Mutual Aid Peter Kropotkin (ebook reader 7 inch TXT) đ
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A. Babeau, La ville sous lâancien rĂ©gime, Paris, 1880. â©
Ennen, Geschichte der Stadt Köln, i, 491, 492, also texts. â©
The literature of the subject is immense; but there is no work yet which treats of the medieval city as of a whole. For the French Communes, Augustin Thierryâs Lettres and ConsidĂ©rations sur lâhistoire de France still remain classical, and Luchaireâs Communes françaises is an excellent addition on the same lines. For the cities of Italy, the great work of Sismondi (Histoire des rĂ©publiques italiennes du moyen Ăąge, Paris, 1826, 16 vols.), Leo and Bottaâs History of Italy, Ferrariâs Revolutions dâItalie, and Hegelâs Geschichte der StĂ€dteverfassung in Italien, are the chief sources of general information. For Germany we have Maurerâs StĂ€dteverfassung, Bartholdâs Geschichte der deutschen StĂ€dte, and, of recent works, Hegelâs StĂ€dte und Gilden der germanischen Völker (2 vols. Leipzig, 1891), and Dr. Otto Kallsenâs Die deutschen StĂ€dte im Mittelalter (2 vols. Halle, 1891), as also Janssenâs Geschichte des deutschen Volkes (5 vols. 1886), which, let us hope, will soon be translated into English (French translation in 1892). For Belgium, A. Wauters, Les LibertĂ©s communales (Bruxelles, 1869â ââ 78, 3 vols.). For Russia, Byelaeffâs, Kostomaroffâs and Sergievichâs works. And finally, for England, we posses one of the best works on cities of a wider region in Mrs. J. R. Greenâs Town Life in the Fifteenth Century (2 vols. London, 1894). We have, moreover, a wealth of well-known local histories, and several excellent works of general or economical history which I have so often mentioned in this and the preceding chapter. The richness of literature consists, however, chiefly in separate, sometimes admirable, researches into the history of separate cities, especially Italian and German; the guilds; the land question; the economical principles of the time; the economical importance of guilds and crafts; the leagues between cities (the Hansa); and communal art. An incredible wealth of information is contained in works of this second category, of which only some of the more important are named in these pages. â©
Kulischer, in an excellent essay on primitive trade (Zeitschrift fĂŒr Völkerpsychologie, Bd. x, 380), also points out that, according to Herodotus, the Argippaeans were considered inviolable, because the trade between the Scythians and the northern tribes took place on their territory. A fugitive was sacred on their territory, and they were often asked to act as arbiters for their neighbours. See Appendix XI. â©
Some discussion has lately taken place upon the Weichbild and the Weichbild-law, which still remain obscure (see Zopfl, AlterthĂŒmer des deutschen Reichs und Rechts, iii, 29; Kallsen, i, 316). The above explanation seems to be the more probable, but, of course, it must be tested by further research. It is also evident that, to use a Scotch expression, the âmercet crossâ could be considered as an emblem of Church jurisdiction, but we find it both in bishop cities and in those in which the folkmote was sovereign. â©
For all concerning the merchant guild see Mr. Grossâs exhaustive work, The Guild Merchant (Oxford, 1890, 2 vols.); also Mrs. Greenâs remarks in Town Life in the Fifteenth Century, vol. ii chaps. v viii x; and A. Dorenâs review of the subject in Schmollerâs Forschungen, vol. xii. If the considerations indicated in the previous chapter (according to which trade was communal at its beginnings) prove to be correct, it will be permissible to suggest as a probable hypothesis that the guild merchant was a body entrusted with commerce in the interest of the whole city, and only gradually became a guild of merchants trading for themselves; while the merchant adventurers of this country, the Novgorod povolniki (free colonizers and merchants) and the mercati personati, would be those to whom it was left to open new markets and new branches of commerce for themselves. Altogether, it must be remarked that the origin of the medieval city can be ascribed to no separate agency. It was a result of many agencies in different degrees. â©
Janssenâs Geschichte des deutschen Volkes, i, 315; Gramichâs WĂŒrzburg; and, in fact, any collection of ordinances. â©
Falke, Geschichtliche Statistik, i, 373â ââ 393, and ii, 66; quoted in Janssenâs Geschichte, i, 339; J. D. Blavignac, in Comptes et dĂ©penses de la construction du clocher de Saint-Nicolas Ă Fribourg en Suisse, comes to a similar conclusion. For Amiens, De Calonneâs Vie Municipale, p. 99 and Appendix. For a thorough appreciation and graphical representation of the medieval wages in England and their value in bread and meat, see G. Steffenâs excellent article and curves in The Nineteenth Century for 1891, and Studier öfver lönsystemets historia i England, Stockholm, 1895. â©
To quote but one example out of many which may be found in Schönbergâs and Falkeâs works, the sixteen shoemaker workers (Schusterknechte) of the town Xanten, on the Rhine, gave, for erecting a screen and an altar in the church, 75 guldens of subscriptions, and 12 guldens out of their box, which money was worth, according to the best valuations, ten times its present value. â©
Quoted by Janssen, Geschichte,
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