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On Tuesday April 17^th I attended a lecture by Keith D. Liley which was called, “Moral topographies of the medieval city: Marginality, otherness and the placing of bodies in an urban world.” He was a historian from Northern Ireland and he described the structural make up of the city and how the certain social classes were placed in the city. He then related how these make ups and social structure can still be found in modern urban areas.

During the lecture he described that the medieval times was a time of growing and a time of making sense of the world. The social structure was based on where you lived in the city. The cities were made in circle where the middle of the city would be the elites, then outside this area would be the lower class, and still next outside that would be the outcasts. Where you lived in the city gave you your social identity. Social identify is your place in society. Also, where you were in the city foretold what occupation you would have. In the middle of the city was where the market is so many of the people who lived there would be market owners. The city was called a hierarchical city because the middle and elite were head of the rest of the city, but each group had to work together to make the city function as a whole.

This medieval structure can still be found in urban areas today such as Baltimore. It may not be in the same exact way but there are similarities. There are certain areas of the city that the higher classes live in and certain areas where the lower classes live. These areas are what give you your social identity. People that live in nicer areas are thought to be wealthier and better educated. While those living in the lower income areas are thought to be the exact opposite, poor and uneducated. Also where you live affects the jobs that are available to you. The wealthier people will acquire better jobs than those of lower income areas. One more similarity between these two cities are that the elite controls the lower classes, but all the classes have to work together to make the city function properly. The lower classes encompass the jobs that are the foundation of the city and without them the higher classes would not be able to function.