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The later middle ages saw provincial towns and their civic community contending with a number of economic, social and religious problems - including famine and the plague. This book, using Lincoln - then a significant urban centre - as a case study, investigates how such a community dealt with these issues, looking in particular at the links between town and central government, and how they influenced local customs and practices. The author then argues, with an assessment of industry, trade and civic finance, that towns such as Lincoln were often well placed to react to changes in the economy, by actively forging closer links with the crown both as suppliers of goods and services and as financiers. The book goes on to explore the foundations of civic government and the emergence of local guilds and chantries, showing that each reflected broader trends in local civic culture, being influenced in only a minor way by the Black Death, an event traditionally seen as a major turning point in late medieval urban history.
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Cover: Corporate Seal of the City of Lincoln, c.1449 (Lincoln Archive Office, LCL 2965). Civic Community in Late Medieval Lincoln Alan Kissane gained his PhD from the University of Nottingham. Urban Society and Economy in the Age of the Black Death, 1289-1409 The later middle ages saw provincial towns and their civic community contending with a number of economic, social and religious problems including famine and the plague. This book, using Lincoln - then a significant urban centre - as a case study, investigates how such a community dealt with these issues, looking in particular at the links between town and central government, and how they influenced local customs and practices. Through an assessment of industry, trade and civic finance, this book argues that towns such as Lincoln were often well placed to react to changes in the economy, by actively forging closer links with the crown both as suppliers of goods and services and as financiers. It also demonstrates how the foundations of civic government and the emergence of local guilds and chantries reflected broader trends in local civic culture, being influenced in only a minor way by the Black Death, an event traditionally seen as a major turning point in late medieval urban history. Civic Community in Late Medieval Lincoln Alan Kissane Urban Society and Economy in the Age of the Black Death, 1289-1409 Alan Kissane CIVIC COMMUNITY IN LATE MEDIEVAL LINCOLN CIVIC COMMUNITY IN LATE MEDIEVAL LINCOLN Urban Society and Economy in the Age of the Black Death, 1289–1409 Alan Kissane THE BOYDELL PRESS © Alan Kissane 2017 All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owner The right of Alan Kissane to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 First published 2017 The Boydell Press, Woodbridge ISBN 978 1 78327 163 4 The Boydell Press is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF, UK and of Boydell & Brewer Inc. 668 Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620–2731, USA website: www.boydellandbrewer.com A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library The publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate This publication is p