Editing Market town (section)

==History==
[[File:Scène de foire - ca 1400 - BNF Fr12559 f167.jpg|thumb|[[Market cross]] in a market, French, {{c.}}1400]]

The primary purpose of a market town is the provision of goods and services to the surrounding locality.<ref>Archaeology Wordsmith, https://archaeologywordsmith.comlookup.php?terms=central+place+theory{{Dead link|date=August 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Although market towns were known in antiquity, their number increased rapidly from the 12th century. Market towns across Europe flourished with an improved economy, a more urbanised society and the widespread introduction of a cash-based economy.<ref>Britnell, R., "Markets and Fairs in Britain Before 1216," [https://web.archive.org/web/20151004125823/https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-18381718/market-towns-and-the-countryside-in-late-medieval Braudel, F. and Reynold, S., ''The Wheels of Commerce: Civilization and Capitalism, 15th to 18th Century,''] Berkeley, CA, University of California Press, 1992</ref> [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 lists 50 markets in England. Some 2,000 new markets were established between 1200 and 1349.<ref>Koot, G.M.,"Shops and Shopping in Britain: from market stalls to chain stores," University of Dartmouth, 2011, <Online: https://www1.umassd.edu/ir/resources/consumption/shopping.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190806075623/https://www1.umassd.edu/ir/resources/consumption/shopping.pdf |date=6 August 2019 }}></ref> The burgeoning of market towns occurred across Europe around the same time.

Initially, market towns most often grew up close to fortified places, such as [[castle]]s or monasteries, not only to enjoy their protection, but also because large manorial households and monasteries generated demand for goods and services.<ref>Casson, M. and Lee, J., "The Origin and Development of Markets: A Business History Perspective," ''Business History Review'', Vol 85, Spring, 2011, pp 9–37.  doi:10.1017/S0007680511000018</ref> Historians term these early market towns "prescriptive market towns" in that they may not have enjoyed any official sanction such as a charter, but were accorded market town status through custom and practice if they had been in existence prior to 1199.<ref>Letters, S., ''Online Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to 1516'' <http://www.history.ac.uk/cmh/gaz/gazweb2.html>: [Introduction]; Davis, J., ''Medieval Market Morality: Life, Law and Ethics in the English Marketplace, 1200-1500,'' Cambridge University Press, 2012, p. 144</ref> From an early stage, kings and administrators understood that a successful market town attracted people, generated revenue and would pay for the town's defences.<ref>Building History, http://www.buildinghistory.org/buildings/townwalls.shtml</ref> In around the 12th century, European kings began granting charters to villages allowing them to hold markets on specific days.<ref>Dyer, C., ''Everyday Life in Medieval England,'' London, Hambledon and London, 1994, pp 283–303</ref>

[[Framlingham]] in [[Suffolk]] is a notable example of a market situated near a fortified building. Additionally, markets were located where transport was easiest, such as at a crossroads or close to a river [[Ford (crossing)|ford]], for example, [[Cowbridge]] in the Vale of Glamorgan. When local [[railway lines]] were first built, market towns were given priority to ease the transport of goods. For instance, in [[Calderdale]], [[West Yorkshire]], several market towns close together were designated to take advantage of the new trains. The designation of [[Halifax, West Yorkshire|Halifax]], [[Sowerby Bridge]], [[Hebden Bridge]], and [[Todmorden]] is an example of this.

A number of studies have pointed to the prevalence of the periodic market in medieval towns and rural areas due to the localised nature of the economy. The marketplace was the commonly accepted location for trade, social interaction, transfer of information and gossip. A broad range of retailers congregated in market towns – peddlers, retailers, hucksters, stallholders, merchants and other types of trader. Some were professional traders who occupied a local shopfront such as a bakery or alehouse, while others were casual traders who set up a stall or carried their wares around in baskets on market days. Market trade supplied for the needs of local consumers whether they were visitors or local residents.<ref>Davis, J., ''Medieval Market Morality: Life, Law and Ethics in the English Marketplace, 1200-1500,'' Cambridge University Press, 2012, pp 6-9</ref>
[[File:Frankfurt Höchst Markthalle.jpg|thumb|Modern market hall in [[Frankfurt-Höchst]], where the market dates back to at least 1356]]

Braudel and Reynold have made a systematic study of European market towns between the 13th and 15th century. Their investigation shows that in regional districts markets were held once or twice a week while daily markets were common in larger cities. Over time, permanent shops began opening daily and gradually supplanted the periodic markets, while peddlers or itinerant sellers continued to fill in any gaps in distribution. The physical market was characterised by transactional exchange and bartering systems were commonplace. Shops had higher overhead costs, but were able to offer regular trading hours and a relationship with customers and may have offered added value services, such as credit terms to reliable customers. The economy was characterised by local trading in which goods were traded across relatively short distances. Braudel reports that, in 1600, grain moved just {{convert|5-10|mi|km|abbr=}}; cattle {{convert|40–70|mi|km|abbr=}}; wool and woollen cloth {{convert|20-40|mi|km|abbr=}}. However, following the European age of discovery, goods were imported from afar – calico cloth from India, porcelain, silk and tea from China, spices from India and South-East Asia and tobacco, sugar, rum and coffee from the New World.<ref>Braudel, F. and Reynold, S., ''The Wheels of Commerce: Civilization and Capitalism, 15th to 18th Century,'' Berkeley, CA, University of California Press, 1992</ref>

The importance of local markets began to decline in the mid-16th century. Permanent shops which provided more stable trading hours began to supplant the periodic market.<ref>Braudel, F. and Reynold, S., ''The Wheels of Commerce'', Berkeley, CA, University of California Press, 1992</ref> In addition, the rise of a merchant class led to the import and exports of a broad range of goods, contributing to a reduced reliance on local produce. At the centre of this new global mercantile trade was [[Antwerp]], which by the mid-16th century, was the largest market town in Europe.<ref>Honig, E.A., ''Painting & the Market in Early Modern Antwerp,'' Yale University Press, 1998, p. 6</ref>

A good number of local histories of individual market towns can be found. However, more general histories of the rise of market-towns across Europe are much more difficult to locate. Clark points out that while a good deal is known about the economic value of markets in local economies, the cultural role of market-towns has received scant scholarly attention.<ref>Clark, P., ''Small Towns in Early Modern Europe,'' Cambridge University Press, 2002, p. 124</ref>