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The urban typology of the small town is determined primarily by the quantitative criterion of its population. The quantitative distinction between a small town and a town of moderate size is a modern invention that did not become important until the second half of the 19th century, especially in the context of urban history and urban studies, along with modern statistics. In the late Middle Ages and the first centuries of the early modern period, a purely quantitative categorization of  Central …

The Residenzstadt, a city or town with the seat of a reigning prince, came into being with the transition in the 15th century from medieval itinerant rule to princely exercise of authority from (at first) a few fixed sites, and (later on) a single central site. In many cases, the prince initially had to impose his control over the town as a residence by force (e.g. Berlin and Vienna, late 15th and early 16th centuries), but we also frequently see a gradual process of subjection (Dresden, Munich).…

1. Definition and history of scholarshipIn categorizing historical towns, the purpose is alway to identify the specifics of a town or group of towns by emphasizing one or more characteristic features. Urban types are therefore more or less elaborate theoretical models, not descriptions of actual urban communities. Their value is primarily that they make it possible to systematize the great variety of the material, to see similarities and differences, and to compare towns located far apart from…

1. Terminology and history of researchThe term urbanization denotes the phenomenon of the rapid growth of towns that took place after the onset of industrialization, especially in the second half of the 19th century in Europe but later in all other regions and societies of the world (see Metropolis, with fig.). In recent decades, however, the academic term has been extended in two directions.1) In scholarly contexts, urbanization no longer has a solely quantitative dimension [10. 11 f.]; [8. 40]; [12. 11 f.]. Above and beyond the growth of towns in numbers, area, and…

1. Concept and definitionThe use of the term “elite” was long controversial in German historical studies, and even today it is not free from political implications. During the 1970s and 1980s in particular, it had a negative connotation, and there were only a very few studies examining political, social, and economic elites. The concept of elite only began to undergo rehabilitation from the mid-1980s in studies on the modern bourgeoisie and later on the early modern nobility. This situation differe…

A suburb (German Vorstadt, French  faubourg) is an urban settlement located outside the wall or urban core, and sometimes also outside the purview of municipal law and municipal jurisdiction, but tied into the economic structure of the city or town [1. 188]; [2]. In the Middle Ages, one or more suburbs were already associated with many larger and smaller cities and towns; many of them were incorporated into the urban core in the course of urban development or as part of deliberate urban expansion [1. 185]. This could take place through inclusion within a city wall (Fort…

Bathing for health reasons has a long tradition behind it; the use of mineral springs outside of towns was common, as the numerous medieval and early modern hot springs in rural areas show. A spa town represents a special type of health resort. After thermal baths had become popular by the end of the 17th century, in the years that followed there came to be a broader use of water as a remedy via drinking it. This treatment was quickly accepted by extensive groups of people, both aristocratic and…

In the Middle Ages, almost all the larger towns of Central Europe had a town wall, which documented civic self-awareness and the municipal need for security. In many cases, towns serving as oversize castles were also strategically important sites in the military thinking of  sovereigns (Territorial sovereignty [Holy Roman Empire]). They could serve as fortified refuges as well as secure bases for military forays. With the change in contemporary military technology and tactics that took place in …

The concept of an urban system is not really applicable to early modern Europe, since it suggests an overall complexity in the description of European urban centers (Town) that is scarcely detectable: the existing connections and interactions between cities and towns that were often far apart were never so dense that all the urban centers regardless of size and function were really integrated into a single comprehensive urban system. At most we can try to apply the concept of a system, wh…

1. Definition and history of scholarshipSince no definition of “unrest” in historical contexts is accepted and used throughout Europe, here we shall fall back on the the definition given by Peter Blickle, which is used most commonly by German-speaking scholars: “Acts of protest on the part of (usually all) the subjects of a sovereign power to assert and/or enforce their interests and values. These are primarily political in nature, in the sense that they challenge the legitimacy of measures taken by the authorities (and hence of the authorities themseves).” [3. 5]. Conflicts betwe…

