Treasure of the City: The Public Sphere and Civic Urbanism in Late Medieval Barcelona

FAIN: HB-263378-19

Shelley Elaine Roff
University of Texas, San Antonio (San Antonio, TX 78249-1644)

A book-length study of architecture, urban development, and the emerging public sphere in Barcelona between 1350 and 1450 CE.

Treasure of the City is a book-length study that illustrates the transformative role the construction of public works, monuments and urban spaces played in the crystallization of municipal power and an emerging public sphere in late medieval Barcelona. The nascent city council’s quest for the right to tax trade as a form of income to fund public construction required negotiation with aristocratic and religious authorities, a dynamic and contentious conversation that led to the municipal government’s empowerment and to a commercial revolution in the city.