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Words and DeedsShaping Urban Politics from below in Late Medieval EuropeEdited by Ben Eersels&#160;&#38; Jelle HaemersThis book sheds light on why, how and when citizens participated in the urban political process in late medieval Europe (c.&#160;1300-1500).This book focuses on the city and urban politics, because historically towns have been an interesting laboratory for the creation and development of political ideas and practices, as they are also today. The contributions in this volume shed light on why, how and when citizens participated in the urban political process in late medieval Europe (c.&#160;1300-1500). In other words, this book reconsiders the involvement of urban commoners in political matters by studying their claims and wishes, their methods of expression and their discursive and ideological strategies. It shows that, in order to garner support for and establish the parameters of the most important urban policies, medieval urban governments engaged regularly in dialogue with their citizens. While the degree of citizens’&#160;active&#160;involvement differed from region to region and even from one town to the next, political participation never remained restricted to voting for representatives at set times. This book therefore demonstrates that the making of politics was not the sole prerogative of the government; it was always, to some extent, a bottom-up process as well.Jelle Haemers&#160;is a senior lecturer at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven). He has published widely on the urban history of medieval Europe, and the social and political history of the late medieval Low Countries.Ben Eersels&#160;is a post doctoral research fellow at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven). His research focuses on the political history of towns in late medieval Brabant and Liège.Table des matières : Introduction: Shaping urban politics from below. Citizen participation in late medieval Europe, Jelle Haemers &#38; Ben EerselsPart I: Institutional bargaining. Councils and institutions of broader participationThe Universitas Massilie, an Assembly of the Whole City? Power Struggles and Social Tensions in Marseille During the 14th Century,  François Otchakovsky-LaurensPopular politics and political transformation in Burgos, 1345-1426, Pablo Gonzalez MartinThe introduction of large councils in late medieval towns: the example of Stockholm, Sofia GustafssonPart II: Interest groups and interactions. Craft guilds in urban politicsRequested and consented by the good crafts. A new approach to the political power of craft guilds in late medieval Maastricht (1380- 1428), Ben EerselsCraftsmen, urban councils, and political power in the Swabian cities of the Holy Roman Empire (14th-15th centuries), Dominique AdrianGiving Artisans a Voice: The Political Participation of Guilds in German Towns, Sabine Von HeusingerPart III: Discourse, ideology and conflictInjury and Remedy. The language of contention in the southern Low Countries, 13th-16th centuries, Jelle HaemersDiscourse and collective actions of popular groups in Castilian towns before the 'Revolt of the Comuneros': the case of Valladolid, Beatriz Majo ToméIdeologies and political participation of the commons in urban life of Northern Atlantic Spain during the late Middle Ages, Jesus Solorzano TelecheaThe Politics of Record-Keeping in Fifteenth-Century English Towns, Eliza HartrichConclusion: Urban revolts and communal politics in the Middle Ages: problems and perspectives, Jan DumolynWords and Deeds. Shaping Urban Politics from below in Late Medieval Europe, edited by Ben Eersels&#160;&#38; Jelle Haemers, Turhnout, Brepols, Studies in European Urban History (1100-1800) (vol. 48), 2020, 224 p., 178 x 254 mm, 2020, ISBN 978-2-503-58386-0, € 81order form