Bruno Blondé is affiliated to the Centre for Urban History and the Urban Studies Institute at the Universiteit Antwerpen, Belgium. He publishes on the history of urban networks in the Low Countries, pre-industrial transport, the history of consumption and material culture, retail trade, urban growth and social inequality. Marc Boone teaches medieval history at Universiteit Gent, Belgium. At the moment, his research is oriented primarily toward financial urban history, the social and political history of towns in the late medieval Low Countries and Burgundian history. Anne-Laure Van Bruaene teaches cultural history of the early modern era at Universiteit Gent, Belgium. Her research is oriented toward urban culture in the late medieval and early modern Low Countries, especially the Reformation and the Dutch Revolt, guilds and confraternities as well as the social context of art, literature and religion.

• List of figures; List of contributors; Acknowledgements; 1. City and society in the Low Countries. Urbanisation and urban historiography Bruno Blondé, Marc Boone and Anne-Laure Van Bruaene; 2. Economic vitality: urbanisation, regional complementarity and European interaction Wim Blockmans, Bert De Munck and Peter Stabel; 3. Living together in the city: social relationships between norm and practice Bruno Blondé, Frederik Buylaert, Jan Dumolyn, Jord Hanus and Peter Stabel; 4. 'The common good': governance, discipline and political culture Marc Boone and Jelle Haemers; 5. Civic religion: community, identity and religious transformation Guido Marnef and Anne-Laure Van Bruaene; 6. Urban space: infrastructure, technology and power Claire Billen and Chloé Deligne; 7. At home in the city: the dynamics of material culture Inneke Baatsen, Bruno Blondé, Julie De Groot and Isis Sturtewagen; 8. Education and knowledge: theory and practice in an urban context Bert De Munck and Hilde De Ridder-Symoens; 9. Epilogue. The legacy of the medieval city in the Low Countries Bruno Blondé, Marc Boone and Anne-Laure van Bruaene; Select bibliography by chapter; Index.

'This is a sophisticated overview of urbanity in the southern Low Countries from the central Middle Ages into the early modern period, a time of extraordinary economic, political, and cultural achievements. Written by experts and supported by up-to-date bibliographies, the chapters explain the creativity of these cities and describe their legacy in Europe thereafter.' Martha Howell, Columbia University, New York