Markdown vs. html formatting

I am starting to move the static part of my own site off a CMS onto a static site on my own server and domain. I like the idea of separating content and boilerplate with a static site generator, but markdown is not a good fit for me: I have a lot of parallel-text editions (-> tables), superscript and subscript, and so on.

Under the techdoc theme, I have a folder:

/content/documents
|_index.md
|01cousturiersParis.md

When I run hugo server and have markup: md in the YAML header of 01cousturiersParis.md, I see:

So the content of the page is missing

when I set markup: html in the YAML header, the content is visible but below the sidebar not beside it. I am not allowed to embed the image but see https://bookandsword.files.wordpress.com/2021/03/screenshot_2021-03-06-rule-of-the-cousturiers-of-paris-md-fashion-in-the-age-of-datini1.png

What is going wrong? I thought you can embed all the usual HTML tags in a markdown file just by typing them like normal.

I don’t have a GitHub repository for the code because I am still experimenting to see whether hugo is right for me. The core of the site is from the techdoc theme and I quote 01cousturiersParis.md below.

---
title: Rule of the Cousturiers of Paris (md)
author: 
date: 3 March 2021
fontfamily: times
markup: md
---
<p>
<em>Author:</em> The cousturiers of Paris<br>
<em>Original Language:</em> French<br>
<em>Place of Composition:</em> Paris, France<br>
<em>Date of Composition</em>: 1 December 1366<br>
<em>Source of Text:</em> ??? Les métiers et corporations de la ville de Paris : XIVe-XVIIIe siècles. Tissus, étoffes, vêtements, cuirs et peaux, métiers divers pp. 185-188 https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1189716/f407.image<br>
<em>Source of Translation:</em> n/a<br>
<em>Conditions of Use:</em> ???<br>
</p>

<p>Description goes here.</p>

<table>
<tr>
<td width="50%">
A touz ceulx qui ces lettres verront, Jehan Bernier, chevalier le Roy, nostre sire, garde de la prevosté de Paris, salut.  Comme plusieurs des maistres et compaingnons, tailleurs et cousturiers de robes et de doublés, tenans ouvrouers en la Ville de Paris, se feussent traiz pardevres nous ..... et aussi qui nous eussions veu et regardé à grant diligence les anciens registres ja pieça faiz sur ledit mestier de tailleur, et finablement après plusieurs assemblées et plusieurs debas et altercations eues en ycelles pardevant nous, par bonne et meure deliberation de conseil, eussions cassé à plein aucuns desdiz articles et d'aucuns eussions detrait et en aucuns eussions augeementé; et après ces choses, tout veu et consideré et di-
</td>
<td width="50%">
abc def
</td>
</tr>
</table>

Your theme probably defines p and/or table tags as block level elements and they require the full width of the page to show properly.

Thanks! I’ll look those keywords up in the documentation and see if it helps.