Medieval Bruges c. 850–1550

Bruges was undoubtedly one of the most important cities in medieval Europe. Bringing together specialists from both archaeology and history, this 'total' history presents an integrated view of the city's history from its very beginnings, tracing its astonishing expansion through to its subsequent decline in the sixteenth century. The authors' analysis of its commercial growth, industrial production, socio-political changes, and cultural creativity is grounded in an understanding of the city's structure, its landscape and its built environment. More than just a biography of a city, this book places Bruges within a wider network of urban and rural development and its history in a comparative framework, thereby offering new insights into the nature of a metropolis.

Foreword Marc Boone; Introduction Andrew Brown and Jan Dumolyn; 1. Origins and early history Jan Dumolyn, Georges Declercq, Brigitte Meijns, Bieke Hillewaert, Yann Hollevoet, Marc Ryckaert and Wim De Clercq; 2. The urban landscape I: c.1100–c.1275 Jan Dumolyn, Marc Ryckaert, Brigitte Meijns, Heidi Deneweth and Luc Devliegher; 3. Production, markets and socio-economic structures I: c.1100–c.1320 Peter Stabel, Jeroen Puttevils and Jan Dumolyn; 4. Social groups, political power and institutions, c.1100–1304 Jan Dumolyn, Georges Declercq and Jelle Haemers; 5. The urban landscape II: c.1275–c.1500 Jan Dumolyn, Marc Ryckaert, Heidi Deneweth, Luc Devliegher and Guy Dupont; 6. Production, markets and socio-economic structures II: c.1320–c.1500 Peter Stabel, Jeroen Puttevils, Jan Dumolyn, Bart Lambert, James M. Murray and Guy Dupont; 7. Political power and social groups, c.1300–c.1500 Jan Dumolyn, Frederik Buylaert, Guy Dupont, Jelle Haemers and Andy Ramandt; 8. Religious practices c.1200–1500 Andrew Brown and Hendrik Callewier; 9. Texts, images and sounds in the urban environment, c.1100–c.1500 Maximiliaan P. J. Martens, Johan Oosterman, Nele Gabriëls, Andrew Brown and Hendrik Callewier; 10. Bruges in the sixteenth century: a 'return to normalcy' Ludo Vandamme, Peter Stabel, Jan Dumolyn, Andrew Brown, Maximiliaan P. J. Martens, Nele Gabriëls and Johan Oosterman; Conclusion: Bruges within the medieval urban landscape Andrew Brown and Jan Dumolyn.

Andrew Brown is Associate Professor at Massey University in New Zealand and a historian of late medieval religion and society. His books include Popular Piety in Late Medieval England (1995) and Civic Ceremony and Religion in Medieval Bruges, c.1300–1520 (Cambridge, 2010).
Jan Dumolyn is a senior lecturer at Ghent University and historian of the political, social and cultural history of the medieval county of Flanders. He has published widely on late medieval popular politics.