Social Formations, Lecture 26: Urbanisation (Conclusion); Rise of

Christianity

Over the last two classes we have been going over commercialization as well as urbanization
within the feudal economy. I want to take a portion of this class to revise some of the
developments that we have talked about before also, and then we will move on to the rise of
Christianity during the early medieval period. Now when we talk about urbanization during
the period of feudalism in Europe, we are essentially talking about the growth of new towns
and settlements, this includes if we talk about the standard definition, special concentration
and relative density of habitation, by a predominantly non agrarian nature of economic
activities and exercising of certain functions for example economic political and cultural in
the surrounding countryside. Other than this during the time from 1000 CE to 1300 CE,
existing towns and cities which have survived after the fall of the Roman Empire also
underwent a period of expansion. Thirdly, there was an increase in the proportion of the total
population living in towns which was of course only possible if the food production rose in
equal measure, as we discussed previously also this was the time when food production
increased due to a number of different factors including technological as well as the
reclamation of new land.

According to scholars around 10% of the total European population was living in towns and
cities by the year 1500. In Italy we have the highest proportion which is around 15% whereas
in Spain this was around 14%. Venice, Florence, Milan and Paris emerged as cities which
had around 1,00,000 people. Most of the towns during this time were however only of
around 3500 to 4000 people. Numerous small towns were situated in the entire interior of the
European continent, while the larger towns developed mainly along coasts and major rivers.
So Italy because it was a peninsula area surrounded by ocean on the three sides, and of
course the island of Sicily which was also surrounded by the Mediterranean we see the
emergence of the maximum number of towns and cities in Italy there were also some cities
which developed along the major rivers of Europe. The reason for this of course was that
supply of bulk foods such as grains, building materials, and raw material for industry could
be carried easily by ships. Rd. Transport during this time was in very poor condition, and
transportation by Rd. In general is also extraordinarily expensive compared to oceanic
transportation. Therefore, almost all of the big towns in Europe during this time were ports—
and in the next semester you will also see how Italy took the leadership of Europe during the
Renaissance, in terms of culture and art.

What led to the creation of such massive cities as you have discussed before it was the
increased productivity of agriculture in the region, combined with technological
developments which made it feasible for the development of industries and other non
agricultural livelihood activities. Beyond this also as we had discussed there was the revival
of inter regional as well as international trade. So trade and commerce form the core of the
process of urbanization during this time. The growth in agricultural surplus also supported a
number of other towns for example some which had service functions or administrative
centers, for example Paris and London which were the centres of the Royal Courts and
therefore attracted a lot of people, and emerged as major cities.

Other than that you also have cathedral towns, massive towns which developed around
gigantic gothic cathedrals as important centres of religion—the presence of kings and
Princess in the administrative towns, as well as the presence of officials of the church in the
cathedral towns stimulated consumption of commodities and create a demand for services all
of which led to urbanization. So once again agricultural surplus which is providing the
foundation for the development of urbanization. Besides this we have also discussed in the
previous class how a town was also integrally linked with the hinterland. Initial phases the
hinterland was created by the purchase of agricultural goods and commodities, as well as the
migration from the countryside. In subsequent phases particularly in Italy but also in other
parts of Europe we see that cities begin to militarily dominate their hinterland in order to
create either a monopoly for the sale of goods or to ensure a monopoly for purchase of
agricultural goods in order to fend off competition from other centers.

Economically, as we have discussed in the previous classes also, every town was both a
market it initially emerged as a market Center for the trail of food grains and subsequently it
emerged as a Center for industries as well as services. Of course there is certain objective
logic to it, first of all accounts inhabitants could only there were sufficient food surpluses in
the surrounding countryside. As the town would grow food had to be brought in from a wider
hinterland and the market took on inter regional dimensions, townspeople also had to be
productive because they had to produce whatever commodities they required in order to
survive including things such as shoes or clothes or other articles for example pieces of
machinery that they require to survive and in this manner towns would grow in interaction
with their respective hinterlands.

That meant that the more a town grow the more its control over longer trading routes and an
extensive hinterland developed alongside it. In turn the presence of an urban market would
greatly stimulate the rural economy. The demand encouraged market oriented production,
something we discussed in the previous class, wherein peasants began to cultivate more food
grains in order to sell to the market so that they would be able to make more profit. Other
than this there was also the development of certain cash crops for example dye plants, dried
fruits, olives, grapes, cotton, flax, other kinds of plants which were also used for various
industrial processes. So this further stimulated agricultural growth as well as diversification
in agriculture.

