City rights in the Low Countries

City rights are a medieval phenomenon in the history of the Low Countries. A liegelord, usually a count, duke or similar member of high nobility, granted a settlement he owned certain town privileges that settlements without city rights did not have.

In Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands, a settlement is, often proudly, called a city when it was granted (or collected) a complete package of city rights at one time of its history. As the current number of inhabitants has no relevance on this, there are very small cities. The smallest one is Staverden in the Netherlands, with 40 inhabitants. In Belgium, Durbuy is the smallest city, whilst the smallest in Luxembourg is Vianden.

Overview

Further information: History of urban centers in the Dutch Low Countries

Forced by financial problems, feudal landlords offered for sale privileges to settlements around the year A.D. 1000. The total package of these privileges are the city rights.

Selling a privilege was both a positive and a negative development for the feudal lords. The positive side was the (non-recurrent) revenue. The negative was the loss of power. Over time, the landlords sold more and more privileges. This resulted in a shift of power within the counties and duchies in the Low Countries from the aristocracy to the bourgeoisie, starting in Flanders. Some cities even managed to develop into city-states. The growing economical and military power concentrating in the cities led to a very powerful class of well-to-do merchants and traders.^[1]

Common City rights

Privileges

• City walls (the right to erect a defence wall around an inhabited area)
• Market right (the right to hold a market and receive income from the markets)
• Storage right (the right to store and exclusively trade particular goods, often only granted to a few cities)
• Toll right (the right to charge toll)
• Mint right (the right to mint city coinage)

Freedoms

• Personal freedom (citizens had a relative degree of personal freedom in comparison to citizens of rural areas: they were not subject to the liegelord and had freedom of mobility) — Hence the old saying Stadslucht maakt vrij ('City air makes free').

Governance

• City governance (Well-to-do citizens could sometimes elect local government officials)
• Judiciary and law making (Within its boundaries the city could have a large degree of autonomy)
• Taxation (the right to levy taxes)

Rights granted to the cities of present-day Belgium

One of the last towns that became a city in Belgium was Genk.

Rights granted to the cities of present-day's Luxembourg

Main article: List of cities in Luxembourg

Modern era

Note several of the following were first granted city rights during the medieval period.

1843 Diekirch 1843 Echternach 1843 Grevenmacher 1843 Luxembourg City 1843 Remich

1843 Vianden 1843 Wiltz 1906 Esch-sur-Alzette 1907 Differdange

1907 Dudelange 1907 Ettelbruck 1907 Rumelange 1914 Hollerich-Bonnevoie

Rights granted to the cities of the present-day's Netherlands

The first community in the Netherlands to receive city rights was Deventer in 956. It can be argued that some cities have older rights such as Nijmegen that may already have received city rights during the Roman Empire. Another case is Voorburg, which is built on the site of the Roman settlement Forum Hadriani and was granted city rights in about 151. Forum Hadriani was abandoned however in the late third century, thus the current settlement is not considered an uninterrupted continuation of the Roman city. With the end of the Middle Ages, the number of city rights granted dropped dramatically. The strong role of merchants and traders allowed the Netherlands to become the first modern republic in the 16th century. When several important settlements (predominantly The Hague) wanted the right to call themselves cities, rather than towns, the old custom knew a short-lived Romantic revival in the early 19th century. The last community in the Netherlands to receive city rights was Delfshaven in 1825.

End of city rights

The institution of city rights came gradually to its end with the development and centralization of a national government. In the Netherlands the last city to receive real city rights (as defined above) was Willemstad in 1586. During the Dutch Republic period, only Blokzijl gained city rights (in 1672). After the Batavian revolution in 1795, municipalities were styled after the French model and city rights were abolished by law. Although partially restored after 1813, cities would not fully regain the authorities they previously had: law making and judiciary had become part of the state. After the Constitution of 1848 and the Municipal Law of 1851, the difference between cities, towns, and villages was permanently erased.

The city rights which were granted at the beginning of the 19th century (the last one to Delfshaven in 1825) cannot be compared to the rights bestowed in the Middle Ages and are only symbolic in nature. Cities such as The Hague and Assen fall into this category which received their rights during the French period.

