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Debt imprisonment was one of the tools a creditor had to enforce a debt. When creditors believed that their debtors were defaulting, they could imprison debtors to ensure they would not disappear and debts would be settled. As a practice, debt imprisonment was never fundamentally challenged in the Middle Ages though the way it was executed did come under scrutiny. In the city of Bruges, the city magistrate regulated the practice. As debt imprisonment was an essential part of the commercial framework in Bruges, the city tried to avoid princely interference. However, merchants could also complain to princely courts about their imprisonment. If the city hesitated to address unjust practices in the existing framework, it risked losing these cases to princely courts. As princely institutions increased their control over debt imprisonment, the city government kept the mechanism of debt imprisonment while, for example, Antwerp sought alternative tools for creditors. The adaptations that did happen in Bruges were not the result of the requests of merchants, but a means of rather safeguarding its own jurisdictions from princely courts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Late-medieval Flanders was a patchwork of jurisdictions. Especially in terms of maritime plunder, different prosecutors and different courts could claim competency. However, where these plunderers appeared or where the plundered claimed their damages mattered significantly. This article investigates how these landlocked courts tried to claim competency over the events happening at sea. What were the consequences of the litigation strategies relating to maritime plunder, and how did plunderers and the plundered deal with these? Especially in medieval Bruges, there was a pragmatic approach towards favouring some of the important merchant communities while using princely institutions to chastise other (deemed harmful) plunderers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on Belgian and Dutch urban history in historical journals. It mentions the emphasis in the offer is on socio-economic themes, while political, cultural, and urban planning topics, and the causes, effects and consequences of infectious diseases in cities are also discussed, which points to the rapid adaptability of city historians.