Medieval Cities, Research Paper Example

Daily medieval life for the average citizen had many similarities in the cities of London and Temixtitlan even thought the cities were separated by an ocean.  Cultural life for both peoples was centred around religion.  The two peoples, however, had very different religions.  In London, the religion was Christianity.  Fitzstephen writes, “I cannot think of any city more commendable for the habits of its citizens in attending church, in observing the divine festivals, in giving alms, in providing hospitality, in formalizing betrothals, in contracting marriages, in celebrating weddings, in throwing banquets, in keeping guests entertained, as well as in attention to the burial and funeral needs of the deceased.”  (Riley) Cortez tells us about religious life in Temixtitlan being one of idol worship.  There were similar practices within both religions, however, including a separation of men and women in places of worship and a priesthood made primarily of men.  Daily merchant interaction for people in both cities was centred around markets.  In London “every morning you can find those carrying on their various trades, those selling specific types of goods, and those who hire themselves out as labourers, each in their particular locations engaged in their tasks.” (Riley)  Cortes describes the city of Temixtitlan, “This city has many public squares, in which are situated the markets and other places for buying and selling. There is one square twice as large as that of the city of Salamanca, surrounded by porticoes, where are daily assembled more than sixty thousand souls, engaged in buying and selling; and where are found all kinds of merchandise that the world affords.” (Thatcher)

There were many similarities between the design of the two cities as well.  Both cities were set along a waterway.  London was situated on the “greatest of rivers, the Thames, which teems with fish,” (Riley).  Cortez describes the location of Tenochtitlan, “its level surface comprises an area of about seventy leagues in circumference, including two lakes that overspread nearly the whole valley, being navigated by boats more than fifty leagues round. One of these lakes contains fresh and the other, which is the larger of the two, salt water.” (Thatcher) Both cities contain a grand central area.  Cortes tells us that in Temixtitlan, “Among these temples there is one which far surpasses all the rest, whose grandeur of architectural details no human tongue is able to describe; for within its precincts, surrounded by a lofty wall, there is room enough for a town of five hundred families. Around the interior of the enclosure there are handsome edifices, containing large halls and corridors, in which the religious persons attached to the temple reside.” (Cortes).  In London, Fitzstephen tells us that, “On the east side stands the royal fortress, of tremendous size and strength, whose walls and floors rise up from the deepest foundations – the mortar being mixed with animal’s blood. On the west side are two heavily fortified castles. Running continuously around the north side is the city wall, high and wide, punctuated at intervals with turrets, and with seven double-gated entranceways.” (Riley)

There were many differences in between the cities as well.  Fitzstephen describes London as having horses, telling us, “Also to be found there are mares suited for pulling ploughs, sledges, and two-horse carts.” (Riley).  The New World, including Mexico, did not have horses until after the arrival of the Spanish.  Instead, the lakes in Temixtitlan were “navigated by boats more than fifty leagues round around the city.” (Riley) Since it has so many water ways, Cortes tells us that “trade is carried on between the cities and other settlements on the lakes in canoes without the necessity of traveling by land” in the city of Temixtitlan.  In Temixtitlan, water is channelled through a series of aqueducts in order to service the inhabitants of the city with fresh water for drinking and other uses according to Cortes.  Fitzstephen describes the countryside outside of London as having, “level meadows with streams flowing through them”.  He goes on to say that “There are also in the northern suburbs of London springs of high quality, with water that is sweet, wholesome, clear, and whose runnels ripple amid pebbles.”

References

Riley, Henry Thomas. William Fitzstephen’s Description of London c. 1174. Modern History: Rolls Series, no.12, vol.2 pp 2-15. (1860).

Thatcher, Oliver J. The Library of Original Sources, Vol. V: 9^Th to 16^th Centuries. Milwaukee: University Research Extension Co., pp.   317-326. (1907)

Reilly, Kevin. The West and the world: a history of civilization from the ancient world to 1700, New York: Markus Wierner Publishers, pp199-205.