Certain scares goods for example metal, stone, precious metals such as gold and silver, as
well as other luxury demands were procured from longer distances. So as I had discussed in
one of the previous classes also, the trade of this time was by necessity, a carrying trade.
Meaning that there wasn’t so much a requirement of profit but more importantly the point
was to carry goods across long distances and bring it to the city so that they could be
distributed for either reasons of manufacturing, or for reasons of prestige and ideology. So
for example a king would invest substantial amounts of money in procuring gold or precious
stones from longer distances so that they could be distributed or they could be used in the
court in order to enhance his position. So in this manner there was also the development of
different merchants and entrepreneurs who participated in long distance trade and transport
this would also play a crucial role in the development of the urban economy.
Very quickly to go over the morphology or the layout and the design of the city, again this is
something that we discussed in the previous class as well, towns were surrounded by
encircling walls and they were also marked by intersecting streets. The circle and the
crossroads the concept of gothic urban design which we had also gone over in the previous
class as well. So the core goal of the town was not only to provide security and defence to its
residents but also provide or contribute in some ways to the movement and transportation of
goods. The earliest urban settlements of towns are populated mainly by merchants and
artisans, and they often settle down in the vicinity of an older centre of authority for example
the castle of the Lord or the seat of a Bishop. However over the course of time as these
communities evolved and grew they would become more autonomous and independent and
they would secure themselves through the creation of walls.

Other than this, urban communities also made sizable investments in aesthetics for example
the creation of fountains or the creation of public architecture around the city square which is
where the crossroads would meet or intersect with each other—fountains were created in
these city centers, as well as bell towers—which had multiple functions, ringing out time at
regular intervals, eg. Starting and finishing of the working day, bells would also be rung on
special occasions such as Christmas or Easter, or the wedding of a local elite; they would
also serve as watchtowers to alert the townspeople of any danger, such as foreign
invasions—these bell towers had sundials initially, but later had mechanical clocks.
Cathedrals, or massive churches were also commissioned, guild hall, trading hall, court of
justice, and many other such essential buildings. Special commissioners were appointed to
watch over the aesthetics of the city itself to enhance the beauty to the delight of both the
citizens and the outsiders. To this end, frequently houses in the city centre were aligned and
the design of their facades were very strictly controlled which would provide them with a
magnificent appearance.

As we also discussed in the previous class, merchants and artisans organised themselves into
guilds—Hanse—Hanseatic league—guilds were not just economic organisations, or
groupings of the richest merchants and manufacturers, but they also played a crucial public
role—often guild organisations were closely associated with the municipal government of
the city, would also carry out justice, arbitration in case of disputes, relief for the poorer
population, organising religious festivals etc. Over the course of generations, the leading
merchants and local elite families emerged as the urban patriciate, or the urban elite
families, who dominated the government, and gained their income from long-distance trade
or manufacturing—merchants dominated production—often manufacturers were dependent
on them for organising sales and transportation of their goods.

Towns were zones of autonomy—the idea of towns/cities as enclaves of peace, where lordly
power was greatly limited, even if not completely absent, where unauthorised people were
not allowed to carry weapons—justified ideologically by appeal to the ideal Christian city of
Jerusalem—oligarchic form of government was practiced—not democracy—commune, or a
communitarian form of social organisation seen in towns. This relative autonomy from
excessive influence of the lords attracted peasants and serfs from the surrounding
countryside—“Town Air makes you Free”—if they escaped and they were able to live in the
city undetected for 1 year and 1 day, they would be freed from their legal obligations to the
lords. This is more or less all that we had covered in the last two classes, the rest of the
details you can read from the material I will share with you.

Development of Christianity

During our discussion of the Roman Empire, we had gone over the rise of Christianity up
until roughly the 4th century CE which is Constantine acknowledged Christianity to be the
state religion of Rome, and the papacy had been fully established. With the fall of the Roman
Empire however Christianity underwent a significant transformation, and during the feudal
era it would emerge as one of the most important defining factors of the economy and
society, not only through the fact that it had significant material resources—Marc Bloch—
markets due to the Tithe, but it also played a significant ideological as well as scientific role,
in our discussion on the technology of feudalism, we had discussed how the Christian idea of
labour as service to God played a crucial role in the emergence of technology for saving
labour and other than this Christian monasteries were also Centers for scientific research as
well as development.

