Town privileges
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Town privileges were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium.
Judicially, a town was distinguished from the surrounding land by means of a charter from the ruling monarch that defined its privileges and laws. The most common privileges was that of trade and the establishment of guilds. Some degree of self-government, representation in a diet, and tax-relief could also be granted.
In German it was called Stadtrecht, literally meaning "City right" (see German town law). It can be understood as the Germanic and Hanseatic version of "the right to be a city". A town granted such rights had a certain urban law and statutes, but most importantly, was allowed certain privileges in terms of commercial activity, and also some judicial and political independence.
In the Anglophone world, see municipal charter.
See also
- Chełmno law
- German town law
- Lübeck law
- Magdeburg rights
- Imperial free city
- Confoederatio cum principibus ecclesiasticis
- City status in the United Kingdom
- City rights in the Netherlands
- City status in Sweden
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