| In contrast to the still-prevalent notion that medieval cities were strictly separated from the 'feudal' countryside that surrounded them, this study shows that in the case of fifteenth-century Constance, the two were closely connected, and the relationship between country and town played a key role in the history of both. In the course of the fifteenth century, the city acquired an assortment of jurisdictional rights, particularly in the Thurgau to the south of the city. These were designed to protect and complement existing ties, created by the extensive holdings (both in the form of individual pieces of land and of more extensive lordships) that belonged to Constance citizens and civic institutions. Further links were created by the admission of Ausbürger, country residents (both peasant and noble) who held citizenship in Constance.;Of equal importance was the city's economic relationship with the region. Constance was (not surprisingly) dependant on the surrounding countryside for food supplies; what is more notable is the fact that the town's export industries were also dependant on rural production. Linen and wine from the Constance region, both of which were trade commodities of supra-regional importance in the fifteenth century, were both produced in the countryside, but their finishing and trade were in the hands of city merchants. Further connections between country and town are explored through an analysis of debt and of criminal records as guides to who came to Constance to do business.;The final part of the dissertation explores psychological relationships between town and countryside. Donations by Constance citizens to religions institutions outside the walls demonstrate that these played an important role in the devotional life of the city. An examination of the City Council's attempts to define boundaries in the world outside the walls reveals something of how contemporaries viewed the countryside, and in particular their perceptions of relative distance. Lastly, contemporary literary and administrative texts is analyzed for the light that it can throw on how townsmen and rural dwellers saw one another. |