Granting of city rights, chronologically

956 Deventer 1118 Stavoren 1122 Utrecht 1127 Aardenburg 1183 Biervliet 1185 's-Hertogenbosch 1190 Zutphen 1180 Hulst 1204 Maastricht 1212 Bergen op Zoom 1212 Breda 1213 Axel 1213 Geertruidenberg 1217 Middelburg 1220 Dordrecht 1223 Westkapelle 1223 Domburg 1230 Nijmegen 1230 Oisterwijk 1230 Zwolle 1231 Harderwijk 1231 Roermond 1232 Sint Oedenrode 1232 Eindhoven 1233 Elburg 1233 Grave 1233 Lochem 1233 Arnhem 1233 Gendt 1234 Harlingen 1236 Kampen 1237 Doesburg 1237 Doetinchem 1237 Oostburg 1242 Sint Anna ter Muiden 1243 Rijssen 1243 Sittard 1245 Groningen[2] 1245 Haarlem 1246 Delft 1246 's-Gravenzande 1248 Ommen 1248 Winkel[disambiguation needed ] 1248 Zierikzee 1249 Oldenzaal 1252 Hasselt 1254 Alkmaar 1256 or 1258 Rhenen 1259 Amersfoort 1260 Vreeland 1263 Goor 1263 Wageningen 1265 Oudewater 1266 Leiden 1271 Montfort 1271 Nieuwstadt 1272 Gouda 1272 Steenbergen 1272 Venlo 1273 Vlaardingen 1275 Genemuiden 1275 Schiedam 1276 Susteren 1277 Groenlo 1280 Schoonhoven 1283 Nieuwpoort

1285 Leeuwarden 1289 Medemblik 1290 Sluis 1295 Gein 1296 Muiden 1298 Beverwijk 1298 Dokkum 1298 Staverden 1299 Hattem 12?? Tiel 1300 Amsterdam 1300 Eembrugge 1300 approx. Naarden 1303 IJzendijke 1303 Waalwijk 1306 Brielle 1312 Goedereede 1313 Asperen 1315 IJlst 1315 Vlissingen 1315 Wieringen 1315 Wijk bij Duurstede 1315 Zaltbommel 1318 Culemborg 1318 Heusden 1322 Gorinchem 1322 Ammerstol 1325 Enschede 1325 Ootmarsum 1327 Appingedam 1327 Steenwijk 1328 Maasbommel 1329 Montfoort 1329 Wessem 1331 IJsselstein 1331 Wilsum 1333 Delden 1333 Grafhorst 1336 Vianen 1340 Rotterdam 1343 Echt 1345 Eemnes-Buiten 1346 Helmond 1348 Huissen 1349 Batenburg 1354 Vollenhove 1355 Berlikum 1355 Enkhuizen 1355 Monnickendam 1355 Veere 1355 Weesp 1356 Woudrichem 1357 Edam 1357 Hoorn 1357 Klundert 1357 Megen 1362 Hardenberg 1364 Broek 1364 Rhenen 1366 Tholen 1371 Gennep 1372 Woerden 1372 Hindeloopen 1374 Franeker 1374 Reimerswaal 1374 Workum

1375 Borculo 1379 's-Heerenberg 1380 Ravenstein 1381 Geervliet 1382 Hagestein 1383 Bunschoten 1388 Bredevoort 1391 Baarn 1391 Heukelum 1394 Almelo 1395 Buren 1396 Haastrecht 1398 Noordwijk 1399 Oss 13?? Ameide 1402 Schellinkhout 1404 Keppel 1405 Goes 1407 Leerdam 1408 Coevorden 1410 Purmerend 1413 Nijkerk 1414 Abbekerk 1414 Hoogwoud 1414 Hem 1414 Spanbroek 1414 Weert 1414 Wognum 1415 Barsingerhorn 1415 Langedijk 1415 Niedorp 1415 Schagen 1415 Texel 1419 Terborg 1426 Sloten 1427 Zevenbergen 1431 Kortgene 1439 Eemnes-Binnen 1442 Gramsbergen 1452 Valkenburg 1355 Bolsward 1456 Sneek 1469 Heenvliet 1477 Brouwershaven 1480 Ravestein 1482 Bronkhorst 1487 Zevenaar 1491 Sint Maartensdijk 1506 Philippine 1574 Arnemuiden 1584 Terneuzen 1585 Willemstad 1672 Blokzijl 1806 Austerlitz 1806 's-Gravenhage 1809 Assen 1809 Meppel 1809 Oosterhout 1809 Roosendaal 1809 Tilburg 1812 Zaandam 1814 Maassluis 1816 Sas van Gent 1819 Delfzijl 1819 Winschoten 1825 Delfshaven

See also

• Town privileges
• History of urban centers in the Dutch Low Countries
• City status in the United Kingdom
• Scottish Burgh

References

1. ^ De stadsrechten van graaf Willem II van Holland
2. ^ stadsrechten.nl

External links

• City Rights in the Netherlands (in Dutch)