Abstract
Taking the office of the coninc der ribauden in Ghent as a case-study, this article reconstructs the enforcement of urban sanitation and preventative health practices during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The coninc managed a wide range of issues perceived as potentially polluting, damaging or threatening to health. Banning waste and chasing pigs as well as prostitutes off the streets, the office implemented a governmental vision on communal well-being. Health interests, as part of a broader pursuit of the common good, therefore played an important yet hitherto largely overlooked role in medieval urban governance.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 82-105 |
Journal | Urban History |
Volume | 46 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2019 |
Externally published | Yes |