Urban Societies in East-Central Europe, 1500-1700

This book looks at urban development in East-Central Europe from the middle ages to the early modern period. Dealing primarily with Bohemia, Hungary and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and to a lesser degree with parts of Austria and Germany, this book provides an insight into a number of key issues concerning the economic, social and demographic trends in early modern East-Central European urban history. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources, it examines the effects of migration, Reformation, state building and economic change on the transformation of medieval urban communities into early modern societies.

Dr Jaroslav Miller is the Associate Professor of History at PalackÃ- University Olomouc, Czech Republic.

Contents: Introduction: the closed society and its enemies; Urbanization trends and urban landscape; Urban immigration; Integrity of urban society challenged I: unassimilated groups in cities; Integrity of urban society challenged II: urban conflicts and city autonomy in the context of reformation; Building a Leviathan: the early modern city and early modern state; Urban economy: its basic parameters; Conclusion; Bibliography; Appendices; Index.