In the ancient world, town life was well established, especially in Greece and Rome. Ancient towns were busy trading and living centers. After the fall of Rome in the west, trade in the east suffered and town life declined.  In the early middle ages, most people in western Europe lived in communities in the countryside in that FEUDAL society that you learned about with land and loyalty.  By the high or later middle ages, towns were starting to grow again.  One reason is agriculture.  Farmers learned to methods to farm LOTS of food, supplies, and other needs meaning they could sell it to towns and the people in town did not have to farm or make these things themselves! This improved trade all over the eastern world during this time, even at the seaports.  

 

As people started selling other goods in towns, they moved and became permanent residents.  More and more people started to move to towns to buy goods, work, get and education, etc.  Some towns became well known for specific goods and became very wealthy.  For instance, Flanders had fine woolen cloth and Italy was known for their glassware.  Other towns became wealthy by becoming banking centers to help people start these types of businesses.