M20 Maritime cities at the boundaries: governance, intervention and agency at sea in Late Medieval Western Europe (13th -15th centuries

By assembling studies on the projection of maritime cities' governance at sea and their intervention in maritime activities, this panel will assess the question of whether their physical and geographical borders acted also as political and economic boundaries in Late Medieval Western Europe, delving into the different levels of urban agency at sea. Keywords: Sea government, sea power, urban jurisdiction, urban agency, cities' intervention at sea Topic(s) Urban history, maritime history, medieval Europe history, political history, economic history Session content Late medieval polities of Western Europe were marked by significant compositeness, with cities and lordships possessing important autonomies and broad jurisdictions. In this respect, scholarship has broadly acknowledged the important role cities and municipalities played for the government of territories. In particular – and in connection with governmental authorities – for counterbalancing the power of medieval princes and lords operating in the localities. Although this seems to be a common trait among Western European polities, each context was marked by different balance, which in turn originated from their specific political, social, and economic environment. In that regard, the specific role of maritime cities with respect to governance at sea still needs to be fully investigated. Cities' degree of autonomy allowed them in each case a lesser or greater power of decision and influence over their citizens, their countryside and their surrounding waters. As a result, maritime cities developed an unequal extension of their terrestrial power of influence towards the sea and towards maritime activities. Moreover, the maritime frontier of the coastal cities often shaped them and helped them to develop their powers. Therefore, their axis at the boundary between sea and land makes them a coherent object of study throughout the Late Medieval Western Mediterranean and North-Eastern Atlantic. This session invites scholars to examine maritime and port cities in the later Middle Ages with respect to their connection with the maritime environment. By adopting a comparative approach, this session will help us to discuss how maritime cities operated at sea in different political and social contexts. In so doing, the contributors to this session will debate on the different degree of autonomy these maritime cities enjoyed or, on the contrary, their subordination to seigniorial powers, which regulated maritime matters. The following are some of the possible points to be discussed, among others: • Municipal intervention in maritime conflicts' management: return of stolen goods, compensation to victims. • Urban actions for the defence of seas, coasts, and maritime commercial activity. • Network and alliances between maritime u