# Medieval Town Size



## fusangite (Jul 9, 2005)

I'm running a game tomorrow set in a medieval-style town of about 2000 people; it is a garrison town and, in some respects doesn't fit the medieval mold due to the peculiarity of my setting. Still, as a starting point, I'm wondering if people could give me a sense of the average surface area and population density of a medieval town of 2000 or point me to a good reference source.


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## der_kluge (Jul 9, 2005)

Here:
http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=711&


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## theodinheadbasher (Jul 9, 2005)

fusangite said:
			
		

> I'm running a game tomorrow set in a medieval-style town of about 2000 people; it is a garrison town and, in some respects doesn't fit the medieval mold due to the peculiarity of my setting. Still, as a starting point, I'm wondering if people could give me a sense of the average surface area and population density of a medieval town of 2000 or point me to a good reference source.




The surface area is all dependant on how dense you want the population to be.  It wouldn't be that dense because there are only 2000 people, and im guessing that a large number of them are the garrison.  In a medieval-style town, i dont see them packing themselves into tiny little shacks, 2 or three families to a shack to, simply to save space.  If it were a city and a walled city at that, then density is going to be alot higher.  I would say about 10-15 square km, at most.  That is still a decent size, but not so large that everyone is too spread out, but they are also not stuck right in each others laps.

Now if by garrison town you mean walled, then the size will probably decrease a bit and the density is going to go up.  But not everyone is going to live inside the town.  There are going to be the crazy hermits, as well as the farmers and livestock producers that live outside the walls, and only come into town for trade, but they are still considered part of the town populace.


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## Mythmere1 (Jul 9, 2005)

A full sized medieval city was one half a square mile within the walls, roughly.  These had populations not much larger than your town - a city would have started at about a 3K population IIRC, and went as high as 10K for the non-metropolises.  Italy had higher urban populations, with several cities over 15K.

Take a look at expeditious retreat press - they used to have a free pdf about fantasy medieval cities.


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## Drew (Jul 9, 2005)

Actual medieval towns were in fact very densly populated. According the the Magic Medieval Society book linked above (which is really a must have, go buy the thing!) a large town (which is where your population 2000 falls in the DMG) in the real world had a population density somewhere around 40-60 people per acre. Most medieval cities were smaller than 1 square mile (640 acres). The town should contain around 20-30 structures per acre.

Remember that everything in a true medieval city had to be within reasonable walking distance of everything else. Between cities, there are manors all along major travel routes. In other words, you're either within walking distance of some kind of settlement, or you're in the wilderness.

All this is based on real world data, and you're playing in a fantasy world. In my homebrew, I prefer things to be less dense, poor, and dirty than they were in the real world. As they point out in the DMG II, its sometimes better to design D&D worlds to reflect an anacronistic idea of how things were, rather than a realistic representation of the medieval period.

Still, its nice to have some kind of basis, which is where the Magical Medieval Society book comes in.


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## SWBaxter (Jul 9, 2005)

fusangite said:
			
		

> I'm running a game tomorrow set in a medieval-style town of about 2000 people; it is a garrison town and, in some respects doesn't fit the medieval mold due to the peculiarity of my setting.




Almost all medieval communities of any size would count as garrison towns, since they tend to grow around a noble's stronghold. From MMS (the product referenced in the first link, a really excellent book and well worth buying), you could set the population density of your town around 40 people per acre for a total size of around 50 acres and have a medieval-style town. There's 640 acres in a square mile, so that's not very large at all.


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## fusangite (Jul 9, 2005)

Thanks! I hadn't realize MMS:WE had population density figures in it. I suppose it's just a matter of pulling my free copy off my bookshelf.


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## S'mon (Jul 9, 2005)

About 600 yards across, or about 1/9 a square mile.


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## Lawrence of Arabica (Jul 10, 2005)

Best figures i've seen suggest walls need about 1 person per yard to defend them when besieged. So if your town is more than may 500 feet across it will vulnerable, unless you have extra defenders or geographical features in your favor.


