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Bruges was one of the most important towns for democracy during the Middle Ages. This advanced subject will be presenting the town's economic and cultural life and will be taking a look at democracy in this medieval town. The following text asks: How did city air set people free? Other texts address the beauty of Bruges, which enjoyed a flourishing cultural scene under the dukes of Burgundy, and the most important artists that established themselves in this city: A stroll through Bruges.
According to a saying "city air sets you free". Its origins can be traced back to the Middle Ages and the slow growth of towns in which people enjoyed more freedom than in rural areas. In the countryside people were held in a state of almost enslaved labor in the strict corporative systems that were characteristic of the Middle Ages. Most people were bound as serfs to rural landowners. The corporative system At the top of the ladder of social-standing were the nobles. Next came members of the church, the clergy. And at the bottom of the ladder were farmers and workers. The majority of this third layer were held as serfs and controlled by the landowner. They had no right to free movement and were unable to move up the social ladder. On top of this, they had to hand over most of what they produced to the landowner and were at the landowner's mercy. A serf was little better off than an enslaved laborer. Free citizens were those on the first two rungs of the social ladder. They possessed land and property. The creation of towns Life was, for the most part, concentrated in rural areas. The landowners' residencies in the form of castles, monasteries and royal palaces formed the centre of the community. During the 11th and 12th centuries more and more people began to settle around these residencies and small towns were formed. These people were from society's third layer and had either paid their landowner to be set free or had run away. They owned neither land nor property. They tried to make a living as tradesmen or traders. Landowners were unsuccessful in their efforts to find and bring back run-away serfs from the towns. And this led to the establishment of a system in which the serfs became free after they had lived in the city for one year and one day. And, indeed, this is where the saying "city air sets you free" comes from. The city of Bruges City air also set people free in Flanders, an area encompassed by Belgium today. Back then Flanders stretched from the Meuse river to the Atlantic. The most important town in Flanders was Bruges. Bruges, too, grew up around a 9th century castle and surrounding settlements. This castle belonged to the Count of Flanders. He was born sovereign of Flanders and Bruges. He was not elected. This right to rule was handed down from father to son. The sovereign could only be changed through war or marriage. Needless to say, this form of rule had no democratic legitimization. The people had no say in who reigned over them or, indeed, about changes in ruler. On top of this, a change in ruler threatened the independence of towns and with it their social structures and democratic elements. A new ruler would always attempt to prevent self-determination and cream off any profits generated by the towns. Democracy in the medieval town?
The Flemish also tried to use force to prevent a change in ruler. They were forced into defending themselves against French rule during the Hundred Years' War (for example in 1302). Flemish guilds murdered members of the French occupying forces in the Bruges Mette in May 1302. During July of the same year, Flemish commoner foot soldiers scored a devastating victory against the French mounted army at the "spur" battle of Kortrijk (Courtrai) and in doing so were able to retain their independence, for a long as it lasted, and to be spared from foreign rule. Nobles, patricians, tradesmen and farmers fought side by side. The people's heroes, Breydel and Coninck, are said to have persuaded 7000 weavers and butchers into battle. The underprivileged classes' involvement in the battle laid the foundations for a right of say, which we will be addressing below. The "Venice of the north"
The town bought in materials from the surrounding countryside and sold them to traders from Great Britain, Italy and Germany. Situated on the Zwyn inlet and even accessible for large trading vessels, the town's port was a huge advantage. Bruges lived from foreign trade. All wealth of luxury goods could be traded in Bruges for the expensive cloth. Bruges was renowned for its international flair and became known as the "Venice of the north". The new trading classes Brisk trade brought about a new class of traders. Free citizens of the town, they were capable of earning vast fortunes. This new wealthy class of Flemish citizens found themselves in a position to negotiate autonomy and privileges for towns from the Count of Flanders. Commercial centers such as Bruges were characterized by wealth and freedom. More and more people settled in Bruges. Cloth manufacturers, tradesmen, weavers, millers and dyers were also attracted into the town from rural areas. The town grew and is thought to have had a population of over 40,000. The middle classes
Town administration Because the town's citizens were not bound to an employer or landowner, they were responsible for their own organization. An important task was to protect their goods from looters, which they did by building city walls, which can still be seen in old towns today. The building of a city wall had to be organized and financed. To facilitate this they founded a kind of administration. An independent administration was set up in Bruges towards the end of the 12th century. In most cases a council was formed in which the richest and most important citizens of the town were represented - these were usually businessmen and traders. In Bruges a lay council carried out this function. This lay council also had the task of passing judgment on disputes. Democratic Elements Institutions such as this lay council represent the first democratic elements during the Middle Ages and were born out of the towns. These democratic rudiments, however, cannot be compared with that demanded from a modern-day democracy. In many cases only those owning property and land were entitled to vote. This prevented large swaths of the population from taking part in elections. Indeed, different levels of voting power also existed among those entitled to vote. The number of votes they could place depended largely on their social standing (the right to vote by census), which, looking at it today, led to an unfair advantage for those at the top of the social ladder. Helped along by arrangements such as this and drawing on their wealth, influential commercial families, patricians, were created. These families formed the upper classes. Positions on committees and town bodies such as the lay council were increasingly reserved for members of such families and these positions were often used for personal gain and profit. This development meant that these fledgling democratic institutions were further undermined. The rest of the citizens began to stand up against this injustice. Tradesmen played an important role in these protests. Guilds
The guilds also made sure that competition was kept to a minimum. They passed strict rules which prevented many citizens from entering the respective trade. Even those managing to gain guild membership had to submit to the hierarchy in place. Personal connections also played a major role in the guilds. From today's perspective, the internal structures within guilds were not democratic. As far as town administration was concerned, the guilds and their members initially had no right of say. This was also true in Bruges. A combination of bad harvests and the havoc caused by the pest intensified the economic situation and created great social tension. This led to revolt in Flemish towns during the middle of the 13th century. The guilds were able to force their hand and were given a right of say in the form of seats in the lay council or an additional chamber for representatives of the guilds. This represented a strengthening of democracy and the inclusion of a further section of society. Journeymen and apprentices were not taken into account, however, since they did not have a right of say in the guilds. Despite coming together to form journeyman associations and instigating several revolts, they were not able to assert themselves against the nobles, patricians and guilds. Bruges and Burgundy
Although the citizens of Bruges enjoyed privileges in the town, they had to fight long and hard for a right of say and autonomy. Indeed, certain sections of society such as lower-ranked workers, Jews and women never benefited from this. And even those who did have a right of say had to live in fear of the Count of Flanders, whom they could not elect and who attempted to take their riches and independence using force.
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Subjects: Human
Rights I Democracy I Parties
I Examples I
Europe
I
Globalisation
I United Nations
I Sustainability
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