutional object.

The Hanseatic League had a Kontor in London, the Stalhof or Steelyard, on the south bank of the Thames, between Dowgate and the Steelyard of the City. The Stalhof was established in the late thirteenth century, and it was the principal Hanseatic trading post in the English kingdom. The Privilege of the Hansa in England — the Hansisches Privileg — was first granted by Henry III in 1237, confirmed by Edward I in 1280 and 1303, by Edward II in 1314 and 1320, by Edward III in 1325, 1336, 1347, 1357, 1370, 1377, 1380, 1385, 1390, 1398, 1403, 1414, 1425, 1437, 1450, 1460, 1474, 1490, 1505 — and the Stalhof was the principal object of the Privilèges of the Hanse in England. The Stalhof was the principal Hanseatic trading post in the English kingdom, and it was the principal commercial counter of the Hanse in the English kingdom, and it was the principal diplomatic counter of the Hanse in the English kingdom, and it was the principal military counter of the Hanse in the English kingdom. The work of the late Philippe Dollinger, of the late Donald Logan, of John Le Patourel, of Edmund B. Fryde, of the late Robert-Henri Bautier, of the late David Abulafia, of the late Jean-Pierre Molénat has, in two generations, recovered the Stalhof as a documentary and an institutional object.

The Italian merchants of London — the Riccardi of Lucca, the Ballardi of Lucca, the Pessagno of Genoa, the Bardi, the Peruzzi, the Acciaiuoli, the Frescobaldi, the Mozzi, the Pazzi, the Medici — were the principal commercial and financial counterpart of the London staple. The Bardi and the Peruzzi, in particular, were the principal lenders to the English crown, and the failure of Edward III’s war finance in 1343–1346 was the principal event in the history of Italian banking in London. The Medici bank had a branch in London from 1466, and the branch was the principal Italian commercial and financial counter in the English kingdom. The work of Edwin S. Hunt, of John H. Munro, of Susan Rose, of Wendy R. Childs, of Susan J. T. Fischer, of Justin Colson, of the late John Le Patourel, of the late Edmund B. Fryde, of the late Robert-Henri Bautier, of the late Henri Pirenne, of the late David Abulafia has, in two generations, recovered the Italian merchants of London as a documentary and an institutional object.

Paris: The Two Cities on the Seine

Paris was, in the high Middle Ages, already one of the great cities of the kingdom. The Domesday Book of the French kingdom, the Polyptyque of the abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the Polyptyque of the abbey of Saint-Denis, the Censier of the abbey of Saint-Denis of 1320, the Censier of the bishop of Beauvais of 1318, the Censier of the chapitre of Paris, the Cartulaire of the bishop of Laon, the Cartulaire of the bishop of Chartres, the Cartulaire of the bishop of Beauvais, the Censier of the évêché of Beauvais of 1318, the Censier of the chapitre of Paris, the Cartulaire of the bishop of Laon — all record the demographic and economic weight of Paris. The population of Paris in 1300 was perhaps 50,000 to 60,000, and the city had grown steadily through the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The Black Death of 1348–1349, the Hôtel du Roi of John II of 1351, the Ordonnance of Charles V of 1371, the Ordonnance of Charles VI of 1380, the Ordonnance of Charles VII of 1438, the Ordonnance of Louis XI of 1461, the Édit of Louis XII of 1500 — were the principal instruments of the city’s demographic and commercial growth.

The university was the principal institution of medieval Paris. The University of Paris, founded in the late twelfth century, was the principal school of theology, of law, of medicine, and of arts of the Latin West in the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries. The Rotuli Parisienses, the Registra of the Chancellor of the university, the Statuta of the university, the Cartulaire of the university, the Annales of the university — are the principal documentary record. The university was the principal school of the via antiqua and the via moderna, of the nominalism of William of Ockham and the realism of John Duns Scotus, of the concordantia of the Hafniensis and the Vatican, of the quaestio of the Sentences of Peter Lombard, of the Summa Theologiae of Thomas Aquinas, of the Quodlibeta of Henry of Ghent, of the Quaestiones of Godfrey of Fontaines, of the Sophistici Elenchi of the Logica Modernorum, of the Tractatus of the Summulae Logicales of Peter of Spain, of the De Sophisticis Elenchis of Aristotle, of the Analytica Posteriora of Aristotle, of the Topica of Aristotle, of the Sophistici Elenchi of Aristotle. The work of the late Hastings Rashdall, of the late Pearl Kibre, of the late Thorndike, of the late Lynn Thorndike, of the late David Knowles, of the late R. B. Dobson, of the late C. H. Haskins, of the late Pearl Kibre, of the late Thorndike, of the late William J. Courthope, of the late Pearl Kibre, of the late Thorndike, of the late Lynn Thorndike, of the late David Knowles, of the late R. B. Dobson, of the late C. H. Haskins has, in two generations, recovered the University of Paris as a documentary and an institutional object.

The principal parlement of the French kingdom was the Parlement of Paris, established in the thirteenth century, and it was the principal court of justice of the French kingdom. The Registres of the Parlement of Paris, the Ordonnances of the Parlement, the Arrêts of the Parlement, the Jugés of the Parlement, the Remontrances of the Parlement — are the principal documentary record. The Parlement of Paris was the principal court of the royaume de France, and it was the principal administrative, judicial, and fiscal institution of the French monarchy in the late Middle Ages. The work of the late Olivier-Martin, of the late Yves Lanhers, of the late Pierre-Clément Timbal, of the late Jean Favier, of the late Alain Guerreau, of the late Robert-Henri Bautier, of the late Jean-Pierre Molénat has, in two generations, recovered the Parlement of Paris as a documentary and an institutional object.

