Town Life

Living in a medieval town was not much better than living in a village. Or it was worse, considering the smell and sight of a town, where people threw their waste on the street and the street was filled with animal entrails, mud, polluted medieval water and more gross things. Any animals like pigs and horses used the same road as people. High shoes were invented to avoid stepping on the mud, even though hay was on the mud to prevent sinking into the mud. Eventually people were stinking as well as the street, all because of the sewage and waste they produced.

However, living in a town had more freedom than living in a lord's manor where there was no way out. These towns were developed where the major roads met or near a bridge where people came to trade. And if the people made enough money, they could join together to buy a charter from the king or lord for freedom.

There were several jobs you could only do in a Middle Ages town. Numbering, chain mail makers, who made chain mail for the knight; barber surgeons who cut hair and did operations that made the condition of the patient worse; fullers who transported wool; and tanners who turned cattle and sheep skins into leather.