Why were there inns in the Middle Ages?

Answer 1

Inns were originally planned by the Romans and survived the fall of the Empire. The purpose was to provide food, drink and lodge to the travelers of the time and a place to rest horses if somebody had one. The inns were frequent as the distance between two inns was the maximum that a person could travel in one day or closer.

Later in the Middle Ages the network of inns had the protection of the Kights of the Temple

In the middle ages, people traveled and not many were rich enough to have a horse or carriage. They walked, and when they got there they paid with whatever money they had for a meal and a room, or the full journey was to long for the rich people to make.

Answer 2

We have at least one excellent description of the people who would be found in an inn, and there are a number of medieval inns still around.

The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, is a piece of fiction, but it has a description of the people of a medieval inn by a medieval author. It talks about the people, of stations from low to high, all sorts of people on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. They included a knight, a lady, and abbess, a miller, a cleric, and so on. They were a cheerful bunch who told tales and poked fun at each other, with a few taking offense and poking fun back.

At a time when a lot of people travelled on pilgrimage, inns became very important. They were run by innkeepers who made their livelihoods there. A special class of them were run by the Knights Hospitaller, specifically for pilgrims. But obviously, the inns were also very important for trade, as a place for merchants to stay.

There is a very nice example of a medieval inn in Winchester, called the Manor of God Begot. Originally, this building was called the Manor of Goudbeyete, a name meaning "better goods," as the site was that of a market. It was first built by King Ethelred the Unready and given to his wife, Emma of Normandy. When Queen Emma died, she left it to a monastery, and it was a house of refuge where people could find sanctuary from anyone who might be after them, from abusive husbands to the law. Even the ministers of the king had no legal jurisdiction there, and a court roll of the times explicitly made it a refuge for people accused of felonies.

The current building dates to 1050, though it has had modifications. In time this building became an inn. See the link below.