Governance of northern European towns in the Middle Ages: The benefits of a comparative perspective

The essay is about medieval town governance in northern Europe. By comparing English, German and Scandinavian towns, the structural similarities among medieval towns are pointed out. The roles played by the major actors within the towns: town lords, bailiffs, burgomasters, councils and the burgher communities are scrutinized, as well as their relationships to each other and how these changed over the centuries. Even though every medieval town differed from the other depending on their local conditions, a majority of towns shared a common basic structure of governance, irrespective of their geographical location and prerequisites. This is interpreted as being a result of a common town culture. The author therefore encourages wider perspecives, beyond the regional and national sphere, in studies of medieval towns.