ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the negotiations involved in the regulation of migration in different urban contexts of early modern Europe. It bears out that the regulation of markets represented an important consideration in urban migration policies. Many of the case studies in this book cite the existence of entry regulations and passport formalities at the city gates, and of requirements for landlords and innkeepers to inform local authorities of the characteristics and antecedents of their lodgers. The book demonstrates that merchants, entrepreneurs, small-scale artisans, workers, relief payers, relief recipients and local and central administrations could all have different. One general conclusion of this book is that labour market regulation cannot be separated from the management of local resources and moral and ideological sensitivities regarding local communities, an observation which can help to articulate new questions for further research too.
