Van wie was het stadhuis? Orde en verstoring in een publiek overheidsgebouw in Gouda en Leiden, ca. 1450-1520

In the fifteenth century the town hall was a crowded, public government building in cities in the northern Low Countries. It was a multifunctional building, being an important centre for urban governance and the location for public services. Authorities aimed to regulate access and behaviour in the building, and especially in the court rooms, through built environment, protocols and enforcement. Yet, order in the town hall was not self-evident. By examining statutes and criminal records and using a 3D reconstruction of the public hall and public courtroom, this article shows how disorder in the town hall of Gouda and Leiden was common and contested the order so much desired by local magistrates. Both city officials and other inhabitants purposely used the openness of specific spaces in the town hall to publicly emphasize or contest authority. I argue that the late medieval town hall was shaped by both governmental structures and its daily use by a diverse group of urban dwellers.