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## jgbrowning (Jul 10, 2005)

fusangite said:
			
		

> I'm running a game tomorrow set in a medieval-style town of about 2000 people; it is a garrison town and, in some respects doesn't fit the medieval mold due to the peculiarity of my setting. Still, as a starting point, I'm wondering if people could give me a sense of the average surface area and population density of a medieval town of 2000 or point me to a good reference source.




Don't make me smack you.     I think the guidelines in MMS:WE work pretty well. There's a few things I may want to change in the revision, but nothing concrete right now.

joe b.


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## fusangite (Jul 10, 2005)

jgbrowning said:
			
		

> Don't make me smack you.     I think the guidelines in MMS:WE work pretty well. There's a few things I may want to change in the revision, but nothing concrete right now.
> 
> joe b.



They do work just fine thanks.


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## WmRAllen67 (Jul 10, 2005)

You could try this: http://www.io.com/~sjohn/demog.htm

There's an online version here: http://www.lucidphoenix.com/dnd/demo/business0.asp

I plugged "2000" into the top and it gave an area of ".05 miles or 33 acres", which I figure is about 366 meters to a side, if I've done my math right...

Or, 240 five foot squares by 240 five foot squares...


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## Mythmere1 (Jul 10, 2005)

Don't forget - there are usually some very large open areas - a square, usually a large church, and a keep that will require upping the total size if you're just using density (unless those areas are already factored into the density calculation.

I also wouldn't do the calculation based on one defender per yard of wall.  You wouldn't plan to be stormed along every yard of your wall - that would take a surrounding force able to storm the whole thing - you'd surrender a town under those circumstances, at least using the lens of history rather than fantasy.


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## adwyn (Jul 10, 2005)

This site

http://www.odysseyadventures.ca/articles/hadrian-wall/article_hadrianswall-forts.htm

has a nice map of a Roman fort for 500 or so men (a cohort) from Hadrian's wall. A garrison town would likely spring up around such a thing if it staid in place for anytime, so this may be a good place to start. Just add a few buildings clustered around each entrance.


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## S'mon (Jul 10, 2005)

S'mon said:
			
		

> About 600 yards across, or about 1/9 a square mile.




If it's a fort, half that - 300 yards across, 1/36 a square mile.

BTW in White Dwarf's The Town Planner series reprinted in Best of White Dwarf Articles III, it uses a real late-medieval town as a model, AIR it was about that population or slightly larger, and 400 yards across within the walls.  Pretty much all houses in a medieval town are terraced, a concept few US designers seem familiar with.


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## Dr. Strangemonkey (Jul 10, 2005)

The geography is going to matter a great deal, particularly in terms of their use of natural features as part of their fortification and economic strategies.

As are their attempts to secure food and water supply and their defensive strategy in engineering the place.

What sort of transportation network are they on?

Is there a prior city or structure the garrison is based on or in?

Is 2000 the full population including kids and elderly?  How much are the demographics skewed by the garrison?  What's the animal population?

I don't know that any of these will invalidate any of the more generic calculations but they are likely to skew them.  Particularly in terms of surface area.

Good to see you again Fusangite.  Hope your summer is going well.


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## TerraDave (Jul 11, 2005)

I think you got your answer....but I will still reply...in terms of dwellings, in a fortified setting, population density could be very high indeed...but things like the houses of the high faluting, churches/temples, parts of the fortifications, ceremonial areas (squares...) could take up a lot of space. 

In short, a lot of the town could be "public" space or for the powerfull, with a smaller fraction for actual habitation by the commoners.


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## Janx (Jul 11, 2005)

Another guesstimate method I've used in the past is to have an average # of people per building (O=occupants).  Then divide the population (P) by O, and you've got an estimate of how many buildings.  From there, knowing how big the average building is, you can get a decent estimate.

I've used an estimate of 5 people per building (anachronistic view of the in-town family, ma, pa, 3 kids living above the shop).  Obviously, barracks, inns, apartments, would have different sizes and O values.

I haven't seen the MMV series, but it sounds like it has a pretty thorough model to use.

Janx


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