Cities of Strangers: Making Lives in Medieval Europe, by Miri Rubin

Abstract

Drawing on previous studies of, and new evidence from, a wide range of medieval European towns from the British Isles to Hungary, Iberia and Central Italy, this synthetic study ‘offers a comparative illustration of how in different parts of Europe newcomers … were treated in laws and social practices that allocated to them tasks and spaces, and that laid down pathways for increased familiarity and integration into urban life’ (p. 23). Uncovering patterns of integration, Miri Rubin argues, helps to illuminate the ways in which power and privilege affected everyone in medieval towns. Moreover, integration of newcomers—and town life in general—depended on trust: trust, for those who already resided in towns, that newcomers would be sufficiently scrutinised by those who protected the town; on the part of newcomers, that they would be treated decently and predictably; and, on everyone’s part, that provisions—most especially food—would be available. All medieval towns, as...