Now one of the key changes that happened during this time was the split between Byzantine
Christianity and the Roman church. This was because in the aftermath of the barbarian
invasions, the eastern Roman emperor had lost control of the Italian territory and as a result
he could not provide the church with the requisite protection against Germanic invasions
especially from the lombards. Other than this they were also considerable disputes regarding
doctrine between the Pope of Rome, and the patriarch of Constantinople. As a result of this
the Roman Pope shift it towards the Franks in search for support against the Germanic
invaders. Essentially to provide security to the church establishment in Rome. Starting from
750 CE, the popes aligned themselves with the Carolingian empire in France, and
subsequently the Carolingian ruler Charlemagne would also conquer parts of Germany and
Italy and for that reason in the 9th century he was crowned as the Holy Roman emperor. The
Pope’s basis of authority, as we have discussed was a claim to succession from St. Peter
himself—St. Peter, among the most important disciples of Christ, and one of the leading
figures after Paul—Peter was the first Bishop of Rome, and had been appointed by Christ as
his successor and representative on Earth—more importantly, he had died as a Martyr after
being persecuted by the Roman Emperor Nero—that is still the foundation of Papal moral
and religious authority—according to Christian tradition, Peter was buried on the Vatican
Hill, which is a small hill close to the River Tiber, and later the Vatican would become the
site of the Pope’s residence.

Now the popes for some time had established their control around the region of latium, and
the region surrounding Ravenna. By the mid 8th century, the Carolingian rulers granted them
authority over these regions and so the papal states were created. This people state or the
state which was directly under control of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church what
emerged as a significant force in Italian history for the next roughly 1000 years or so
especially during renaissance, reformation, and the scientific revolution. But you will learn
more about that later for now just keep in mind that a significant portion of Italian mainland
had been given over to the Christian Church. This control over landed territory was one of
the big causes for the success of Christianity in Western Europe because it provided them
with a territorial base from which missionary activities could be conducted.

A second factor in the success of Christianity in Western Europe after the fall of the Roman
Empire was the enormous wealth that they had generated especially after constantines
conversion. As the Roman emperors turned towards Christianity obviously they made
significant material donations to the church and these donations even after the western
Roman Empire collapsed. In the Byzantine Empire, as early as the 6th century BCE, the
church was significantly richer than the state. This was also the case with the western Roman
Catholic Church. The rapid increase in wealth at the time was thanks to the appropriation of
the riches from Pagan shrines, as well as gifts from the emperors and prosperous individuals
who in order to secure salvation for their soul would often donate significant amounts of
wealth to the church in exchange for prayers as well as mass ceremonies to be held in their
memory. This practice of wealthy people giving away all that they had owned and turning
themselves into impoverished people towards the end of their life, was a significant
development according to peter brown. This can be understood in relation to what Jesus had
said in the Bible, in the book of matthew he had said that it is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven. So in order
to secure themselves entry for Kingdom of heaven they would give away most of their
wealth to the church, thinking that it was technically a gift to the poor and therefore it was a
gift to Christ as well.

With its wealth, the Christian Church held a key position in the social redistribution of
income through different forms of charity for example the care of the poor, the sick, widows,
and the orphans. We have seen this already in case of the Roman aristocracy who use their
wealth in order to mobilize support from the poorer sections of the population. The
considerable wealth of the church gave it not only political power by having access to loyalty
of the poorest sections of the population, but also provided good moral authority among the
lowest classes of the population which played a crucial role in mobilizing support for the
church—the aristocracy would take this one step further still—built churches or monasteries
on their own lands, and looked after the appointment of priests, abbots, nuns, etc, and made
sure that they were buried in that church—the priests and monks appointed in this manner
were supposed to commemorate them after their death—known as the Proprietary Church
System—motives involved:

1. As we have discussed—salvation of the soul.

2. Prestige.
3. Generating income through Tithe—in the 10th century, when Tithe began to be
systematically imposed, Churches were under control of the aristocracy, who would
collect the tax and keep it with themselves—new source of revenue.
4. By donating their lands to the Churches which were controlled by themselves and
their families, the Lords were also able to safeguard their estates from being seized by
the king after their death (technically it was religious property, it would reflect poorly
on the king to take away wealth from the Church.)

