Towns & Villages

The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker...

In this section you will gather information about medieval life, towns, and villages that will help you build the towns and villages in your world. Towns were few and far between in the Middle Ages. Usually towns were connected to or close to a castle. The town gained the protection of the lord of the castle in exchange for goods and produce. Villages might be sizable, or might be no more than a small collection of houses, farms, and buildings. Each castle, town, or village requires people with many different skills.

Who are the people in your world and what do they do? What is their daily life like? Where do they live? Where do they work? Your world will need many people, with many different kinds of skills. Surely there will be richly addorned kings and queens, finely dressed lords and ladies. Not to mention, brave knights and warriors. Skillful bards may keep histories, tell mythic tales, and recount deeds of derring do. The religions you create will require priests or priestesses, monks and nuns (or their equivalents). You will also need artisans, craftsmen, innkeepers, farmers, sailors, traders, and so forth. If the world you create contains magic, you will need witches and wizards or sorcerers and sorceresses. Perhaps even a hero or two?

All of these people will need places to live in the castles, towns, and villages of your world. Likewise, your world will need all of these people to bring it to life. The castles, towns, and villages will need their skills and abilities, and the goods and services they provide.

You will also need to think about the layout of each town and village. How are the streets and houses arranged? What do the buildings look like? Is there a central square? Is the market in the central square or at the edge of town? Where are the pens that hold livestock to be sold? Does the town or village have access to a waterway, port, or road along which travellers and goods may pass? Are the roads paved, or unpaved? Are there guards and customs officers at the town limits?

What You Need To Do:

• Explore the web sites listed below to learn about how people lived and what they did in medieval times.
• Look for information on what types of workers, craftsmen, and merchants were needed in a medieval town or village. Look for information on how towns and villages were organized and governed.
• Draw a diagram of a town and one of a village. Write a brief statement about how each is organized and governed.
• Add the towns and villages you created to your world map.

Your towns will need:

• Stoneworkers
• Carpenters
• Merchants
• Tailor and Dressmaker
• Butcher
• Weavers
• Cobbler (shoe-maker)
• Smith (often located near the edge of town)
• Tanner (also often located near the edge of town)
• Apothecary
• Bakers
• Coopers (barrel-makers)
• Brewers and Vintners (wine makers)
• Inns
• Houses (merchants often lived in apartments above their shops)
• Stables
• Church and clergy
• Farms to produce food for the town
• A good water source
• Connection to a road or river, along which travellers and trade goods may pass

Your villages will need:

• Houses
• Farms
• Stables
• Carpenter
• Thatcher
• Weaver
• Cobbler (shoe-maker)
• Cooper (barrel maker)
• Priest
• Smith

Resources on Medieval Life:

• NetSERF: The Internet Connection for Medieval Resources
• Guided Tour of Life in the Middle Ages
• Medieval Life & The Hundred Years War
• History Learning Site: Medieval England
• Annenberg Learner.org: What was it really like to live in the Middle Ages?
• History for Kids: The Middle Ages

Resources on Buildings in Medieval Towns and Villages:

• A Medieval Atlas: Maps of Cities and Towns
• NetSERF: Medieval Architecture: Cities and Towns
• The Medieval Village
• Weald and Dowland Open Air Museum: Historic Medieval Buildings
• The Medieval Village Project
• Dartford Town Archive: Medieval Period, Buildings and Architecture
• Medieval English Towns

Send Comments to: agrey@juno.com