The communal age in Western Europe, c.1100-1800 - Beat Kmin

The Communal Age in Western Europe, c. 1100-1800 offers a fresh interpretation of the significance of towns, villages and parishes in the medieval and early modern period. Drawing on a wide range of primary and secondary sources from numerous regions, Beat Kmin:

explains how local communities empowered common people through collective agency and a degree of local autonomy
demonstrates how communal units impacted on key historical developments, from the Reformation to state formation
provides case studies of the Italian city, the English parish and the village in the Holy Roman Empire
surveys communal origins, constitutions and cultural representations, as well as contested issues such as gender roles and inner tensions
evaluates related historiographical debates on communalism and republicanism.


Informed by a genuinely comparative and integrated approach, this original volume offers an excellent introduction to European history 'from below', and to the fundamental building blocks of European society.