The wealth of the church came from the aristocracy, but also from the Tithes which were
collected from the peasantry and the Serfs—started in the 6th century, but became
compulsory in the late 9th-10th centuries. The collection of Tithe was met with considerable
resistance from among the peasantry, but continued for the next several centuries.

Third pillar of strength: Despite the collapse of the State Administration, the Christian
Church was able to organise itself into a well-functioning bureaucracy—towards the late
Roman empire, we had discussed the emergence of a professional clergy, or leaders of the
“flock” of believers, who were organised along a hierarchy—
PopeCadinalBishopDeaconSub-DeaconLocal Priests—the essential function that
they performed—ensuring the spiritual salvation of their flock. Members of the Clergy had a
number of privileges—exemption from financial or military obligations (didn’t have to pay
tax or join the army); and exemption from action from a secular court—they were only liable
before a church court.

A crucial role played by the members of the Church was the administration of Sacraments,
or the signs of personal bond between God and the Faithful, which had been laid down by
Jesus himself—Eucharist, Baptism, Confession.
Eucharist—would become especially important in Modern West when you do
Reformation—on each Holy Mass performed on Sundays, there was the consumption of
Holy Bread and Wine, as a commemoration of the Last Supper of Christ just before his
crucifixion—this was linked to the doctrine of Transubstantiation—the wafer and wine
maintains its physical appearance, but would be transformed into the blood and body of the
Christ—this doctrine of transubstantiation would be called into question by the 16 th century
by people like Martin Luther—this would mark the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.
Baptism—symbol of entry of a new born into the Christian community—initiation which
washed away the original sin of Adam and Eve—in the initial phases, Christians would only
get baptised towards the end of their lives, but by the 8 th century, this reasoning was reversed
(to save the soul of the child as early as possible), and so, Baptisms happened at birth. Once
again, this would become a major subject of debate during the reformation—Anabaptists,
who insisted that only consenting adults should undergo baptism. Aside from this, the sinner
was also supposed to undergo penance for any sins that they may have committed— weekly
Confession, in which the Confessor (priest) would first forgive the sinner (Absolution) and
would prescribe the penance which had to be made—once again, during the reformation, this
practice of confession would become controversial because of the sale of indulgences—the
Church would sell certificates of forgiveness for certain amounts of money—the sinner could
avoid penance by simply buying them—so keep this in mind till the next semester.

Churches, during this time, in Western Europe were organised in Episcopates (Bishops
appointed centrally by the Roman Catholic Church); and the Episcopal Sees were located in
major cities; the Bishoprics/Dioceses, and they would appoint priests at Parishes. Role of
Bishops:

1. Exercised doctrinal authority—preventing religious dissension and ensuring people’s

adherence to Church ideas.
2. Ensured that Church rules and orders were applied correctly, or issued new
regulations as needed.
3. Supervision over clergy and monasteries.
 4. Administered criminal justice over the clergy and settled disputed related to Church
affairs.
5. Administration of church lands.

Fourth Pillar of Strength: The Christian church, during the Feudal period also drew
strength from Miracles, and the belief in Saints—the idea of Martyrdom—the willingness
to die for their faith—these martyrs began to be venerated as Saints—Saints considered to be
especially close to God, and so contact with their bodily remains was considered as a way of
coming into contact with the Divine, and Saints could be appealed to perform miracles for
the sake of the needy—seen as advocates/intermediaries for the people on Earth—this was
not just for spiritual reasons, but also for material reasons—stories of dolls of saints being
punished if they failed to deliver the hoped for result, and even taking back whatever
offerings had been made in case the divine intervention did not materialise. Initially,
Churches were built on their graves, then their images were painted and venerated, and then
there developed a trade in relics (bodily remains/possessions of the martyrs)—these relics
included scraps of Virgin Mary’s clothes, pieces of Christ’s cross (The Rood), body parts of
saints, and other possessions. The stories and veneration of saints played a crucial role in
grounding the ideas of Christianity among the masses.

