Urban ceremonial in the Middle Ages took various forms and served a number of different ends--private, collegial, political, and religious. Broadly construed, urban ceremonial included public functions of multiple sorts. From private, but public, celebrations of births, marriages, and deaths to the grand entries of rulers into cities, the spectacles were designed to impress events on collective memory. - from the Introduction.

Urban ceremonial in the Middle Ages took various forms and served a number of different ends--private, collegial, political, and religious. Broadly construed, urban ceremonial included public functions of multiple sorts. From private, but public, celebrations of births, marriages, and deaths to the grand entries of rulers into cities, the spectacles were designed to impress events on collective memory. - from the Introduction.

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...