Urban Europe, 1500-1700 - Alexander Cowan

Examining the nature and diversity of urban life during the 16th and
17th centuries, a period of considerable economic, political and social
change, this text stresses the extent to which towns remained distinct
from their rural hinterlands. Its wide embrace gives it the character of
a history of Europe, viewed from the urban perspective. In achieving
the integration of different experiences into the broader discussion, it
manages to retain an acute sense of the importance and development of
regional diversity. In assessing the contribution of urban centres in
western Europe to long-term change, the focus is primarily on life
inside the town. Each chapter considers the framework of urban life -
such as the economy, government, elites, social organization, the
environment - and the tensions that arose from demographic growth,
prosperity or adversity and the growing presence of external pressures.
Responses to poverty and threats to social order are paid particular
attention. While this study attempts to convey a sense of the
parameters and diversity of life in an urban environment during the
period, it also provides an insight into the ways in which existing
structures of government and institutional organization attempted and
often failed, to come to terms with new problems.