The polycentric structures of proto-citiesin Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

The problem in defining the phenomenon of proto-cities, which preceded the phase of intensive urbanization in Central and Eastern Europe in the 13th c., reflects their actual qualities, which differed from those of later towns. Proto-cities came in several varieties, including post--antiquity ones on the Rhine and the Danube near the limes, sea trade emporia, and proto-cities crystallized around prominent centres of government. Those of the last group were usually situated inland and characteristically divided into several parts. Although it is difficult to differentiate proto-cities definitively from other types of urbani-zation phenomena, it is possible to point out examples of best developed ones. In inland Central and Eastern Europe these include Prague, Wrocław (Breslau) and Cracow. Each of them played the central role in its region and was a heterogeneous multipartite structure located on big river. Each included fortified seats of government and bishopric, centres of non-agricultural economy, residences of magnates and convents, as well as agricultural settlements. Determined by par-ticular natural conditions, each proto-city developed its own individual character. The development of a proto-city was always a long and complex process. Its subsequently emerging segments had different functions, depending on the current economic situation and on political, military and religious needs. A proto-city had no linear borders and it is difficult to decide which of the surrounding settlements should be treated as permanently linked with it. The oldest proto-city cemeteries were located outside the populated zone; they were burial fields with scattered graves. It seems that in Wrocław and Cracow churches were built on already existing cemeteries to extend control over them. On the basis of material facts and written sources it may be concluded that before the era of chartered towns proto-cities had communities of foreign guests; archaeological finds indicate that these were affluent groups. Western-style stone and wooden buildings can be linked with German, Romance and Jewish colonies, mentioned in written sources from the 2nd half of the 12th c. and the early decades of the 13th c. It was those communities that facilitated trade beyond the local level and transmitted information vital for economy, technology, crafts, building, lifestyle and general civilization progress. Functioning in this way, proto-cities were a phenomenon reflecting the needs, as well as demographic, political, legal and economic conditioning of their time. Changes in those conditions that occurred in the 13th c. led to their transformation into chartered towns, a form more suited to new needs.