Urban Culture in Medieval Wales

From street brawls to street theatre, this is the first comprehensive collection of essays describing aspects of urban life and culture in Wales from the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries.

This collection of twelve essays describes aspects of town life in medieval Wales, from the way people lived and worked to how they spent their leisure time. Drawing on evidence from historical records, archaeology and literature, twelve leading scholars outline the diversity of town life and urban identity in medieval Wales. While urban histories of Wales have charted the economic growth of towns in post-Norman Wales, much less has been written about the nature of urban culture in Wales. This book fills in some of the gaps about how people lived in towns and the kinds of cultural experience which helped to construct a Welsh urban identity.

Introduction: The Impact of Urbanization in Medieval Wales Helen Fulton 1 Who Were the Townsfolk of Medieval Wales? Ralph A. Griffiths 2 In Search of an Urban Identity: Aspects of Urban Society in Late Medieval Wales Llinos B. Smith 3 The Townscape, 1400 - 1600 Richard Suggett 4 Towns in Medieval Welsh Poetry Dafydd Johnston 5 Social Conflict in Welsh Towns c. 1280 - 1530 Spencer Dimmock 6 Anglo-Welsh Towns of the Early Fourteenth Century: A Survey of Urban Origins, Property-Holding and Ethnicity Matthew Frank Stevens 7 The Townswomen of Wales: Singlewomen, Work and Service, c. 1300 - c. 1550 Deborah Youngs 8 Castle and Town in Medieval Wales Dylan Foster Evans 9 The City of Chester in Gruffudd ap Maredudd's Awdl i'r Grog o Gaer Catherine McKenna 10 Fairs, Feast Days and Carnival in Medieval Wales: Some Poetic Evidence Helen Fulton 11 Entertainment and Recreation in the Towns of Early Wales David Klausner 12 The Welsh Diaspora in Early Tudor English Towns Peter Fleming