Fifth Pillar: Monasticism—Monks and nuns also served as the Role models for ordinary
Christians during the Feudal era—monasticism emerged in Egypt and Syria, among believers
who wished to withdraw from the world to concentrate on the spiritual and the divine—lived
in solitude in small communities. In Western Europe too, monasticism emerged out of the
desire to achieve wisdom and spiritual gain by removing oneself from physical and material
needs—to withdraw from sins and from the material world to preserve their purity—these
monastic ideals of renunciation, abstinence, and contemplation would have a profound
cultural influence on Western European society.

The most important monastic traditions during this time, from 900-1300 CE:

1. Benedictines: Named after St. Benedict of Norcia—monks not allowed personal

belongings, not permitted to leave the monasteries, they had to lead a chaste life and
 obey the abbot unconditionally—prayer and physical labour were blended together
(Opus Dei—God’s Work).
2. Peregrinatio (Exile)—practiced by Irish monks, who would go to the wider world to
found monasteries, leave their homeland—influence France in particular—would stay
away from the populated areas—would establish themselves in desolate areas—in the
class on agricultural expansion I had talked about how monasteries played a role in
reclamation of wasteland by establishing in the remote and hard to reach areas.

Monks were held in high regard, quite a few people withdrew into monastic life—they also
carried out missionary activity among rural communities, and for that reason they exercised
significant cultural and ideological influence during Medieval period in Europe.

The Feudal period also marked the Christianisation of Europe—extensive missionary activity
to promote Catholic religion among the Pagans—nature worshipping people especially in
Germany, Ireland, England, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. The Germanic invasions led to
a setback in this activity, but eventually, Christianity recovered because of its stronger
foundations—in the initial phases, the Germanic rulers were Arians, or unorthodox
Christians, while the Gallic-Roman elite were Catholics—in first decade of 6 th century, a
major step was taken—Clovis, King of the Franks was among the first Barbarian invaders to
convert to Catholicism to mobilise support from the local population.

Clovis’ conversion was also linked in some ways to Germanic thinking—all the warrior’s of
a lord’s retinue were supposed to follow the Lord’s example—when Clovis converted, his
entire retinue of warriors, their households, serfs, everyone converted—greatly impactful.
Started from the Elite, there was a slow process of Christianisation which would lead to the
penetration of Christianity in the lower levels of society, which would take several centuries
to finish.

As the Franks expanded to new territories, they carried Catholic Christianity with them—
carried to German lands and from there crossed the English Channel into England for the
conversion of the Anglo-Saxons—on many occasions, religious and political ceremonies
would intermix—Charlemagne stood as the Godfather of Widukind, the King of the Saxons
during his conversion to Catholicism—to symbolise subordination and protection of the
Stronger ruler to the Weaker ruler. Charlemagne’s grandson Louis was the Godfather at the
Baptism of Harald, Danish King—again, political subordination+religious conversion.
Eventually, however, in a process which lasted for around 300-400 years, till around 1100
CE, Europe underwent a complete Christianisation—Crusades (Started from 1095 CE which
motivated the kings to aggressively spread the religion), colonisation of empty lands, which
brought Christians to new territories, and finally, the establishment of monasteries in far off
regions—all contributed.

Crusades: The Crusades were a series of military campaigns undertaken by Christian

Western European states like France, England, and Germany for the defence of Eastern
Byzantine Empire, and the liberation of Holy Lands (modern Palestine) from the control of
the Muslims. These military campaigns were significant aspects of Medieval European
history—in 1095, Pope Urban II issued a call for Holy War at Clermont in France for the
liberation of the Holy Sepulchre (Golgotha+Calvary and Christ’s tomb) and for the defence
of Byzantine Empire from the Seljuk Turks who were threatening to capture most of their
territory—during this time, campaigns were also being undertaken to defeat the Muslim
rulers of Spain and reconquer the region for Christians.

The Consequences of the Crusade—Seljuk Turks were driven back from their territories,
vassal states were set up in the area of Palestine—this helped to revive the trade and
commerce overland which had come to a halt after the emergence of Islam; intensive
propaganda campaign in favour of Catholicism in Europe, which strengthened Church
authority against Secular powers—drove the Popes to claim the highest authority in the
world, above the Earthly powers of the kings and rulers.

We will conclude here, we will move on to the Crisis of Feudalism in the next class.