Reply With QuoteDo an image search for 'Braun and Hogenberg' or 'Civitates orbis terrarum'. Their maps are not medieval, however, but from the 1560s to 1580s IIRC.
Fields in the city
I have a question. Have you any reference to medivial cities plan with the fields covered by the city walls? I've founded just Antwerp:
antwerp_citadel_cropped.jpg
Do an image search for 'Braun and Hogenberg' or 'Civitates orbis terrarum'. Their maps are not medieval, however, but from the 1560s to 1580s IIRC.
The map you have is from the renaissance, if that matters.
My Deviantart: https://vincent--l.deviantart.com/
Any fortified town/city would want to wall in some fields to allow their use during siege. The problem is that walls are expensive and take time to build, so it isn't often doable. Then, once the land is inside the city walls, there is considerable economic pressure to turn them to something more profitable than farming. In fantasy settings, improved fortification construction (either by magic or the inhuman workmanship of stereotypical dwarves and the like) and/or powerful urban development controls can make such fields much more common than they would be historically, just as the presence of factors like druids, dryads, and elves can lead to sizable urban parks. Historically, you're far more likely to find construction sprawling outside any walls, as housing and industrial buildings are quicker to construct than fortifications. Also, fortifications need to be manned, and a sensible planner won't expand the walls beyond his ability to ensure those walls are sufficiently manned. This is Antwerp at a peak of power and wealth. Also, notice the star fort. This is a different defensive scheme than the medieval city or fortress, though still expensive and the inclusion of the fields might have been intended mainly to flaunt the kind of wealth and power required to do so.
Yeah, those big earthwork and bastion type defences only come into widespread use when cannon also comes into widespread use. They take up a lot more space too. But I have seen examples of earlier cities with some fields within the wall boundaries. They tend to get squeezed out as the settlement grows though.
My new Deviant-thing. I finally caved.
You can also get fields within the city walls as a city declines. Once built walls can be maintained by a far smaller population than was necessary to construct them. A good example would be Rome during the dark ages, where a city that at its peak held 1.5 million souls declined to maybe 30k. The Roman walls were maintained due to the wealth of the Papacy, but sources at the time describe what was effectively a number of small towns surrounded by fields, orchards and vineyards dotted with ruins within the city itself.
Thank you all for your advices
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