Main entry:

Shaw, David Gary.

Title & Author:

The creation of a community : the city of Wells in the Middle Ages / David Gary Shaw.

Publication:

Oxford [England] : Clarendon Press ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1993.

Description:

xiii, 334 pages : maps ; 23 cm.

Series:

Oxford historical monographs

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 294-316) and index.
1. Origins. 1. The Early Church. 2. The Development of the Town -- 2. The Size of a Small Town. 1. The Physical City. 2. The Smaller Town in Medieval Europe. 3. Size of Population. 4. Population Change: Dilapidation and Decayed Rents. 5. Population Change: The Admissions List. 6. Migration. 7. Relative Size -- 3. Economy. 1. Occupational Structure. 2. Cloth-Making. 3. Wells and its Countryside. 4. Trade. 5. Labour. 6. Conclusion: Qualifying Urban Decline -- 4. The Balance of Authority. 1. The Burgesses' Power, c.1300. 2. The Moment of Crisis. 3. The Community's Resources. 4. The Accommodation -- 5. Conclusion -- 5. The Social History of the Borough Community, 1377-1500. 1. Membership. 2. Socio-Economic Composition. 3. Participation and Office-Holding. 4. Trades and 'Power'. 5. Oligarchy -- 6. The Culture of the Borough Community, 1377-1510. 1. The Community Ideal. 1. The Institutions of Community -- 7. The Social World Completed. 1. The Foreigners: A Neglected Social Category.
2. Economic and Political Situation. 3. Poverty. 4. The Scope of Poverty. 5. Women -- 6. Conclusion -- 8. The Culture of the Church. 1. The Cathedral. 2. The Parish. 3. The Parish Guilds. 4. Chantry and Community. 5. Prayer. 6. Alms: The Giving. 7. Education. 8. New Lives. 9. Heterodoxy and Control -- 10. Conclusion -- Conclusion: The Complexity of Small Things -- App. I. Wells Bishops -- App. II. Stewards and Masters of Wells Borough.
Current Copyright Fee: GBP22.50 0.
Dust jacket.

Summary:

This is the first scholarly history of the city of Wells in the Middle Ages. David Gary Shaw traces the growth of Wells from a rural manor into the prosperous borough it became by the late twelfth century. Dr Shaw examines the variety of trades which flourished in Wells - including tanning, glove-making, and cloth-manufacture - and analyses the composition of the burgess community.
He explores the importance of the family, the extent of social mobility, the position of women, and the roles of conviviality on the one hand, and religion on the other, in shaping communal activity and communal spirit. Dr Shaw makes full use of the rich archives of Wells to present in vivid and telling detail the anatomy of a medieval borough.

Resources:
Table of contents
Publisher description

ISBN:

0198204019 (acid-free paper)
9780198204015 (acid-free paper)

Subject:

Urbanization England Wells.
Urbanisation Angleterre Wells (Somerset)
15.70 history of Europe.
Urbanization.
Sociaal-economische geschiedenis.
Cities and towns, Medieval Great Britain.
Villes médiévales Grande-Bretagne Wells.
Cities and towns, Medieval England Wells.
Wells (England) History.
Wells (Somerset)
Somerset Wells.
England Wells.
Wells (GB) Histoire Moyen-âge.
Wells (Grande-Bretagne) Histoire Moyen Age.
Wells.
Communities Development History
Somerset (England)

Form/genre:

History.

Added entries:

Oxford historical monographs.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 89616
Call No.: ID PLS; ID:93-B2591
Status: Available