Town privileges or city rights 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. Common privileges were related to trading (to have a market, to store goods, etc.) and the establishment of guilds. Some of these privileges were permanent and could imply that the town obtained the right to be called a city, hence the term city rights (Stadtrecht in German). Some degree of self-government, representation in a diet, and tax-relief could also be granted. Multiple tiers existed; for example, in Sweden, the basic royal charter for a city enabled trade, but not foreign trade, which required a higher-tier charter granting staple right.
Famous quotes containing the words town and/or privileges:
“Hark, what good sport is out of town today.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“We have been weakened in our resistance to the professional anti-Communists because we know in our hearts that our so-called democracy has excluded millions of citizens from a normal life and the normal American privileges of health, housing and education.”
—Agnes E. Meyer (1887–1970)