2º A BILINGÜE: CLASE DEL 30 DE MARZO DE 2020

Good morning everybody!

Last Thursday we were studying what cortes and parliaments were in the past. 

Today, we are going to start to study medieval cities (you have it in pages 126 and 127 of your textbook and from the 9th slide). 

2. MEDIEVAL CITIES. 

As we have studied, the changes made in agriculture permited population to transformate their lifes too. Thanks to the increment in agriculture, from the 11th century, new cities and towns were established and the existing ones grew significantly. 

All these medieval cities carried out administrative, defensive, commercial, craft and cultural activities. Some of them were specialised in certain areas: Genoa, Venice or Barcelona were renowned for their commercial activities; Burgos was known thanks to wool; Bruges or London for their craftwork; etc. 

2.1. Political organisation. 

Medieval cities had their authority personified in a feudal lord, who controlled the land. Their inhabitants (bourgeoisie) wanted more political power, so they started to demand greater autonomy. 

In some cases, in order to satisfy this demands, the kings or feudal lords granted fueros, documents which specified the rights of the lords or king and the inhabitants of the city. 

The administration of the city was effective in the following institutions: 

1. A council: to which the inhabitants of the city delegated their power. It was formed by members of the richest and more powerful families. This council was responsible for collecting taxes, regulating the market, organising the city's defence, etc. 

2. Various magistrates, whose names varied. They were in charge of carrying out the orders of the council, keeping public order and administering justice. 

Here, you have a scheme that, maybe, could help you to study this part: