Town Life

If you were a peasant of the 13^th century, you would have been lucky to have had the privilege to live in a medieval town. You could have an occupation as a builder, carpenter, painter, lead beater, thatcher, cook, butter maker, cutler, miller, skinner, weaver, belt maker, cordwainer, combere, saddler, hosier, the list goes on! The towns had more space, freedom and land than the villages and they were also much, much cleaner. Although, your idea of clean is most likely completely the opposite of what medieval standards of clean were.

Just imagine…

The feel and smell of poo covering the floor, feral animals everywhere eating away at rotten food, their carcass’s in every direction, the faeces squashing in between your worn out leather shoes as you try to make your way to the local stalls. And the people… Masses of crowds everyday, getting pushed around, falling over, diseased animals infecting the people, the people then infecting the town and soon, there’s nowhere where people aren’t vomiting or coughing and spreading life threatening illnesses. The pollution is just another disadvantage, with waste covering the filthy ground, the humid air causing you to dripping in sweat and the smell of everything giving you a headache.

There’s one way out, but it requires money, which you are limited to. Once you have collected the money, you are able to buy a charter. This is a piece of paper, which gives you freedom. Freedom to leave this filthy town to settle in a new place, maybe another town.