Urban and Rural Communities in Medieval France. Provence and Languedoc, 1000-1500

This volume deals with the evolution of urban and rural communities in Provence and Languedoc in the high and late Middle Ages. Contributions by thirteen French, American, and Canadian scholars address recent insights in historical research and suggest directions for future investigation. The urban and rural worlds are treated separately in studies of the growth of communities in their political, topographical, social, and economic dimensions. Then the intersection of these worlds is explored through the intricate interrelations of town and country in these regions. Notarial registers are particularly rich sources of evidence for these scholars who are mindful of the southern French tradition of Roman and written law which underpinned both urban and rural institutions as they emerged in the course of the medieval period.

Kathryn L. Reyerson, Ph.D. (1974) in Medieval Studies, Yale University, is Professor of History at the University of Minnesota. She has published on medieval social and economic history, including Business, Banking and Finance in Medieval Montpellier and Society, Law, and Trade in Medieval Montpellier.
John Drendel, Ph.D., University of Toronto, Centre for Medieval Studies, with an advanced degree from the Université de Provence, is Assistant Professor of History at the Université de Québec à Montréal. His publications include Studies of Credit, Village Society, and Village Institutions in Fourteenth-century Provence.