It is estimated that the largest cities in Western Europe in 1330 were Paris and Granada. At this time, Paris was the seat of power in northern France, while Granada had become the largest multicultural city in southern Spain, controlled by the Muslim, Nasrid Kingdom during Spain's Reconquista period. The next three largest cities were Venice, Genoa and Milan, all in northern Italy, renowned as important trading cities during the middle ages. In October 1347, the first wave of the Black Death had arrived in Sicily and then began spreading throughout Europe, decimating the population.

Medieval European urbanization presents a line of continuity between earlier cities and modern European urban systems. Yet, many of the spatial, political and economic features of medieval European cities were particular to the Middle Ages, and subsequently changed over the Early Modern Period and Industrial Revolution. There is a long tradition of demographic studies estimating the population sizes of medieval European cities, and comparative analyses of these data have shed much light on the long-term evolution of urban systems. However, the next step—to systematically relate the population size of these cities to their spatial and socioeconomic characteristics—has seldom been taken. This raises a series of interesting questions, as both modern and ancient cities have been observed to obey area-population relationships predicted by settlement scaling theory. To address these questions, we analyze a new dataset for the settled area and population of 173 European cities from the early fourteenth century to determine the relationship between population and settled area. To interpret this data, we develop two related models that lead to differing predictions regarding the quantitative form of the population-area relationship, depending on the level of social mixing present in these cities. Our empirical estimates of model parameters show a strong densification of cities with city population size, consistent with patterns in contemporary cities. Although social life in medieval Europe was orchestrated by hierarchical institutions (e.g., guilds, church, municipal organizations), our results show no statistically significant influence of these institutions on agglomeration effects. The similarities between the empirical patterns of settlement relating area to population observed here support the hypothesis that cities throughout history share common principles of organization that self-consistently relate their socioeconomic networks to structured urban spaces.

In the Middle Ages, it is believed the largest Jewish populations in the world were found in Asia, particularly across the Middle East. Of the estimated total Jewish population of 1.2 million people, over 80 percent are thought to have lived in Asia, while 13 percent lived in Europe, and the remaining six precent lived in (North) Africa. The largest populations were found on the Arabian peninsula, as well as Iran and Iraq, while the Near East (here referring to the Levant region) had a much smaller population, despite being the spiritual homeland of the Jewish people.

These figures are based on the records of Benjamin of Tudela, a Jewish traveller from the Middle Ages who provided one of the most comprehensive collections of population statistics from the period. Benjamin's writings not only recorded the number of Jews living across this part of the world, but also gave an insight into societal structures and the ordinary daily lives within Jewish communities in the medieval period. The source providing these figures, however, has adjusted some of the statistics to account for known populations that were missing from Benjamin of Tudela's records, especially in Europe and Asia.

The Italian city of Venice was one of the largest cities in medieval and Renaissance era Europe. It was the center of the Republic of Venice, a maritime empire in the Mediterranean, and had one of Europe's largest ports for exotic goods (particularly from Asia), or luxury goods such as glassware. Impact of plague While its population was relatively small by modern standards, it is believed that Venice was among the five most populous cities in Western Europe in the given years between 1050 and 1650. The city's population did fluctuate over time due to devastating pandemics, and it is believed that Venice was one of the main points of entry for the Black Death in Europe. Venice was one of the hardest-hit cities during the Black Death; estimates fluctuate greatly across sources, but it is believed that the city lost around 40 percent of its population during the initial outbreak in the 1340s. Decline Furthermore, Venice lost roughly a third of its population during further plague pandemics (both introduced via war) in the 1570s and 1630s. Because of this, the population was kept fairly consistent across the given years between 1600 and 1800. The 18th century also saw the decline of the Venetian Empire, as other states gained power and influence in the Mediterranean. Venice also lost its importance as the entry point of exotic goods into Europe, as other European powers had already established their own maritime empires and trade routes across the globe. Eventually, the crumbling Venetian Empire fell to Napoleon in 1796, and its overseas territories were gradually taken by or split among various other powers. While the empire fell, the city itself continued to be a center for art and culture in Europe, and it has maintained this status until today. In 2021, Venice had a population of more than 250,000 people.

This thematic map of coroplets represents the demographic indicator Population. Average age, for the territorial delimitation of large regions of the Canary Islands, from the Municipal Register of Inhabitants (PMH) to this date.