The urban typology of the county seat (German: Amtsstadt) is defined primarily by its central administrative functions. Such cities are characterized by their significance as the seat of an administrative office; such offices appeared in all central European territorial states at the lower and middle administrative levels from the 14th century on. Although non-urban seats of office (fortresses) are still encountered in areas with few cities in the early modern period, it was the rule in broad stretche…

A critical criterion for calling a town a Mediatstadt (Urban typology) is legal: the Mediatstädte of the Middle Ages and early modern period were not subject directly to the sovereign of the territory to which they belonged but to a local noble overlord, who could influence the development of the town directly.  Mediatstädte as elements of noble seignory (Manorialism) were found throughout almost all of Europe, but their proportion of the total number of towns was especially large in eastern and Central Europe – that is, in the territories…

The term  trading town denotes an urban typology defined primarily on the basis of economic functions. Of course, the function as a market for the surrounding region and hence an import role (at least locally) in the transportation network is a fundamental characteristic of every town. In the case of market towns, however, the relevance of inclusion in the long-distance trade network (Trade, Long-distance) extends far beyond this basic function as a central regional market. A critical factor in the…

In the high Middle Ages, when this type of town achieved its greatest importance, episcopal towns in the narrower sense were towns with an episcopal see in which all official powers derived from the bishop [2. 239] (Episcopate). They constituted the focus of their dioceses, to which they gave their name, even though in Western Europe (and large parts of Central Europe, roughly as far as the Elbe) the see was older than the town. Episcopal towns acquired their special significance precisely because in Western and Central Europe…

1. ConceptIn early modern usage, the word  Standesbildung first appears in the 18th century in the context of the Enlightenment, specifically in discussions of education (Bildung), which must bring practical benefit to society (Society [community]). Reference was made again and again to  Standesbildung in the sense of  Berufsbildung, professional training – every member of society should receive the training and education needed to exercise his or her profession [11. 513, 517]. Only in the late 18th century, in the light of increasingly emphatic connotation…

1. SurveyThe majority of Central European urban foundations were a medieval phenomenon [3]; their heyday was between 1150 and 1250. More towns were founded up until the mid-15th century, but most remained small and economically insignificant. The number of foundations would not increase significantly until the period of industrialization after 1850, but then amid vastly different conditions, especially with respect to legal status. Of course, the fact that historians have called the period from the …

The urban typology of the trade-fair town is a special case of the trading town. Like the distinction between a trade fair and an annual fair (Fair, annual), in the early modern period the difference between trade-fair town and a trading town is often hard to define. In both cases, the boundary is fluid. Generally speaking, trade-fair towns developed in the Middle Ages from important trading towns; this development was associated with a grant of additional privileges. Trade-fair towns enjoyed ev…

The classification “industrial town” seems to represent a pleonasm: any town, including agricultural towns (Ackerbürgerstadt), was distinguished from its surrounding area by the concentration and promotion of crafts and trades, industrial trades and crafts, and trade. However, a new type of industrial town began to emerge in the late 16th century in many parts of Europe, in which the place of industry was conspicuously larger than in other towns, often dominated production of one particular craf…

From the late Middle Ages on, the term  Frauenzimmer was used in three senses in German-speaking Europe. First, it denoted women in general (Gender), being used as a complementary parallel to  Männer or  Mannspersonen (“men, males”). Both terms referred to women and men of a particular class. While a bourgeois  Ehefrau (“wife”) or a noble lady (Dame) and her daughters could be addressed as  Frauenzimmer, this term was not used for their female domestics or women of the underclass; they would instead be referred to as  Menscher or  Weiber (“girls”). The term continued to be u…

This term was devised by Max Weber to define an urban typology already discernible in the Middle Ages on the basis of certain economic and social characteristics. An Ackerbürgerstadt was a town in the legal-historical sense, thus a settlement possessing urban rights; but its inhabitants, besides pursuing crafts and trades or earning their livelihood as suppliers of services, were engaged in agriculture to a considerable extent. Critical for inclusion in this category of town is the extent of that agricultural involvement. …