« The Question of the Spatial Identification of the Brno and Jihlava Franciscans in the Late Middle Ages in Connection with the Poorer Social Strata Based on the Study of Taxation Records »

It has sometimes been argued that a quite frequent location of Franciscan friaries close to town walls and/or town gates was due to their close proximity to the poor living there. The present article explores the correlation between the location of two Moravian Franciscan friaries situated in these areas and their spatial identification with the poorer strata around their friaries during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. This will be considered in the light of research on social topography carried out for the late medieval Swiss towns. Thanks to their well preserved taxation records the towns of Brno and Jihlava will be examined. For Brno rejstříky městské sbírky (registers of the town’s collection) and berní knihy (taxation books) will be studied, with a particular focus on the period between the years 1345 and 1365. For Jihlava rejstříky městské sbírky only survived, the most complete of them from between 1425 to 1442 will be analyzed.