This thematic map of coroplets represents the demographic indicator Population. Average age, for the territorial delimitation of sections of the Canary Islands, from the Municipal Register of Inhabitants (PMH) to this date.

This thematic map of coroplets represents the demographic indicator Population. Average age, for the territorial delimitation of islands of the Canary Islands, from the Municipal Register of Inhabitants (PMH) to this date.

It is estimated that the cities of Cordova (modern-day Córdoba) and Palermo were the largest cities in Europe in 1050, and had between fifteen and twenty times the population of most other entries in this graph, Despite this the cities of Cordova (the capital city of the Umayyad caliphate, who controlled much of the Iberian peninsula from the seventh to eleventh centuries), and Palermo (another Arab-controlled capital in Southern Europe) were still the only cities in Western Europe with a population over one hundred thousand people, closely followed by Seville. It is also noteworthy to point out that the five largest cities on this list were importing trading cities, in modern day Spain or Italy, although the largest cities become more northern and western European in later lists (1200, 1330, 1500, 1650 and 1800). In 1050, todays largest Western European cities, London and Paris, had just twenty-five and twenty thousand inhabitants respectively.

The period of European history (and much of world history) between 500 and 1500 is today known as the 'Dark Ages'. Although the term 'Dark Ages' was originally applied to the lack of literature and arts, it has since been applied to the lack or scarcity of recorded information from this time. Because of these limitations, much information about this time is still being debated today.

This thematic map of coroplets represents the demographic indicator Population. Average age, for the territorial delimitation of islands of the Canary Islands, from the Municipal Register of Inhabitants (PMH) to this date.

This thematic map of coroplets represents the demographic indicator Population. Average age, for the territorial delimitation of comarcas of the Canary Islands, from the Municipal Register of Inhabitants (PMH) to this date.

This dataset contains estimates of the urban population (in thousands of inhabitants) between the years 700 and 2000 in 2,262 European settlements. It is based on previous historical demographic sources that have been critically assessed and systematically complemented with new population estimates for additional time windows, deriving from either quantitative sources or proxies. Missing data are covered by city-specific imputations. It contains European cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. Furthermore medieval first and second nature geographical data for all cities have been added, as well as their historical names.

This thematic map of coroplets represents the demographic indicator Population. Average age, for the territorial delimitation of large regions of the Canary Islands, from the Municipal Register of Inhabitants (PMH) to this date.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, the Catholic Church, centered in Rome, became the largest unifying authority in Southern and Western Europe. However, it was not the Italian peninsula that has the highest number of churches, monasteries, and abbeys during the Middle Ages, but France.

The monastic movement of St. Benedict, formed in the 6th century, eventually consolidated its power in France and gained widespread influence over the region. By the 12th century, the Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Burgundy, controlled over 1,000 other abbeys (even as far as Scotland), and was considered the leading center of Christian monasticism. In many ways, the Church was considered a more powerful authority than monarchies in the Middle Ages, and the hierarchical nature of the Church saw cardinals and bishops elevated to positions of significant power. In addition to being places of worship, abbeys and monasteries also became trading and communal centers for local populations before the era of urbanization.

This thematic map of coroplets represents the demographic indicator Population. Average age, for the territorial delimitation of sections of the Canary Islands, from the Municipal Register of Inhabitants (PMH) to this date.

This thematic map of coroplets represents the demographic indicator Population. Average age, for the territorial delimitation of municipalities of the Canary Islands, from the Municipal Register of Inhabitants (PMH) to this date.

This thematic map of coroplets represents the demographic indicator Population. Average age, for the territorial delimitation of large regions of the Canary Islands, from the Municipal Register of Inhabitants (PMH) to this date.

This thematic map of coroplets represents the demographic indicator Population. Average age, for the territorial delimitation of large regions of the Canary Islands, from the Municipal Register of Inhabitants (PMH) to this date.

This thematic map of coroplets represents the demographic indicator Population. Average age, for the territorial delimitation of large regions of the Canary Islands, from the Municipal Register of Inhabitants (PMH) to this date.

This thematic map of coroplets represents the demographic indicator Population. Average age, for the territorial delimitation of municipalities of the Canary Islands, from the Municipal Register of Inhabitants (PMH) to this date.

This thematic map of coroplets represents the demographic indicator Population. Average age, for the territorial delimitation of municipalities of the Canary Islands, from the Municipal Register of Inhabitants (PMH) to this date.