Town privileges
(Redirected from Town rights)
Town privileges were important things. They were special treaties or royal charters used in the Middle Ages. In such a charter, a sovereign, a monarch granted the town or city special rights. These usually included
- The right to have a market, to form guilds
- Some freedoms, like to determine the government of the town or city, or to judge criminals.
- Some people who permanently lived in the town or city (called Burghers) had special rights. Getting these rights was a special privilege (and not granted to everyone).
Many of those charters were very similar. In the end, only few charters remained in use. Notable ones in the territory of modern-day Germany include the Lübeck law, the Magdeburg rights and the Kulm law.
