urban history

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It is a commonplace to say that urban commerce and industry became the driving force of the precocious economic growth of Western Europe in the medieval and early modern periods, but our understanding can be further enriched by analysing them in the much wider social context of civic society. This research project explores the origins of civic society with particular reference to the formal and informal forces which affected the formation of public and commercial institutions in major urban centres in Europe. The aim of the project is to further our historical understanding of the urban process which emerged well before the age of rapid industrialization.