Field Trip #3: Medieval Barcelona to the industrial city

During our field study through the El Born area of Barcelona, we learned a little bit about the Medieval period in Barcelona. During the Middle Ages the Born area was one of the wealthier neighborhoods in Barcelona. Many of the buildings in this area were built around the 13-15th centuries. In that time period, you could determine the wealth of a person by looking at their home. For example, if a person added a balcony to their floor, people knew they were doing well. By looking at the photo below, each floor has a small balcony. In the middle ages, this would partially signify the wealth of the family. 

Other factors also helped signify the wealth of a person, such as shoes and mirrors. People got paid once a year with shoes. The nicer his/her shoes, the better of he/she was. Mirrors also represented wealth. During that period, mirrors were very expensive, and very few people owned them. But those who did were considered wealthy.

Buildings, like the one above, can tell us a lot about different time periods. For example, the person who lived on the first floor (principal) was usually the owner. The person who lived on the second floor was usually the owners "right hand man." When the buildings were built, they were built with numerous floors. The floors also represented the social classes. The higher up you lived, the less money you had. Nowadays, it's the total opposite. The wealthiest people want to live in the penthouse!

Below is a picture of one of the oldest guilds in Barcelona. The guilds at this location work with iron.

During the middle ages, guilds were very important and powerful people. They were considered the trade unions during the middle ages. They also had political power, because they were represented in the Consell de Cent, which was the City Council of Barcelona in the middle ages. The guilds had power, because they represented the people who weren't represented by the Catalan Corts, such as peasants and lower class people.

The picture to the right is Plaça de la Llana. This street was very important during the middle ages and even today. The idea of the stock market was created here. The price of wool was determined here. The people who were trying to sell or buy wool would come here to find out the real price of wool, so they could determine if they were getting the correct price.

This is a picture of the actual stock market. People would come here with a boat full of products and ask what their good was selling for. They were also able to exchange their currency here and pay their taxes here. Some people paid more money in taxes depending what country they were coming from.