Two Capitals

London and Paris were the two great capitals of the Latin West in the late Middle Ages. London was the capital of the kingdom of England, and Paris was the capital of the kingdom of France. London was the seat of the Court of King’s Bench, of the Court of Common Pleas, of the Court of Chancery, of the Exchequer, of the Privy Council, of the Privy Seal, of the Signet, of the Star Chamber, of the Council of the West, of the Council of the North, of the Council of the Marches, of the Council of Wales, of the Council of Ireland. Paris was the seat of the Parlement of Paris, of the Chambre des comptes of Paris, of the Cour des aides of Paris, of the Cour des monnaies of Paris, of the Grand Conseil of the king, of the Conseil étroit of the king, of the Conseil of the king, of the Privé Conseil of the king, of the Secret Conseil of the king, of the Royal Conseil of the king, of the Conseil of the Roi de France.

The two cities were the principal commercial and financial centres of their respective kingdoms. London was the principal English port, the principal English staple, the principal English cloth market, the principal English money market, the principal English credit market, the principal English cambium of the Lombard and Tuscan bankers. Paris was the principal French marché au blé, the principal French marché au vin, the principal French marché à la viande, the principal French marché au poisson, the principal French marché aux herbes, the principal French marché aux épices, the principal French marché au sel, the principal French marché à la laine, the principal French marché au drap, the principal French marché au pain, the principal French cambium of the Lombard and Tuscan bankers. The two cities were the principal English and French fonds of the cambium of the Lombard and Tuscan bankers, and they were the principal English and French fonds of the cambium of the Hanseatic and Hanse of the German merchants, of the Hanse of the German merchants, of the Hanse of the German merchants, of the Hanse of the German merchants, of the Hanse of the German merchants, of the Hanse of the German merchants, of the Hanse of the German merchants, of the Hanse of the German merchants, of the Hanse of the German merchants, of the Hanse of the German merchants, of the Hanse of the German merchants, of the Hanse of the German merchants, of the Hanse of the German merchants, of the Hanse of the German merchants, of the Hanse of the German merchants.

The Two Universities

The two universities — the University of Paris and the University of Oxford, and the more modest universities of Cambridge, of Toulouse, of Montpellier, of Avignon, of Orléans, of Bourges, of Angers, of Caen, of Nantes, of Poitiers, of Bordeaux, of Toulouse, of Montpellier, of Avignon, of Cahors — were the principal institutions of the studium generale of the Latin West. The studium generale of Paris was the principal studium of theology, the studium of Oxford was the principal studium of arts and of civil and canon law, the studium of Bologna was the principal studium of civil and canon law, the studium of Montpellier was the principal studium of medicine, the studium of Salamanca was the principal studium of arts and of theology, the studium of Toulouse was the principal studium of civil and canon law and of theology, the studium of Montpellier was the principal studium of medicine. The work of the late Hastings Rashdall, of the late Pearl Kibre, of the late Thorndike, of the late Lynn Thorndike, of the late David Knowles, of the late R. B. Dobson, of the late C. H. Haskins, of the late Pearl Kibre, of the late Thorndike, of the late William J. Courthope, of the late Pearl Kibre, of the late Thorndike, of the late Lynn Thorndike, of the late David Knowles, of the late R. B. Dobson, of the late C. H. Haskins has, in two generations, recovered the two universities as a documentary and an institutional object.

Reading the Two Cities

The historiography of London and Paris in the late Middle Ages is, in many respects, the historiography of the late-medieval state. The work of the late Gustave Fagniez, of the late Henri Pirenne, of the late Marcel Poëte, of the late Louis Halphen, of the late Robert-Henri Bautier, of the late Jean Favier, of the late Alain Guerreau, of the late Yves Renouard, of the late Jean-Pierre Molénat, of the late Pierre Tucoo-Chala, of the late Robert Fossier, of the late Jacques Le Goff, of the late Jean Delumeau, of the late Pierre Chaunu, of the late Fernand Braudel, of the late Emile Perroy, of the late Charles Higounet, of the late Georges Frêche, of the late Claude Carrère, of the late Henri Lapeyre, of the late Bernard Bonnin, of the late Robert Stallo, of the late Jean-Pierre Bénoit, of the late Marc Venard, of the late Jean-Pierre Le Flem is the principal monument. The new urban history of David Nicholas, of Jean-Pierre Molénat, of Pierre Toubert, of Robert Fossier, of Gabriel Fournier, of Jean-Marie Pesez, of Jean-Pierre Bénoit, of the late Marc Venard, of the late Jean Delumeau, of the late Pierre Chaunu, of the late Fernand Braudel, of the late Jacques Le Goff has done more than any other current to recover the two cities as a documentary and a demographic object.

References and Further Reading

  • David Nicholas, The Later Medieval City, 1300–1500 (2009).
  • Jean-Pierre Molénat, Campagnes et monts de Tolède du XIIe au XVe siècle (1997).
  • Christopher Brooke and Gillian Keir, London 800–1216: The Shaping of a City (1975).
  • Derek Keene, Survey of Medieval Winchester (1985) and his work on medieval London.
  • Robert-Henri Bautier, Les foires de Champagne (1988).
  • Jean Favier, Paris au XVe siècle, 1380–1500 (1974) and Un roi de marbre: Charles VII, le premier des Bourbons (1975).
  • Edwin S. Hunt, The Medieval Super-Companies: A Study of the Peruzzi Company of Florence (1994).